History's Mysteries: Answers to Quiz on City's Past

Yesterday, July 11, we offered a chance to test your local history knowledge by publishing the "," which was distributed at the city's July 4th festival. We also promised to publish the society's answers today. You'll find them below, in italics after each question:

 1. What were some of El Cerrito’s first farming businesses in the 1830s and before?

□ Raising frogs         □ Raising cattle   

□ Growing wheat      □  Fishing 

Answer: Raising cattle and growing wheat by Victor Castro

2. The site of the current El Cerrito Plaza was a former what? Check all that apply.

□ Dog racing track             □ Speakeasy

□ Early Adobe and Rancho  □ Casino       

□ Ostrich racing                 □ Restaurant

□ Trailer park                     □ Drive in movie theater

Answer:

    1835-1956

Speakeasy                        Early 1930s

                1930s

Ostrich racing                    1930s                 

Casino                              1930s-1940s

Trailer park                       1942-1945

Drive-in movie theater       1948-mid 1950s

3. When was the ground broken for the first El Cerrito Plaza?

□ 1925               □ 1943              □ 1958   

Answer: 1958             

4. What did the fourteenth Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren have to do with El Cerrito history?

□ Wife was born in El Cerrito

□ Kicked off his 1946 gubernatorial campaign in El Cerrito’s Veterans’ Hall

□ Closed illegal gambling operations in El Cerrito

Answer: Closed illegal gambling operations in El Cerrito

5. What was El Cerrito’s largest employer from the 1940s to the 1960s at the current DMV offices on Manila?

□ TEPCO      □ School district      □ Horse track

Answer: TEPCO

6.  The Chung Mei home for Chinese boys at 1800 Elm was in operation from when to when?

□ 1935 -1954     □ 1885-1903      □ 1920-1934

Answer:

7.  When was the first Fairmont Elementary School opened?

□ 1917                □ 1903              □ 1923

Answer: 1903

8.  How many square miles is El Cerrito?

□ 5.1                   □ 7.2                 □ 3.9

Answer: 3.9

9.  How many center line miles of streets are there in El Cerrito?

□ 57                    □ 68                  □ 82

Answer:

 10.  When was the El Cerrito Historical Society founded?

□ 1919                □ 1957                □ 1974

Answer: 1974

Editor's Note: The Historical Society can be reached at elcerritohistoricalsociety@yahoo.com, or P.O. Box 304, El Cerrito, CA 94530. Its web page is www.elcerritowire.com/history.