Luke 5:4–6
Gentile: “I didn’t know Jews know how to fish!”
Jew: “Sure we can fish. And we can walk on water!”
Woman Rabbi; “Yes we can catch! And walk out to the deep water to take our limit!”
“I now rename Belmont….BELABAMA!”
The biggest and most crucial question – IN ALL THE WORLD – is if Kamala Harris is going to be re-elected VP, or will she be our next President – or will she – BE A BIG LOSER?
Four years ago I made an extremely prophetic post during Black History Month! What are the odds ? My words are in our National Archive because I sent them in a long letter to Kamala. I mention the name DENNY LAWHERN, who may have been bitter his name is not on the many Memorial Twin Pines Plaques paying tribute to the late Mayor, Eric Reed. Is Eric in our National Archives? I am!
I first went fishing with Mark Gall – thirty years ago! I wondered to myself – Can Jews fish? We failed to catch – once! We talked about that never happening again. It did not. For several years we went on The Tour of Homes in Eugene, where Mark fished for remodeling ideas. He must have caught a thousand of them. He made the mistake of paying an architect $16,000 dollars for blue prints for his new Kitchen!
“You paid that much! I’m not impressed! I will do some sketches – for free! And when I come over, We can talk!”
I caught Gall on camera – fishing for ideas. When it came to titling this video, I used the word “Jewing” Mark went to Harvard where heads rolled for suspect anti-Semitic thoughts. If Kamala runs for President -and wins – there are going to be feelings, and thoughts, there may not be words for! We may have to invent new words. Renaming Belmont, Bellabama – was genius! I want Ken and Mark on my podcast.
John Presco
“I am now wondering if the BHS found my post of July 17, 2020 where I founded the Black Turnverein, that does anticipate the Jan.6th. Insurrection – that failed? What if it has succeeded? Would black people be up in arms – for real? Intelligences Agencies are saying – its not over! How many spooks in NATO Nations are paying a lot of attention to the real crisis our Democracy is in. Did Trump backers in Belmont believe the election was stolen?”
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign said Wednesday that it won’t agree to proposed dates for a vice presidential debate until at least the Democratic National Convention, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 19.
Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, signaled that it wouldn’t make sense to solidify a debate date yet for the vice presidential contenders because of the still-growing group of Democrats calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race. He suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris could ultimately be named the party’s presidential nominee.
Black Turnverein
Posted on July 17, 2020 by Royal Rosamond Press
Yesterday, I admitted I have gotten out of shape due to COVID-19. Today I founded the Black Turnverein Channel that hopefully will be broadcast across America. Many black athletes will not be taking the field in our Nation’s colleges. I moved to Springfield fourteen years ago and bonded with some of the black Oregon Ducks. For awhile there was a group of blacks who met near the playground to do exercise. I joined them. I was seventy years – young!
Overly concerned with money; given to haggling or Jewing (Jewing n.1); characteristic or suggestive of such behaviour. Cf. Jew v. 1. offensive.
With reference to anti-Semitic stereotypes; cf. Jew n. 1b and note.
https://www.oed.com/dictionary/jewing_adj?tl=true
You sent Today at 9:00 AM
Here is my good friend, Mark Gall. For 25 years we have discussed out family history. He grew up in Hunter’s Point and will be in my book. Our mutual friend also went to Harvard and wrote a Eisenhower bio. He was an editor for Double Day. How long has each member of the Belmont Society been volunteering to gather my family history? Thank you for the good job you have done. https://pages.uoregon.edu/mgall/vita.htm
“We are related to historic people somewhere.“
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 9:39 AM
“There’s no competition, for Pete’s sake.“
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 9:39 AM
“Maybe your friend the editor can explain copyright to you.
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 9:39 AM
“Everyone is related to “historic people.”
You sent Today at 9:50 AM
Are you suggesting I am violating YOUR copyright, or, a group’s copyright? I just want to make sure. There is strong evidence that MY family has been collecting OUR history for hundreds of years. Here is the proof the Benton family is kin to the Bonaparte family who were close friends of Cipriani. My famous artist sister married the artist, Garth Benton, the cousin of the artist Thomas Hart Benton. My niece Drew Benton is an artist, and so am I. This constitutes a artistic dynasty – when you include my mother’s cousin, the actress Elizabeth Rosemond
https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/vice-president-harris/
Dear Vice President;
I exceeded the limit of words I could send you, then I saw the light. In the two photographs of my Stuttmeister-Janke grandfathers, I saw they were framed by two trees – TWO PINE TREES! Are these the two trees that were-are found in Twin Pines Park that is located at the center of the City of Belmont? Before you and President Biden won the White House fair and square, I and Ed Howard were combining our Oakland History, the city where I was born. Were you born in Oakland where my kin took refuge after the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. They lived below Joaquin Miller who brother published Jack London’s ‘Martin Eden’ in the Pacific Monthly. Jack lived and worked in Belmont and grew up in Oakland.
