San
Quentin was sparsely settled in early days of the prison. The only
buildings on one side of the street were the newly re-constructed
Shepherd Hotel, a lumber mill and stage line terminal. The mill later
burned to the ground. There were four buildings on the other side of
the street, one almost directly across the street from the hotel,
another house, a duplex and the Bayview Hotel, which still stands.
The village had no gas or electricity until 1908. Residents used
candles or lamps and brought in water from artesian wells in the hills.
This
village, of about 150 houses, is divided into three sections. For
the most part, it is prison property, called the Reservation,
however,
there is a strip of land between the east gate, of the reservation,
and the road, now I 580, that is privately owned and consists of
homes and, at various times, hotels, condos, grocery store,
restaurants and bars. Before street names were in use the local
people used a descriptive method of location. This section was called
- In
town, outside the gates.
The
second section was called - In
town, inside the the gates.
This is on the property of the California state prison,
inside the east gate. The warden decides who can, or cannot, live on
the reservation, therefore, all resident are, obviously, employees of
the state. Most of the officers live in this section.
The
building of houses in the third section came much later, around 1920.
It is near the west gate of the prison reservation and about three
quarters of a mile from the prison. This section was called - Out
in the Valley.
There is a section of the road, of about one half mile, between In
Town
and Out
in the Valley
that is barren and has nothing built on either side, or around it.
There is a mighty good reason for this as, directly above this
section of the road, is the rock quarry. It was an active quarry and,
occasionally, blasting could be heard.
Today,
the village looks much the same as it did 100 years ago. The hotels,
restaurants, grocery store and bars are gone however, several of
these structures are still standing.