Moraga Historical Society Newsletter Excerpt Index

The MHS Newsletter Excerpt Index features MHS newsletter articles written by MHS members which pertain to the history of Moraga and the surrounding area. There are two works in progress. The first is to scan and make available online as pdf files all those newsletter editions since inception which currently exist only in hard copy form. The second is to extract and convert into digital form historical feature articles written by MHS members and make them available as individual web pages. This index presents these excerpts in chronological order and provides links to the source newsletter pdf and the extracted article’s web page. Return to Newsletter Index.

2023 Second Quarter Trains through Moraga: Sam Sperry describes a history between 1913-1957 that seems unimaginable to the residents of Moraga which was incorporated as a town in 1974, for this was when electric trains from Oakland on their way to Chico passed through what was an agricultural backwater notable for its production of pears and walnuts controlled by James Irvine, a southern California businessman who unsuccessfully tried in 1913 to jumpstart Moraga as a town (see Old Moraga Town Site Walking Tour). Unimaginable because there is almost no trace left of the trains, their railway tracks and their stops.
2023 First Quarter The Forgotten Redwoods of Moraga: Susan Sperry describes the wild history of the southern third of the Rancho Laguna Palos Colorados land grant which consisted of old growth redwood trees, Susan Skilton provides a brief biography of Elam Brown, founder of Lafayette, who took control of the redwood area, and John Kaiser muses on how fussy redwoods really are about where they flourish.
2022 First Quarter Elisa J. Berry of San Francisco and the Story of her Headstone in Moraga: By Susan Skilton, Research Director, Moraga Historical Society, this article explores the mystery of a headstone rescued from the Valle Vista area before it was flooded to create San Leandro Reservoir. Who Elisa J. Berry was and where the headstone came from has been solved, but still unsolved are the mysteries of who are her ancestors and how the headstone ended up in Valle Vista.