When the Belmont Historical Society did not respond to the photographs I posted on their sites, I wondered if they were looking at who I am on the internet. I posted my blogs on you and the Turnverein Abolitionists who chose John Fremont to run in the newly formed Republican Party. I am related to Fremont. I also posted one of my famous sisters paintings ‘Lena and Her Sisters’. Lena was our ‘Black maid who raised us when my mother went to work to support her four children. I surmised I was dealing with racists’, but, it is much worse than that. I dealing with people like Governor DeSantis and his people, who are engaging in SELECT HISTORY. They have gone way beyond EDITING HISTORY, they are passing laws that OUTLAWS HISTORY they do not like. Denny Lawher did not like your amazing history. He ruled that the first Black Woman to be elected Vice President, had nothing to do with Belmont. HE LIED! He knew better. I had posted on the Forty-Eighters. Five days after my first post, I got this message from Denny Lawhern.
Greg Presco Hi Greg , I have been enjoyed some of your posts and photos that are directly related to the Belmont area and you have provided some new photos and information that will be put in a file, but please try not to post anything that is off topic or is not Belmont Area related. Thank you , Denny Lawhern Belmont Historian“
I am still appalled – and in shock two years later. What Denny is saying ism “Thanks for your deposit of you family history! Now – GET LOST! Denny thinks he is a Family Information Bank, and I and others are obligated to give him our family history. When Cynthia McCarthy joined in, she informed me I may be violating her Copyright by putting a photograph of my Janke ancestors that appear in her book. Again – I am still in shock! Why didn’t Denny or Cynthia post these photographs, saying. “Are you aware we have photographs of your bloodkin?” Were Christians intent on suppressing the Oddfelows?
I now suspected these two were idling something from me. I soon discovered that my great-grandfather and grandmother were dug out of their graves in the middle of the night, and moved to the Union Cemetery in Redwood City. But, what is truly astounding, is, it looks like Carl Janke brought six portable house around the Cape to establish a Oddfellow Utopia, completer with a Turnverein Amusement that is not unlike the original Disneyland. It was meant to be a Magical Place for the Oddfellow who lived in San Francisco to come and enjoy My family co-owned a stagecoach line, that took honeymooners to Halfmoon Bay. How many Californians wished they had this in their resumé? We owned a Soda bottling company. What if I wanted to revive this family buniness and draw business because I am…….LIVING BELMONT HISTORY
Mrs. Vice President, I suggest you and President Biden investigate Historical Societies across America, to see if racist select history is going on. Stanford is moving to Belmont. I would like their history department to look at the history of the Oddfellows in California. Here is Ms, McCarthy taking a bullet for Mr, Lawhern who dedicated his life to compiling MY FAMILY HISTORY that is some how – his. He got praises and pats on the head. He wanted more of that. How – parasitical in denying me my history. Of course my German history fell out of favor because of the Two World Wars. With the invasion of Ukraine, NATO and the world, is looking to how Germany responds. Ursula van der Layen went to Stanford. Her children were born in America. I suggest you invite Ursula to meet with you at Stanford, and do a tour of the Bay Area. It is from here a war with China would be launched. We must show our enemies the reason we fight. Our real and true history must stand and face the light of day! We have nothing to hide when….The future is ours!
There is a wreath and rifle in the tree if you look closely in one of the photos of my family which highly suggests they are paying traditional honor to their ancestors – who are buried in Twin Pines Park! It is traditional for Oddfellows to meet at the graves of loved ones on Sunday, and have a picnic. This order has genealogical archives like the Mormons do. Christians had an interest in suppressing the Oddfellows, then – and now! With the rise of Christian Nationalism inside the Republican Party, ONLY, a religious war is taking place in our Democracy. The Republican Party – may be using the Oddfellows as a model. In Iconography Culture Wars, the original is always destroyed after alterations. I suspect the Belmont Historical Society knew I could make a claim of ownership. Is there a Deed on file that allowed the worship of the Cark Janke and his wife – to take place at Twin Pines – forever? I will solicit the HELP of my local Oddfellows in Springfield Oregon.
I am now wondering if the BHS found my post of July 17, 2020 where I founded the Black Turnverein, that does anticipate the Jan.6th. Insurrection – that failed? What if it has succeeded? Would black people be up in arms – for real? Intelligences Agencies are saying – its not over! How many spooks in NATO Nations are paying a lot of attention to the real crisis our Democracy is in. Did Trump backers in Belmont believe the election was stolen?
Sincerely
John Presco
President: Royal Rosamond Press
“My name is Cynthia McCarthy and you can blame me and me alone, not the Belmont Historical Society. You can email me at @gmail.com.
