Community Corner

Police Warn Boys on Air Guns; Mobile Phone Age Begins (1949)

Making front-page news in El Cerrito on this day 63 years ago included a police threat to seize air rifles from boys shooting out windows, the phone company praising discovery of microwave communications and more.

In the  at El Cerrito City Hall, you can turn to the now yellowed front page of the weekly El Cerrito Journal for today, May 12, in 1949 to see a snapshot of our community in its post-war growth years. Here are some of the actual headlines from the paper's front page, followed by our brief summaries of the articles:

Police Warn Boys
Against Air Guns

El Cerrito police report a number of complaints of broken windows in homes and businesses caused by boys with air rifles. Police this week compiled a list of names of such boys. Captain Howard Thulin warned that the guns will be seized if the mischief continues.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

El Cerrito C. of C. Hears
Telephone Co. Official

The fact that people take their telephone for granted is proof of the device's inestimable service to the community, the nation and the world, according to Robert E. Vining, information supervisor of Pacific Telephone Co. "Without the assistance of the telephone equipment, an its large research department, world progress, with special attention to America, would not have been realized," he told the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce at its weekly meeting at the Six Bells restaurant. He noted that the recent discovery and development of micowave communications has made possible ship-to-shore and air-to-ground communication, as well as portable telephones.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

City Seeks Own Department
Pending Recreation Survey

An independent recreation department for El Cerrito appeared to glimmer on the horizon, depending on an expected report from City Manager Edwin S. Howell. The report will follow a survey of recreation facilities in the city, including the two city-owned parks, by the assistant director of the state Commission on Recreation, Harry Stoops. The City Council will determine whether to establish an independent city department with its own director or to maintain the current arrangement by which El Cerrito pays to have its recreation plan administered by the Richmond Recreation Department.

Council Plans
Extension of
Potrero Avenue

The city's wish to extend Potrero Avenue to Arlington Avenue and thus create an arterial from the Eastshore Highway to the Arlington moved closer to realization this week when the City Council voted to petition the state to make a Potrero a street of major importance. Mayor Millard Fillmore said the new thoroughfare would relieve congestion on northern and southern arterials and also significantly improve service from the fire house now being built on Arlington Avenue.

Click  for other vignettes we've published about El Cerrito history. Click the Keep the Keep me posted button below for alerts to future articles in this series. You can find some back issues of the El Cerrito Journal at the Shadi Historical Room at City Hall, open to the public on the third Thursday of each month, 4:30-6 p.m.


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