January 16, 2002

History, heritage, and a church painted brown

For the past 90 years, perhaps the two buildings most visible to visitors on the San Mateo northern Coastside have been the Salada Beach Presbyterian Church and Bendemier, the castle built by Henry Harrison McCloskey. They were both "side effects" of the Ocean Shore Railway. They were within sight of each other in Salada Beach, with the railroad track between them. Bendemier rarely sought visitors, but the church, as it changed to meet the needs of the community, usually made them welcome, whether people just saw it from a distance or participated in its services and its community get-togethers.

We don't know when people started calling it "The Little Brown Church." We're not even sure when they started painting it brown.

The first 25 years of Salada Beach, and the little church, were difficult. By 1910, the year it was completed, it should have been obvious the northern San Mateo Coastside was not going to be the booming string of seaside resorts optimists had hoped for. The railroad begun with such high hopes had settled into a years-long struggle to survive. Finally, in 1920, the same year volunteers electrified the church, the railroad gave up the struggle and closed down.

It was the only church in the tiny community. It served not only as the community church but performed other community functions as well. Along with several bars, and San Pedro School (now Pacifica City Hall) it was almost the only center of community activities for decades.

Depression was followed by war. A tall, ascetic preacher had first served the little church from his home in San Bruno, starting in 1936. He and his family moved to Sharp Park in 1943. His name was Herschel Harkins. He would become known as "the pastor of the Coastside."

For a period in the seventies it was a Baptist church. Its location near San Pedro School had led to its expansion in the 1940's. Now that same contiguity led to its purchase in 1983 by the city for use as a police station.

City officials recognized in writing that by purchasing and using the venerable structure they were committing the city of Pacifica to preserving it, and not making major alterations in the building. Pledges were made. Solemn assurances were given and accepted.

Unfortunately, those officials who committed the city so firmly had moved on. Their replacements, with less of a sense of historical priorities, neglected the care so badly needed by older wooden structures. Deferred maintenance became non-maintenance. Finally, when the neglect had gotten impossible to ignore, it was used as a reason to replace the old wooden structure with an up to date piece of architecture.

Today, this building which for over 90 years has been so much a part of the story of the Ocean Shore Railway, Salada Beach, Sharp Park, and Pacifica, is in great danger. To some, it appears to be just another worn-out building which has served its purpose and is fit only for demolition. They would record its salient facts, photograph it for the record, and use its destruction as a training exercise for firefighters.

Others of us believe that it is worth saving. We believe its continuing presence in our midst is important. We believe that "history" and "heritage" are powerful words, and deserve to be honored. We believe that historic preservation is a phrase that should not be used just for 1000 year old European edifices and Franciscan Missions, but for relatively modest structures that are part of our own story of the San Mateo County coast.

E mail Paul Azevedo at Paul@thereactor.net. Check his website at http://www.thereactor.net.