Before Blue Rock Springs Became a Crime Scene

Before Blue Rock Springs Became a Crime Scene

Municipal Purchase, Federal Development, and the Construction of a Civic Memory Site, 1937–1941

By Space: Blue Rock Springs; Vallejo; Blue Rock Springs Road; Lake Herman; Lake Herman Road; Hunter’s Hill; Benicia; Mare Island; Solano County; San Francisco Bay Area

By Time: 1937–1941; July 31; October 11–13; June 24; July 8; September 27; October 26–27; thirty-two-year intervals; thirty-six-year interval; publication dates; event dates; postmarks

By Motif: Municipal Purchase; Deed; Civic Certification; Public Recreation; WPA; SRA; Red Phantom; 1974 Correspondence Canon; Anniversary Correspondence; Water; Landscape; Engineering; Public Routes; Game Refuge; No Guns; Golf; Naming; Civic Memory; Historical Return; Symbols as Time

 

Abstract

Before Blue Rock Springs became a Zodiac crime scene, it was a civic project.

Between 1937 and 1941, the former springs and resort property passed through a documented sequence of private revival, municipal investigation, public debate, purchase authorization, ordinance, deed acceptance, professional design, federal work-relief eligibility, physical reclamation and golf-course construction. Contemporary newspapers did not describe an empty or forgotten landscape. They described a property being deliberately transformed into a public recreational centre for Vallejo.

This research archive draws upon a seventy-eight-item documentary corpus organized within five thematic collections: municipal purchase (BRS-PUR), federal and WPA development (BRS-WPA), recreation-park construction (BRS-REC), golf-course development (BRS-GOLF) and Mare Island institutional connections (BRS-MI). Each document retains its thematic identifier and has also been assigned a permanent global chronological identifier from BRS-RI-001 through BRS-RI-078. The complete publication-ready register appears as Appendix A.

Several historical dates later intersect the Zodiac chronology. These include July 31, October 11–13, June 24, July 8, September 27 and October 26–27. The article distinguishes rigorously between event date, publication date, deed-acceptance date, postmark and retrospective reporting. The existence of a calendric correspondence is documented where applicable; offender knowledge, selection and intentional construction remain unproven.

The purpose of ZRA8 is therefore not to explain the Blue Rock Springs attack through municipal history. It is to restore the history that existed before the crime attempted to replace it.

 

1. Before the Parking Lot

The modern criminal narrative of Blue Rock Springs normally begins during the night of July 4–5, 1969: a parked Corvair, an approaching vehicle, a flashlight, gunfire, the assailant’s temporary departure and return, and the subsequent telephone call to Vallejo Police Department.

That chronology is necessary, but it begins too late.

Long before the attack, Blue Rock Springs had already accumulated a public biography. Its terrain had been inspected, priced, purchased, mapped, engineered, cleared, planted, regulated, travelled and played upon. Its future had been debated by municipal commissioners, engineers, golfers, journalists, public officials and residents. Its springs had been measured, its water supply questioned, its possible uses compared and its civic value repeatedly proclaimed.

Blue Rock Springs was therefore not merely a physical point later occupied by a crime. It was a pre-existing field of civic authorship.

The property entered the municipal record through a sustained process rather than a single decision. Purchase did not immediately produce a park. It produced legal, financial, engineering and social questions:

• Who owned the property?
• What land would the City acquire?
• How much would it cost?
• Could the springs support a swimming pool?
• Was there sufficient water for a golf course?
• Which public facilities should be created?
• Should the site contain a rifle range or become a game refuge?
• Could federal work-relief assistance transform the municipal plan into physical infrastructure?
• How should the new public space be named and remembered?

These questions reveal that the site’s meaning was not natural or inevitable. It was constructed.

ZRA8 examines the period from the municipal-acquisition campaign of 1937 through the announced golf-course dedication of October 1941. The much earlier history of White Sulphur Springs, the Madrid family, resort use, mining, private ownership and landscape change requires a separate BRS-PRE archive. It appears here only where a contemporary 1937 or 1938 source opens a necessary portal into that earlier field.

The main text reproduces only a selected group of primary documents. The full clipping corpus—whether or not a particular item appears as an illustration—is preserved in the Global Blue Rock Springs Reference Index in Appendix A.

 

2. A Contemporary Portal into the Earlier Springs

The municipal story did not begin with an untouched tract.

On June 9, 1937, the Vallejo Evening News reported that Blue Rock Springs “may be revived to former glory.” The article described a tract of approximately 161 acres recently purchased by a group of local residents. The property was being considered for renewed resort and recreational use, including swimming, landscaping and possible residential development. The report also recalled the former White Sulphur Springs and repeated the contemporary account that a blast associated with the Hastings Mine had disrupted the water strata feeding the pools [1].

The article is significant because it captures the site at a threshold. Blue Rock Springs had not yet become municipal property, but its declining resort identity was already being reinterpreted as a future recreational landscape.

It must not, however, be treated as a complete history of the springs. Its references to the former resort, the mine blast, local purchasers and revived water supply are contemporary newspaper statements requiring eventual comparison with deeds, mining records, maps and earlier advertisements.

