Tracing remnants after erasure of Bay Area town

A search for “Russell City” on Google Maps brings up a street within the city of Hayward. That’s because the East Bay town no longer exists.

It’s been almost 60 years since Russell City, a largely Black and Latino farming community, was annexed into Hayward so city leaders could turn it into an industrial park. Roughly 1,400 residents were displaced in the process. Today, what was once the town is buried under paved parking lots, office spaces and distribution centers.

It remains an ugly chapter in Alameda County’s history.

While political apathy and opportunism erased

Russell City’s physical footprint, aging former residents and their descendants have spent decades trying to preserve its memory.

“I hear the stories from people who lived there about what the town meant to them, how special of a place it was,” said Aisha Knowles, whose grandfather owned an automotive shop in Russell City. “But for a lot of these people who are in their 70s and 80s, talking about Russell City can be painful because they remember what they lost when it was destroyed.” Who can blame them? Former Russell City residents have had to live with the question of “what could have been” since 1964.

Scandinavian farmers first settled Russell City in 1853. Following the Great Depression and World War II, there was an influx of Black people from the South looking to work in shipyards; and Latino folks from Southern California seeking employment in agriculture.

It wasn’t by accident that they settled in Russell City. Real estate developers were steering these groups there — and away from suburbs that were largely white and affluent.

A proud, blue-collar community bloomed in the face of overt housing discrimination. Residents built homes out of plywood. They erected outhouses since nobody had indoor plumbing. They farmed livestock and opened churches and schools. At its peak, Russell City’s 12 blocks were home to more than 230 families and more than a dozen businesses, including the “Honest Abe and Sons” auto shop Knowles’ grandfather ran. Russell City even cultivated a vibrant blues scene that attracted acts from around the country.

But the townsfolk longed for more than a dirt-road, bare-bones existence. For years, local government officials ignored residents’ calls for improved water, fire

“Healing from what happened to Russell City might take generations. But it has to start somewhere.”

and sewer services. And officials dismissed some residents’ pleas for the unincorporated Russell City to be formally annexed by Alameda County so federal funds could be used to improve the town’s infrastructure.

The neglect resulted in dilapidated buildings, which the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Hayward city officials cited in the mid-1950s as justification for a redevelopment plan that would destroy Russell City.

The county began buying Russell City properties in the early 1960s at what was supposed to be market rate. Former residents dispute they were offered fair compensation. Folks who rejected the county’s offers were forced from their property through eminent domain.

This was around the same time that Russell City experienced a suspicious rise in house fires. The Oakland Tribune reported that “mysterious arsonists” had been setting fires to dozens of homes throughout the town.

Russell City was annexed into Hayward in 1964. Alameda County bulldozed the town’s last 50 buildings in 1966.

Today, Hayward is trying to atone for its role in Russell City’s demise. In June, Hayward launched its Russell City Restorative Justice Project. The project’s goal is to connect with former Russell City residents and their descendants to explore forms of restitution for families who were forced out.

Hayward assistant city administrator Regina Youngblood is one of the project’s leads. She told me the city has been in contact with 120 people who claim to have family ties to Russell City. Youngblood also said the project will take “years to complete.”

“But we’re on the right path,” she added.

Hayward’s project comes at a time when

California is two years into studying what reparations could look like for descendants of slaves living in the state. Berkeley and San Francisco are among cities that have taken local approaches to reparations. And Oakland recently became the first city in the state to return land to indigenous people as a form of reparations. Knowles thinks Hayward officials will have some work to do in building trust with former Russell City residents. As a Hayward native who now lives in the unincorporated community of Ashland, Knowles has spent her life around former Russell City residents. One of those people is Knowles’ father, who spent his childhood in a town that no longer exists.

“Healing from what happened to Russell City might take generations,” Knowles said. “But it has to start somewhere.”

Photos by Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Sisters Aiyana (left) and Aisha Knowles look at a photo collage of residents of Russell City, the East Bay town that was razed so an industrial park could be built. About 1,400 residents were displaced when Russell City was annexed into Hayward almost 60 years ago.