The song says it never rains in California, and it seems it never rains on
our Piedmont Recreation Department's Walking on Wednesdays group either.
This past Wednesday was no exception. It was a warm, sunny day. The weather
may have encouraged a very large gathering of 43 walkers and one K-9 best
friend to meet at the Exedra at our regular start time.
There were a couple of announcements. The group was reminded that for our
walk next Wednesday we are having a pre-Halloween tour of the Mountain View
Cemetery with docent Jane Leroe. The second announcement was there was going
to be an organizational meeting right after the walk to discuss the
formation of a new Recreation Department movie appreciation group.
As you know, our group has an objective of going to every safe-walking
street in Piedmont during the year, and there are only a few we haven't
gotten to. One was Littlewood Drive. Going to Littlewood also offered the
opportunity to share Piedmont Historical Society president Gail Lombardi's
history of Piedmont's first and probably last manufacturing industry, silk
fiber production.
We headed off, crossing Highland Avenue and starting up Mountain Avenue.
Along the way we passed front yards ready for Halloween with scary house
decorations, and also one with a Ukrainian flag. Our long line of walkers
stopped in the shade where Caperton Avenue runs into Mountain. This spot
also gave us the opportunity to look around and see in a front yard a larger
than life statue of a distinguished looking gentleman dressed in what looks
like a suit made of leaves. Karin Fetherston also pointed out that this
house has a large, wonderful assortment of pumpkins, gourds, and other fall
vegetables on its front steps. It was suggested we might come back after
Halloween for a soup lunch.
We continued our climb on Mountain to Littlewood. Just before Mountain runs
into Sea View Avenue a stately home was pointed out that was used in the
2006 Will Smith movie, The Pursuit of Happyness (sic). It was also noted
that across the street was a home that once got its street address changed
from Mountain to Sea View.
Going a little further up Mountain took us to Dudley Avenue, and then up to
Littlewood. A group photo was taken there and Gail Lombardi's Piedmont silk
farm history was told. At the end the end of the 19th century there were
only three times of cloth - cotton, wool and silk. The U.S. government
thought silk could be produced in America, and funded groups to create
experimental silk producing stations. It was believed that silk production
could provide employment for women, reduce unemployment, and increase family
income.
In the early 1880s the Ladies' Silk Culture Society purchased 15 acres of
land at the top and eastern side of Mountain Avenue, where Dudley and
Littlewood Avenues are today. The society planted mulberry trees, whose
leaves are silk worms' food, and built a two-story, eight-room cocoonery.
The locals called it the "Silk Farm." It is worth noting that the trees and
this history were the inspiration for the name of today's Mulberry's Market
in Piedmont. By 1885 the grove was thriving, and an additional seven acres
were obtained. About 100 women were employed at the Silk Farm.
There was more interesting information in Gail's article. During their
lives, silkworms consume 50 times their weight in mulberry leaves; which the
women harvested, chopped, and fed to the worms in trays four times a day.
The worms reached maturity in 35 days and spun their cocoons. At the Silk
Farm the cocoons were fumigated to kill the pupa, softened in hot water,
unreeled as separate silken fibers. One cocoon could produce a continuous
silk filament 200 to 300 feet long, which is almost the length of a football
field. Several filaments were spun together to form one silk thread.
Natalie Nussbaum and Fangfang Lai said they had visited silk farms on trips
to China. Mark Davis also shared that silkworms are surprisingly fast, and
in a race two of them once finished in a tie.
Unfortunately, the Silk Farm didn't prosper. The canyon was not warm enough
for the worms and the women would not work for less than a dollar a day,
while Chinese workers were only paid six cents a day. So, in 1895 the farm
closed.
We descended Littlewood and its canyon to where the Silk Farm's mulberry
trees were once planted. However, there were no surviving mulberry trees to
be seen and give witness to the street's history, but there were some palm
trees. Gail Lombardi had also shared that there are mulberry trees at
Hampton Park near the preschool building, which might be the destination of
a future Wednesday walk.
We came to the dead-end of Littlewood, but a long driveway continues on.
Just before a home's gate at the driveway's end is a surprising, old, red,
London telephone booth. Some of us had seen it on past visits, but there was
still no explanation for its presences.
We did an about face and made the climb back up Littlewood. It had gotten
warm, and we were pleased the rest of the return to the city center was all
downhill or flat. For a little variety, we went back via Poplar Way, which
doesn't seem to have any poplar trees either. Then Lakeview, Sheridan, and
Highland Avenues took us to the city center. The two mile walk was completed
in a little over an hour. The fun Piedmont Silk Farm history, as well as the
good company of new and old walker friends, were enjoyed by all.