Pinole Historical Society

Pinole Historical Society Quarterly Meetings

The Pinole Historical Society has general membership programs in September, November, February, and May (annual meeting) at 6:30 p.m. at the Pinole Library, 2935 Pinole Valley Road. The programs are free to PHS members, their guests, and the public. Light refreshments are served. Please join us for spirited discussions, speakers, and historical presentations.

2024 PHS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS AT THE PINOLE LIBRARY

Friday, February 2: “ Remembering the 1927 Carquinez Bridge,” presented by author and Cal State East Bay professor John Robinson. The program will be based on his book about the Carquinez Bridge. John’s previous programs for the society include:
— The Lift Bridges of the Bay Area
— Lost Cities of the East Bay
— The Bay Bridge Troll
— The Short-Lived History of Bay Area Shoreline Art.
Several of John’s programs, along with all of the programs the PHS recorded since 2008, are on the Pinole Historical Society YouTube channel.

Friday, May 3 or 10: Program to be announced presented by Pinole Historical Society
co-founder and historian George Vincent.

Friday, September 6 or 13: Program to be announced.

Friday, November 1 or 8: Program to be announced.

2024 PINOLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ACTIVITIES
The Pinole Historical Society sponsors several activities during the year, among them the Veterans Day Memorial and Flag Retirement Ceremony (November 11), Pinole history programs in elementary schools, exhibits at the Pinole Library, and a Pinole history essay contest for children in Pinole’s elementary schools.


Pinole Historical Society Programs on YouTube

Looking for a good local history program to watch? Look no further than the Pinole Historical Society’s YouTube channel, created by Pinole History Museum board member Alec Jason, who reformatted more than a decade’s worth of PHS programs and uploaded them.

Among the 40-plus videos include:
CANDLES OF HISTORY: CELEBRATING TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF THE HEYDAYS AND REMNANTS OF THE RANCHO EL PINOLE: presented by Pinole Historical Society co-founder and historian George Vincent.
THE SHORT-LIVED HISTORY OF BAY AREA SHORELINE ART: presented by author and Cal State East Bay professor John Robinsn.
GOT HISTORY?: presented by the Contra Costa County Historical Society.
THE MAN WHO BUILT PINOLE: Architect Mike Woldemar’s Zoom program included photos and stories of the many buildings he designed in Pinole during his long career, including the Pinole Youth Center, Del Monte Shopping Center, Pinole Depot Plaza, Crocketts Premier Auto Body, Contra Costa County Animal Shelter, Pear Street Bistro, and Heritage Park, including site improvements and the rose garden for the Faria House.
GEORGE VINCENT’S two walking tours of historic downtown Pinole.
THE PINOLE MURAL: Wells Fargo Bank produced this video about the history of Pinole. The mural hangs in the bank’s Pinole office on Fitzgerald Drive.
FIESTA DEL PINOLE 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965 parades, courtesy of PHS member Jim Payne.
AN INTERVIEW WITH TWO MAYORS: Former mayors Jack Meehan and Tom Cutino spin political tales and how they saved Fitzgerald Drive — and the sales-tax dollars its shopping centers produce — for Pinole.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?: How Pinole streets got their names, and the characters behind those names.
THE LOST CITIES OF THE EAST BAY, presented by author and Cal State East Bay professor John Robinson.
THE HISTORY OF 610 QUINAN STREET, presented by Linda Lopes Rosedahl, the third generation of her family to live on Quinan Street.
THE PRESIDENTIAL ROSIES: Former Rosie the Riveters recount their World War II experiences at the Kaiser Shipyards and their 2014 visit to then-Vice President Joe Biden at the White House to get national recognition for the women who worked in the World War II shipyards and factories.
VETERANS DAY Memorial and Flag Retirement Ceremonies from 2008 to 2019.

To view these videos go to YouTube and enter PINOLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY in the search bar. Or Click here.

We’d be grateful if you give our videos a THUMBS UP! Thank you.