Richmond's History, Places and Faces

••• Richmond, History, plunge •••

If Don Castro, the first white man to settle in Contra Costa County where the native Huichiun lived, could glance at the citys evolution, he would be fascinated. Eighty years after the warrior was granted land on Rancho San Pablo, the city got its first bank and city hall. A Railroad Terminus, a ferry station and a refinery were erected and the town grew faster than buildings could be built. The city was soon thriving. The wartime is the most famous period, with every space being used to house the coming workers and more than 700 vessels produced on the Kaisers Shipyards.

With fourty stories, the app covers the whole history until nowadays, when a National Park was established along Richmond’s south shore to celebrate the citys past. It tells Richmonds History, and Richmonders stories.

The "Places" entries depict with archives and current photos the transformation of the city from its glorious and hectic world war II times to its more uncertain and changing identity now. A text and a map will lead your curiosity in Richmonds streets and buildings.

The "Faces" entries add to maps and slideshows videos of some of former Richmondites, who were actors of this rich past. In other words, we tell the stories of those old places through the eyes of a particular person, a method that borrows its techniques both to the oral history and to new journalism techniques.


••• About the Author •••

This is a project of Berkeley Graduate Journalism School and richmondconfidential.org. It was developped during a class about mobile media with iPhone developpers Kevin Collins and Tobin Fischer from Sutro Media. Students Reporters Rogers and Aude Lorriaux collected the information, archives and took the photos. Aude Lorriaux coordinated the project.

Thanks to Shelby Sampson, Donald Bastin, June Albonico, Goerges Livinston Junior, Sandi Genser-Maack,Rosemary Corbin, David Dunham, the Coast Guard office, Richmond Museum of History, Lydia Chavez and the mobile media class.


••• About Sutro Media •••

This guide is published in partnership with Sutro Media. By enabling local writers to share their expertise on mobile phones, Sutro Media is making it easier and more fun to explore the world!

If you have any problems, comments, or suggestions for improvement, wed love to hear from you - [email protected]