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Health & Fitness

Karen Sorensen: Tour Guide to Old Albany

Local historian tells stories of Albany's colorful history to a standing-room only crowd at Albany Library.

On June 13, the Brown Bag audience went on a tour of old-time Albany. Karen Sorensen, author of IMAGES OF AMERICA: Albany (2007) led the adventure. A local historian and member of the , Karen has spent many years learning the stories of Albany's exotic past.

The Huchiun people of Cerrito Creek fished the bay and hunted in the hills and wetlands prior to the arrival of European settlers. During the Spanish colonial era, Peralta family land grants covered the land that comprised Berkeley and Albany, with Domingo Peralta's adobe located just south of Codornices Creek.

By the late 1800s, small land holdings by new settlers (or squatters) predominated, changing the look from rolling grasslands to small farms. While Berkeley grew very quickly, the Albany population remained small. This led to a dramatic "border conflict" involving Berkeley trash!

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Early Albanians took exception to the trash that Berkeley residents were dumping on their waterfront. Sorensen showed photos of the sensationalist headlines that followed a famous standoff between the "scavengers" (trash disposal crews) and Albany's armed defenders--a group of local women. Pistols and shotguns were a firm deterrent until the Sheriff quelled the uprising. Cooler heads changed the laws so Albanians had legal clout to stop the dumping. (One child in the audience had played the sheriff in a dramatic reenactment of the standoff at a local school.)

Known in 1908 as Ocean View, the town changed its name to Albany a year later to distinguish itself from the many communities of the same name. The new name also honored the home town of Albany's first mayor, Frank Roberts.

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Dramatic events were commonplace on the calm banks of the East Bay. One of the first industries was dynamite production and several explosions at the powder factories rocked the area and enraged the citizenry, causing many casualties in its years of operation.

Karen's selection of slides was excellent. Many photographs depicted changes in a given location over time. Albany Hill morphed from rural to industrial to a neighborhood landscape. Grand hotels came and went, giving way to schools and houses. The YMCA and Library changed and grew--but were always at the heart of town! Karen Sorensen's book is available online and at the Albany Library.

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