 The
history of the Irvington district dates back to the Gold
Rush era of the 1840’s when the first
settlers arrived at Mowry’s Landing on the edge
of San Francisco Bay. “The Corners”, later
Irvington, was the home and work place for many early
residents including John Horner, Earl Marshall, and Origin
Mowry and quickly became a significant South Bay agricultural
and commercial activity center. Wheat grown here was
exhibited at the 1853 New York World's Fair, according
to local historians.
The area's first business is believed to have been a
shop for farm machinery around which other small shops
eventually sprouted. These early settlers had the foresight
and spirit to realize the future potential of the Irvington
area.
 Washington College, Alameda County's first school of
higher learning, opened in Irvington in 1872 and later
became a military academy when other colleges were established
in the East Bay. As Irvington grew, its Five Corners
area, the convergence of Fremont and Washington Boulevards
and Union and Bay Streets, came to be considered the
heart of the 108,000-acre Washington Township. It was
the collection of five of Washington Township's seven
districts – Irvington, Niles, Warm Springs, Mission
San Jose, and Centerville – that incorporated in
1956 into modern-day Fremont.
Nobody can be sure how Irvington gained its name. One
story has it that it came about because of a mistake
by the local railroad. The district carried various names
including The Corners, Washington Corners and Irving.
Residents, according to local historians, may have actually
settled upon the name Irving, but the local railroad
erroneously printed schedules that read "Irvington" and
the name stuck.
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The area's most recognizable marker, the Irvington Monument,
located near the Five Comers, was first erected in 1917
by R.A. and Lee Griffin and our antecedent organization,
the Irvington Chamber of Commerce. It was originally
built in the middle of the road to help direct traffic
at Five Corners - something like a turn-of-the-century,
traffic light. Because of its role it was physically
more imposing than appealing but it stood defiantly for
over 40 years. In 1963 it was deemed to be obsolete by
the city administration and was unceremoniously removed
and dumped behind the Centerville Fire Station. However,
in 1979, largely thru the efforts of the Irvington Business
Association it was resurrected and permanently placed
in the Irvington Park to once stand proudly as the symbol
of Irvington’s spirit. Irvington now, as then,
aspires to retain this same spirit.
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For more Irvington History, check your local
bookstore or on-line for
"Images of America - Irvington Fremont"
by
Philip Holmes and Jill M. Singleton
Authors of the popular Images of America
volume Niles, Fremont
ISBN: 0738530050
ISBN-13: 9780738530055
Format: Paperback, 128pp
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing SC,
Pub., Date: September 2005
Series: Images of America Series
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