75 years ago: Fluoridation system for children sparks little interest

50 years ago Population 3,179 (U.S. Census 1960 and 1970) Gladding McBean: Fred Anderson, president of the company which purchased the local pottery, is a man of action. The complicated negotiations to buy the local plant were accomplished within the period of three weeks. The title company was working almost night and day, according to Anderson, who first became aware the pottery was up for sale when he read it in the Wall Street Journal during a trip to Colorado. He vividly remembered the clay products plant from the time when, as a young boy, he frequently traveled through Lincoln on trips to Marysville with his father. Incidentally, the parent company, Pacific Coast Wood Products, Inc., will be changing its name to Pacific Coast Building Products, Inc. to encompass the clay products venture. With the sale of the plant, operations are being phased back in. At last report, the work force was up to 112, more than half the total number employed when the announcement was made of the plant's pending sale or closure. 75 years ago Population 2,410 (U.S. Census 1940 and 1950) Parking: A relatively high percentage of businessmen showed interest in the city parking problem by answering a form letter sent out by the City Council last week. The results of these answers were given in a regular council meeting last Tuesday night. Nineteen answers were received from the 41 letters mailed, and of these, 14 said they favored limited parking on the main streets of Lincoln. The breakdown was as follows: four noes, four favoring two-hour parking, two favoring one-hour parking and one for the east side of G Street only. Ad: For sale was a 6-room house in Lincoln, in good condition, on two lots. Good soil, room for chickens. $4,500. Terms. Teeth: A program of interest to the parents or potential parents of Lincoln's children was carried out last Friday in two meetings held here. In both meetings, state health officials spoke regarding the advantages of a fluoridation system in Lincoln. In very recent times it has been discovered that the proper use of fluoride in drinking water can prevent the decay of children's teeth. The research in this new medical discovery is still underway. One of the meetings was held at Rotary and heard by the usual number of Rotarians. The other was held Friday evening at the grammar school and was open to the public. It was fortunate that school officials were present. Only eight persons attended the program. This would seemingly infer that the adults of Lincoln are not interested in ideas which might work for better dental health on the part of their children. This we cannot believe. The program was important and worthwhile. Sometime in the future, the people of Lincoln may be asked to vote on whether or not they want a fluoridation program. The light attendance would have not have been so marked if similar absences had not been noted in other programs held at the school. Recently, a very light turnout of Lincolnites embarrassed the P.T.A., which had arranged an excellent program including several out-of-town persons who had come here to help with the program. Are the people of Lincoln so busy they cannot attend worthwhile programs? Or perhaps they do not prefer them. The time may come when the few hard workers secede the results are not worth the efforts. They will cease to arrange programs which can benefit the citizens of Lincoln. 100 years ago Population 2,324 (U.S. Census 1900, 1910 and 1920) HS rating: The records made by the students who enter the State University help to determine the standing of the high school which they represent. The Lincoln Union High School has just received the records of the students who entered last August. It may interest the patrons of the school to know that owing to the splendid work of Donald Crowell, Caroline Gladding and Perry TenEyck, the university has given our school a grade of 100 percent. This high record assures the community the school will be retained upon the list as an Accredited School in Class A. We are also pleased to state Donald Crowell tied for highest honors in Chemistry with another boy and was the recipient of a congratulatory letter from the Dean of Men, Professor Joel Hildebrande. The success of the school is due in a large measure to a splendid Board of Trustees and a faculty that has the interest of the students at heart. Ad: PG&E ran the following advertisement: This company is owned by 34,863 stockholders – mostly Californians and users of our service. As investors, they receive a fair and reasonable return on money invested. Naturally, they are interested in the service rendered, and continually aid in making Pacific Service a popular service. PG&E, owned, operated and managed by Californians. More Lincoln history: Lincoln's City Hall and firehouse were located on 5th Street next to the civic auditorium in the present-day location of the Veteran's Hall. Although fires caused damage to structures in Lincoln, the wide streets and spacious sites usually limited fires to a single block. After Lincoln's largest fires, Gladding, McBean & Co. brick, stone and terra cotta were used to replace or add to buildings in the downtown area. The brick and terra cotta buildings served as barriers to the spread of fires. Because of this and the creation of the fire department soon after the town incorporated in 1890, many second-generation wooden buildings were preserved. The International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) and Masonic lodges purchased the lot on the southwest corner of 5th and F streets in 1862. They built a two-story wooden structure used by both lodges from 1862 to 1864, then only by the Masons from 1864 to 1867. Both lodges then met next door in the new IOOF building. In 1867, Richard Fuller bought the old lodge, which burned down in 1895. In 1911, the new Bank of Lincoln building was erected on this site. In 1864, the Odd Fellows acquired the lot at 625-645 5th Street and constructed a two-story brick building on the site. It was dedicated on December 8, 1864. The Odd Fellows and the Masons met upstairs, and the downstairs housed a store. Joseph Dallman's dry goods store used the space up to 1900, and at the turn of the century, it housed Fiddyment and Louis Leavell's general store. In 1905, the IOOF expanded the building to its current size. Charles F. Beermann started a harness shop on the northwest corner of 5th and F streets in 1880. Beermann was active in city government, serving as treasurer beginning in 1892. Charles's sons, Elmer and Carl, operated Beermann's meat market in the IOOF building from 1909 to 1930. Note: 640 5th Street is now Beermann's Plaza. The Logan Livery Stable was initially built in the middle of the G Street block by Hartford and Stauffer in 1846. Various changes of owners took place, and in 1876, it burned down. The lots were purchased by George Aldrich, who built the twin warehouses after 1880. In 1890, Butterfield operated the two buildings as grain warehouses. The Buckeye Milling Company, owned by partners J.T. Howard and Walter Jansen, was founded the same year and moved into the twin warehouses in 1892. In 1894, Jansen bought out Howard. Newspaper articles about the wheat belt of Western Placer appeared in 1881. The wheat area was approximately 10 miles long and stretched from the Bear to the American rivers and from the foothills to Sutter County. About 128,000 acres averaged 18 bushels per acre. Much of the wheat went through Lincoln's longest-lasting agricultural business, Walter Jansen Grain merchant. After 1900, Jansen's business grew to include the entire block – 300 feet of frontage on G Street between 4th and 5th streets. The complex was known as the Jansen Block. Walter Jansen & Son was in business until the 1990s. After the building was sold, the grain elevators were removed. The site is now home to several businesses, including Buonarroti's. Source: "Images of America, Lincoln" published for the Lincoln Area Archives Museum. This book and many others may be purchased at the museum located in Beermann's Plaza, 640 5th Street. Hours are Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Most of the books have photographs of old Lincoln. Thank you for reading! MBO