The old Decoto School House
400 May Street

Have you ever wondered what was at the end of the apartment complex at Mission Blvd. and Whipple St.? There is a "secret garden" there called Dry Creek. Inside the Dry Creek is the Dry Creek Cottage, hidden here for nearly 100 years, named after the stream that curves S-like throughout four acres of landscaped grounds. The garden, along with a larger parcel of 60 acres, was a gracious gift recently received by the park district form the three former owners, the "Meyers Sisters."

At the end of the Dry Creek apartment complex, there is also a beautiful house. This house used to be the old Decoto School House. In 1868, the Decoto School District was formed and was named the Cosmopolitan School District. J. G. Clark housed it on the property that is now Dry Creek Apartments, then owned by J. G. Clark. Before 1868, Decoto children went to Alvarado, Alviso, and Centerville schools. After the new school house was built in 1883, the old schoolhouse became the home of Henry May, Clara Whipple May, and their three children Henry Jr., Gertrude, and Marjorie. Henry and Clara May hired Henry Meyers, their brother in law, to design an addition to their home, which was completed in l929. After Henry May died in August l938, Clara May moved back to the Whipple home where she was born. Henry Jr. and his wife Mavis Scribner May were still living in the old school house in l968. Up until the early 1980's Jeanette Meyers visited someone she called John May, a cousin, in the old schoolhouse. Maybe this was a nickname or middle name for Henry May Jr. Upon the death of Jeanette's cousin, the land was sold to private developers who built the present Dry Creek Apartments. The old schoolhouse is now the apartment manager's residence.

The above is an excerpt from a report by Student Intern Ragir in 1999 and given to Myrla Raymundo by Jackie Beggs, a historian and a Park Ranger at the Meyers Garden.

Presently, there is a plan to build an addition to the front of the old school house. The owner of the Dry Creek Apartments had submitted a request to the City of Union City to demolish the front of the schoolhouse and build a servants' quarters in front.

The question is: Should the old Decoto Schoolhouse be preserved to its original grandeur and not be demolished by the developer? This schoolhouse was meant to be a historical site in the historic Decoto District.

HENRY MAY
- Excerpt from the Daily Review, Hayward, CA, July 4, 1976

Henry May feels that the City of Union City and the State of California are both over-populated already and that population statistics are likely to only increase in the future. But May, the descendant of early-day Decoto and Alvarado settlers, reminds himself that one can't dwell solely on the good old days that have provided him with a happy life and pleasant memories.

Although his grandfather, August May, once owned 1,600 areas in Alvarado and Decoto, "there's no way you'll find a major amount of property used for farming or ranching on the Union City side of the hills anymore, " May says.

And, while he views growth as inevitable, the 77 year old retired auto sales executive sees future deterrents to the housing growth in the problems of supplying water and earthquake control standards.

May chuckles as he points out that he is familiar with both problems, both highly publicized and connected to Union City's rapid growth patterns since the late l960's.

May lives in the home that he was raised in, a 100 year old building set back off Mission boulevard at the foot of the Union City hills, amid fields of flowerers and orchards.

FIRST COUNTY SEAT OF GOVERNMENT OF ALAMEDA COUNTY

Fate and history had not been kind to the First County Seat of Government of Alameda County. The stone monument located at Union City Boulevard and Smith Street looks like a discarded piece of stone. This monument was meant to be a sparkling piece of artifact and be an art deco centerpiece in the historic Alvarado District. It is supposed to be surrounded by beautiful flowers and greens and a nice fence. It is supposed to be tended periodically by the Union City workers. It is supposed to be shown to the community as one of the State of California landmarks.

It hasn't exactly worked out that way. Even those who have researched its history and love the monument admit that today it looks like it has been forgotten for many, many years. Now the forgotten and old artifact sits very lonely in a dusty road. People don't even know what it is. The plaque designates the site of this First County Seat of Government of Alameda County as State of California Registered Landmark No. 503. It is very historical for Union City, for Alameda County and for the State of California.

A little bit of history of the First County Seat of Government of Alameda County:

Alameda County was born on March 25, 1853. In the Legislature Act itself, Section 11 states. "The said Commissioners (of the Court of Sessions) shall meet in the town of Alvarado on the first Monday of July, AD, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty Three, which shall be known as the seat of Justice, Alameda County."

Two paragraphs later, Section 13 states, "The County Seat of Alameda County shall be known as the town of New Haven." At this early time the two competing towns at the elbow of Alameda Creek were beginning to compromise and use Alvarado as the name of their combined communities."

In this Pioneer Era, year 1853, H. C. Smith built a store across from Union City and called it New Haven. New Haven was reused as the name of the Union City school district. The first county seat for Alameda was then in Alvarado, on the second floor of Smith's store. The store burned down later.

Two years of 1854-56 when New Haven was the county seat of infant Alameda County, it brought the town several hotels, boarding houses, law offices, stores and shipping wharves. A blacksmith shop, livery stable, gambling saloon and a men's furnishing store occupied the downtown section.

The question is: Should the monument be restored to its original 1853 grandeur or should it be just left alone in a forgotten corner by the dusty roadside. The City of Union City still has to answer Myrla Raymundo as to whose responsibility is it to get the historic monument cleaned and restored into a historic piece and be shown to, not only the Union City residents, but to people around the county. After all, it is the first county seat of government in Alameda County.

Blessing of the Union City Historical Museum

Father Jose Leon of the Holy Rosary Church in Decoto performed a blessing rite at the Union City Historical Museum last September 15th, 2001. Present were: Phil and Leila Verzola, who made the arrangement with Father Jose, their daughter Veronica, Hugh and Josephine McNamara, Mike Christ, Ray and Myrla Raymundo, Cora Green and other guests. There was a sumptuous lunch prepared by Leila Verzola and Ray Raymundo.