Laserfiche WebLink
8.A. - Page 226 <br /> New Sequoia Theater <br /> San rteo County, CA <br /> NATIONKL. 'REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES <br /> CONTINUATION SHEET <br /> cation Number. 8 Page: 2 <br /> The IVOii were characternzed by a diveasification ca Redaeood City's <br /> economic hese. The sm.all shipbuilding inaniatry at had de.veioped during <br /> t logging daya would survive into the :380.s Two tanneries and San Mateo <br /> Countys two largest breweries located tn. the community during this time. <br /> The town had grown to about 1,400 re !eLt b1 1891'1, gining it the ',epe1 . <br /> urban population in the county. A nation& depression in ue 1890s slowed <br /> the town's growth until the eaely 1960s, when an Francisco * 8 1906 <br /> earthquake and fire changed things. While Redwood City soffered the kiss ca° <br /> nearly all its brick buildings as a result of ihe saismic event, it benefited <br /> directly from tte. exodus of San Francine inhabitants to San Mateo Col <br /> developing suburban communities. The county reported a 72 t. increase in <br /> population between 1900 and 1910, doubling again by 1920. <br /> The explosive post-earthquake growth south along the Snit Franciseo <br /> Peninsula was also a by-product of the opening of tne automobile age. By <br /> 1915 the Peninsula Rapid Transit coach system was operating between San <br /> Francisco and Redwood City along San 'Mateo County's first paved roadway, <br /> El Camino Real. As a statewide leader in highway improvements, the county <br /> benefited early from its investment through expanding commuter suburbs <br /> and new industrial and retail grnwth. <br /> During the 1920s, bay area salt and cement industries concentrated their <br /> activities around Redwood City. The latter, in the form of the Portland <br /> Cement Company built a major plant in the tidelands northeast of town in <br /> 1924. This action was pivotal to the development of a modern deep-water <br /> part for the city after 1927. Broadway remained the re tail core of the county <br /> seat, reaping the benefits of the new tourist. industry that was developing <br /> along El Camino Real. <br /> Among the business entrepreneurs taking advantage of the economic boom <br /> 0 the late 1 920s in Redwood City were Ellie J. Arkush, president of the <br /> Peninsula Theater Corporation and the development group c4' Hare, Brewer <br /> and Clark, Inc, In one of the largest (commercial developments in the city's <br /> history, these two firms investea about $300.000 to convett an entire rity <br /> block into a modern mixed-use business complei., <br />