You’ve Seen the Book – Now You Can Meet the Author Why are place names important? From the Native Americans to the various European settlers, each wave of migration left their mark upon the land. Many names have long since disappeared but are still found on old maps and documents. Some names have interesting or […]
Oral History: Susan Mott — August 17th, 2015
Summary: Susan was born in Lafayette in 1945 and has lived here, or within 5 miles of Lafayette all of her life. In the 1930s, Ina Schmidt, her grandmother, bought property in Lafayette and developed the Lafayette Garden Estates next to what is now El Charro Restaurant. Susan remembers an area of farms, and walnut […]
Oral History: Mary Machado Ginochio — October 23rd, 2018
Summary: Laura Torkelsen interviewed Mary in October 2018, when Mary was 96. Her daughter Sophie was present. The Machado family has long been associated with the Alta Crest Dairy, which once existed on the former Hamlin property in the Silver Springs area in Lafayette. The dairy was actually started by Mary’s older sister, Cecilia. When […]
Oral History: Fred Ravazza — April 14th, 2014
Fred’s father came to San Francisco from Liguria, Italy, “around the time of the Great Earthquake.” He eventually settled in Lafayette where he and his wife raised two sons. Lafayette had the perfect soil and climate for the same kind of dry farming the family had been doing for 250 years in Italy–dry farming, which […]
Lafayette Ridge Hike
A few years ago, one of our volunteers filmed a hike of the Lafayette Ridge from start to finish. We thought we’d share it with you.
Oral History: Mabel Bowbeer — November 14th, 1977
Summary: Mabel Bowbeer and her husband Earl moved to the Daley Ranch in Lafayette in 1928. The entrance to this ranch was located near the El Charro restaurant. The depression hit soon after they settled here, and Mabel recalls that there were usually “extra children” — those whose families were without seated around their table. […]
Speaker Series: “The Bay Miwok Saklan in Lafayette”
James M. “Doc” Hales will tell use how the Bay Miwok Saklan Native Americans made use of edible, medicinal, ceremonial, and plentiful plants and wildlife in their Lafayette and Walnut Creek villages. James will bring his mini museum of artifacts to his presentation Doc Hale is a renowned wildlife biologist in the East Bay and […]
Oral History: Catherine Sinnott — September 30th, 2011
Catherine Sinnott, who was born in 1924, was on the move most of her life–growing up on a sheep ranch in Sonoma country, studying nutrition at UC Davis, working as a food researcher in Albany, and being on active duty with the Marine Corps women’s Reserve during the latter stages of World War II. Then […]
Oral History: Robert and Sophie Wing — September 28th, 2011
Sophie and Robert Wing, who brought together two old Lafayette families when they married in 1961, were both born in 1930. Sophie was the youngest of 8 children in the Machado family that ran the Alta Crest Dairy in Lafayette. She describes the dairy operations and in particular the roles assigned to her, from a […]
Speaker Series: “Tales About Trails”
Stu Swiedler will share “Fact versus Fiction” on the creation of the Lafayette-Moraga & Iron Horse Trails. We’ve enjoyed these trails for many years. Find out how they’ve come to be. Sunday, August 12, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. in the Lafayette Library & Learning Center Arts & Science Discovery Center located on the mezzanine floor. […]
