imafishingnutt
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2007
- Messages
- 1,675
- Reaction score
- 35
- Golden Thread
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- Location
- Superior Nebraska
- Detector(s) used
- Whites XLT, Tesoro, Whites DFX, Nokta Impact Pro, Ace 400.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Turns out this lead i found today is old and i have to wonder how it got here.
i think ill hit my yard some more. may be more clues here. maby it was a camp site or homestead at one time.
selby is a smelter out of california that changed names and hands in 1909 after years of smelting
heres a bit of history
...
Lost to the annals of history is the small town of Tormey that once existed in the upper northwest corner of Contra Costa County, California, near both San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Strait, barely two miles from the town of Rodeo and 28 miles from downtown San Francisco. While the name Tormey still appears on maps of the San Francisco Bay Area, today it is for the most part long abandoned, vacant land. It was at one time, however, a cozy company town that was home to hundreds of families over the course of nearly a century.
In its earliest days, the site that ultimately became Tormey was originally prime ranch land, part of Patrick Tormey's vast Tormey Ranch. In about the year 1875 (the exact year is not known), in an era when railroad transportation was gaining a stronghold throughout the West, the San Pablo & Tulare Railroad Co. (*1) built a station on the line that ran through Patrick Tormey's ranch, and aptly named it Tormey Station. (The site was near the heart of Patrick Tormey's main ranching operations and not far from his personal home, a large mansion that once stood near Oleum.) In the years to come, it was around this Tormey Station that the town of Tormey ultimately emerged.
It is unclear whether Tormey Station was built at the urging of Patrick Tormey himself or whether the railroad initiated negotiations to buy and build on the property. In any case, it is clear that the interests of both parties were well served. From a business standpoint, surely the transportation and shipping needs of Tormey Ranch alone would have been enough to make Tormey Station a profitable stop for the railroad company. And no doubt, Patrick Tormey enjoyed the convenience. In any case, in the late 1800s, as railroads sought to aggressively expand their reach throughout the West, it was typical for railroad companies to build stations accessible to where wealthier individuals lived. (No doubt, politics played a role in this -- as the railroads hoped to obtain favor with those who were able support or stymie their growth plans).
A decade later, Tormey's growth from a single railroad station to a small town can be credited to the growth of big industry in the area and, in particular, metals refining (which was an increasingly important industry to the late nineteenth century American economy).
In 1884, under the direction of Prentiss Selby, the Selby Smelting and Refining Co. (often referred to as the Selby Smelting Works, or simply Selby Works) decided to move their huge refining operations from San Francisco to Contra Costa County. The Selby Works (the largest gold, silver and lead refining firm in the Western U.S.) had long been a cornerstone of San Francisco industry. Their growing success, however, also made them an increasingly bad neighbor in the city. (Operating around the clock, their many smoke stacks spewed out columns of dense, black smoke, creating a constant pall over San Francisco Bay.)
Seeking to move to a more rural area that provided both a buffer from the city and room for expansion, the firm purchased a large tract of land from Patrick Tormey, near the shore of the Carquinez Strait. The site was ideal for Selby, being more isolated than the firm's original downtown operation, with room to grow and being located near very deep waters that could accommodate ocean-going shipping vessels. Construction quickly began on large furnaces, industrial buildings and a deep-water docking facility through which the firm could receive large shipments of freshly mined ore from around the world to be refined. Not surprisingly, eager to support big business in their backyard, county officials were quick to designate the unincorporated area around the plant as "Selby", a name which still appears on some maps today.
In addition to the land that the Selby Works bought for their large industrial furnaces, Selby also purchased from Patrick Tormey a large tract of land adjacent to Tormey Station. Wanting to provide affordable housing for their workers (conveniently located to the Selby plant) and to lessen the burden of moving for those employees who accepted a transfer from Selby's soon-to-be-closed San Francisco operations, the company set out to build a small company town on the Tormey site. Under the direction of Selby engineers, streets were plowed, lots were cleared and graded, homes were erected (cozy California bungalow-style homes), and trees were planted. Even a small school building was constructed. Every comfort that could be wanted in a small town was provided, all at company expense and all owned outright by the firm. It was a convenient arrangement for employees, who were able to lease homes from the firm for a fraction of housing costs in nearby towns. Cheap rents came at the expense of ownership and control, however -- a fact that would prove disastrous for the town 87 years later.
While this researcher has not been able to find a record of exactly how many company-owned homes existed in Tormey, it is estimated that there were 45 to 50 such homes. In addition, at some point, as many as 14 privately-owned homes were built alongside the company-owned homes, as land came available. These privately-owned homes were, however, just as dependent on the firm as the company-owned homes were -- being that the Selby Works provided infrastructure (such as roads) and utilities (such as water and sewer), which were totally under company control.
