Historic Niles District of Fremont, California

These gargantuan concrete letters of the Niles landmark etched on the hills were reconstructed by Niles volunteers in 1990. Pilots still use this landmark to verify their location.
The original painted white letters were put up by the Niles Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1926 as part of the national trend to combine boosterism and navigational markers for the new field of aviation. The letters were later covered with dirt during World War II.

The Essanay Studio of Chicago was formed in 1907 by George Spoor, who had developed one of the first movie projectors, and Gilbert M. Anderson. Anderson had worked as a janitor at the Thomas Edison Studio when he was chosen to play an outlaw in the first western ever made, The Great Train Robbery. The first characters of Spoor's and Anderson's surnames translated into "S" and "A.", hence the name Essanay.

In 1913, the Essanay Studios, a state-of-the-art studio was built in Niles at a cost of $50,000. A complete row of bungalows were constructed for the actors and the crew to live in. Two of the cottages still exist today.

Niles was selected by G.M. Anderson because of its mild climate, almost perpetual sunshine, and the unspoiled scenery of Niles Canyon (currently route 84 between Fremont and Interstate 680). Essanay made some 300 westerns in and around Niles. Charlie Chaplin made at least five silent movies in Niles, including The Tramp.

Charlie Chaplin lived in Niles for three months but accepted a more lucrative pay from Mutual in 1916. With the departure of a big star like Chaplin, Spoors bought G.M."Broncho Billy" Anderson out, Essanay's fortunes declined sharply and the studio eventually closed its doors in 1917.
Niles will always be remembered as the first Hollywood.

G.M. Anderson fell in love with the perpetual sunshine and rolling hills of Niles and moved his crew here to make his silent westerns in the scenic canyon.
For about four years, Anderson produced, directed and starred as his "Broncho Billy" character which was the mould for all future western characters to come. He was the western trendsetter for the cowboy studded chaps, terrorizing a town with his swaggering gait, an outlaw with a sympathetic heart who always managed to take the bad guys out.
Anderson became a very rich movie star, bought a legitimate theater, began promoting boxers, and was running the Niles baseball team. By 1915 he had hired the biggest movie star of them all -- Charlie Chaplin.

In 1915, Essanay Film's co-owner Gilbert M."Broncho Billy" Anderson lured Charlie Chaplin to star in Essanay films shot in Niles, one of the most famous being "The Tramp," the film that clinched Chaplin's connection to Niles. Chaplin was making $150 a week at Keystone Studios when Anderson hired him away for $1250 a week plus a $10,000 signing bonus.

Charlie soon found himself a new leading lady in San Francisco who answered an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle for the "Prettiest Girl in California." Chaplin and Purviance were soon romantically involved onscreen and off and his relationship with Edna changed Chaplin's acting demeanor from the slapstick-happy to the kind-hearted and gentlemanly character.




This is a scene from "The Tramp" (1915) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance where she played the role of the farmer's daughter. Edna became Chaplin's most enduring and endearing leading lady between 1915-1923.

Read more about Edna Purviance - Nevada's Silent Movie Star, her birthhome and life.

This is a group shot in Niles with Charlie Chaplin and his leading lady, Edna Purviance outside the cottage where she lived. Ms. Purviance can be seen leaning against the white picket fence with Chaplin to her left.

This is a photo of the same cottage taken Oct. 20, 2010 where Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin's film leading lady and wife, stayed while filming in Niles. The two were rumored to be lovers, although Ms. Purviance ended up marrying an American Airways pilot in later years.

Abraham Lincoln chose the route through Niles Canyon and signed the Pacific Railroad Act in July of 1862, to build a rail line between the Mississippi and the Pacific Coast. The Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento was building eastward over the Sierra Nevada and the Union Pacific Railroad was extending tracks westward from Omaha to meet the Central Pacific. The two Pacific railroads joined at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869 to become America's first transcontinental rail line. The railroad was considered by some to be the greatest technological feat of the 19th century.


Niles, Fremont (CA) (Images of America)

This is a 1913 shot of the Niles train station taken by San Francisco professional photographer Charles Allen Dealey. Western Essanay actor and director, Arthur Mackley can be seen on the right side of the photograph in his tweed coat as he gets ready to depart from Niles. All the Essanay westerns with "Sheriff" in the title are Mackley's.

The history of trains in Niles Canyon dates back to before the building of the original transcontinental railroad. The first Western Pacific Railroad Company (formed in 1862) started construction in San Jose towards Sacramento. It built twenty miles of track that reached into Alameda Creek canyon in 1866. Its first passenger excursion entered the canyon on October 2 of that year. Construction was halted shortly thereafter, however, because of disagreements between the railroad's contractors and its financiers.

In September, 1869, four months after the famous golden spike ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah, the Central Pacific Railroad completed the transcontinental rail link between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay, finishing the track through the canyon. The CP had acquired the Western Pacific and other local railroads and built rail to connect them at a waterfront terminal at Alameda Point.

The Central Pacific constructed a freight terminal at the west end of the canyon and a town quickly sprang up around it. The town was named for Addison C. Niles, a prominent judge and former railroad attorney.

The Central Pacific eventually became part of the Southern Pacific railroad system. Over the years, the SP invested heavily in a main line to the north through Benicia and Martinez. The tracks in the canyon became a secondary main line. Very few rebuilding programs by the railroad left the Niles Canyon line with much of its original cut stone bridge abutments, culverts and retaining walls from the original Western Pacific's right of way (circa 1865). These unique constructions can still be seen today.

Steam locomotives pulled trains through Niles Canyon for eighty years before diesels took over in the 1950's. In 1984, after twelve decades of railroading in the canyon, the Southern Pacific ceased operating trains on the right-of-way, pulled up the tracks, and deeded the land to Alameda County.

The Pacific Locomotive Association entered into an agreement with the County and began rebuilding the rail line in 1987. Association volunteers worked for over a year on the first part of the track reconstruction between Sunol and Brightside. On May 21, 1988, almost 122 years after the first Western Pacific excursion, the Pacific Locomotive Association brought railroad passenger operations back to life in Niles Canyon.

www.ncry.org/home.htm

What a magical feeling it must be to wind through Niles Canyon in a train festooned with thousands of colorful lights. The 75-minute roundtrip ride between Niles and Sunol or from Sunol to Niles will take your breath away.This annual fundraising event is presented by the Pacific Locomotive Association to benefit Niles Canyon Railway projects throughout the year. The non-profit, tax-exempt living museum history is supported by donations by the community in order to continue to operate and grow.


Photo Credit:TomboWombo2925,

The interior of the antique Christmas train is aglow with the spirit of the holiday.

Photo Credit:moyerrphotos

This lens was awarded a Purple Star Award on April 11, 2011. My heartfelt thanks to the Squidoo lensmaster for nominating this lens.