Mtn . View Memories
DEL MEDIO AVE .
SAN ANTONIO ROAD
RAILROAD
1948 aerial photo of the area of Mountain View where Margaret Cooper grew up , circa 1948 ( Source : Google Earth )
By Margaret Cooper MVHA Member
I was born in 1930 on Dale Avenue in the middle of a cherry orchard with a few acres leased by my father , Harry Nakamura , to raise raspberries . Our closet neighbor , Annie , and her husband didn ’ t have children and lived within walking distance from our small plot of land .
Papa built a little cottage which we moved to San Antonio Road when his lease ran out and subsequently subleased from Eugene Calvo , who in turn leased his property from the Pacchettis . I started first grade at Mountain View Grammar School on El Camino Real when Kenneth Slater was principal . Our house was moved to the other side of the milk barn from the Calvos ’ whitewashed cottage . Beside the cow barn there was a milk house and hay barn where Mr . Calvo parked his truck . Mr . Calvo hired the Macedos who were braceros coming annually from Mexico . Maggie Macedo used to walk with us through the orchard of the Pears ’ to catch the school bus that stopped on the highway . My older brother , David , and younger brothers , Kenny and George , my parents , and I lived next to the Calvos from 1936 to 1942 when our family was interned during the war . Eugene and Emily Calvo had several children of similar ages to ours , and we were close neighbors and friends celebrating birthdays with only each other to invite .
Our mother baked a birthday cake and we sang happy birthday with no presents or ice cream since we had no refrigerator . Yet the memory of these simple traditions remains with me still as happy memories of a depression-era childhood .
Mountain View during the Great Depression was a small farming community with acres of fruit trees that bloomed profusely along El Camino from Mountain View to San Jose .
Manual , Victor , Sally , Trini , and Eugene Calvo were our only neighbors and friends . The Calvos became upstanding citizens of Mountain View with Victor becoming mayor . All of the Calvo family have become outstanding citizens despite their parents ’ humble beginnings as immigrants from Spain . Trini became my best friend even through the War ; while I was in a concentration camp , she stood by me and continues to this day . She married her Spanish teacher , Bob Callahan , who courted her after she graduated from high school . Their marriage lasted until his death when he was well into his 90s . Our community has seen many changes , both economic and social , and mostly I hope for the better . Despite the poverty we experienced and the injustice of the internment , I am grateful for the many happy memories I retain of my early childhood in Mountain View .
Memories
Mountain View Memories is a recurring special feature of our newsletter where we publish memories of times gone shared with us by our members .
Do you have a special Mountain View memory to share ? Then write to us at : info @ mountainviewhistorical . org or mail us at : P . O . Box 252 , Mountain View , CA 94042
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