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 1. A Contemporary Portal into the Earlier Springs [1]

 

The second portal appears on September 27, 1938. A newspaper retrospective, looking back approximately twenty years, referred to “Mine Host” Manuel Madrid and improvements made to the Blue Rock Springs grounds [2].

The date classification is essential:

• September 27, 1938 is the publication date of the retrospective.
• The activity described belonged approximately to 1918.
• The clipping is not proof that Madrid performed the reported work on September 27.

The item belongs in ZRA8 because it is a 1938-contemporary act of recollection. It shows municipal-era Vallejo looking backward into an earlier human history of the property. It also preserves a project-sensitive publication date that later coincides with the September 27, 1969 Lake Berryessa attack.

The deeper Madrid and White Sulphur Springs history should not be compressed into the present article. It requires its own archive, ownership chronology and source base.

 

3. Municipal Acquisition as a Sequence

Blue Rock Springs did not become City property through one newspaper headline or one council vote. The archive reveals a staged process.

During July 1937, the Vallejo Recreation Commission inspected the tract, appointed representatives to obtain a price and considered whether to recommend municipal purchase. Reports examined:

• tract boundaries;
• acreage;
• swimming-pool feasibility;
• development costs;
• ownership;
• and whether Vallejo should acquire the whole property or only a portion.

The reported acreage varied among approximately 160, 161 and 162 acres. These figures should not be silently harmonized. The deed and legal survey must ultimately control the exact area.

On July 31, 1937, the Vallejo Evening News reported that the Recreation Commission would urge the City to purchase the entire tract from Justin McDonald for $20,000. The Commission stated that funds had already been reserved and discussed the gradual development of the property as a public recreation centre [3].

That report represented a formal recommendation—not completed purchase.

The distinction matters because the City Council subsequently demanded more definite information concerning future development and cost. The acquisition was neither automatic nor uncontested.

3.1 August 25: authorization and civic rhetoric

On August 25, the Vallejo Evening News announced that the City Council had ordered the purchase of Blue Rock Springs for $20,000 and had instructed the City Attorney to prepare the necessary papers [4].

On the same front page, an editorial titled “City Buys Springs” interpreted the decision in explicitly memorial language. It stated that the council members had “inscribed their names on the pages of history” and described the acquisition as a public gift to present and future generations [5].

A third item on the page connected the acquisition with continuing municipal golf planning and access-road development.

The three items should be read together:

1. the news report documents municipal authorization;
2. the editorial converts that authorization into civic memory;
3. the golf and access item begins to situate the property within a broader recreational programme.

The front page did not merely report a real-estate transaction. It publicly authored the meaning of the transaction.

 

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 2. Authorization, Civic Memory, and Recreational Planning on One Front Page  [4]-[5]

The August 25 action did not itself complete the transfer. It authorized the purchase and initiated the legal process.

A September 10 report documented adoption of the purchase ordinance [6]. A September 24 article stated that the City expected to receive the deed within approximately two weeks [7].

The acquisition was therefore moving through successive thresholds:

Recommendation à Council authorization à Ordinance à Deed delivery à Acceptance

 

3.2 October 11–13: naming and deed acceptance

On October 11, 1937, the Vallejo Evening News proposed that the newly acquired recreation centre be named Frisbie Park, after General J. B. Frisbie [8].

The proposal is important even though no evidence presently shows that the name was officially adopted. It proves that the identity “Blue Rock Springs” briefly existed within a field of competing civic names. The newspaper attempted to attach the property to:

• an earlier owner;
• a historical personality;
• an account of investment and development;
• and a commemorative municipal identity.

The name Blue Rock Springs survived, but its survival was not inevitable.

Two days later, on October 13, the City Council passed a resolution accepting the deed from J. E. McDonald. The article identified the property as approximately 162 acres and repeated the $20,000 purchase price [9].

A regional report published by The Sacramento Bee on October 15 independently stated that the property had become Vallejo’s on the preceding Wednesday—October 13 [10].

October 13 may therefore be described precisely as the contemporaneously reported deed-acceptance and municipal-ownership threshold.

A recorder’s copy of the deed, its legal description, recording number, payment warrant and book-and-page entry remain desirable. Those records would refine the legal mechanics, but the date does not depend solely upon later inference.

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 3. Naming and Certification: October 11–15, 1937 [8]-[10]

 

3.3 The October 11–13 paired sequence

The 1937 civic sequence occupies the same dates as the Stine sequence:

 

Table 1. 1937 civic sequence and 1969 Zodiac sequence

1937 civic sequence	1969 Zodiac sequence
October 11: commemorative naming proposal for the municipal recreation centre	October 11: murder of Paul Stine
October 13: acceptance of the deed and certification of municipal possession	October 13: postmark of the letter containing physical evidence from the Stine crime

 

The displacement is exactly thirty-two years, and the internal interval remains two days.

Within the project’s established reading of the Stine letter as a certification threshold, the correspondence is structurally exact:

• the 1937 instrument concerns certified municipal possession of a site;
• the 1969 communication certifies the writer’s possession of physical evidence from a crime.

