The Pacific Grove Historical Journal
WINTER 2015/2016
Rensselaer Luther Holman
Pacific Grove pioneer and founder
of Holman’s Department Store
Representing Quality Homes
and Extraordinary Clients
The Pacific Grove Historical Journal
WINTER 2015/2016
THE HERITAGE SOCIETY OF PACIFIC GROVE
605 Laurel Avenue, Pacific Grove, California 93950
CONTENT:
J.R. Rouse
Jan Pratt
831.277.3464
831.402.2017
[email protected]
www.jrrouse.com
[email protected]
www.janpratt.com
Rensselaer Luther Holman
Pacific Grove pioneer and founder Holman’s Department Store
Holman’s Department Store
From local dry goods store to celebrated department store with a global reach
Wilford Rensselaer Holman
The “Skipper” of Holman’s Department Store
community leader and naturalist
COVER PHOTOS:
R.L. Holman, Vermont, c. 1866 (Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
Holman’s Department Store, 1911 (Photo: Heritage Society of Pacific Grove)
Copyright © 2015 Heritage Society of Pacific Grove. All rights reserved
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Rensselaer
Luther Holman
Born 26 May 1843 in Vermont
Died 20 April 1909 in California
R
. L. Holman was a young
man who was working on
his father’s farm outside
Randolph, Vermont when, in the
summer of 1865, Horace Greeley’s
call to “Go West, young man, go
West and grow up with the country”
captured his imagination, as it did
for so many young men after the
Civil War. This son of a Vermont
farmer was in his early twenties
when he set his sights on California
– this was his manifest destiny.
R.L. Holman as a young man in Vermont,
In the 1860s there were three
c. 1866 (Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
ways for a young man to make
the trip West: he could 1) cross the continent on “foot”; 2) sail down to
the Isthmus of Panama, cross it on mule-back or a rickety train, then sail
up to San Francisco; 3) sail around Cape Horn in a windjammer. This
Vermont farmer’s son, perhaps enticed by the advertisements of the shipping
companies and the romantic lure of the seas, chose to make his first voyage to
the Golden State by way of Cape Horn. It was the winter of 1866, when R. L.
Holman set sail for San Francisco.
San Francisco was nothing like the Vermont where Holman grew up with
its farmlands of green rolling hills. San Francisco was crowded and noisy and
filled with people in a hurry – an exciting place to be in 1866. After landing
in San Francisco, Holman’s first concern was to make a living. Thus began
his retail career; he sold fruit on the streets of San Francisco and later took
a job in a bakery. It was from this unpretentious beginning that the tale of
the Holman family in California began, thus leaving their indelible mark on
retailing and the City of Pacific Grove.
San Francisco, c. 1866 (Illustration: This Week in History)
When Holman arrived in California, the state was undergoing profound
changes. The Gold Rush was gone, but a new kind of gold had been
discovered in the richness of its soil. Holman was young but wise in the
appreciation of the soil and farming. He saw what was happening and made
up his mind: no farming for him, but he was sure that those who did till the
soil would be successful and would need farming supplies and equipment.
With this said, Holman realized he needed two things, and they were both
back in Vermont – so, he returned to Vermont to get them. One was a
girl, Laura Amelia Whitcomb, and the other was business connections. He
married Miss Whitcomb and found his needed business connections while
he worked as a manager in a dry goods store in Chittenden, Vermont.
By 1872, he was back in San Francisco with a bride on his arm and an
agency contract with a farm machinery manufacturing firm in his pocket. Up
and down the State he traveled, through the hot dusty valleys of California
– from San Francisco to Los Angeles – up the San Joaquin and down the
Salinas valleys he rode on a hard-spring wagon drawn by two horses, all the
while selling plows, rakes, hoes, axes, harrows, harnesses – anything that
might be used to work the land. He even traveled by a small coastal steamer
as far north as Oregon, where his wares and fair prices found ready markets.
Eventually (1874) he and his family settled permanently in Sacramento,
where he went into the wholesale, retail hardware and agriculturalimplements business with his partner Pierre Stanton. Together they opened
the Holman-Stanton Company on the corner of 2nd and J Street. It was
during this time that he acquired his large ranch near Stockton. Farming was
in his blood.
Shortly after Holman’s father died in 1880 in Vermont, his mother, Rachel
Mann, and sister, Minnora, joined the R.L. Holman family in California.
Seven years later, on August 1, R.L. Holman’s wife of 20 years, Laura Amelia
Whitcomb Holman, died, leaving him with three young children to raise:
Clarence Edward, age 10; Minnie Whitcomb, age 6; and Wilford Rensselaer,
age 2. With his health damaged by years of hard work and constant travel
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Interior of The
Popular Dry Goods
Store with the
Holmans and staff
from left to right:
C.E. Holman, R.L.
Holman, Stella
Dawson, and a
Miss Ellis, c. 1892.
