History

From drug baron to faith leader: a Richmond redemption

Eleven years ago, Bridget Gaines was driving through North Richmond with her son, and as the police pulled her over, her life was at one of many turning points. She had not slept for days due to smoking crack cocaine. She had been selling heroin that night on 2nd street and had both crack and heroin on her person. “I was scared to death, and high as a kite,” she says. “I though this was it, I was going to…

Retrospective: Archives show difficult road for Richmond middle class

As Richmond prepared to enter the 1960s, the city was about to encounter an era of rapid change. In November of 1959, readers opened the pages of the city’s daily newspaper, the Richmond Independent, to be confronted with Thanksgiving sales and headlines about next fall’s presidential race (“State GOP Supports Nixon”). The advertisements reflected an idyllic version of late 1950s America: A well-dressed businessman, hands clasped in his lap, dozes with a smile as a cherubic young boy gazes up…

Timeline: History of a company town

Richmond’s relationship with Chevron Corporation hasn’t always been so contentious. For much of the 20th century, after Chevron’s earliest predecessor, the Pacific Coast Oil Company, first bought a tract of land on Richmond’s shores in 1901, the company and the town grew together – if not hand in hand, then at least peacefully and cognizant of their mutual benefit. The two world wars were especially productive times for both the refinery and Richmond, as wartime production levels fueled a transforming,…

Three years away, but Richmond ferry plans steaming forward

The project’s two vessels will cost an estimated $34 million total in “initial capital expenditures,” with an estimated operating costs of about $3.46 million a year. Terminal construction will cost between $8 and $12 million. The total cost of the project is estimated between $42 and $46 million.

Richmond Art Center: building community through art

You don’t need to be an artist to work with clay or fibers. All you need is the desire. And a little support from your friends doesn’t hurt. The Richmond Art Center provides artistically inclined residents with potter’s wheels, electric kilns and looms to transform their creativity into a variety of art forms. Located near the town Civic Center, the Richmond Art Center has one of the last remaining public art programs in the Bay Area. It first opened its…

Inaugural Mexican-style rodeo draws hundreds to Richmond

An inaugural Mexican-style rodeo drew hundreds of spectators to Richmond Sunday to watch a dusty spectacle of raging bulls and courageous riders. “Jaripeo Expatacular” was held in a packed lot off of Giant Road, bringing together horseback riding, Mexicali cuisine and bull riding.