|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The story begins June 6, 1797, when Mission San Jose became the fourteenth mission to be founded in Alta California.
It was the first of several settlements in the Fremont area.
A trail was mapped through Mission Pass to the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area by John C. Fremont, after whom the city was eventually named.
Over the years, it became a center point for travelers and established relations with the local Native American Ohlone Tribe.
Things changed when gold was discovered in 1948, and the area grew rapidly.
In 1850, when California became a state, John C. Fremont became one of the state’s first two senators. He also ran to be the US President in 1856 but was defeated by James Buchanon.
In 1853, Washington Township was established. It included several other communities and quickly became the area’s political, social and cultural center.
Then came Niles, named after the railroad station where the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.
In the early 1900s, Niles became the first home to the motion picture industry. The great Charlie Chaplin recorded several of his films in the Niles area, including his most famous one- The Tramp.
Another established community is Irvington, which had a well-known area called “Five Corners.” This was a commercial hub. Over the years, as places came and went, the area eventually became the location of two busy thoroughfares that intersected- Fremont and Washington Boulevards. They remain in significant use today.
All in all, the compilation of communities most known were Mission San Jose, Irvington, Niles, Centerville, and Warm Springs, which eventually were included in a grand decision to merge into what became known as the city of Fremont.
Thus, on January 23, 1956, the 88 square miles included the five former townships incorporated as the city of Fremont.
Everything else is just history