(Photo: Pat Hathaway
California Views
Collection 81-061-001 )
Holman family gathered in front of their home at 769 Lighthouse Road, c. 1889. At left
wearing a derby hat is R.L. Holman with his two sons sitting in the horse drawn buggy:
Clarence, age 12 and Wilford, age 4, and his daughter Minnie, age 8 sitting on the porch.
(Photo: Pat Hathaway California Views Collection 72-008-0192s)
under the most trying of circumstances, Holman felt the need for a change
from the hot, arid climate and memories of Sacramento – it was time to
move forward. He liked the look of a small town on the Monterey Bay named
Pacific Grove, so Holman sold his business to Thompson-Diggs and moved
his family from Sacramento to Pacific Grove where he built a Victorian-style
home for them at 769 Lighthouse Road.
Shortly thereafter, Holman was once again looking for an opportunity
and didn’t need long to find it. The tone and character of Pacific Grove was
changing as the tents of the “retreaters” summer encampment were converted
to cottages, a business district sprang up along Lighthouse Road, and the
Southern Pacific Railroad began its passenger service via the Del Monte
Express to Pacific Grove from San Francisco on June 25, 1890.
The town was taking on the appearance of a permanent settlement as
people began building homes of their own. This was all the opportunity
Holman needed. These homebuilders would require supplies: lumber,
cement, nails, plaster, plumbing, etc. He built warehouses and stocked
them with everything this boomtown would need but this business ran into
immediate trouble. The Pacific Improvement Company said he did not have
a business rights permit and informed him that if he persisted all his stock
would be confiscated. Bowing to such a persuasive argument, Holman sold
out and looked for other opportunities.
In 1891, Holman’s mother, Rachel Mann Holman, died in Pacific Grove.
That same year, Holman formed a partnership with G.W. Towle, Jr. and
together they opened a small dry goods store, Towle & Holman, on the
corner of Lighthouse Road and Forest Avenue, however, when gold was
discovered in Alaska, Towle succumbed to “gold-fever” and rushed off to
the frozen Klondike. There was no Yukon for Holman; he let the others heed
the call and he became sole owner of the little dry goods store on the south
side of Lighthouse Road and immediately changed the store’s name to The
Popular Dry Goods Store. Holman was 48 years old, with a growing family,
and had enough sense to know life was good in Pacific Grove.
On February 8, 1893 in Alameda, California, Holman married a school
teacher from Sacramento, Lillian Anthelia Piper. Together they had one son,
Ritter, born April 4, 1894. Their son Ritter, who was a graduate of Pacific
Grove High School (1913), was attached to the American Field Service in
France during WWI as an ambulance driver, for which he was decorated
by France with the Croix de Guerre – a medal awarded to recognize acts
of bravery in the face of the enemy. After WWI, Ritter attended Oxford
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University and in 1919, he returned
home, graduated from Stanford
University in 1920, then he clerked
in his father’s store.
As Holman’s dry goods store
expanded, he moved its locations
as many as four times up and down
Lighthouse Road to make room for
new business demands. Holman
finally found his store’s final location
on Lighthouse Road at 17th Street.
In 1905, Holman retired once
again and turned the management
of his store over to his sons,
Clarence and Wilford. On April
20, 1909 Rensselaer Luther
Holman died suddenly at age 65
at his beloved ranch in Stockton,
California. He was buried in
Sacramento with his first wife Laura
and his loyal sister Minnora, who
had died only the year before. Mrs.
Lillian Piper Holman died April 4,
1944, at age 85. •
Holman’s Department Store, c. 1911, on Lighthouse Avenue.
(Photo: Heritage Society of Pacific Grove, 608-610-612)
Holman’s Department Store
Headstone in Sacramento City Cemetery
marking the burial site for R. L. Holman,
Laura A. Holman, and Minnora L. Holman.
(Photo: Anestry.com - Find a Grave)
R.L. Holman lived in a nice house on
Lighthouse Road, in the woods just up
the hill a few blocks from his store.
For many years he made the brisk
walk each morning to his store but as
he grew older and the walk became
more challenging, he began to ride his
bicycle down the hill to his business
each morning with coattails and beard
stirring in the breeze.
Holman’s 75th Anniversary publication; 1966
E
From small local dry goods store to celebrated
department store with a global reach
1891 – 1984
quipped with his New Englander sensibilities of fairness,
neighborliness and hard work along with his impressive resume of
business successes, R.L. Holman was ready for whatever the future held
for him in Pacific Grove. As sole proprietor of The Popular Dry Goods Store
(formerlyTowle & Holman) he would climb the flight of stairs to his store on
the second floor, which was located on Lighthouse Road at Forest Avenue in
the Hollenbeck building. It was from his perch on the second floor that he
could watch the people bustling about town and evaluate their needs, and to
everyone who entered his establishment, he would serve them with his New
Englander business acumen. It wasn’t long before his store became one of the
most popular places in town to shop – up the long flight of stairs came the
men and women of Pacific Grove.