This does not prove that the offender knew the 1937 municipal chronology. It does not show that the Stine murder or letter dates were selected because of Blue Rock Springs.

The responsible conclusion is narrower:

In October 1937, the property passed through a naming-and-certification sequence on October 11–13. Exactly thirty-two years later, the Stine crime and evidentiary communication occupied the same dates and order. The correspondence is documented; deliberate historical use remains unproven.

 

4. Turning Property into Programme

Once the deed was accepted, Vallejo faced the problem of converting acquired terrain into a functioning public space.

On October 19, Commissioner of Public Works Frank Brew reported consultation with specialists concerning the development of Blue Rock Springs. The emerging programme included picnic grounds, a swimming pool, playgrounds, baseball fields, water development and a possible golf course [11].

The property was no longer merely something Vallejo owned. It was something the City now had to design.

4.1 A regional planning network

The newspaper archive introduces a significant Bay Area professional field.

Recurring names include:

• Frank Brew;
• Arthur J. Kirkpatrick;
• T. D. Kilkenny;
• Sam Whiting;
• Charles G. or Gilman C. Hyde;
• G. H. Gordon;
• Robert J. McGahie;
• R. E. Dennis;
• Mark Daniels;
• Albert or Elbert M. Vail;
• A. B. Hyde;
• and Joe Mortara.

The exact identity and spelling of several names require further research. In particular:

• Albert M. Vail and Elbert M. Vail must remain separate printed forms until primary records determine whether they represent one person.
• Charles G. Hyde, A. B. Hyde and the figure identified in one article as Dean Hyde must not be merged automatically.
• The surname Hyden, where it appears, must remain distinct from Hyde unless documentation establishes otherwise.

Surname recurrence is a research coordinate—not proof of identity, relation or project-wide intentionality.

On November 3, R. E. Dennis expressed approval of the site’s recreational possibilities. Dennis was described through a professional association with landscape engineer Mark Daniels, who was connected with landscaping work for the forthcoming Treasure Island exposition [12].

This establishes a qualified professional adjacency:

Blue Rock Springs survey field à Dennis and Daniels professional network à Treasure Island landscape planning

On November 15, Sam Whiting was formally retained to prepare plans for a golf course. The report described detailed terrain study using a map prepared through the office of City Engineer T. D. Kilkenny [13].

The missing Kilkenny–Whiting survey or planning map is now one of the archive’s highest-priority documents.

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 4. From Property to Programme: Regional Experts, Landscape Planning, and the Whiting Survey [11]-[13]

 

The San Francisco and Bay Area names deserve further parallel research, particularly in relation to:

• Treasure Island;
• the Golden Gate International Exposition;
• San Francisco park and landscape planning;
• Olympic Club golf networks;
• Presidio-area architecture and landscaping;
• University of California engineering;
• National Park Service careers;
• and East Bay regional park administration.

That investigation should proceed as a separate BRS–SF Institutional and Landscape Planning Register. It may eventually deepen ZRA8 or a later volume, but the present article uses only relationships directly established by the clippings.

 

5. Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman Before the Crime Scenes

The 1937 archive also demonstrates that Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman already occupied a shared public-planning field.

On September 17, a proposed State Relief Administration camp at Lake Herman was discussed as a source of workers who could be assigned to clear the Blue Rock Springs property. The proposed camp was expected to accommodate approximately 250 men, who would provide work in exchange for clothing and subsistence [14].

On September 28, Lake Herman, Benicia and Blue Rock Springs were identified within the same relief-camp site-selection process. Vallejo officials objected to using the newly acquired Blue Rock Springs property as a camp because the City intended to preserve it as a recreation centre [15].

The period language concerning unemployed and itinerant men should be preserved as evidence of contemporary civic attitudes, but it should not be repeated without critical framing. The articles reveal that the public identity of Blue Rock Springs was being defined partly through the exclusion of competing uses and populations.

By December 8, the Lake Herman-area camp had progressed beyond a proposal. The Vallejo Evening News reported that a camp was being erected, that roads leading to it carried WPA signs, that it could be approached through Blue Rock Springs Road or Benicia, and that workers would be assigned to projects in the surrounding field [16].

The administrative terminology remains partly ambiguous. The clipping refers both to WPA signs and to a state camp. Until agency records are recovered, WPA, SRA and state administration should not be collapsed into a single organizational label.

What the evidence does establish is a planned and partly materialized relationship:

Lake Herman camp à relief labour à projects near Blue Rock Springs

 

5.1 A public recreational route

The connection later appeared in explicit recreational form.

On August 6, 1938, a bicycle excursion was reported from a Vallejo playground through Benicia Road, Blue Rock Springs Road and Lake Herman Road, with stops at Lake Herman and Blue Rock Springs [17].

The source establishes that the two later canonical crime fields were publicly represented as connected recreational terrain decades before 1969.

It does not establish an offender route.

It does not prove that the Zodiac learned the sites through youth recreation, relief work or municipal publications.

It establishes the historical geography:

Blue Rock Springs and Lake Herman were not isolated points. They belonged to a publicly travelled and administratively connected landscape.

