Signs of Summer

We've had such a cool spring this year in the San Francisco Bay Area, that it is surprising to think summer has finally arrived! In the East Bay we had rain clear into May, weeks of June Gloom (foggy in the morning, burning off around noon), and cool offshore breezes. Further inland, Dublin and San Ramon are usually 10 degrees warmer than the coast, but they were cooler as well. The upside of cool weather and late rain is that vegetation has remained green longer.

Golden hills are starting to appear in the distance

Over the last weeks, though, the hills have taken on their tawny summer color, and many of the native plants that flourish with spring rains have ended their flowering displays, while others have died back or gone dormant. The temperature is finally heating up, both by the coast and inland, and folks have taken up their summer gardening and recreational activities with vigor. I typically favor cooler, moister weather, but this year I'm looking forward to some heat!

Kolb House at Heritage Park

While at Dublin Heritage Park and Museums, be sure to take the tour of Kolb House. The Craftsman style bungalow was built across the freeway for George Kolb in 1911, and later moved to Heritage Park to start its new role as a museum.

Kolb House from the front entrance

The Kolbs migrated from Münsterappel Germany in 1880, spent a few years in Philadelphia, and ended up in Pleasanton, California in 1884. George Kolb purchased the Dublin general store, married Wilhelmina Hartung, and together started their family. Kolb purchased 200 acres of land, built the house in 1911, and the family moved in.

Calla lilies edge the front of the house

Back entry, with the Challenge Dairy headquarters across the street

The craftsman style bungalow worked well as a farmhouse, with its wide overhanging eaves to protect from the hot sun, and wrap-around porches for gathering, extra workspace, or catching a breeze. A kitchen garden outside provided vegetables (with a lot of effort to keep the deer, moles, and birds away).

Raised bed kitchen garden, now planted by visiting school children

Kenmore washer in the laundry porch

I especially appreciated the laundry porch and adjoining kitchen. The Kenmore roller washing machine would have been a time saver (Mom used one of these in Hollis, Alaska, the logging camp where Dad spent several months of the year researching for the Forest Service early in his career). The cooler kept fruits and vegetables cool with air from under the house (Grandpa Bob built a cooler for Grandma Char in their Southern California bungalow).

The cooler

The house is furnished with the family's furniture and artifacts, giving it a feeling of authenticity. Many on the tour commented "my grandma had that" or "my great-aunt used one of those". For us, it was a journey down memory lane.

The range

Pastry station , with flour bin

For school age children, it would be a source of wonder - "how could they only have one bathroom, and why was by the back door?" and "how can they charge the computer without any wall plugs?". No matter what your age, you're sure to enjoy a tour of Kolb House.

Original location of the Kolb House, across the orchard from "downtown Dublin"

Dairy Farming History at Heritage Park

At Dublin Heritage Park and Museums, with the spring green hills in the distance and the charming Park surrounding you, it would be easy to glamorize dairy farming in the 1860s.

Main barn at Heritage Park

The Kolb Sunday School Barn

You can imagine the crew preparing a field under blue skies to plant winter hay, cows grazing in the distance on new spring grass, and a neighbor riding over from a nearby homestead to return a tool, talk about the latest news, and share a cup of coffee.

Disc harrow used to break up new ground

Chisel plow used to break up the soil

But the signage at Heritage Park makes it clear that dairy farming was backbreaking work for humans and draft animals alike. The heavy antique farm equipment on display at the Park—including various types of harrows and plows to break up or level the soil, a hay rake, and a wagon—makes that easy to imagine as well.

Spike tooth harrow used to break up the soil and level it

The barns provided sheltered work areas, as well as important storage areas for hay and tools, and gathering areas for dances, socials, and church services.

Hay rake for gathering up cut hay

Flat wagon used for hauling

The Murray Schoolhouse Museum provides additional information about daily life on a farm, and the dairy co-op that operated out of the area. The collection of butter churns and storage crocks was especially appealing to me.

Modern compost system for the Park

Even with all the hard work, I can also imagine it would have been satisfying to be your own boss, work in the open air with family and neighbors, and be close to nature in the beautiful valley surrounded by nearby hills.

Murray Schoolhouse Museum behind pink hollyhocks provides dairy farming exhibits

Special thanks to the father-son team, Caspar Van Kessel and Peter Van Kessel, for providing names and uses for the equipment (they have international dairy farming experiencing in The Netherlands, Novia Scotia, and Oregon, USA).

Dublin Heritage Park and Museums

Dublin Heritage Park and Museums is a ten-acre park located in the crook of the Interstate 580 freeway as it swings around from the valley floor to make the grade through the pass heading west toward the East Bay. It is a gem of a place to spend an hour or two if you're in Dublin, California, and want to be transported back in time a hundred years or so. The location was  the original "downtown Dublin" for the surrounding homesteads. As Dublin transformed from farmland to a modern town, a few forward-looking folks sought to preserve a little of its dairy farming history.

Dublin Heritage Park and Museums

The old St. Raymond Church (built in 1859) and the Dublin Pioneer Cemetery (established in 1859) are in their original locations. The Murray Schoolhouse, Kolb House, and associated barns were moved from across the freeway as the original farms were carved up for development projects. A small stream and forest insulates Heritage Park from the freeway, and the grounds are landscaped with plants you might see in the early 1900s, like hollyhocks and rambling roses. Across the street is the Challenge Dairy headquarters, and the original Green general store building.

The schoolhouse has wonderful exhibits for kids (and grownups) showing what it was like to attend school in a one-room schoolhouse, and to live and work on a dairy farm. The headstones in the cemetery provide a glimpse into pioneer life, and the church is a testament to early settlers who pitched in to build the center of spiritual and community life. I especially enjoyed our personal tour of the Kolb House, built in the Craftsman Bungalow style that was becoming popular at the turn of the twentieth century. I recommend visiting the Dublin Heritage Park and Museums, and checking out the photographs at the Online California Archive, the Dublin Heritage Museum collection.