Holman was never one to rest on his laurels; he saw Pacific Grove’s future
and made plans for his store’s expansion to accommodate this growing
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Original sign posted outside R.L. Holman’s
store in 1897 on Lighthouse Avenue.
(Photo: Heritage Society of Pacific Grove)
community and its needs – thus
began the transformation of The
Popular from small local dry goods
store to a celebrated department
store with a global reach. As his
business grew and its lines of
merchandise expanded, the store
went through a series of moves.
Holman first moved his store
from its perch on the south side
of Lighthouse at Forest east to the
Lloyd block building – one of the
more impressive buildings in the Grove at that time. Ever expanding, the third
move in two years was east on Lighthouse Road (589-591).
It was 1897, when Holman again moved his store – this time to the north
side of Lighthouse Road (590) to the Robson block building. Holman took
a major step with the expansion of his business in 1903, when he moved the
main store back to the south side of Lighthouse Road (613) to the corner of
17th Street. He kept the Robson block location on the north side of the Road
as a furniture outlet.
As the store’s growth continued, he moved the main store again in 1903,
across the Road to 608 Lighthouse Road – and it was renamed R.L. Holman,
although a banner hanging from the building reads Holman’s Department
Store. Two years later in 1905, he expanded the store into the Winston block
(610-612) when the street frontage space became available, giving it street
frontage for a full block. At this time they built a corrugated iron wing in the
rear of the store to house the new grocery department, and it was here the
store remained for nearly 20 years. The Popular had grown from its small
beginnings as a dry goods store to what was now a full-fledged general store
called Holman’s Department Store (1907).
RL Holman
general
store c.
1903 at 613
Lighthouse
Avenue.
(Photo: Holman
tabloid 1966
reprint of c. 1903
advertisement)
A decorated horse-drawn wagon of employees, c. 1904, in front of the Winston Building,
which was next door to the Holman store. The banner flying above the employees reads:
“Holmans Department Store”. Note on reverse of photo made by W.R. Holman identifies
the driver as Wilford and describes the outing with 16 clerks as a picnic to celebrate the
4th of July. (Photo: Pat Hathaway California Views Collection 81-061-0002)
It was 1905, when R.L. Holman handed over the full-time management
of the general store to his two eldest sons, Clarence Edward and Wilford
Rensselaer. Clarence withdrew from active participation in the management
of the department store in 1909 and moved to his fruit ranch in Aromas with
his wife, Stella. She died in 1915 at age 38 leaving Clarence with 4 young
children to raise: Grandison, Ivan, Audray, and Marian. Clarence remarried in
1918, to Henrietta Valpey. It was in the 1940s that Clarence purchased a 600
acre ranch in Carmel Valley and transformed it into Holman’s Guest Ranch.
Clarence died July 3, 1962.
Wilford married Zena Georgina Patrick, his store’s ladies ready-to-wear
manager on September 19, 1912, and together they turned Holman’s into the
largest independent department store between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
When Wilford took over full management of Holman’s in 1913, the operations
of this well-developed department store and the complexities of its operation
were enormous.
Always with an eye to the future, Wilford purchased an entire block
Holman’s
Department
Store as featured
in a newspaper
advertisement,
November 1907.
(Photo: Pacific Grove
Public Library)
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Holman
Garage, 1920,
ready for
business.
(Photo: Pat
Hathaway
California Views
Collection 84-0030005)
Grand opening bash for Durant
auto dealership at the Holman
Garage, c. 1920. (Photo: The Heritage
Society of Pacific Grove)
April 1922, Chautauqua Assembly set up their tent on Holman’s property, where Holman’s
department store would open in 1924. Note the large sign pointing down Fountain Avenue
that says “Garage” – alerting the retreat attendees that Holman Garage is just down the
street. (Photo: Pat Hathaway California Views Collection)
of land in March 1918, which was
bound by Lighthouse and Central
Avenues between Grand and Fountain
Avenues. Until 1918, this had been
the site of Pacific Grove’s most famous
hotel¸ the El Carmelo Hotel, which
was later renamed the Pacific Grove
Hotel. Plans for this parcel were not
The Pacific Grove Hotel, formerly the
revealed by Wilford until 1922, and
El Carmelo Hotel, c. 1916.
during the interim between purchase
(Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
and development he maintained the
park-like setting that covered the front two-thirds of the block and installed
some swings and slides for the children’s amusement, that is, until a child hurt
himself. In 1922, Wilford permitted the Pacific Grove Chautauqua Assembly
to erect a large tent on the site for their meetings.
Evidently with a firm belief that “gas buggies” were here to stay, Wilford
purchased the franchises for Studebaker trucks and Durant Star automobiles
and in 1920, erected a big garage on the lower part of the block that faced
Central Avenue between Fountain Avenue and Grand Avenue.
