The adventure on Sunday did not end at Hayward Memorial Park! In the late afternoon, as I drove back down Mission Blvd., alongside golden hills to the left of me, older business buildings and stores to the right of me which rapidly changed into flowering bushes and beautiful neighborhoods tucked in to the right of me, I decided to drive just a mile and a half further than the street I live on to Niles.
I’ve passed by the street countless times on my way to I-680 – a sign that says, “Niles” that you drive under and Jen had mentioned that she drove through and saw a bunch of old buildings – sort of like the olden days. But I’ve never actually stopped there to check it out. It’s just a tiny section of Fremont apparently – called Niles. I also had heard of a train that traveled through, but didn’t know much about it. I’ve lived in Union City since February and still don’t know that much about the area – except what I’d discovered in Hayward and where places like the BART station, the Safeway Store and the cheapest gas station reside.
I made a right turn and drove underneath a giant arch with the word “Niles” in huge white letters arched across the top and down a street, then made a left on what looked like the main street.
Wow, I thought as I slowly drove down the street – I felt as if I had gone through a time tunnel and was transported back into a different place and time. Why hadn’t I seen this before? Why didn’t I know about this?
If it wasn’t for the long row of Harley Davidson motorcycles parked in front of a bar with loud music blasting out of it and the cars parked on the street, I would have believed I was back in the early 1900s – As I kept driving looking for the closest parking spot I could find, I got that excited feeling just like I always did whenever I’d visit Virginia City, Nevada – that amazing town tucked away in the Sierra Nevada’s above Reno and Carson City – you turn a corner and suddenly you see those tall church steeples and an old town nestled on the hillside. Virginia City always draws me in – it’s a magical place filled with mystique and history and every time I visit I find out something that I didn’t know before. Also, Virginia City preserves more historic buildings than any other city in the United States – the sense of history, of knowing Mark Twain and all those folks from the gold rush walked down these same streets excited me – and I’m always drawn to the place.
But Niles is about two miles from my house, if that. Nestled into the foothills in between Fremont and Union City, it seems – I got that same feeling of excitement, of history as I checked out all the old buildings, the antique stores and craft stores, and an old-school train station. I parked my car and walked down the main street marveling at all the beautiful, historic buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s – I could just tell. I looked into the windows of the shops that were closed and looked at the novelty items, the antiques, the ceramic Christmas town all lit up. The golden hills glowed against the darkening blue sky and I saw an Amtrak train pull up into the quaint train station across the street and heard the train whistle blow – like olden times, even though the train itself wasn’t old.
I found a library – I could tell the building was old – and a sign said the library was only open on Tuesdays from 10 to 5pm. Not exactly the most functional library, I thought, smiling, but a really cool looking place nonetheless. Then I walked down a residential street that truly felt like I’d been transported in time because there weren’t many cars – quaint old houses with porches – most with wooden chairs on them, beckoning – a beautiful Victorian-style house with an arch of vines and an American flag hanging – like something you’d see in a movie. The oak trees all sturdy and thick – obviously they’d been there as long as the houses, if not longer. Oh how I longed to live here in this beautiful tiny area called Niles – yet I was not far away. I could come back here any time. Unbelievable.
I meandered back to the main street and passed “Joe’s Place.” It looked like an old bar converted to a place that also served coffee, tea and sandwiches – but it had that saloon feel and look to it. I passed more restaurants and cool shops – a book store that was already closed with old books, a shop with an old wooden sailboat in the window – most were closed some of the restaurants open. Across the street, I saw an old train car from days gone by and on the hillside above the area the word “Niles” written in white. This place wasn’t like he rest of the area – it was a special, insulated area that had been somehow preserved – mostly known apparently by the locals and the bikers – the usual suspects, which is okay. I don’t mind the bikers – they always prefer these types of towns and they know of the cool places.
At the end of the block, I found a store that was open – two guys stood out in front of an old antique store stuffed full with odds and ends. I saw an old cigarette machine from back in the day that said a pack of cigarettes was 50 cents. Next to it sat an old school desk bench with the desk behind it – and a real inkwell in the desk. Ohhhhh, how I’d love to have that bench – I don’t often get excited about furniture and that sort of thing, but this was cool. The guys smiled and nodded and said hello – one was younger, donning tattoos – smoking a cigareete. The other guy was older – he reminded me of a local who’d hang out at bars all the time – definitely he’d seen a lot in his life and he looked rugged – but his smile and bright blue eyes were kind.
The younger guy said he liked my Magical Mystery Tour t-shirt that I wore – I told them about the Beatles band I’d seen in Hayward earlier that day. Then the other guy, who introduced himself as “Red,” told me about how he played guitar – and used to play in bands in Niles back in the day. He pointed down the main street and said there used to be a whole bunch of bars – with music playing at each one. “You could just walk from one to the other!” He laughed. I tried to imagine what that was like – sort of like all those saloons up and down the main street of Virginia City, I thought.
Red told me he’d lived in Niles for 25 years – right there in Niles – which he considered his town – and before that he’d lived in another small town called Greenville. “Everyone knows you in these towns,” he says. I nodded. I could only imagine.
Red told me about these underground tunnels that ran all over underneath Niles -- and how the guy who runs the antique shop even had a secret passageway to one of them from back in the day.
Then the other guy asked if I knew the history of Niles. I confessed that I really didn’t know much. He told me about an old train that you can still catch that runs on Sundays – that the town was a huge hub for trains back in the day. “But did you know this was the original Hollywood?” Red piped in.
No, I didn’t know that, I said. In fact, I had no idea! “Well all those silent films with Charlie Chaplain and those guys – and even a lot of the old westerns were filmed right here in Niles! Then Walt Disney and the big wigs bought property down in Hollywood and moved everything down there.” Red shook his head as if this was a major tragedy. “I don’t get it. The weather’s perfect here too!”
We all stood there silently, suspended in time for a moment as I took it all in. I could tell these guys were really proud of their town – it wasn’t just about selling stuff at this old antique store, nothing like that at all – they loved this place, truly. A young, sandy haired boy emerged from the antique store, around 9 or 10 years old, and the younger guy put his arm on his shoulder.
“That’s so cool,” was all I could come up with. I could not think of anything more intelligent to say – and really, it is cool.
“There’s a Charlie Chaplain museum down the street about three blocks,” Red said, pointing down the street again. “It’s probably closed right now, but you can look inside.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that..” I explained that I just lived down the road, so I’d be back when everything was open. Red told me the old train would run a couple more times this year too.
“Next time you come by, I’ll have my guitar! I like to sit on that bench right there, but I think a lady wants to buy it.” He pointed to the awesome school bench I’d seen. I didn’t blame him for wanting to sit there and play guitar and I wondered why he even said that.
“Cool, then I’ll bring my ukulele!”
Red told me a lot of musicians lived in town – always so many musicians in cool old towns like these, I thought. Red shook my hand, and though I knew he was washed up in many ways and chances were I’d never see him again, our eyes met for just a moment – Red was a part of the history of Niles. He belonged here.
I said good-bye and headed back down Main Street and found the museum just like Red had told me. It was closed, but it looked like they had all kinds of shows and events there – I vowed to myself to return as the sun set and the music played in a bar down the street where the bikers hung out. They nodded and said hello as I walked back to my car and drove home, feeling as if I’d found a bright shiny gold mine just a mile from where I lived now.
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