It’s a special treat to travel to the West End of Alameda and explore one of the very oldest still-standing homes in town. Although records from this period can be imprecise, the best information we have is that the home at 1620 Fourth Street was built between 1865 and 1866, after Abram Rich purchased land directly from Alameda co-founder William W. Chipman . This makes it the oldest house on the West End, and one of the very oldest in town. The style can be described as Pioneer Gothic Revival Cottage.
A West End farm
We learned in Part 1 of this story that when Maine native Abram Rich and his Irish-born wife, Catherine Tubbs Rich, first moved in, they farmed a plot of land that was much bigger than the property that remains today. They grew produce for the Alameda and San Francisco markets and had at least one Holstein cow, named Nellie. Their peaceful homestead on the sparsely populated West End was known for generations simply as “Down Home.”
Lumber sparks romance
After a time, Abram took a position as yard manager for E. M. Derby, Alameda’s lumber baron. Abram would thrive in this business for decades, moving up in responsibility as the years went on. The close connection between the Rich and Derby families was made stronger by the marriage of Abram Rich’s youngest daughter, Lucy, to E. M. Derby’s son Augustus in 1894.
Prior to that, sisters Lucy Rich and Mary Rich were employed at the Oakland office of the E. M. Derby Company, likely the place where romance first sparked between Lucy and Augustus. This marriage may have never taken place had Abram Rich not switched careers from farming to lumber. It’s a good example of how each decision we make in life leads to a series of consequences down the line that we cannot possibly predict at the moment.
Galled by death
On Monday, November 18, 1901, an article appeared in the Alameda Times Star headlined “Pioneer Galled by Death,” reporting the passing of Catherine Rich the day before. The deeply religious woman, who had emigrated from Ireland early in life, had come to California in 1861. She then lived for over 36 years in Alameda, in the same “Down Home” cottage that still stands today on Fourth Street near Pacific Avenue.
During her 68 years, Catherine raised five daughters, saw one die at just seven months of age, and experienced the growth of Alameda from a group of scattered settlements of less than 1,000 people into an incorporated city of over 16,000 souls. The article closed by saying, “Mrs. Rich was a woman of charitable instincts and kindly disposition. During her long residence here she enjoyed a wide circle of friends who will sincerely mourn her loss.”
Death on a train
Even prior to the passing of his wife Catherine in 1901, there was a foreshadowing of health problems for Abram Rich as well. A March 2, 1900 notice in the Personal column of the Alameda Daily Argus stated, “Abram Rich of 1620 Fourth Street is spending a few weeks near San Jose for the benefit of his health.”…