In the garage he created a showroom with large windows to showcase the
“gas buggies” inside his new auto dealership, installed a gas pump near the
curb and a “drive slot” for automobiles to enter and exit. There was also a
full-service mechanic’s garage in the Grand Avenue side of the building. He
called this new business the Holman Garage. However, the Durant Star, which
was supposed to be competition for the Ford Model T stopped production in
1928, and shortly thereafter Holman exited the automobile business and used
the building through the
1930s to house his new hay,
grain, fuel, poultry, and used
furniture businesses.
As Pacific Grove grew
into a modern city and
Holman being ever aware of his customers changing needs, he subsequently
changed the type of businesses he offered in the “Garage”. A large garden
shop took the space the grain, hay, feed and poultry business held and an
S&H Green Stamp redemption store was added next to the space the used
furniture store occupied. The Holman Garage stands today, home to several
locally owned businesses that meet today’s customers’ needs, which include
a restaurant, men’s clothing store, resale shop, martial arts training center,
and a fabric shop. The Holman Garage building’s future is uncertain; a local
developer would like to convert this piece of history into a new hotel.
By 1922, Holman’s had once again outgrown its location and a change was
in order; plans were executed to build the largest department store of its kind
between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the block of property Wilford had
purchased four years earlier. This new two-story building with a basement,
which was constructed of reinforced concrete and occupied the front third of
the Lighthouse Avenue property opened its doors for business in 1924. During
the construction and at every turn after the store opened, Wilford gathered
Holman Garage,
1920, looking
down Fountain
Avenue toward
Central Avenue.
(Photo: Pat
Hathaway California
Views Collection
89-023-0HG3)
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Holman’s 1924.
(Photo: Pat Hathaway
California Views
Collection 81-061-0005)
The Holmans celebrate completion
of the first floor of Holman’s with
a dance for friends and neighbors,
c. 1924. (Photo: Pat Hathaway California
Views Collection 81-053-0003)
his community, friends, and
neighbors from near and
far to celebrate Holman’s
Department Store. As each
floor was completed, Wilford
held a dance before the stock
was moved in.
For years Holman’s
Department Store was known
to bankers and others in the
world of business, literally
from coast to coast, as
“Holman’s Monument” or
“Holman’s Folly”. Perhaps
they had reason for their
Interior of Holman’s first floor, c. 1924.
dire predictions; there were
(Photo: Heritage Society of Pacific Grove)
scarcely 10,000 people in
the entire immediate area at that time. How was a gigantic store going to pay
for itself? But pay for itself it did. Wilford Holman’s judgment was sound.
Holman’s Folly it was not.
The store was known for the quality of its merchandise and the cheerful
courtesy of its service, which acquired it an enviable position in American
merchandising circles. Holman’s was a prime example of a merchandising
institution that continuously anticipated and met the demands of the
consumer. The store prospered over the years, and additional small branches,
one in Carmel for house-wares and one in Monterey for shoes, were put into
operation but they were eventually sold to bring the focus back to the big store.
THE BOARD & BATTEN • WINTER 2015/2016
Page 15
Third floor construction
nearly complete.
(Photo: Pat Hathaway California
Views Collection
89-023-0257)
During the first year of the Great Depression the confidence the Holmans
showed in their community was demonstrated in concrete fashion. In 1930,
the store began plans to expand with the addition of a large third floor that
would be devoted entirely to the sale of furniture and include a solarium on
its roof, which would serve as a recreation and meeting place for the public
and the store’s employees. There would also be elevators installed to move
customers between its four floors – basement to the 3rd floor; a walk up a
winding staircase was required to reach the rooftop solarium.
It is to the Holman’s credit that their faith in America and the American
people never wavered during these difficult times. This faith took form in
ways that had meaning. All the workmen employed in building the new
addition were Union labor hired at the pre-Depression Union wage scale that
was maintained throughout the construction of the addition. This gesture
had far reaching effects as it laid the foundation for a return of belief in the
stability of business and the community. In addition, no employee was ever
laid off due to the Depression, nor wages lowered. Although employees’ hours
had to be cut, the work was spread across the work force so that everyone still
had a job and income.
An elderly gentleman driving his
Ford in 1926 hit the wrong pedal
and “hauled down hard on the hand
throttle”. This was the result. This
little flivver gave Holman’s some of
the best advertising it ever had.
Drawing crowds from near and far,
it was an attraction for more than
six weeks.
Holman’s 75th Anniversary publication, 1966
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Holman’s Appliance
Center, c.1965,
located on Fountain
Avenue directly
across the Street from
Holman’s parking
lot. This building’s
exterior design was a
preview of the 1966
proposed design for
Holman’s Department
Store.(Photo: Pacific Grove
Holman’s 1937.
Public Library)
Holman’s 1947.
