Redwood City (Images of America: California)
Title: Redwood City A Photographic Celebration of Our Town Author: Michael Erler Publication: The Spectrum Date: October 2008  How does it feel to keep a secret for 70 years? If you live in Redwood City our city you have a pretty good idea. In a national sense, when people hear or read the words Bay Area they automatically think about San Francisco, the town that oh-so-modestly gave itself the nickname The City. Perhaps sports fans are also aware of Oakland because of the sports teams the A's, the Raiders, the Warriors and to a lesser extent San Jose because of the Sharks. Ask Peninsula natives about the Bay Area, however, and naturally the answers are more varied and soulful. You'll hear shout-outs for Palo Alto, Berkeley, San Mateo, maybe picturesque burgs like Half Moon Bay, Tiburon or Marin. All of these cities feature unique charms of their own, their tourist attractions, and they all bring something to the table. Redwood City, however, is the Rodney Dangerfield of hamlets; it just doesn't get any respect, even, sometimes, from its own. Four people who have spent a considerable amount of time and effort to change the perceptions and stereotypes of our town are two journalistic couples, Janet and Reg McGovern and Betty and Nicholas Veronico. Their new book, Redwood City, the latest installment of Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, was released on Oct. 6 and offers a little bit of everything for everybody, from history buffs to architectural enthusiasts to those who can't get enough of stunningly beautiful aerial photography, the kinds of pictures that make you feel vital and insignificant all at once. Mostly, though, it's a book made by Redwood Citians for Redwood Citians, to give us all a much-needed perspective into the town' past and an appreciation for those who came before us. When you're a reporter, there's a tendency to take a jaundiced view of the city or subject that you're covering so you're objective, said Janet McGovern, referencing her long career as a reporter and a columnist for the Redwood City Tribune (which later, ominously, became the Peninsula Tribune). But what struck me about earlier days in Redwood City was how much prior generations accomplished in a very short period of time. That's true of infrastructure problems like the need for freeways and better roads or establishing a port. But that's also true when it comes to building community churches, new schools, civic organizations and businesses. This is a great place to live. Indeed, but why are so few people outside of the city aware of this? The McGoverns, who met while working at the paper (Reg was a news photographer for over 40 years before retiring in 1981) aren't quite sure, but both are adamant that the town was always culturally important and socially attractive, in contrast to the commonly held notion that only the recent downtown refurbishments have made it so. I spent hours and hours scrolling through microfilm of old newspapers at the library and it was so engrossing I had to tear myself away when the library closed, Janet said of the research process. I'd come across incidents in these old newspapers that Reg had told me about, and these stories came to life for me when I read contemporaneous accounts of what happened as it was unfolding. I came away from my research feeling like I'd missed out in some ways by being born too late. I would have loved to have been living in Redwood City, for example, for the first Fourth of July parades and rodeos. I have a much deeper appreciation for how Redwood City came to be the city that it is as a result of the contribution of people who lived here long before us. --The Spectrum