MAGICAL HISTORY TOUR OF WEST BERKELEY

Builders Booksource has been touched by the enthusiasm and appreciation for the Magical History Walking Tours of West Berkeley being led by Berkeley's own Richard Schwartz. Many excited requests for more has led us to ask Richard for a third tour of our West Berkeley neighborhood. As usual, Richard's tour will be at a relaxed pace, giving participants a chance to take in their surroundings and the amazing stories, images, and facts of daily life that he will share. People have told us they are much enriched by their experiences on these tours. Many have said they can never look at their surrounds the same again, as they now "see" the past they didn't know existed.

For this third tour, Richard has promised us the story of an early West Berkeley eccentric and how he attempted to make part of West Berkeley into a sanatorium and beach destination, utilizing indoor baths and spas rivaling Sutro Baths in San Francisco. Richard will take us to the site of Berkeley's first town hall in the west end, Berkeley's first school from 1856, more images and details of the terrific French Quarter that occupied so many sites in West Berkeley, the giant French brewery, some 1906 earthquake relief camps and the largest attempted industrial endeavor in 1875 which was meant to change the entire northwest end of the undeveloped and sleepy ranchland. If there is time, Richard may tell us the many thrilling tales from the old dynamite factories of West Berkeley! Join us for another rare and unique experience and opportunity to bring people together and learn of the people, events, and everyday life that was West Berkeley in the nineteenth century.