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 5. Lake Herman and Blue Rock Springs in a Shared Administrative and Recreational Field, 1937–1938 [14]-[17]

 

Hunter’s Hill also appears in hiking and nature-excursion reports connected with Blue Rock Springs and the old quicksilver-mine area. Its possible later function as the geometrical centre of a circle enclosing the canonical crime scenes requires a separate reproducible demonstration using controlled coordinates, radius calculations, error tolerance and alternative-centre testing.

That geometric proposition is therefore reserved for its own study.

 

6. Engineering the Recreation Centre

By early 1938, the municipal project had entered a technical phase.

On March 3, golf architect Sam Whiting submitted an assessment finding the property suitable for an eighteen-hole course. The reported estimate was approximately $36,575, excluding a water system that might add as much as $25,000 [18].

The figure shows that golf was not a late addition first proposed in 1939 or 1940. It was already one of the principal design possibilities before federal eligibility.

At the same time, Charles Gilman Hyde examined water, sanitation and swimming facilities.

On March 28, Hyde reported that the natural spring supply alone could not reliably support the full proposed combination of swimming pool and golf-course irrigation. His preliminary programme included:

• a municipal water connection;
• an 82-by-30-foot swimming pool;
• a separate wading pool;
• filtration;
• sewage disposal;
• irrigation storage;
• and related infrastructure.

The total reported programme was approximately $67,800 [19].

The project’s various components were therefore interdependent:

Water + Sanitation + Swimming + Golf + Landscape

 

The city could not choose recreational uses without simultaneously solving hydraulic and sanitary problems.

On April 12, the City Council transferred control of the property’s development to the Vallejo Recreation Commission [20]. The continuation of the article supplied a first-stage technical schedule that included:

• a comfort station;
• water distribution;
• development of the main and lower springs;
• sewage disposal;
• and a reported first-stage total of approximately $9,000 [21].

The source also referred to a general plan or blueprint attached to the Hyde report and to a letter from City Engineer Kilkenny dated April 8.

Those plans are central research targets.

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 6. Designing the Recreation Centre: Golf, Water, Sanitation, and Administrative Control [18]-[21]

 

7. From Municipal Programme to Federal Eligibility

Four days after the transfer, the Vallejo Evening News published an editorial appeal:

“Let’s Get WPA to Fix Springs.”

The editorial urged the Recreation Commission to seek federal assistance for the project [22].

The wording marks a transition. Blue Rock Springs was moving from:

Municipal acquisition and design à Federally eligible public works

On June 17, The Sacramento Bee reported that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had designated the Blue Rock Springs recreation project as eligible for operation as a state WPA project. The article described:

• an approximately $89,000 programme;
• a proposed federal allotment of $44,115;
• landscaping;
• a swimming pool;
• buildings;
• roads and paths;
• fencing;
• sewers;
• a reservoir;
• and filtration facilities [23].

The headline presented the project as approved, but the article also indicated that additional administrative clearance and assignment were still required.

The source therefore establishes:

• reported presidential eligibility designation;
• a proposed federal allotment;
• and a defined public-works programme.

It does not by itself establish:

• final transfer of all funds;
• exact expenditure;
• completion of every proposed feature;
• or execution of the programme exactly as described.

On June 24, 1938, the development entered the local Vallejo press. The City prepared to appoint an engineer, and the reported work included brush clearing, water and sewage systems, spring development and public facilities [24].

The City-to-federal sequence can now be reconstructed:

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 7. From Public Appeal to Federal Eligibility and Local Implementation [22]-[24]

 

7.1 June 24 and the Z32 field

June 24, 1938 was the final Friday of June.

Thirty-two years later, the project’s Z32 archive identifies a June 24, 1970 Concord-area newspaper context involving the Mount Diablo amateur-radio field. The Z32 map-and-cipher communication was then postmarked on Friday, June 26, 1970—the final Friday of June 1970.

This creates three separable observations:

1. June 24, 1938 → June 24, 1970: exact thirty-two-year publication-date displacement.
2. Friday, June 24, 1938 → Friday, June 26, 1970: repeated last-Friday-of-June position.
3. Thirty-two elapsed years → thirty-two Z32 symbols: a possible symbols-as-time relation.

Only the dates, interval, weekday position and cipher length are documented.

The proposition that the thirty-two symbols encode or reflect the thirty-two-year interval remains a hypothesis. It must be tested against the wider calendric system and against alternative thirty-two-year correspondences before interpretive weight is assigned.

ZRA8 therefore treats the sequence as a calendric research coordinate, not as proof of design.

 

8. Materializing the Park

Following eligibility and engineering came physical transformation.

The recreation archive records:

• brush and undergrowth removal;
• spring development;
• water-distribution planning;
• sewage infrastructure;
• septic construction;
• tree planting;
• fire-hazard reduction;
• lake and picnic-ground work;
• public paths;
• proposed comfort stations;
• and invitations for residents to inspect the site.

On June 28, G. H. Gordon was selected to prepare plans for the improvement programme. Reports described his landscape and National Park Service experience [25].

In July, the Commission expected work to begin with a labour force of at least eighty men [26].