Belmont Historian Destroys Black History
Posted on March 1, 2021 by Royal Rosamond Press
These posts were taken down from the Belmont Historic Society by one or more alleged volunteers. Cynthia Karpa McCarthy takes all the blame in order to get me to rage at her via personal e-mail, and, or, she wants to be THEIR champion so she can write a new book employing my family who founded Belmont, and were German Turnverein. They read these posts- and winced! I was their worst nightmare – alas come home to roost. I believe Cynthia came across my blog, Royal Rosamond Press, in her studies. THEY conspired on how to take care of me – and remove my posts. No one extended his/her welcoming hand to a senior – who owns the same DNA Carl Janke & Sons own! My Rosamond Ancestors were Patriots in South Carolina, and ARE the Good ol Boys! They would not dream of treating anyone like a Carpetbagger – today! I now rename Belmont….BELABAMA!
The Rosamond American Authors | Rosamond Press
The Philosopher Detective | Rosamond Press
Rename Franklin Street – Harry Lane | Rosamond Press
Still No Friend of History
Posted on October 11, 2023 by Royal Rosamond Press
They showed the last movie for the season in Twin Pines Park. These movies are made FOR KIDS! No Film Noir movies were shown FOR ADULTS. If you want to see that kind of crap – movie to Berkeley!
I got the impression the new Mayor of Belmont attended the Secret College of Innocuous Living where highly trained Christian Women are taught to erect a Vortex of American Goodness, and destroy all Bohemian Pretenders. I found out the Wikipedia of my late sister is vastly improved, but, it is not suitable for child – of any size. It has a dirty, unbalanced feel to it, like the history of Jack London. Did Jack and Christine – take their own life?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Rosamond
The work of Disney Artist, Eyvind Earle, hung in the Rosamond Gallery in Carmel. Eyvind illustrated ‘Sleeping Beauty’ .His work may be banned in Florida. In this post there are posts about Mark Gall who was the head of the Department of Education at the University of Oregon. We have not had discussions about DeSantis going after Liberal Colleges- because this is a sensitive area for him. He too created a Vortex of BuColic Goodness like the one a reporter helped create by depicting the Janke family as drug crazed criminals who promoted gang acivity and the rape of girls. Sounds like – Hamas!
What I suggest, is the Mayor and Council pass a law banning all three Cable News Stations because they broadcast VERY DISTURBING NEWS that will harm children – and adults!
John Presco
The Belmont City Council recently approved funding for a master plan to upgrade Twin Pines Park, a bucolic oasis where people can escape the push and pull of modern life by simply listening to the sound of a creek as it flows in the shade of towering trees. It is hard to believe this pastoral setting has a violent history that includes murder, rape and kidnapping.
The unsavory history took place a long time ago when the park was known as the Belmont Picnic Grounds as well as Belmont Park. The present park is a remnant of the original 12-acre, wildly popular venue that opened shortly after the train came to the Peninsula in the 1860s.
As an adjective, bucolic refers to an ideal country life that many yearn for. If your parents wanted to raise you in a bucolic environment, you may find yourself living 45 minutes away from the nearest movie theater or person your age. Not ideal.
You wouldn’t know it to look at it, but bucolic is a distant relation of cow, and all bucolic’s meanings can be connected to the bovine creature. Bucolic ultimately comes from the Greek boukolos, cowherd or herdsman. A bucolic could be a short poem about pastoral (cow) life or a country person, who is stereotyped as a cowherd. Used as an adjective, bucolic can refer to an idealized rural life (think life with cows) or to herdsmen (more cows). And that’s no bull.
Capturing Sleeping Beauty At Rosamond Gallery
Posted on June 8, 2017 by Royal Rosamond Press
No Friend of History
Posted on May 23, 2022 by Royal Rosamond Press
DENNY LAWHERN, president of the Belmont Historical Society, looks through images that will potentially be hung in City Hall.
Denny Lawhern died on March 8, 2022. You can say the History of Belmont – IS HIS BABY – that was passed down to him when senior members of the historical society – DIED! This history suggests there is a legacy to be passed down, like my family legacy that has amazing roots in Belmont that go back to 1848. We are a – PREMIERE FAMILY!
“When I got started I was kind of a junior member and now a lot of the older members have passed away and now I find myself being up there as one of the senior members,” Lawhern said.”
I found out Denny IS DEAD last night. I debated about showing him some respect, but, when I read what Cynthia McCarthy had written on his memorial site, about Denny and his sister going to England to research his family roots, I wondered why he did not ask for my phone number – BECAUSE HE IS THE CARETAKER OF MUCH OF MY FAMILY HISTORY! He had much to tell me. Now, it is too late. THIS IS A CRIME.
https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/l/a/w/Denny-Lawhern/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0019.html
McCarthy stakes a claim to images of my family – on the memorial. How come she was not happy TO KNOW descendants of Cark Janke EXIST, and one of them is a world famous woman artist, who signs her work by her middles name – ROSAMOND! I informed Cynthia dn Denny that our cousin is Elizabeth ROSEMOND Taylor. I got no response. Surely Facbook notices were sent to all the members. Three days passed before I heard from someone. There is a Belmont Quiz that posts old photographs, and it is suggested this is part of a historic service. Why wasn’t I shown pics of my kin?
