San Leandro Dahlia Society members Pete Harter, Charles Garrity, Dave Webb, Stanley O’Conner, Dick Trotter, Carl Lundvall, Loren Dowell, Eleanor Bolesworth, and Robert Ammerman admire blooms at the Lakeside Park Trial Garden in Oakland, 1953. (Photo by Harold Winder of the San Leandro Times, from the San Leandro Dahlia Society website: www.sanleandrodahliasociety.org). The San Leandro Dahlia Society was organized by Dr. Luther Michael in 1925. Dahlias were named the official San Leandro flower in 1927. The San Leandro Dahlia Society is still active.

These before and after photos of the Alameda County Courthouse in San Leandro are a dramatic reminder of the destructive force of the 1868 Hayward Fault earthquake. San Leandro was the Alameda County seat from 1856 until 1873. The courthouse was at the corner of Clarke and Davis Streets. Don't miss Richard Schwartz's presentation on the 1868 earthquake -- a free event at the Little Brown Church on September 19. See the Events and Meetings page for details.

This beautiful image was an advertisement in the "Oakland Tribune" for San Leandro's first Cherry Festival in 1909.

Anton Vagar and two unidentified women show off their cherry-covered car and the final strings of cherries about to be sewn on the car's cloth cover. Mr. Vagar took first prize with this float in the Alameda Day Parade at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.

Ygnacio Peralta was one of four brothers who settled Rancho San Antonio, an 1820 Spanish land grant in the East Bay. Ygnacio's granddaughters and great-granddaughter built and lived in the Casa Peralta from 1901 to 1926. This painting by Quince Galloway is in the Casa Peralta.

Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition. This painting by artist and historian David Rickman captures a scene of what the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition might have looked like. While East Coast colonists were declaring their independence from England, Spanish colonists made an incredible journey to the Bay Area from the Sonora area of today's Mexico. Look for an Anza Trail historical marker on I-580 East just at the 238 junction.

First day of school? This wonderful photograph from the San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection (San Leandro LIbrary) was taken at Washington School in San Leandro, but we don't know when or who the little girl is. If you have any information, please let us know.

Rosie the Riveter. This poster at a Richmond Shipyard during World War II advised women to dress safely for industrial work .

Rosie the Riveter. Photographer Dorothea Lange captured this image of women lined up for paychecks at a Richmond shipyard during World War II.

Taken about 1880 on a wet, wintry day, this is one of the first photos of San Leandro Plaza. The road crossing the end of the plaza horizontally at the front of the photograph is Davis Street. On the left of the plaza is East 14th Street, and to the right is Washington Avenue. Gorman's Saloon (with beer kegs on top of the awning), a market, and a real estate office line the street crossing the back of the plaza (today's Estudillo Avenue).

Three women and a child pose with their berry harvest on a San Leandro farm.

HOLY GHOST QUEEN. An unidentified queen wearing a traditional white dress holds the Holy Ghost crown. The ornately decorated silver crown represents the crown of Queen Isabel of Portugal. San Leandro's fertile land and mild climate attracted many Portuguese immigrants from the Azores. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the large Portuguese population in San Leandro earned it the title of the Portuguese Capital of the West. Portuguese traditions, such as the Holy Ghost festival, took root and blossomed in San Leandro. The Holy Ghost festival is an annual celebration of thanksgiving for Queen Isabel's gifts of food for the poor. Young girls are crowned queens during a special Mass. The celebrants have a traditional free meal of meat soup and bread, and enjoy singing and dancing.

This photo of a San Leandro Cherry Festival (unknown date, probably 1920s) captures the crowds on the midway at the south end of the Plaza along Estudillo Avenue. Washington Avenue crosses horizontally. The spire of the old St. Leander's is visible in the distance, about halfway between the Ferris wheel and the cupola of the Herrscher Building.

"Mexican Vaquero", sketched by Edward Borein, courtesy of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California State Library loan. Western artist Borein (1872-1945), born in San Leandro, spent his life capturing the vanishing West in etchings, watercolors, and sketches.

The First Presbyterian Church on Clarke Street in San Leandro. This photo was taken after 1890, when the Sunday School wing was added. The sanctuary was demolished, but the Sunday School wing remained. Acquired by the San Leandro Historical Society, it was moved down Clarke Street, eventually to its current location behind the Casa Peralta.