Dan Smith, a Benicia Councilmember from 2002 to 2005 and former Herald associate editor, recently wrote a book on the history of San Pablo. (Courtesy photo)

Former Benicia City Councilmember Dan Smith will be at Bookshop Benicia on Sunday, June 19 to sign copies of his new book, “Stepping Stones: the Story of San Pablo, Last Small Town in the Bay,” published by the San Pablo Historical Society. A book release and signing will also be held at the Blume House Museum in San Pablo Monday, July 4.
“The historical society commissioned me to write the book,” Smith told the Herald Friday. “They took what I wrote and put it in a very accessible format.”
The book is richly illustrated with vintage photographs from the historical society’s collection and traces the city’s history from its beginnings as a Huchiun Indian village:
“Sir Francis Drake, though he likely never met a Huchiun in his voyage of 1579, described the coastal Indians in florid terms, calling them ‘an Arcadian people whose natures could hardly be told save through the language of music; people joyously hospitable, who seemed as free as the birds, whose speech and colors are like the warbling and plumage of birds.’”
One of the most interesting things the author learned while writing the book, he says, was the history of the wealthy landowners.
“Some of the rich folks who settled on the ranch bought it in the latter 1800s and still held the land into the 20th century,” he explains.
“It was a very clouded title. The Castros were the original owners of the rancho, then it came to include the Alvarado family when Castro’s wife turned over a controlling share to her daughter and son-in-law.
“The son-in-law was Juan Bautista Alvarado. He was governor of California for 10 years (1836-1845), the longest tenure to that point of any California governor.
“The extended families would try to sell off pieces (of the property), lawsuits were filed, and it took 30 years to finally sort out all the title issues. A whole section in the book is devoted to that process, ‘Township of Tangled Title.’”
The area named San Pablo originally encompassed Hercules, Richmond and Pinole, Smith discovered. “San Pablo Avenue was the road from Oakland.”
The bulk of material for the book came from the historical society’s archives. “It practically wrote itself,” Smith concedes, though he did gather additional information and details from a variety of sources including personal interviews, books, periodicals and websites. One local interviewee was former Benicia City Manager Mike Warren, who began his public service career in the parks department at San Pablo. Warren went on to become city manager for San Pablo before moving to Benicia years later.
In addition to his service on the Benicia City Council from 2002 to 2005, Smith has also written for the Vallejo Times-Herald and was once associate editor of the Benicia Herald. He is currently a freelance writer and continues to reside in Benicia.
The author will be on hand to sign copies of “Stepping Stones” at Bookshop Benicia, located at 636 First St., from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 19.

Sharing is caring!