Historical Recollections
by Mervin Belfils

In this 1935 photo, Mervin Belfils (right) poses with Frank Weeks in front of ‘Old Betsy’ at El Cerrito Fire Station 1. El Cerrito Historical Society Collection.

Mervin Belfils was a local historian who collected and contributed to the record of El Cerrito’s history. He took over curation of Louis B. Stein’s collection of historic East Bay photos, adding to the collection over the years until it was donated to the El Cerrito Historical Society. Mervin also wrote for the El Cerrito Historical Society’s bulletin. These recollections, written in 1975-76, provide Belfils’ personal recollections of the city’s history.

• Community history

  • Our Community's Past

    • Part 1

    • Part 2

    • Part 3

• The El Cerrito Fire Department

• Halloween in El Cerrito

• The Chung Mei Home

• Aftermath of the 1906 Earthquake

• Heroic Act: Stopping a Runaway Trolley

• El Cerrito Home Built In 34 Minutes

• The Praetorians and Baseball

• Prohibition in El Cerrito

• The Stege Sanitary District

• Businesses

  • The Bungalo Auto Court

  • The Henderson Tapscott Building & Capelis Airplane

  • El Cerrito's Airport and Airplane Industry

  • Early El Cerrito Quarries

  • The El Cerrito Kennel Club

  • Gambling in El Cerrito

  • The Technical Porcelain and China Ware Co. (TEPCO)

  • The Judson Powder Works

  • More Saloons

  • The California and Nevada Railroad

  • Slaughterhouses and More Past History

  • The Stege Area Winery

  • El Cerrito’s Pee Wee Golf Course

  • The Tony Lombardo Building

• Geography

  • The Contra Costa/Alameda County Line

  • Dumps

  • El Cerrito Parks

  • Fairmount Avenue

  • Old Richmond Street

  • Point Isabel

  • Northern San Pablo Avenue

  • Some Buildings on San Pablo Avenue

  • Tapscott Hill

• People

  • Dr. Joseph T. Brenemann

  • John Balra

  • Sundar Shadi