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Health & Fitness

South Main Street, Napa, As It Used to Be

The development of South Main Street brings back memories.

The article on the reminded me of some of the concerns that used to be located in that two-block stretch. 

Most prominent was the , a long time mill from the late 1800's.  Its location on the river made perfect sense: Finished products could be loaded onto innumerable boats plying the Napa River. It is at this point where low tide of the river is most prominent, if that is not a contradiction in terms. 

A.A. Hatt is a very, very distant relative: He married a cousin of my maternal grandmother.

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In the early 1970's, there was a teen coffeehouse at the corner. It was patterned after the old coffeehouses of the 1950's, well before , with some music, some poetry and some coffee. 

It was closed down by city officials just a few months after its opening, claiming the operators did not have the proper permits.  (I've always suspected there were other, more sinister reasons.)

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The most prominent concern during my high school days was the , at which I put in hundreds of hours. The center accepted most recyclables, mostly newspapers. It did not accept bi-metal, a combination of aluminum and steel and we had to break up the glass for shipping to a dealer in Antioch, not too far from where I now live. 

The center became a major community service project for the Key Club, of which I was secretary in my senior year, 1971-1972. The center rewarded me with a small scholarship-$250-which in the early 1970's practically paid for two semesters at San Francisco State. 

During one summer home, the recycling center burned to the ground in a suspicious fire that started not long after I had left for the evening. The arson fire was never solved, though a compadre and I visited the fire department to look at pictures of potential suspects.

Every time I drive that two blocks, I do think back to those days. I really do see the ramshackle buildings in my mind's eye.

Tom Ontis is a Napa expatriate now living in east Contra Costa County. He grew up on a two acre ranchette in Coombsville, east of .

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