Martinez Historical Society

08/25/2026

08/18/2026

The current Boys & Girls Club was once a two story elementary school, built in 1909. By the 1950s it was no longer being used as a school house as was sold to the City of Martinez. Eventually the elegant cupola and second story were removed, but some of the original pillars remain at the western and northern entrances.

08/13/2026

WANDERING WEDNESDAY
Where we wander over to nearby areas to look at their history in the context of our own.

Ernest Guido, secretary of the Oakland Motorcycle Club, is shown on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle at the Kennedy Tunnel in 1917. This tunnel preceded the current Caldecott system of tunnels.

This was a single-bore tunnel which opened in 1903 connecting Oakland with Contra Costa County located above today's Caldecott Tunnel. It provided a safer alternative to the dangerously steep roads over the hills, enable people shop in Oakland, and to encourage people to move to Contra Costa County. This was the beginning of a shift in population and commerce away from Martinez and the Delta communities.

In 1937 the Caldecott Tunnel opened and soon replaced the Kennedy Tunnel.

08/12/2026

The 500 Block of Main Street circa the late 1950s. How many businesses do you recognize?

08/09/2026

Kathy O'Connell (far right) is an active volunteer at the Martinez Museum. Here she is speaking with visitors Phoebe Lin and Brandon Honore. They live in Walnut Creek, but were married a year ago in Martinez. They took pictures of themselves in front of the Museum on their wedding day, and came back on Thursday to see the building's interior and to receive a guided tour of the exhibits on display.

08/08/2026

This picturesque building stood on the SE corner of Main Street & Las Juntas in Martinez where the Wells Fargo Bank building is now located at 902 Main Street. It was often described as an example of Beaux-Arts architecture, an opulent style defined as symmetrical, grand and clad with heavy ornamentation. It was a style deemed suitable for a respectable banking institution.

The early 20th Century was a period in California in which smaller, independent banks were consolidated into larger regional institutions. That is what happened to this bank. In 1922, a controlling interest was sold to the American Bank of Oakland. Then in 1926, this bank merged into the American Trust Company.

It was this company that continued operating the Bank in Martinez for the next 34 years. Then in 1960 the by-now much larger American Trust Company merged with Wells Fargo to form the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company. That name proved to be a bit too long and was shortened back to Wells Fargo Bank in 1962.

By 1967, the original building pictured above had reached the end of its useful life. Rather than restore the beautiful structure, Wells Fargo elected to tear it down. They completed construction of the replacement building in 1968. That is the same building which exists on the site today.

With the rise of online banking and automated teller machines, Wells Fargo elected to close the Martinez building as a branch bank in 2023. However, an active ATM machine is still located on the exterior of the building that can be accessed from the sidewalk. Wells Fargo also put the building up for sale. It is unknown to the Historical Society whether a buyer has yet purchased the building. But one day in the future, it will have a new occupant and a new use.