On July 8, the site was described as a proposed 160-acre game refuge. The plan included lake cleanup, birds, a caretaker, planting and explicit restriction of firearms. A proposed rifle range was rejected within that planning field [27].

This followed the earlier 1937 proposal by the Mare Island Rifle Club to consider Blue Rock Springs for a municipal rifle and pistol range. The two episodes demonstrate competing possible identities:

Possible municipal firing range à rejected or displaced proposal à game refuge and firearm prohibition

On November 10, the Recreation Commission ordered “No Hunting and Shooting” signs in anticipation of Armistice Day visitors [28].

The later history produces an unavoidable inversion: a landscape once publicly regulated as a refuge without guns became the site of canonical gun violence.

That inversion is historically documented. It is not evidence that the offender knew of the earlier prohibition or chose the site because of it.

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 8. A Refuge Without Guns: Game-Refuge Planning and the ‘No Hunting and Shooting’ Order [27]-[28]

 

8.1 Water, sanitation and planting

Water remained the defining resource and constraint.

Reports distinguished between the springs, estimated their output and debated whether they could support drinking water, irrigation and a swimming tank simultaneously.

On December 23, 1938, concrete was poured for a large septic tank described as one of the first major construction units at the site [29]. One printed capacity figure appears technically inconsistent with the stated dimensions and should be checked against engineering plans rather than silently accepted.

By January 13, 1939, more than forty men were reported working at Blue Rock Springs, with approximately twelve acres cleared [30].

On February 6, the long-term planting programme was reported to include as many as 8,000 trees [31].

The numbers matter not because every proposal was necessarily completed, but because they reveal the intended scale of transformation.

Blue Rock Springs was being remade through public labour:

• soil was cleared;
• fire risk was reduced;
• water was controlled;
• sanitation was installed;
• vegetation was planned;
• and the landscape was reorganized for public use.

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 9. Materializing the Park: Septic Infrastructure, Cleared Acreage, and the 8,000-Tree Programme [29]-[31]

 

The site’s civic identity was thus material as well as rhetorical.

The City did not merely rename or advertise the property. It altered the ground.

 

9. From Recreation Park to Golf Course

Golf was present from the beginning of the municipal planning field.

The August 1937 acquisition discussion already considered the relationship between Blue Rock Springs and Vallejo’s existing municipal golf facilities. By November 1937, Sam Whiting was conducting detailed terrain study. His March 1938 report established formal feasibility and cost estimates.

The later Vallejo Golf Club campaign should therefore be understood not as the invention of the golf-course concept but as its eventual institutional and financial implementation.

During 1940, golf committees and public officials debated possible sites, prepared reports and developed the Blue Rock Springs proposal. Joseph Corcoran appears repeatedly within this network—as a golfer, club official and committee participant.

The larger Wilma Myers–Joseph Corcoran–Jack Doyen–Mageau relational chain is important, but it belongs primarily to Blue Rock Springs Volume 3 and the EWE documentary archive. ZRA8 uses Corcoran only where the surviving clippings establish his role in the construction and institutional history of the course.

On February 11, 1941, the Vallejo Evening News reported that $2,840 had already been pledged and that work on the course was scheduled to begin the following week. Donors included Joe Corcoran, Ed Corcoran and Jack Doyen, while Hugh Busby appeared in the fundraising structure [32].

The source places several later-relevant names inside the documented civic construction network, but it does not establish every later genealogical or interpersonal relationship.

 

 

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 10. Financing Construction: The Community Subscription and the Beginning of Course Work, February 1941 [32]

 

9.1 The 1941 opening

On October 25, 1941, the Vallejo Evening News announced that dedication ceremonies for the Blue Rock Springs municipal golf course were scheduled for the following day—Sunday, October 26 [33].

The clipping establishes an announced dedication date. Until a post-event report, programme, photograph or municipal record is recovered, the most exact wording is:

Contemporary advance notice scheduled the dedication ceremonies for October 26, 1941.

The official Blue Rock Springs Golf Course website independently confirms that the West Course opened in 1941 and identifies Joe Mortara Sr. and Jack Fleming as its original designers. It also states that Robert Muir Graves enhanced the design in 2006 [34].

The newspaper and institutional accounts perform different functions:

• the contemporary press reconstructs planning, fundraising and the announced dedication date;
• the modern official history confirms the opening year and design attribution.

The archive should also distinguish Whiting’s earlier feasibility and planning role from the current institution’s attribution of the original completed design to Mortara and Fleming. These propositions need not be contradictory. They may describe different stages of the course’s evolution.

 

DOCUMENTARY PLATE 11. Dedication Ceremonies Announced for October 26, 1941 [33]

 

9.2 October 26–27

The Halloween Card was postmarked October 27, 1970.

The present documentary relationship is:

• October 26, 1941 — announced golf-course dedication;
• October 27, 1970 — Halloween Card postmark.

The separation is twenty-nine years and one day.

The card may have been prepared before its postmark date, but its precise date of composition is unknown. It must not automatically be assigned to October 26.

