Laserfiche WebLink
9.A. - Page 13 <br /> This year, due to city budget cuts,the library director proposed permanently closing the Local History <br /> Room and dispersing the archives. Committee members opposed this and now independently operate <br /> the archives with City Council authorization. <br /> The archives collection contains: <br /> • Bound and microfilmed newspapers covering 150 years, and the extraordinary Schellens <br /> collection, an 1850-1940 subject index of these papers <br /> • Selected clippings from more recent local papers <br /> • Over 85 years of local high school yearbooks <br /> • Thousands of donated historic photographs <br /> • Hundreds of city&county maps dating from 1856 <br /> • Donated personal family documents <br /> • Bound transcripts of interviews preserving an oral history <br /> • Many books concerning local and California history <br /> • City Directories from 1905 <br /> Archives users include City staff, authors and those with legal or real estate issues, and residents <br /> searching for family history or lost relatives. Inquiries come from walk-ins or by phone and mail. This <br /> community resource is treasured by the community. <br /> Discovering Heritage through Historic Places:Active citizen volunteer involvement, such as a docent <br /> or guide program for interpretation: <br /> Lathrop House Docent Program <br /> Lathrop House,built in 1863 by Benjamin Lathrop,is open to the public and is operated by the <br /> Redwood City Heritage Association. The Heritage Association provides docents to provide tours and <br /> answer questions for visitors. <br /> Originally built in"Steam Boat Gothic"style,the two-story, 11-room house is one of the earliest <br /> mansions on the San Francisco peninsula. Besides the Lathrop family,two other early owners and their <br /> families resided here: Civil War General Patrick Connor(1870 to 1894), and County Sheriff Joel <br /> Mansfield(1905 to 1921). In May of 1905,the house was purchased by the wife of Sheriff Joel <br /> Mansfield,who then had the house moved to its current location at 627 Hamilton Avenue. <br /> From 1921 until the San Mateo County Title Company purchased it in 1961,the house changed <br /> ownership several times and was remodeled extensively into small apartments. In October of 1968,the <br /> title company deeded the house and two adjoining lots to the County of San Mateo. Under the terms of <br /> the contract,the county agreed to restore the exterior, and to accept a gift of$38,000 from the title <br /> company to restore the home's interior to its original splendor. On April 11, 1973,the fully restored <br /> Lathrop House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. <br /> Lathrop house is part of the Redwood City 7th Grade Tours each May as part of National Historic <br /> Preservation month. <br /> PRESERVE AMERICA COMMUNITIES PROGRAM:2015 COMMUNITY APPLICATION Page 9 of 21 <br />