Have you ever looked at Google Maps around here and seen "Russell City" in this industrial area? You are standing near what used to be the intersection of Third St and Washington St in Russell City, California. West of the north/south Pacific railroad lines there used to be a bustling town south of Russell City Rd (West Winton) founded by Joel Russell, a teacher from New England, in 1853. Originally an area with Danish and Latino immigrant farmers, many African-Americans began to move in before, during, and after World War 2 to work in rapidly expanding industries such as the Kaiser Shipyards. They had been forced away from Hayward city limits and other nearby municipalities to this unincorporated area due to discriminatory housing practices, and ended up here. No city services existed, so residents would put their money together to afford community staples like a firetruck or an ambulance. Many businesses did exist, however, including markets, eateries, bars, farms, and clubs. Russell City became known nationally for a few blues clubs that began to pop up over the years, and numerous blues musicians as famous as Ray Charles played in town at these clubs.
Residents several times requested that the area be incorporated and thus sewer, storm, electricity and other services be installed (and paved roads as many roads had been dirt before) but the city of Hayward refused. In the 1950s the city began to put pressure on the community as it wanted the land to build a business park. Zoning laws were enacted that prevented future residential building on the site as plans were made turning the area industrial. Structure fires began to be commonplace around this time, and many former residents and their descendants surmise that the city had hired goons to deliberately set the fires. Finally in the early 1960s, the city razed the town and evicted all of the residents using eminent domain. Not much remains, and the only remnant I could find are these railroad tracks on-site. The city has apologized over the years for the displacement of over 1500 residents from the area, but no monetary compensation was given. The name of Russell City has lived on in murals displaying the city's blues tradition on A Street, a natural gas powerplant called the Russell City Energy Center, and the Russell City Blues Festival which ended in 2019. Its most famous resident was probably Ernesto Nava, son of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.
**REPLACED 9/1/23**
The cache is a nano magnetized to a nearby fence corner a few steps in from the street on its east side. I placed it here to honor this little-known local history.
Congratulations to jellis on the FTF!