The controlled formulation is:

The Halloween Card was postmarked one day after the twenty-ninth anniversary of the announced Blue Rock Springs golf-course dedication date.

A newspaper report published on October 27, 1941, describing the previous day’s ceremony would create a separate publication-date/postmark-date correspondence. 

 

10. The Civic Memory of Blue Rock Springs

The transformation of Blue Rock Springs was repeatedly narrated as an act of public memory.

The August 25, 1937, editorial said that city officials had placed their names on the pages of history. A December 11 review described the acquisition as one of Vallejo’s outstanding accomplishments of the year [35]. On December 27, the purchase was identified as the city’s principal positive news story of 1937 [36].

These articles show how quickly the acquisition moved beyond administration.

Within months, the property had passed through four stages:

Blue Rock Springs became a civic-memory site because the City and its newspapers repeatedly explained it as one.

It was presented as:

• a recovered landscape;
• a public inheritance;
• a gift to future generations;
• a recreation centre;
• a municipal investment;
• a federal work project;
• and eventually a golf institution.

The later BRS-MI archive demonstrates that this public space continued to be populated by Mare Island shop workers, golf organizations, occupational groups and local families. Those post-1941 networks extend the site’s institutional history but are preserved mainly for later studies.

The complete archive now reveals a limited physical area carrying an expanding succession of meanings:

1. White Sulphur Springs and resort memory;
2. mining and water disruption;
3. private ownership and proposed revival;
4. municipal purchase;
5. civic naming;
6. engineering and landscape planning;
7. relief-work and WPA development;
8. public recreation;
9. game refuge and firearm prohibition;
10. golf-course construction;
11. Mare Island occupational use;
12. family and social networks;
13. the 1969 attack;
14. the offender’s telephone call;
15. the later police and communication archive;
16. and continuing institutional memory.

Blue Rock Springs is therefore a space-constrained, time-expanding civic memory site.

Its land is geographically limited.

Its documentary field continually expands.

 

11. Calendric Register

The following register does not claim a solution. It preserves exact correspondences while distinguishing their evidentiary classes.

 

Table 2. Blue Rock Springs Historical Dates and Later Zodiac Coordinates

Canonical-status note. For purposes of the Zodiac Research Archive, the 1974 correspondence canon comprises the Exorcist Letter, SLA Letter, Citizen Card and Red Phantom Letter. Differences in external classifications may be recorded as evidentiary metadata, but they do not alter the internal canon employed by the ZRA series.

Two observations deserve particular attention.

First, the October 11–13, 1937 sequence reproduces not merely two calendar dates but their order and two-day separation in 1969.

Second, the July 31 and October 13 correspondences both produce exact thirty-two-year intervals before the later appearance of the thirty-two-symbol map cipher. That structural repetition warrants continued analysis, but it does not eliminate the need for denominator testing: how many historical BRS dates exist, how many later Zodiac dates are being compared and how many alignments would be expected by chance?

The archive must be able to preserve correspondences without treating them as self-proving.

  

12. Evidentiary Boundaries

ZRA8 establishes that:

• Vallejo investigated and purchased Blue Rock Springs during 1937;
• the reported price was $20,000;
• the Council accepted the deed on October 13, 1937;
• the property was consciously narrated as a public recreational inheritance;
• professional engineering, landscape and golf planning began immediately after acquisition;
• Lake Herman and Blue Rock Springs occupied a shared relief-work and administrative field;
• public recreational routes later joined the two locations;
• the recreation programme entered a reported WPA-eligibility process in 1938;
• physical clearing, sanitation and planting followed;
• golf planning formed part of the municipal programme from its earliest stages;
• dedication ceremonies were announced for October 26, 1941;
• and the official golf-course history confirms that the West Course opened in 1941.

 

ZRA8 does not establish that:

• the Zodiac knew the purchase chronology;
• he read any of the archived newspapers;
• he selected attack or communication dates because of these municipal events;
• he understood the July 31 or October 11–13 sequences as thirty-two-year intervals;
• the thirty-two Z32 symbols encode thirty-two elapsed years;
• the Lake Berryessa date was chosen because of a 1938 retrospective clipping;
• the Halloween Card was composed on October 26;
• or the offender selected Blue Rock Springs because it had once prohibited firearms.

 

These are distinct propositions requiring distinct evidence.

The article’s purpose is not to collapse historical correspondence into offender intention. Its purpose is to prevent the underlying history from disappearing.

 

13. Parallel Research and Remaining Documentary Targets

Although ZRA8 can be published on the strength of the present documentary corpus, five parallel research fields remain open. These are summarized in Table 3 and should be treated as priorities for subsequent archival development rather than prerequisites for the present article.