I now get to guess what kind of person Denny WAS – and his family. He fashions himself a Patriot. WAS he a Republican? His wife was a church-goer. Did Denny start combing through my blog ‘Royal Rosamond Press – to see if I was HIS KIND of person. He did not like my posts on Kamala Harris, John Fremont, the Forty-eighters, and Turnverein Germans. Does Denny believe Trump – WON! Did Denny make any rude remarks about the history of LGBTQ People? Did he fear they wanted – in? Did Denny see himself as – A MORAL GUARDIAN? Denny painted American Flags on fire hydrants. Was he Anti-Hippie? Like a dog lifting its leg – DID DENNY MARK HIS TERRITORY? Did he hate my hippie history – and Liz’s too? Did he hate my German ancestors, being English and all?
In one historic article on Cark Janke, it is suggested my great grandfather owned and ran California’s FIRST AMUSEMENT PARK. This put’s Belmont’s History next to the history of Governor DeSantis who went after Disneyland for commenting on LGBTQ Rights. How much of my family history did Denny hide – and destroy? Did he have help? My run to be the Governor of Oregon puts me in a special category of Belmont History. I believe Denny was a political animal that enjoyed being in the limelight and getting strokes from elected officials. He sure didn’t want me to get any strokes. Denny Lawhern is ….
NO FRIEND OF HISTORY!
The psychic-hit I get from Denney, is he came to California as a wanna-be hippie, met his wife, and instead had kids. All work and no flower play for Denny. Having seen the light, he wanted to make sure no hippie later on comes around and wants to be in touch of – WHAT THEY REJECTED – in their youth. How many other ex-hippies came snooping around…..Denyville? How many grasshoppers did this ant – ice? Did he wait till they posted their family photos?
John Presco
Together with his two sons, Carl also formed the Belmont Park outside the grounds of the soda works. It became a rather popular beer garden, and it also might be considered the first California amusement park.
Denny was excited in recent years about trips he planned to take with his sister Abbie, especially the trip to England to trace their ancestors.
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 8:03 AM
One of the photos and captions is from the book I wrote. I am not certain if you think much of this information is new to us.
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA
March 14 ·
It is with deep sadness that the members of the Belmont Historical Society say goodbye to Denny Lawhern, who passed away on March 8, 2022. Denny was a founding member of the Belmont Historical Society and remained active for over thirty-five years. He was the Society president for ten years and the historian for eight years.
Denny was instrumental in keeping the Historical Society running and the History Room open as a community resource. He was a familiar and friendly docent to countless visitors, led tours for hundreds of Belmont school children at the Belmont History Room and was a resource for city government and the community for all things related to Belmont history.
Denny also worked tirelessly to preserve the Emmett House, now a local landmark, the Ross House and the Belmont Firehouse façade.
Denny’s contributions will continue to live on in the History Room. He will be deeply missed.
“Every story deserves to be told.” | Rosamond Press
Born and raised on a farm in Weeping Water, Nebraska, Toni began collecting stamps as a young girl which she said gave her a window to the world. As a young woman, Toni made her way to California where she met her husband Denny. Toni and Denny moved to Belmont in 1966 to raise their family; they have lived in Belmont for 40 years. She possessed an abiding faith in the Lord, and raised her children in the First Congregationalist Church of Belmont.
John Ambrose <braskewitz@yahoo.com>
To:news@smdailyjournal.com
Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 1:34 PM
I tried to post my family history on the BHS facebook and encountered a very rude Cynthia McCarthy who wrote a book on Belmont and failed to tell me this. She did not greet me warmly, and mentioned a copyright. I descend from Carl Janke, one of the founders of Belmont. My posts were taken down. Cynthia said she was to blame, and gave me her e-mail. I didn’t trust her and posted on Davina Hurt’s facebook. Here is my blog.
John Presco
President: Royal Rosamond Press
458 201-1472
On Monday, March 1, 2021, 12:54:42 AM PST, Mark Gall <mgall@uoregon.edu> wrote:
I looked at your post. It’s rather complex and about matters that only insiders are likely to be able to follow. It seems to me that the woman should not be deleting your posts.
I noticed the Images of America cover in your post. This is a wonderful series of books. I have 3 of them about San Francisco: Visitacion Valley where I spent my childhood, Portola Valley where I went to parochial school, and The Theatres of San Francisco. I bought the one about Eugene Oregon and another one about Summit Illinois where Joy grew up.
