The ‘Naughty 90s’ become the 20th Century

The scandalous 1890s were fast-fading into the year 1900 and its progressive era of social reform. The population of our country was 70 million in 1899, with California at 1,500,000 and our town of Petaluma at just 3,875. William McKinley was President, having beaten William Jennings Bryan in his second election (this time with Teddy Roosevelt as his V.P). Prohibitionist Carrie Nation had just started breaking up saloon liquor bottles with rocks and hammers and on Sept. 8, what is still to this day the “Deadliest natural disaster in United States history” occurred, as the Galveston Hurricane demolished the State of Texas, incredibly destroying over 7,000 buildings with water 10 feet deep, resulting in nearly 8,000 deaths.

In world news, 79-year-old Queen Victoria was still ruling England, while a young man named Winston Churchill had just been elected to Parliament for his first term. The Summer Olympics were held in Paris that year and women were actually allowed to compete in them for the first time (lawn tennis … in ankle-length skirts). While in China, the anti-Christian Boxer Rebellion and the Chinese-American “Open Door” trade policy were both underway at the same time, causing genuine conflicts of interest

Oil was discovered in California that year, along the Kern River in the San Joaquin Valley. It was a considerable hit and eventually would bring-in over 200 companies to try their luck. That same oil field now, 120 years later, is still the fifth largest in the U.S. and is operated by Chevron. Along our Coast, Southern Pacific Rail Road completed their line connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Gold, meanwhile, had recently been discovered in Alaska, exciting many younger Californians, who felt they had missed-out on that 1849 deal.

In Sonoma County, agriculture was big news.

Thousands of tons of hay, butter, eggs and hops were shipped-out on our creek making it then the third busiest waterway in the State, and the “new and commodious Steamer Gold” was regularly journeying from Hay Stack Landing (just south of Petaluma) for San Francisco at a fare of .50 cents a ride.

That year, our county also led the State in wine production, with an active 69 wineries.

Petaluma was officially 42 years old in 1900 and our Petaluma Incubator Co. had just turned-out its 20,000th chicken egg incubator, with 40 men working full-time six days a week there. And, our banking business was booming too, with four of Petaluma’s ‘Big Six’ founding families competing with each other as bank presidents - Hiram Fairbanks of the Petaluma Savings Bank, William Hill of Wm. Hill Bankers, John McNear of the Bank of Sonoma County and Isaac Wickersham of the Wickersham Banking Co. The other two of the Big Six families were the Denmans and the Mechams and … to keep it within the group, Frank Denman was Head Cashier under Mr. McNear.

One wonders if those dudes also played poker against each other … now and then.

Three new Petaluma ordinances were brought-in to celebrate the new century.

1. Prize fights were prohibited within the city limits.

2. The keeping of a horse affected with the contagious disease Glanders was prohibited within city limits.

3. Expectorating on the floors or steps of any building, or even upon the sidewalks, was prohibited.

We were charging ahead with new manners, it seems.

Our Petaluma Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E?) announced to consumers they would be shutting-off electric lights between 12:30 and 4:30 A.M. every night for the engineers to … “Go over the machinery,” and though an actual automobile was seen here now and then, the American Stables on Main Street still provided, “The best of turnouts at most reasonable rates.” And William Farrell, “Blacksmith & Wagon Maker,” and future Mayor, was carrying a full stock of Studebaker Buggies.

By the by, one of those Studebakers is permanently on display inside our Petaluma Museum.

But the big news of the new century in Petaluma occurred during that very first day of January, when 3.6 inches of rain, the heaviest downpour on record, fell upon us and Petaluma Creek ran way over its banks! Homes and businesses were flooded, Washington Street was under two feet of water and Main, Western, B, C, E and other streets were brim full as they became small rivers.

It was New Year's Day and it was chaos in Petaluma.

But since this was 120 years ago, at least the river had been recently dredged.

The Camm & Hedges and also the Geo. P. McNear Companies both lost lumber, floating away downriver that day. The Schooner Catherine Miller was swept loose and crashed into the D Street Bridge and our Morning Courier wryly observed, “H. Hussey’s new boat started out on a spin and perhaps is on her way to Manila by now.”

It was said, “Mountain streams became torrents and it was a perfect deluge, the electric lights went out and lanterns were in great demand.” Crowds of New Year’s celebrants flocked to the river to view Petaluma’s biggest flood and quickly discovered those happy-head New Years paper hats weren‘t exactly water-proof.

We were still in the middle of the Industrial Revolution in 1900, of course, and one fun new invention was the Kodak Brownie Camera, which you could buy here at Tomasini Hardware for a single buck. Pennsylvania’s Hershey Co. debuted their chocolate bar that year, and Germany’s Bayer Co. came out with something they would call “The Aspiri.”

“The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz” was first published in 1900 and the hot song (are you ready?) was “Who Threw the Overalls In Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder?”

Some other interesting names in the news of 1900 were Emily Bronte, Vladimir Lenin, H.G. Wells, Oscar Wilde, Butch Cassidy, Scott Joplin, Edvard Munch, Jack London, Ma Barker, Mata Hari … and Sigmund Freud.

It was a brand new century.

The future was bright.

What could possibly go wrong?