Table 3. Priority Fields for Continuing Blue Rock Springs Research

Municipal and Legal Records	WPA and Relief-Work Records	Maps and Photographs	October 1941 Press Record	San Francisco and Bay Area Names
Priority records	The archive still requires	Especially valuable materials	The search should continue for	Names requiring further investigation
• Recorded deed • Legal property description • Parcel and acreage survey • Seller and ownership documentation • Payment warrant • Council resolution • Title report • Acquisition map	• WPA project number • Application and approval files • Federal and local cost shares • Expenditure records • Engineering drawings • Workforce records • Completion reports • Clarification of the SRA, state and WPA camp structure near Lake Herman	• Kilkenny–Whiting map • Hyde’s attached general plan • 1937 property survey •Preconstruction photographs • WPA construction photographs • Aerial imagery • 1941 dedication programme • Early golf-course plans	• October 26 evening report • October 27 post-event report • Dedication photographs • Attendance lists • Speeches • Municipal minutes confirming that the scheduled ceremony occurred	Vail, Hyde, Dennis, Daniels, Gordon, McGahie, Whiting and related figures, particularly in relation to: • Treasure Island • Golden Gate International Exposition planning • Presidio Heights landscape and architecture • San Francisco municipal recreation • National Park Service employment • Olympic Club networks • East Bay regional parks

 

This work should remain separate until specific identities and professional relationships are established.

 

14. Conclusion: Before the Zodiac, the City

Before Blue Rock Springs became a crime scene, it was a civic project.

Before its name entered the Zodiac file, it belonged to another archive:

• municipal investigation;
• land purchase;
• ordinance;
• deed;
• engineering;
• water;
• sanitation;
• federal work relief;
• public roads;
• youth recreation;
• landscaping;
• wildlife protection;
• golf;
• Mare Island labour;
• and community memory.

 

The City inspected the land.

The Commission recommended its purchase.

The Council authorized the transaction.

The ordinance was adopted.

The deed was accepted.

The specialists were consulted.

The springs were measured.

The routes were travelled.

The ground was cleared.

The septic system was built.

The trees were planted.

The weapons were prohibited.

The golf course was constructed.

The public was invited.

Only later did an offender enter the site and attempt to make its name belong to violence.

That act did not create Blue Rock Springs.

It entered a history already in progress.

The archive therefore answers the criminal overwrite by restoring the civic record beneath it. Blue Rock Springs belonged first to the people who planned it, worked upon it, travelled through it, played there and preserved it as public space.

The crime became part of that history.

It did not begin it. And it cannot be allowed to define it—not anymore.

SDS

Finalized: July 31, 2026

57 years since the mailing of the Z408 cipher parts and letters

Published: August 1, 2026

53 years since the mailing of the contested Albany letter and cipher

 

Evidentiary and Ethical Note

This article does not attribute responsibility, complicity or symbolic intent to the City of Vallejo, the Works Progress Administration, relief workers, religious or civic institutions, golfers, engineers, landscape architects, Mare Island employees or families appearing in the archive.

The identification of a date, name, route or institutional relationship records a documentary correspondence only. It does not imply offender knowledge, genealogical connection, ideological participation or causation unless independent evidence establishes such a relationship.

 

References

The references below identify the principal sources cited or reproduced in the main article. The full seventy-eight-item corpus appears in Appendix A.

[1] “Blue Rock Springs May Be Revived to Former Glory,” Vallejo Evening News, June 9, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-001 / BRS-RI-001.

[2] “Flashbacks—20 Years Ago,” Vallejo Evening News, September 27, 1938, p. 8. BRS-REC-009 / BRS-RI-048.

[3] “Recreation Commission to Urge City Purchase Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, July 31, 1937, p. 3. BRS-PUR-007 / BRS-RI-007.

[4] “Council Orders Purchase of Blue Rock Springs Property,” Vallejo Evening News, August 25, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-010 / BRS-RI-010.

[5] “City Buys Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, August 25, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-011 / BRS-RI-011.

[6] “Adopt Ordinance to Buy Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, September 10, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-014 / BRS-RI-014.

[7] “City Will Get Deed to Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, September 24, 1937, p. 2. BRS-PUR-016 / BRS-RI-016.

[8] “Frisbie Park Suggested as Name for Recreation Center,” Vallejo Evening News, October 11, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-019 / BRS-RI-019.

[9] “City Accepts Deed to Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, October 13, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-020 / BRS-RI-020.

[10] “Vallejo Acquires Park,” The Sacramento Bee, October 15, 1937, p. 14. BRS-PUR-021 / BRS-RI-021.

[11] “Brew Confers With Experts Over Development of Blue Rock Springs for Recreation,” Vallejo Evening News, October 19, 1937, p. 2. BRS-PUR-022 / BRS-RI-022.

[12] “Dennis Well Pleased With Possibilities for Recreation,” Vallejo Evening News, November 3, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-023 / BRS-RI-023.

[13] “Sam Whiting Retained to Make Plans for Course,” Vallejo Evening News, November 15, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-025 / BRS-RI-025.

[14] “[Lake Herman SRA Camp Labor Proposed for Blue Rock Springs],” Vallejo Evening News, September 17, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-015 / BRS-RI-015.

[15] “County to Name SRA Site Next Monday,” Vallejo Evening News, September 28, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-017 / BRS-RI-017.

[16] “WPA Signs Are Erected on Solano Roads,” Vallejo Evening News, December 8, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-028 / BRS-RI-028.

[17] “Bicycle Excursion to Lake Herman and Blue Rock Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, August 6, 1938, p. 2. BRS-REC-007 / BRS-RI-046.