On Mar 1, 2021, at 12:17 AM, John Ambrose <braskewitz@yahoo.com> wrote:
I began promoting myself on the Belmont history page and this woman is giving me a hard time and deleting my posts. Three days later I discover she has written a book with my family in it. I think she is trying to rip off my info. She should have told me.- and been happy to meet me!
John
Meet Snitty Cynthia Karpa McCarthy | Rosamond Press
M. D. “Mark” Gall
Professor Emeritus
University of Oregon
College of Education
Email: mgall@u
Cipriani describes himself as Florentine in his diaries even though he was from Corsica. He recounts meeting another Italian speaker in Nevada and tells him he’s “Florentine, thank God!”
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 8:03 AM
One of the photos and captions is from the book I wrote. I am not certain if you think much of this information is new to us.
You sent Today at 8:44 AM
What are you suggesting? Who is us? The Janke family is MY family not your family. Millions of families brag on their family history no matter how mundane. This is all I am doing. I did not come to battle with volenteers who I thought would be glad to hear from descendants of the Founder of Belmont. I thought MY history was being rejected as it was twenty years ago by kin of your famous cop who controlled the city history. I never encountered the way you set up your facebook group and assumed the worst and appologised. I even removed post to show I am not at war with a group of volunteers who may be working on books and have written books. I know being related to historic people gives me an advantage. The Benton’s are kin to the Bonaparte family that Cipriani had extensive relationship with.
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 8:44 AM
Greeting! Thanks Greg for your message. We are not here right now, but we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We are a small organization with a handful of volunteers. Thank you for your patience.
You sent Today at 8:53 AM
New to us? I don’t get this statement. I can get the opinion of a professional writer as to what he makes of this. You may be treating me as a outsider a author who thinks he is in competition with you
You sent Today at 9:00 AM
Here is my good friend, Mark Gall. For 25 years we have discussed out family history. He grew up in Hunter’s Point and will be in my book. Our mutual friend also went to Harvard and wrote a Eisenhower bio. He was an editor for Double Day. How long has each member of the Belmont Society been volunteering to gather my family history? Thank you for the good job you have done. https://pages.uoregon.edu/mgall/vita.htm
“We are related to historic people somewhere.“
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 9:39 AM
“There’s no competition, for Pete’s sake.“
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 9:39 AM
“Maybe your friend the editor can explain copyright to you.
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA sent Today at 9:39 AM
“Everyone is related to “historic people.”
You sent Today at 9:50 AM
Are you suggesting I am violating YOUR copyright, or, a group’s copyright? I just want to make sure. There is strong evidence that MY family has been collecting OUR history for hundreds of years. Here is the proof the Benton family is kin to the Bonaparte family who were close friends of Cipriani. My famous artist sister married the artist, Garth Benton, the cousin of the artist Thomas Hart Benton. My niece Drew Benton is an artist, and so am I. This constitutes a artistic dynasty – when you include my mother’s cousin, the actress Elizabeth Rosemond
The Jealous Historical Society | Rosamond Press
The Black Liberation Navy | Rosamond Press
Capturing Sleeping Beauty At Rosamond Gallery | Rosamond Press
Belmont History Quiz: What Can You Identify in This Photo? | Belmont, CA Patch
WASHINGTON (AP) — Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a conservative political activist, urged Republican lawmakers in Arizona after the 2020 presidential election to choose their own slate of electors, arguing that results giving Joe Biden a victory in the state were marred by fraud.
Belmont History Scandal
Posted on March 23, 2021 by Royal Rosamond Press
Here is the come-on. The City of Belmont offers free membership to THE Belmont Historical Society IF POTENTIAL BUYERS ATTEND the book signing ceremony for the book CYNTHIA KARPA McCARTHY wrote 2014. Why didn’t the city, the society, and Cynthia, get on google to see if anyone had copyrighted some of this history – before they singed off on it, gave their signature and O.K.? I have every reason to suspect they went into my archives via the search, and found my copyrighted material. THEY knew what was going on, and kept me in the dark. Then THEY threatened me and GASLIGHTED me. Never in the annals of History Keeping, has such an outrage occurred. I am actively seeking an attorney. I have a right to affix my name to my family history and have it publicly displayed with other history pertinent to my family. How did McCarthy come to own – MY HISTORY? Who sold it to her?
Here is Cynthia saying my family history is not – that important. Then she says there is no competition – after I sensed there was. Finally, she mentions a copyright which causes me to google her, and discover she wrote a book on Belmont that THE CITY helped promote.
“We are related to historic people somewhere.
Belmont Historian Denny Lawhern with Bay Curious listener Ben Hilmer. (Suzie Racho/KQED)
The Story Behind Belmont’s Painted Fire Hydrants | KQED
In the albums are a few designs that definitely wouldn’t get the OK today, including a Chinese man in a coolie hat with a Fu Manchu mustache, and a Native American character called “Chief Running Water.” But Denny says, for the most part, the designs focused on the patriotic.
