 |
| 1. Stonegate looking northeast, c. 1977 |
Alfred F. Smith, the developer of Stonegate, died in 2008
and his heirs donated his papers to the UC Davis Department of Special
Collections. That department recently completed the inventory and box storage
of those documents and the corpus is now available to the public (image 3).
Mr. Smith appears to have been something of a pack rat (aka
hoarder) and his collection is quite amazing. It fills 265 storage boxes and the
list of files in those boxes runs 163 pages (image 4). That list can be viewed or downloaded here.
The purpose of this post is to draw attention to this
extraordinary new source of information on the development of Davis after World
War II. These 265 boxes contain detailed records on Mr. Smith’s various completed and proposed but never built Davis developments and, as important,
a wide range of information on development in general in Davis over the 1960s-90s.
 |
| 2. Stonegate looking southwest, c. 1977 |
I very much appreciate Kara Brunzell alerting me to the existence
of this collection. Under a contract with the City of Davis, she is
conducting a major update of historical/cultural resources in our community and
she discovered it in the course of her inquires.
The collection is obviously complex and it
presents the additional complexity of being physically stored in a UC warehouse
in Richmond. To see any of it, one must approach the desk in the Shields
Special Collections reading room and ask for a specific box or send an email to
speccoll@ucdavis.edu with a request.
At this time, I have examined, in a preliminary and survey
way, 16 of these 265 boxes. Here are a
few impressions.
 |
| 3. |
One, the great bulk of the files deal with the construction
and financial details of Smith’s developments in Davis and elsewhere. Perhaps
the largest portion is on Stonegate and adjacent or nearby areas (images
1 and 2).
Two, many files are about proposed developments that were
never built. Of particular note, a research farm about the same size as
Stonegate was projected to be sited just to its west. That area is still open
land, so it obviously never happened.
On another dimension, he was interested in developing
housing for senior citizens and at one time tried to enlist Kaiser health units
in the effort. A form letter he sent to Kaiser officials regarding this
contains information on his biography as well as detailing his senior living
ideas. I thought it might be of interest, so I reproduce here as items 5a and 5b.
Three, Smith followed land developments in Davis and
Davis land use affairs in general. There are dozens of files on these topics. For example, he collected material on and by Covell
Village. The files include lists of names of and other information on that proposal’s opponents and drafts of opposition letters that imply he was in
alliance with them. (One opposition form letter accuses the Covell Village partners
of wanting to be Davis housing “Czars”--to have total control of housing for
decades to come.)
So, above I provide a little information on the Smith collection. It is a history explorer’s
possible delight. (But, I somehow suspect that virtually no one will ever go
and examine it in any detail.)
 |
| 4. |
 |
| 5a. |
 |
| 5b. |
