Short documentary about the history of A.S Macdonald, and his role in the formation of Richmond, California, and the city's main street (Macdonald Avenue) named in his honor. dougharrismedia.com
My Grandfather was a welder at Todd's Shipyard before World War II. This documentary helped me see what he experienced. Thank you for compiling all the video footage and taking the time to explain the history of an important East Bay town.
Your directing and production of this MacDonald piece was simply wonderful! My wife and I enjoyed how you captured the history of historic downtown MacDonald Ave. A job will done again! You are a master story teller, Doug!
Great doc! I hope to see a little bit about how big industry jobs leaving, white flight, and racism played a role in the decline of Richmond in this era.
Doug I really appreciate all that you do brother. Being in the DC area now you're keeping me in touch with my Bay Area History. - Clarence "Pookie" Jenkins
Well done! I produced/directed docs for PBS so it’s an informed opinion. I own the original/prior Joe’s Market on Macdonald near 1st St. I wish I could find photos of it back in the late 40’s…
I was born and raised in Richmond. Graduated from Richmond High in the late ‘60’s. My folks moved to Richmond prior to WW2 and experienced the tremendous growth during the shipyard period. I remember riding the Key System bus from our house to go shopping downtown. This video fails to address what really killed the downtown retail area, it wasn’t the race riots of which I have a very faint memory of, but it was the building of Hilltop Mall. The old downtown had all the major retailers of the day…Macy’s, J.C. Penney’s, Woolworth’s and Breuners. There was even a See’s Candies on Macdonald Avenue. When the mall opened the retailers all abandoned the downtown and fled to the fancy new mall. A big part of the blame lies with the civic leaders at the time.
Did they tear down those old buildings? I've always wondered. I work at the company that owns JC penny, and we use the first floor, but the other two are abandoned.
@@dannythompson1948 It’s been a while since I’ve been down there. Frankly not very appealing to visit. Most of the downtown has been gutted, doesn’t look anything like it did in the “good old days”. Surprisingly I believe the old Mechanics Bank is still standing. My folks used to bank there.