Belmont Historical Society, Belmont, CA is in Belmont, California.
Belmont Casino’s elegant owner, Charley Malaspina, featured in an article in Peninsula, January 11, 1946. Peninsula appears to have been a weekly newspaper that started publication in 1945 to cover the burgeoning peninsula.
The Belmont Casino, at 635 Old County Road half a mile from Bay Meadows Race Track, was billed as “Le Rendez-vous des Gourmets.” Host Charles Malaspina’s son Tom recalls the Belmont Casino from the late 1930s through the early 1960s as seating almost 150 people around a dance floor with a bandstand and two bars, the smaller bar being known as “Charley’s corner. Today, the Madison Apartments is on the site.
Belmont History Quiz: What Can You Identify in This Photo?
Test your Belmont history knowledge by answering a many of the following questions as possible.
Joan S. Dentler,Patch Staff
Posted Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 12:14 am PT|Updated Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 12:15 am PTReply
Once again, our thanks to Belmont historian Denny Lawhern for providing this wonderful old photo and the story behind it.
But before we tell you too much about the scene above, let’s see how much you can tell us. He/She with the most correct answers will receive an “I Love Belmont” bumper sticker.
- During what time period was this shot taken?
- What is the location of this photo? (be as specific as possible)
- What is the Bella Monti Country Club known as today?
- What is the significance of the bell on the left side of the photo?
Please enter your answers in the comment section below. The winner(s) will be announced on Monday.
The Soda Works and the Country Club
In 1876, a German immigrant named Carl Augustus Janke founded The Belmont Soda Works, which manufactured one thousand bottles of sarsaparilla and other drinks per month.
Together with his two sons, Carl also formed the Belmont Park outside the grounds of the soda works. It became a rather popular beer garden, and it also might be considered the first California amusement park. This park, along with its carousel rides, restaurants, ice cream parlors, and bars, drew rowdy crowds from San Francisco all the way to San Jose. The rambunctious crowds are what eventually shut the park down. Today it’s known as Twin Pines Park.
From the Daily Journal archives
Belmont park has history of sun, libations, mystery and disasters
- By Paul D. BuchananDaily Journal Feature Writer
- Oct 22, 2001 Updated Jul 13, 2017
The most popular daytime excursion destination on the Peninsula during the late 19th century once occupied the area in Belmont now known as Twin Pines Park. The Belmont Picnic Grounds proved so popular, in fact, that scores of picnickers would travel regularly from San Jose and San Francisco for sun, fresh air and libations.
The size of the crowds and the fondness for libation, however, eventually led to the attraction’s demise.
According to Belmont Historical Society records, Dorothea and Carl August Janke sailed around Cape Horn from Hamburg, Germany, in 1848. After landing in San Francisco, they settled in Belmont in 1860. Industrious and entrepreneurial, Carl Janke purchased land in the vicinity of 6th and Ralston. Janke set out to create a site for leisure activities, modeled after the biergarten in his native Hamburg. His creation became Belmont Park.
Janke’s park offered all the necessary provisions for an outdoor holiday, which included a dance pavilion to accommodate 300 large glassless windows, a conical roof and a dance floor situated around a large spreading tree. The pavilion was also equipped with a bar, an ice cream parlor and a restaurant.
Outside the pavilion, the park provided a carousel for children, footpath bridges crossing the meandering of creeks, and a shooting gallery, with picnic benches and lathe houses situated about the shady grounds. Brass bands performing from bandstands could be heard all around the woodland.
In 1876, Janke opened Belmont Soda Works, located north of Ralston along Old County Road. Janke’s sons, Gus and Charlie, operated the soda works, which offered a variety of sarsaparillas. Within two years, the Soda Works produced more than 1,000 bottles a month
I met Denny in 2012 or so about doing a book about Belmont. The publisher had been kinda hounding him to do it. He had already scanned hundreds of historical photos of Belmont as JPEGs but the publisher wanted TIFFs. He said he wasn’t keen to redo all the scans. Denny showed me around the Belmont History Room and the files and set me loose to do the book we all worked on together about Belmont.
Denny knew everything and everyone pertaining to Belmont, and he was a joy to work with. Denny was excited in recent years about trips he planned to take with his sister Abbie, especially the trip to England to trace their ancestors.
Denny was absolutely THE nicest human being I have ever met. I’m grateful to have known him.
Cynthia McCArthy – March 14 at 06:35 PM
Densel “Denny” Lawhern Obituary – Visitation & Funeral Information (skylawnmemorialpark.com)
Twin Pines Park’s shady past | Local News | smdailyjournal.com
Twin Pines Park – Belmont, California – Municipal Parks and Plazas on Waymarking.com
Welcome to Belmont, California – Mr. Roofing Blog (mrroofing.net)
From the Daily Journal archives
Lawhern a friend of history
- By Colleen Watson
- Apr 30, 2007 Updated Jul 12, 2017
- 0
Surrounded by walls covered in pictures of old buildings, yellowing photographs and peeling signs Denny Lawhern points to a water color of a bright red building.
