Compiled by Nick Sestanovich

75 years ago

City Council Approves Plan for $70,000 Of New Streets (August 6, 1942)
The City Council at their meeting Tuesday evening approved a plan for calling an election to vote on improvement of certain streets in the City of Benicia and the formation of an assessment district. City Attorney Harold M. Simon was instructed to take the necessary legal steps for formation of the district.
It will be necessary for fifty one percent of the property owners to approve the formation of the district in order that the new streets may be constructed. On streets in the district which have already been accepted property owners will pay 25 percent of the proposed assessment in the bonded district and 75 percent where new streets are laid.
There are 797,000 square feet of new street work in the proposed district which will have streets 32 feet wide with curbs but no gutters.
Other property owners not in the district may also have new street work if all in their block approve the installation but cash must be paid for the work.
An application was received from H.C. McCaughan for closing of the alley in the north half of block 89,0 and P and East 4th and 5th streets. The council passed the necessary resolution vacating the alley and notice will be published. McCaughan plans on building several homes in the block.
A resolution was passed disclaiming right to certain property to be used by the Grammar school for buildings and in which the Federal government is interested and which they required clearance of title.
At a meeting of the Council July the 24th the map of Highland sub-division was approved and accepted.

50 years ago

Peddler’s Fair Takes Shape (August 3, 1967)

Visitors will flock to Benicia on Saturday, Aug. 12 to spend many pleasant hours at the Peddler’s Fair to buy, to sell, to wander through the maze of the one-day open air sale.
This replaces the traditional flea market.
The oldest known market in the world in England is called the Peddler’s Fair, after which the Benicia event is appropriately patterned. Benicia being one of the oldest cities in California with its wealth of history and boasting the first capitol building of the state.
Historical St. Paul’s Episcopal Church sponsors the day with Frieda Lundin, longest established antique dealer in Solano County, directing the project.
Her standing committee which functions year round includes Mrs. George Wolff, Mrs. Zelinda Lopes, Mrs. Lila Messina, G.L. Ray, William Macoun, Richard Morris and Jacquelyn Lundin.

25 years ago

Preserving a lost art (August 2, 1992)

By Tim Hearden

When some members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church started the Peddlers Fair nearly 30 years ago, Benicia was a quaint, small town known throughout the Bay Area for its antique shops.
Benicia has grown considerably over the years, and although antique shops still line First Street, the town is now better known for its artists and its preservation of historic monuments.
But for one day each year up and down First Street, people still come to Benicia from miles around to see beautiful antiques and rare collectibles.
In 1991, about 400 vendor booths and more than 40,000 visitors packed the First Street corridor from J Street all the way to the water. And organizers of this year’s 29th annual fair expect it to be as large and successful as ever.
“When the Peddlers fair started, Benicia was thought of as an antique center, and it’s not so much anymore,” Edna Aldinger, one of the directors of the fair, said. “The fact that Benicia was for a long time a center for antiques and collectables gave it a creative atmosphere, and that’s what attracted many artists here.

The full articles of these and other stories are available on microfilm at the Benicia Public Library.

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