Ever the promoter, Wilford
opened a shop in Del Monte
Center, c. 1967. If you can’t
beat ‘em, join them. (Photo:
Heritage Society of Pacific Grove)
Holman’s 1950.
Holman’s Department Store came to be known as just Holman’s and over
the succeeding years it underwent a series of remodels that included a number
of changes to its façade – always keeping it in the latest style.
Wilford R. Holman retired from active participation in the management
of Holman’s in 1947, leaving its day-to-day management responsibilities to
the next generation of Holman relatives: Vernon F. Hurd (married Marian
Holman) was the general manager, and Arthur W. Baxter, Jr., Gordon E.
Knoles (married Audray Estelle Holman), and Hugh W. Steven (son of Minnie
Holman Steven) joined the executive team.
There was a new million dollar remodel and façade announced in 1965
that included additions to the building, which already included 93,000 square
feet of floor with 46 departments and 2,500 square feet of outside window
display glass but it never came to fruition. Holman’s great success began to
slow from the 6,000 shoppers that entered its doors on an average day when
the Del Monte Shopping Center opened (1967) in Monterey with its large
chain department stores. The question was, could it continue to compete
when 60% of Holman’s annual business was generated by customers who
live in Pacific Grove, Carmel, and Monterey and the other 40% from literally
everywhere else in the world?
Holman’s was more than a department store to Pacific Grove. It was Pacific
Grove; it sat at the center of Pacific Grove and was part of its everyday life; it
was at the heart of Pacific Grove.
There was nothing more memorable for children than the 30-minute ride
from Monterey to Pacific Grove on Holman’s Santa Claus Special. For the ride,
Southern Pacific would dust off the cobwebs from 16 or more old coaches and
pile some 3,000 moppets aboard for 30 minutes of buffoonery, fun and general
merriment with Mr. and Mrs. Claus riding the cow-catcher of the locomotive.
In each coach music was playing and riding with the children were clowns
and jugglers along with the Holman family and store employees, who were
moving up and down the aisles distributing goodies, enjoying themselves
while keeping a watchful eye on their charges. Never was there a child lost
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All Aboard For The Santa Claus Special
Page 19
Feast of Lanterns fashion show
previewing the Royal Court costumes
designed and made by former MGM
costumer Ruth McClung to the lady’s
of Pacific grove. Show presented in
Holman’s women’s ready-to-wear
department, c. 1958.
(Photo: Dixie Layne)
Unknown artist’s rendition of Holman’s Santa Claus Special event, c. 1966.
(Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
or hurt, and in all the pandemonium all the
children were able to find their parents at the
end of the ride.
During just about any celebration at
Holman’s you’d find Carlos the Clown - a
real clown who had at one time performed
with the Barnum and Bailey Circus, as well
as with many of the other big top circuses of
days gone by.
Holman’s did everything the Holman
Charles Hilderra
as Carlos the Clown, c.1966.
way, and its sales were no exception. Twice a
(Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
year there was the Holman’s Day Sale where
everyone in Monterey County headed to Holman’s to see what was new at the
big store. There was also the Parking Lot Sale where employees dressed up in
bandanas and straw hats and served the customers outside where they had
stacked all the sales merchandise on big tables. There was also the occasional
Dog and Cat Sale where the sales goal was to get rid of the odds and ends
merchandise along with any unidentifiable gizmos that hadn’t sold.
Holman’s was central to the Feast of Lanterns revival in 1958 and every
year after until Holman’s closed its doors. Holman’s hosted the first Feast of
Lanterns’ fashion show with the Royal Court modeling their costumes for
the ladies of Pacific Grove on a runway setup in the center of the ladies departments. The Feast of Lanterns cake cutting was positioned prominently just
outside Holman’s front door where Elmarie Dyke was sure she would see all
the good people of Pacific Grove and could solicit their support for the festival.
Cake cutting ceremony held in front of
Holman’s with Elmarie Dyke presenting
Mayor Don Grafton with the first piece
of cake; she is assisted by Queen Topaz
(Gail Hyler), c. 1965.
(Photo: Dixie Layne)
Famed author John Steinbeck lived in Pacific Grove where arguably he
did some of his best writing. It was at Holman’s that Steinbeck purchased a
notepad for 82¢, which he used to draft The Pastures of Heaven and when
green ink was on sale Steinbeck purchased two bottles for 5¢, which lasted
him to page 167 of his manuscript For A God Unknown then forcing him to
purchase the higher-priced blue ink at 10¢ a bottle to finish it. While living in
the family’s 11th Street cottage, many of Steinbeck’s Pacific Grove experiences
found their way into his stories, particularly Cannery Row and its sequel,
Sweet Thursday.
Wilford served as MC
at the pet show held on
Holman’s roof in 1937.