“It’s called the landmark, one day it was there and the next day it was demolished.” he said, explaining why the Belmont Historical Society got started.
Since the loss of “The Landmark,” the Belmont Historical Society has helped the city of Belmont create ordinances regarding the preservation of historic buildings in the area. In 1991 the society did a survey of all of the buildings that had been built before 1941 and then designated some as historic local, state or potential federal designations.
One of the big projects the society is working on right now is the preservation of the Emmett house.
“If we can preserve a few buildings like the Emmett House, which we’re working on now, its not so much its going to be a beautiful building today but its also going to be a beautiful building 200 years from now,” Lawhern said. “We want to preserve the building but at the same time maximize the use of it for affordable housing.”
Lawhern was one of the founding members of the Belmont Historical Society, created in the 1987.
“When I got started I was kind of a junior member and now a lot of the older members have passed away and now I find myself being up there as one of the senior members,” Lawhern said.
He loves history but that isn’t his favorite part of working with the Belmont Historical Society.
“I think the part I love most is interacting with different people.” Lawhern said. “And right now my most enjoyable part about it is working with the residents in senior facilities. When I go there my goal is to spark an interest.”
He works part time as manager at Superior Body Shop, and in his spare time creates historic slideshows of Belmont, the Peninsula and the Sierras.
He often visits senior care facilities to show them the 30-minute slide shows.
Now the society’s president, Lawhern has lived in Belmont for 43 years. When he first moved into the community he started to give back. He served 12 years on the Planning Commission and many years with the homeowners association, the PTA and the scouts. He won the Ralston award in 1997 for citizenship for his community contributions. A California native, Lawhern and his wife Toni moved to Belmont to raise their family. He is still dealing with the pain of losing his wife last year, but he has had a lot of family and community support. He has a daughter Toni Lyn, a son Jason and a foster child Dwight.
Lawhern has been a driving force in the community for 40 years. He is as much a part of Belmont’s history as any of the buildings he loves. And his work in the Belmont Historical Society has helped preserve the treasures of Belmont’s past.
The Belmont Historical Society’s History Room is located in Twin Pines Park and is open on the second and fourth Saturday of the month at 1225 Ralston Ave., Belmont, Calif., 94002. The phone number is (650) 593-
Twin Pines Park’s shady past
- By Jim Clifford
- Jul 30, 2018
The Belmont City Council recently approved funding for a master plan to upgrade Twin Pines Park, a bucolic oasis where people can escape the push and pull of modern life by simply listening to the sound of a creek as it flows in the shade of towering trees. It is hard to believe this pastoral setting has a violent history that includes murder, rape and kidnapping.
The unsavory history took place a long time ago when the park was known as the Belmont Picnic Grounds as well as Belmont Park. The present park is a remnant of the original 12-acre, wildly popular venue that opened shortly after the train came to the Peninsula in the 1860s.
Belmont Park was the work of Carl Janke, who wanted to replicate a beer garden from his native Germany. The trains brought party goers from throughout the Bay Area to Belmont where they spent the day meandering through the woods or attending the many picnics hosted by immigrant groups and fraternal organizations, events that drew people by the thousands. Ships also brought park-bound passengers to the Belmont pier.
Today’s 10-acre Twin Pines Park is located on Ralston Avenue a few blocks west of El Camino Real in the same spot once occupied by the Belmont Picnic Grounds, according to the Belmont Historical Society. The society maintains a museum in Twin Pines, which is also home to popular summer concerts as well as picnickers.
Janke’s park featured a dance pavilion large enough to hold 300 dancers, a bandstand and, of course, a beer garden. Eventually, a jail cell was built under the bandstand to hold rowdy patrons, of which there were plenty.
Special trains carried passengers to the park for huge events, such as an 1868 picnic held by the Fenian Brotherhood, a group of Irish nationalists who wanted to free their native land from the English. The picnic drew 10,000 people, but such sizeable gatherings were not unusual for the times. Two years earlier, 15,000 turned out for a Fenian picnic in San Mateo. In 1870, 12,000 Fenians and their supporters converged on Redwood City, overwhelming a city of less than 2,000. The Irish group was not the only organization to hold massive picnics. In 1876, 8,000 people showed up at Belmont for an Odd Fellows picnic.
Belmont picnics often ended in drunken brawls and at least one escalated to gun play when a San Francisco hoodlum was shot to death. Drunks smashed out train windows with such frequency and people along the line complained so often that by 1900 Southern Pacific canceled charter trains to the park. Belmont Park deteriorated rapidly and was subdivided for other uses. In 1972, voters approved buying land for today’s Twin Pines Park, an area that then was the site of the Twin Pines Sanitarium.