As the years and decades went by, little changed in Tormey -- other than names, faces and even ownership of the Selby plant itself.
In 1905, the Selby Smelting and Refining Company was acquired by the larger American Smelting and Refining Company Asarco
i think ill hit my yard some more. may be more clues here. maby it was a camp site or homestead at one time.
selby is a smelter out of california that changed names and hands in 1909 after years of smelting
heres a bit of history
...
Lost to the annals of history is the small town of Tormey that once existed in the upper northwest corner of Contra Costa County, California, near both San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Strait, barely two miles from the town of Rodeo and 28 miles from downtown San Francisco. While the name Tormey still appears on maps of the San Francisco Bay Area, today it is for the most part long abandoned, vacant land. It was at one time, however, a cozy company town that was home to hundreds of families over the course of nearly a century.
In its earliest days, the site that ultimately became Tormey was originally prime ranch land, part of Patrick Tormey's vast Tormey Ranch. In about the year 1875 (the exact year is not known), in an era when railroad transportation was gaining a stronghold throughout the West, the San Pablo & Tulare Railroad Co. (*1) built a station on the line that ran through Patrick Tormey's ranch, and aptly named it Tormey Station. (The site was near the heart of Patrick Tormey's main ranching operations and not far from his personal home, a large mansion that once stood near Oleum.) In the years to come, it was around this Tormey Station that the town of Tormey ultimately emerged.
It is unclear whether Tormey Station was built at the urging of Patrick Tormey himself or whether the railroad initiated negotiations to buy and build on the property. In any case, it is clear that the interests of both parties were well served. From a business standpoint, surely the transportation and shipping needs of Tormey Ranch alone would have been enough to make Tormey Station a profitable stop for the railroad company. And no doubt, Patrick Tormey enjoyed the convenience. In any case, in the late 1800s, as railroads sought to aggressively expand their reach throughout the West, it was typical for railroad companies to build stations accessible to where wealthier individuals lived. (No doubt, politics played a role in this -- as the railroads hoped to obtain favor with those who were able support or stymie their growth plans).
A decade later, Tormey's growth from a single railroad station to a small town can be credited to the growth of big industry in the area and, in particular, metals refining (which was an increasingly important industry to the late nineteenth century American economy).
In 1884, under the direction of Prentiss Selby, the Selby Smelting and Refining Co. (often referred to as the Selby Smelting Works, or simply Selby Works) decided to move their huge refining operations from San Francisco to Contra Costa County. The Selby Works (the largest gold, silver and lead refining firm in the Western U.S.) had long been a cornerstone of San Francisco industry. Their growing success, however, also made them an increasingly bad neighbor in the city. (Operating around the clock, their many smoke stacks spewed out columns of dense, black smoke, creating a constant pall over San Francisco Bay.)
Seeking to move to a more rural area that provided both a buffer from the city and room for expansion, the firm purchased a large tract of land from Patrick Tormey, near the shore of the Carquinez Strait. The site was ideal for Selby, being more isolated than the firm's original downtown operation, with room to grow and being located near very deep waters that could accommodate ocean-going shipping vessels. Construction quickly began on large furnaces, industrial buildings and a deep-water docking facility through which the firm could receive large shipments of freshly mined ore from around the world to be refined. Not surprisingly, eager to support big business in their backyard, county officials were quick to designate the unincorporated area around the plant as "Selby", a name which still appears on some maps today.
In addition to the land that the Selby Works bought for their large industrial furnaces, Selby also purchased from Patrick Tormey a large tract of land adjacent to Tormey Station. Wanting to provide affordable housing for their workers (conveniently located to the Selby plant) and to lessen the burden of moving for those employees who accepted a transfer from Selby's soon-to-be-closed San Francisco operations, the company set out to build a small company town on the Tormey site. Under the direction of Selby engineers, streets were plowed, lots were cleared and graded, homes were erected (cozy California bungalow-style homes), and trees were planted. Even a small school building was constructed. Every comfort that could be wanted in a small town was provided, all at company expense and all owned outright by the firm. It was a convenient arrangement for employees, who were able to lease homes from the firm for a fraction of housing costs in nearby towns. Cheap rents came at the expense of ownership and control, however -- a fact that would prove disastrous for the town 87 years later.
While this researcher has not been able to find a record of exactly how many company-owned homes existed in Tormey, it is estimated that there were 45 to 50 such homes. In addition, at some point, as many as 14 privately-owned homes were built alongside the company-owned homes, as land came available. These privately-owned homes were, however, just as dependent on the firm as the company-owned homes were -- being that the Selby Works provided infrastructure (such as roads) and utilities (such as water and sewer), which were totally under company control.
As the years and decades went by, little changed in Tormey -- other than names, faces and even ownership of the Selby plant itself.
In 1905, the Selby Smelting and Refining Company was acquired by the larger American Smelting and Refining Company Asarco
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