(Photo: Heritage Society of pacific
Grove)
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The Mysterious Mr. X skating high above
the crowds on the street in front of Holman’s,
c. 1930. (Photo: Heritage Society of Pacific Grove)
Of particular note was the publicity
stunt Wilford Holman promoted in 1930;
a man known only as the Mysterious
Mr. X roller skated on a small platform
that was affixed on a pole high atop the
store’s roof, which stood more than 100
feet above the street. Mr. X skated around
the circular platform for 51 hours just
to break an endurance record. The stunt
was filmed and included in newsreels
that played in movie theaters across the country. This tale of the skater’s stunt
ended up in Steinbeck’s novel, Cannery Row.
It was 1985, when Holman’s was sold to Ford’s Department Store of
Watsonville. Four years later, the Loma Prieta earthquake rocked northern
and central California and severely damaged Ford’s flagship store in
Watsonville. Ford’s never recovered financially from the destruction its
flagship store suffered from the earthquake and in 1992 Ford’s was forced to
file for bankruptcy. All eight Ford’s department Stores were closed including
the store that occupied the iconic Holman’s building, which closed its doors
on January 7, 1993.
After sitting empty for nearly a year, a construction firm based in Redondo
Beach agreed to purchase the building for $3.8 million. In June 1994, the
voters of Pacific Grove passed Measure E, which would allow Anastasi
Construction Company to build a hotel within the Holman’s building’s walls but with one day before escrow was set to close, Anastasi pulled out of the deal
when it was revealed there were eight binding leases attached to the building.
In May 1995, local businessman Nader Agha and his partner Richard
Risko purchased the building for $1.95 million and subsequently leased out
retail spaces to antique dealers and office spaces to individuals. After their
unsuccessful attempt to convert the entire Holman block to a seven-story
hotel, the Holman building sold in 2015 to local developers who have begun
the process of restoring the façade of the building and converting the once
enormous department store into condominiums where the Holman’s name
will continue to adorn the building.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Using multiple sources including maps, photographs, and
print articles and columns we found conflicting information regarding the
exact locations of some of the stores. This list includes the best analysis of the
information to cite the location of each of the stores. •
THE BOARD & BATTEN • WINTER 2015/2016
Page 21
Wilford Rensselaer
Holman
Born August 28, 1884 in Sacramento
Died December 29, 1981 in Pacific Grove
F
rom the time Wilford R. Holman
was a young boy in knee pants he
was spending every afternoon in his
father’s dry goods store on Lighthouse
Road. He was from the very beginning
enamored with the merchandising trade, as W.R. Holman on the occasion of the
80th anniversary of Holman’s,
it was called in the day. As Wilford’s pants
c. 1971. (Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
got longer, his father’s stores got bigger
and Wilford was certain there was no better place to be but by his father’s side
on Lighthouse Road. It was here he went from school boy to retail business
magnate – from working in The Popular Dry Goods Store and the R.L.
Holman general store to ultimately taking the helm of Holman’s Department
Store and eventually built the family’s landmark store known simply as
Holman’s.
Wilford was born in Sacramento, the youngest of R.L. and Rachel Mann
Holman’s three children. He was two when his mother died and only four
when his father sold his Sacramento dry goods store and retired to Pacific
Grove. His father took the money from the sale of his Sacramento business
and purchased a swath of land from Lighthouse Road to Short Street between
Wood and Granite Street. He then rented a small two-story house for his
family at 218 Lobos Street, which in 1889 consisted of Wilford and his two
siblings, Clarence and Minnie, his Aunt Minnora Holman, his paternal
grandmother Rachel, and the family’s cook and housekeeper, Lee Chong. The
family lived in the Lobos Street house with only an outhouse and no bathing
facilities until their three story redwood house with three gables was built at
769 Lighthouse Avenue, complete with full bathrooms.
Wilford grew up in his father’s store as it moved from one location to
another along Lighthouse Road. As the business grew and expanded so
did Wilford’s experience and abilities. Everyday Wilford was in the store,
doing what must be done – sweeping floors, washing windows, attending to
customers, making deliveries, receiving merchandise and marking it for sale.
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THE BOARD & BATTEN • WINTER 2015/2016
Page 23
He loved every minute of it. After school he would take a horse drawn wagon
to the bank in Monterey to deposit the store’s daily receipts. His dream was
to one day have the finest department store in Pacific Grove, much like the
Emporium in San Francisco.
After Wilford returned from the Pacific Coast Business College in San Jose,
he continued to work with his father in The Popular and soon joined the local
volunteer fire department. He is said to have been at every fire that happened,
including the 1906 fire that “burnt Chinatown” (Chinese Fishing Village). Life
in Pacific Grove during this pre-World War I era had a pioneer quality. Fewer
than half the homes in Pacific Grove had indoor plumbing and houses were
heated by pot-bellied stoves, fireplaces or a kitchen range. Rugs were cleaned
by hanging them on a line outdoors and beating them with a whip or broom
and grass was cut with a sickle.
