Comments on: San Francisco Timecapsule: 01.26.09

By: magazine

magazine — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:15:33 +0000

I live in Benicia and have for 5 years and i cant believe i never knew about the grudge. hahaha oh well i guess.

By: Richard Miller (Sparkletack)

Richard Miller (Sparkletack) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:18:47 +0000

@ Niki: Thanks for the kind words, and you’re absolutely welcome. Nice to be discovered …

By: Niki Deerfield

Niki Deerfield — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:46:42 +0000

Awesome, I just found your site today. Loved the time capsule on Jan 30th. I referenced a link to your site in my group, SF Bay Friends on Eons.
Thanks so much for the info and please keep up the great work.

By: richard - sparkletack

richard - sparkletack — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:26:18 +0000

By the way, I just can’t help mentioning that Bartlett’s decision to name San Francisco had even further repercussions …

After the town of Benicia was finally established, Doña Francisco Vallejo actually gave up her first name!

She dropped Francisca and was known simply as “Benicia” for the rest of her life.

By: richard - sparkletack

richard - sparkletack — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:32:10 +0000

You’re probably right about that grudge, Joe — I hadn’t heard about the closeness of the vote, but I did know that Benicia was unhappy to lose the honour! It’s a distinction that moved around quite a bit in the early days, too … from San Jose to Vallejo, to Benicia, to Sacramento, to San Francisco, and then back to Sacramento again.

By: Joe H

Joe H — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:19:03 +0000

My understanding is that Benicia’s real grudge is against Sacramento. Benicia was the State capital until the legislature voted to move to Sacramento. However, the vote to do so passed with a simple majority while a larger vote (absolute majority, 2/3s, ?) was required. I’m not sure if this is fact or fiction, but that’s what I heard during a tour of the old capitol building there.

By: richard - sparkletack

richard - sparkletack — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:56:02 +0000

Deborah – I confess, I invented the bit about the grudge. To put it another way, I imagined how I’d feel if I were a dyed-in-the-wool Benician … grudge city, all the way.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed that tiny slice of history!

By: DeborahW

DeborahW — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:46:52 +0000

Great bit of history. I live in Benicia and had no idea “we” bear a grudge against San Francisco! Of course, I’m a relative new-comer.

By: richard - sparkletack

richard - sparkletack — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:23:16 +0000

Welcome, Dean! Feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed … saves all that time and trouble remembering to swing back by.

By: Dean McLeod

Dean McLeod — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:51:36 +0000

I just found your site for the first time just now. Great work. I’ll look forward to coming back for a close look when I get a chance.