According to Roy’s Clouds history of San Mateo County, 4-year-old Annie Mooney vanished from the park in 1883, never to be seen again in what he called “the most celebrated kidnapping case of California.” The most infamous and sensational episode at Belmont Park, however, was the rape of 15-year-old Annie Sullivan on May 10, 1884, allegedly by Henry Casey, described in the San Mateo County Times and Gazette as “a bad character, especially among the female sex.”
Casey had his day in court, but it was a brief one. Annie’s father, Daniel Sullivan, was about 6 feet away from Casey during a court hearing when, without warning, he pulled out a pistol and fired three shots. Casey staggered toward the jury box, straightened up and fell backwards near the front door of the courtroom, mortally wounded. A newspaper reported that Sullivan “felt he did nothing wrong and that he would do the same thing if it happened again.” If letters to the editors are evidence, public sympathy was with the father. Several writers said they would have killed anyone who assaulted their child while others said they would have been driven crazy by such a crime. Sullivan was acquitted on grounds of insanity
Long Description:
Twin Pines Park is the hub of Blemont Parks & Recreation. From Geocache GC1JB51, titled Sarsaparilla Park:
In the 1870s, Belmont was a whistle stop on the Southern Pacific railroad, an aspiring suburb to San Francisco and a base for tycoons like William Ralston who had built country mansions in the canyons and hills to the west. In 1876, two German immigrants brought some industry to town. Carl Augustus Janke and his son Carl Ferdinand founded the Belmont Soda Works just north of The Corners (now Ralston and El Camino). The Jankes manufactured a variety of fizzy drinks, most notably sarsaparilla, and delivered them to San Francisco and points south along the railroad.
The Jankes turned out to be entertainment entrepreneurs as well. They bought up a dozen acres on the south side of Belmont Creek and established Belmont Park and picnic grounds. Patterned after the beer gardens of their German heritage, it offered a 300 person dance pavilion, a carousel, a running track and walking trails, an ice cream parlor, plenty of picnicking space and of course drinks – beer and plenty of sarsaparilla (which might have been spiked with cocaine in that era). The Jankes made a mutually profitable deal with the Southern Pacific to run weekend picnic special trains from the city to Belmont Park. The place often hosted large crowds, with one notable affair being 8,000 people for an Odd Fellows fraternal gathering.
With drink and crowds came trouble. Drunken brawls were not uncommon, and on one occasion a shoot-out between gangs left a man dead (some modern problems are not new.) A private jail was installed at the park, beneath the dance hall floor, and the Southern Pacific put special police on its excursion trains. But as Belmont and other Peninsula settlements grew, the weekly influx of rowdies was seen as a problem that outweighed their commercial benefits. Under pressure from the locals, the railroad cancelled its party train specials by 1900. Belmont Park went into a quick decline, and was mostly subdivided for other uses. The present park and the civic center are part of its remains, with little to show of its checkered past.
Some features of Twin Pines Park are a children’s playground and the Buckeye, Redwood, or the Meadow picnic areas. Facility rentals include the Lodge, Cottage, Manor, or Twin Pines Senior & Community Center.
Belmont Theme Park – A First
Posted on November 7, 2018 by Royal Rosamond Press
I conclude Carl Janke is the founder of the city of Belmont, and perhaps the first Theme Park in California. Pre-fab homes were built back east and brought to Benicia in order to make it the first Capital of California. I suspect Belmont was a rival city.
William August Janke, the son of Carl August Janke of Belmont, lived in a Victorian house at 320 Haight St. a a block and a half from Fillmore St. Carl founded what may be the oldest theme park in America that catered to members of the Odd Fellows who lived in San Francisco. Carl Janke hired a special train to bring people to his theme park modeled after a German folk town and beergarten. Carl owned the Belmont soda works and sold a drink that may have contained cocaine. Carl made a jail for his town because folks got out of hand. Consider the Haight-Ashbury that was the haven for the Hippie Movement, that got out of hand. It became a theme-park that attracted folks from all over the world, and was the focal point of the war on drugs.
John Presco
1864-1910, page 133).
Records from Tombstones in Laurel Hill Cemetery, 1853-1927 – Janke
– Stuttmeister
Mina Maria Janke, daughter of William A, & Cornelia Janke, born
February 2, 1869, died March 1902.
William August Janke, native of Hamburg, Germany, born Dec. 25,
1842, died Nov. 22, 1902, son of Carl August & Dorette Catherine Janke. Frederick William R. Stuttmeister, native of Berlin, Germany, born
1812, died January 29, 1877.
Mrs. Matilda Stuttmeister, wife of Frederick W.R. Stuttmeister, born
1829, died March 17, 1875, native of New York.
Victor Rudolph Stuttmeister, son of Frederick W.R. & Matilda
Stuttmeister, born May 29, 1846, died Jan. 19, 1893, native of New
York.
Rosamond Press 
Leave a comment