A fire of unexplained
origins burnt the Chinese
Fishing Village at Cabrillo
Point to the ground on May
16, 1906. (Photo: Pacific Grove
Public Library)
Main Street, Chinese Fishing Village at
Cabrillo Point, c.1903.
(Photo: Pat Hathaway California Views Collection)
Wilford was described as a lanky man with a lot of Vermont in his voice
and appearance – handsome with his blue eyes and brown hair. Wilford was
his father’s son; he loved the merchandising trade and farming. In 1905, when
he took over the management of the store from his father, he introduced the
department feature concept – taking it from general store to department store.
Wilford was a young single man who loved this business – he ate, slept, and
worked at the store. By this time his father had retired to his ranch in Linden
with his beloved sister, Minnora Holman.
The store was closed on Sundays, and as a young man Wilford chose to
take that time to visit Lovers Point – he loved the Pacific Ocean and the Bay.
Wilford could think of no better place to live than Pacific Grove. This is where
he became an advocate for the preservation of nature’s beauty and resources
Lovers Point, c. 1903.
(Photo: Pat Hathaway California Views Collection 08-025-0014)
– particularly Pacific Grove’s. It was during these visits to Lovers Point that
he would stop to “talk with the folks”. He would listen, always listen to his
customers and potential business partners. It was during one of his Sunday
sabbaticals that he met the Donkey Man, Mr. Allison, with whom he struck
a deal; Wilford would pay Mr. Allison, in exchange for his Pacific Grove
property, $25 a month for the rest of Mr. Allison’s life. It was often hard for
Wilford to come up with the $25 a month and fix up the old buildings on the
property but he never missed a payment.
After his father’s death in 1909, there was the matter of probate and for
seven year’s Wilford’s father’s attorney, Silas Mack, would go to Salinas each
month with Wilford to settle the matter. At the end of this seven years he
called upon the estate for his fee, which was $3,000. A deal was struck that the
fee would be credited to Silas Mack’s account at Holman’s and made available
to his family for any purchases they made at the store.
Wilford had his father’s business acumen and fair mindedness – the
business kept expanding and he found the need for a bookkeeper at the store.
With the help of his bookkeeper, he kept the store’s shelves stocked with
merchandise purchased through the bankruptcy proceedings of other stores in
northern California. He became quite adept at winning the bids, which meant
he could offer his customers goods at excellent prices. The nearby farmlands
(Salinas Valley) produced an abundance of fruits and vegetables that Wilford
had his delivery man bring in by the truckloads for his customers. Was this
the first farmers’ market in Pacific Grove? Wilford placed a “Want Book” in
each department of his store, which enabled customers to let him know what
items they wanted to purchase that he did not carry. He always listened to his
customers.
As the country was entering the second decade of the 20th century, Wilford
decided he needed a “good sales girl” to manage the ladies ready-to-wear
department. A traveling salesman recommended a young woman who worked
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THE BOARD & BATTEN • WINTER 2015/2016
Page 25
Wilford knew promotion worked; he had circulars printed that advertised
Holman’s merchandise and had them delivered to every home on the
Monterey Peninsula. He did this for nearly 15 years. He also had billboards
from Watsonville to beyond King City that advertised Holman’s. The largest
billboard was in Monterey, and it could be seen from all over town. These
billboards are credited with bringing in thousands of visitors each year, who
spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the Peninsula. After 40 years of
using these signs, Monterey County issued an ordinance to do away with such
signage.
The Fashionable Miss Zena
Georgina Patrick. (Photo:
Zena’s influence - the ladies ready to wear department
display window, c. 1920. (Photo: Heritage Society of Pacific Grove)
Pacific Grove Public Library)
in a shop in Salinas – Zena Georgina Patrick. Wilford liked her immediately,
and on that day they began their professional relationship. They were married
in San Francisco August 19, 1912, with two store employees as witnesses.
Their life together can best be described as a Hollywood film starring Spencer
Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Wilford and Pat, as he liked to call his new
bride, moved into the 218 Lobos Street house he had been sharing with his
sister, Minnie. His first daughter, Patricia, was born while they lived there.
Several years later Wilford and Zena moved to 213 Granite Street. His second
daughter, Harriet, was born in 1918 while they lived on Granite Street.
Until his father’s estate was settled, Wilford’s stepmother, Lillian Piper, and
her son Ritter lived in the family home on Lighthouse Road. Once all was
settled, Wilford and Zena took possession of the house with Zena managing
its complete remodel before moving
the family in some years later.
Wilford would be able to raise his
daughters in the home he had been
raised, except it was now a threestory Spanish style stucco with all
the modern conveniences.
When Wilford incorporated the
store in 1916, he had the building
painted to unveil its new name
– Holman’s Department Store.
Shares of the new corporation were
distributed equally between his sister
Minnie, his brother Clarence, and
himself.
Holman home at 769 Lighthouse Avenue
after the remodel undertaken by Wilford &
Zena Holman.
