Two Emeryville Pioneers

Two Emeryville Pioneers. Edward Wiard and Joseph S. Emery. , In the second half of the 19th Century, when Emeryville was transitioning from a former Mexican cattle ranch into a future American city, two abutting property owners played major roles in its development: Joseph S. Emery and Edward Wiard. In 1859, they acquired Lots 6 and 7, respectively, of the subdivision that had been carved out of Rancho San Antonio, the former Spanish land grant that had belonged to Vicente and Domingo Peralta., Emery laid out a traditional urban street grid while Wiard developed a large horse racing track and an amusement park. The two enjoyed a synergistic relationship: Emery's property, served by a streetcar line from downtown Oakland, provided access to Wiard's amusement park and racetrack, while the attractions on Wiard's property created the draw that brought customers to the various establishments along Emery's Park Avenue., Edward Wiard was born in Wolcott, Connecticut on March 10, 1814, into an old New England family. He ventured to California in 1850 and spent nine years mining in Mariposa County. He then moved to the Bay Area, settling on the land that he acquired in 1859, where he focused his efforts on the development and operation of his Oakland Trotting Park horse racetrack and Shell Mound Park amusement park. These were both popular and successful enterprises, attracting thousands of visitors every year, to the benefit of the businesses along Park Avenue in Joseph Emery's adjacent development. Unfortunately, Wiard was not a very good businessman, and eventually lost everything to foreclosure. Edward Wiard died on February 11, 1886. His final resting place is Mountain View Cemetery, about 3 miles from here in Oakland., Joseph Stickney Emery was born on September 30, 1820 in Pembroke, New Hampshire. Like Wiard, he came from an old New England family and arrived in San Francisco in 1850. Trained as a stone cutter, he developed quarries on Yerba Buena and Angel islands and supplied stone for the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. He also dredged a channel in the Bay, which provided for regular ferry service. On December 2, 1896, when Emeryville became a city, he was elected one of its first Trustees (as the City Council was then called). He died on January 22, 1909 and is buried at Mountain View Cemetery.,