After World War I, Wilford purchased the property
the El Carmelo Hotel/Pacific Grove Hotel had once
occupied. Five years later the building Holman’s
Department Store had occupied on Lighthouse
Avenue at 17th Street was sold, leaving Wilford no
place to move his store. He had to build – and as they
say, the rest is history.
Always an influence in political affairs affecting
Pacific
Grove, Wilford led a seven-year battle with the
Wilford R. Holman,
known as the “Skipper” County Board of Supervisors in the 1920s to get a road
to long-time employees, built over the hill to connect his city with the highway
sits in his small work
linking Monterey and Carmel. During the struggle he
laden office that was
once led a contingent of Boy Scouts, school marching
located in a corner of
bands and other concerned citizens to Salinas to lobby
Holman’s, 1966. (Photo:
pacific Grove Public Library)
for the road before the Board of Supervisors. The
result was the opening of the road over the hill in 1930. It later became part of
State Route 68 and in 1972 that section was officially designated by the state as
the W.R. Holman Highway.
Wilford took on City Hall in 1927 to turn the town into a charter city
with a city manager form of government. Harsh words were traded before
the election but Wilford prevailed in the end. Wilford served on the Pacific
Grove Planning Commission from 1943 until his resignation in 1957, citing
Mayor Robert Quinn
of Pacific Grove (far
right) unveils the new
highway sign at the Feast
of Lanterns celebration,
1972. That portion of
Highway 68 known
informally as the Pacific
Grove-Carmel Cutoff was
named after the man who
made it happen in 1930.
(Photo: Dixie Layne)
Page 26
THE BOARD & BATTEN • WINTER 2015/2016
dissention between the Commission
and City Council.
Wilford also had a couple of
definite ideas about parking - he
wanted plenty of it and he did not
want parking meters. That property he
purchased from the Donkey Man, Mr.
Allison, well, he donated it to the City
for parking lots. The City did, however,
experiment with parking meters in one
lot for a short period of time.
Over the years, Wilford and Zena
shared many interests, including
Wilford Holman at his Holly Hills Ranch,
1946. It was 1911, when Wilford began
the cultivation of a large acreage of
raising holly in his yard as a hobby. In
English and Dutch holly on a ranch
1932, he planted 25 acres of holly at his
near Watsonville, and the collection
ranch in Watsonville. What began as a
of American Indian artifacts. The
hobby became a successful commercial
enterprise.
artifacts later were presented by the
(Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
Holmans to the state of California and
are displayed in the Pacific Building State Historical Monument in Monterey.
A few years before Zena’s death the Holmans also donated their collection of
Eskimo artifacts and 20th century ivory carvings to the Monterey Peninsula
Museum of Art.
At the time of his death in 1981, Wilford
was survived by his two daughters, Mrs.
Patricia O’Meara of Watsonville and Harriet
Barter-Heebner of Carmel, six grandchildren,
and 11 great-grandchildren. •
Wilford and Zena Holman at the 61st anniversary of
Holman’s, c. 1952. (Photo: Heritage Society of Pacific Grove)
Many years ago, W.R. Holman
noticed a customer having a
difficult time with a wheelbarrow. Desiring to be
of service, he lent a hand to
get it outside. Watching
the customer trundle away,
he thought; “There goes a
satisfied customer.” Indeed.
Circumstances later revealed
that the customer was a
shoplifter.
(Photo: Pacific Grove Public Library)
Ron Gaasch, joined in 2013
Bigger
LIVING
A smaller footprint can reward you with a bigger life. Ron
starts with simple pleasures: a good run, a locally sourced
menu, and his community. Nicely, Canterbury Woods is the
senior living community without entry fees, and that makes
his place on the coast surprisingly affordable. To learn more,
or for your personal visit, please call 831.657.4195.
651 Sinex Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950 canterburywoods-esc.org
A not-for-profit community owned and operated by Episcopal Senior Communities.
License No. 270708224 COA #89 EPCW721-01BL 020416
PUBLICATION STAFF:
Editor - Dixie Layne
Designer - Sarah Davis
Contributors:
Don Beals, Pat Hathaway
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
OFFICERS:
President – David van Sunder
Vice President – James Newhall Smith
Secretary – William Peake
Treasurer – Michael Groshong
DIRECTORS:
Carrol Patterson
Jean Anton
Claudia Sawyer
Don Beals
Rick Steres
Nina Grannis
Donna Stewart
Steve Honegger
Dennis Tarmina
Adrianne Jonson
Dixie Layne
Special thanks to Pat Hathaway
for sharing his vintage photos.
THE BARN
Laurel & 17th Street
Hours: Saturday 1:00-4:00 p.m.
The Heritage Society of Pacific Grove
Post Office Box 1007
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
(831) 372-2898
PAID
Non-Profit Org.
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Permit No. 30
Pacific Grove, CA
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