[18] “Council Gets Report From Architect on Project” and continuation, Vallejo Evening News, March 3, 1938, pp. 1, 3. BRS-WPA-001–002 / BRS-RI-031–032.

[19] “Hyde Says Water Not Sufficient for Pool,” Vallejo Evening News, March 28, 1938, p. 1. BRS-WPA-004 / BRS-RI-034.

[20] “Property Turned Over by Council to Commission,” Vallejo Evening News, April 12, 1938, p. 1. BRS-WPA-005 / BRS-RI-035.

[21] “Property Turned Over by Council,” continuation, Vallejo Evening News, April 12, 1938, p. 2. BRS-WPA-006 / BRS-RI-036.

[22] “Let’s Get WPA to Fix Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, April 16, 1938, p. 8. BRS-WPA-008 / BRS-RI-038.

[23] “Vallejo Project Is Given Approval,” The Sacramento Bee, June 17, 1938, p. 8. BRS-WPA-009 / BRS-RI-039.

[24] “Engineer Will Be Appointed for Job,” Vallejo Evening News, June 24, 1938, p. 1. BRS-REC-001 / BRS-RI-040.

[25] “Engineer Selected to Make Plans for Springs Improvement,” Vallejo Evening News, June 28, 1938, p. 1. BRS-REC-002 / BRS-RI-041.

[26] “Commission Will Meet Tonight to Start Plans,” Vallejo Evening News, July 7, 1938, p. 1. BRS-REC-003 / BRS-RI-042.

[27] “Game Refuge to Be Established at Springs Park,” Vallejo Evening News, July 8, 1938, p. 1. BRS-REC-004 / BRS-RI-043.

[28] “No Hunting and Shooting Signs Ordered for Armistice Day Visitors,” Vallejo Evening News, November 10, 1938, p. 1. BRS-REC-010 / BRS-RI-049.

[29] “Cement Poured for Springs Septic Tank,” Vallejo Evening News, December 23, 1938, p. 1. BRS-REC-012 / BRS-RI-051.

[30] “12 Acres at Springs Are Cleared by Workmen,” Vallejo Evening News, January 13, 1939, p. 1. BRS-REC-013 / BRS-RI-052.

[31] “8,000 Trees Planned for Blue Rock Springs,” Vallejo Evening News, February 6, 1939, p. 2. BRS-REC-017 / BRS-RI-056.

[32] “$2,840 Already Signed; Work Is Scheduled to Begin Next Week,” Vallejo Evening News, February 11, 1941, p. 8. BRS-GOLF-009 / BRS-RI-069.

[33] “Dedication Ceremonies Are Slated,” Vallejo Evening News, October 25, 1941, p. 7. BRS-GOLF-010 / BRS-RI-071.

[34] Blue Rock Springs Golf Course, “Golf Course,” official institutional website, accessed July 31, 2026. https://bluerockspringsgolf.com/course/. BRS-OS-001.

[35] “Much Building Takes Place in Vallejo,” Vallejo Evening News, December 11, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-029 / BRS-RI-029.

[36] “Dock Contract Biggest Story of Year for Local Readers,” Vallejo Evening News, December 27, 1937, p. 1. BRS-PUR-030 / BRS-RI-030.

[37] https://zodiackiller.com/VTHLetter1.html

[38] https://zodiackiller.com/ChronicleLetter1.html

[39] https://zodiackiller.com/ExaminerLetter1.html

[40] https://zodiackiller.com/zodiac-killer-victims/

[41] https://zodiackiller.com/StineLetter.html

[42] https://zodiackiller.com/ZButtonLetter.html

[43] https://zodiackiller.com/HalloweenCard.html

[44] https://zodiackiller.com/RedPhantomLetter.html

[45] https://zodiacresearch.blogspot.com/2026/01/june-24-1970-concord-transcript-ham.html

 

Appendix A

Global Blue Rock Springs Documentary Register

The register is ordered by publication date; where a source describes an earlier or later event, that distinction is recorded in its documentary summary.

Global ID	Cluster ID	Date	Media	Documentary Summary
BRS-RI-001	BRS-PUR-001	1937-06-09	Vallejo Evening News	A 161-acre tract, recently purchased by a group of local residents, was being considered for renewed resort and recreation use. The article recalled the former White Sulphur Springs, stated that a Hastings Mine blast had disturbed the springs feeding the pool, and reported that the springs and pool had revived. Housing development was also contemplated.
BRS-RI-002	BRS-PUR-002	1937-07-21	Vallejo Evening News	The Recreation Commission scheduled two Friday meetings to hear reports concerning the proposed sale of the 162-acre Blue Rock Springs tract to Vallejo. A committee of John Alltucker, Elsa Wideman, and Luther Gibson had been appointed to secure a price, after which the Commission would vote on whether to recommend purchase.
BRS-RI-003	BRS-PUR-003	1937-07-23	Oakland Tribune	Regional coverage reported that Commission members met the property owners, discussed tract boundaries, swimming-pool feasibility, and ultimate cost, and planned to reconvene July 30 for a final decision. Junior and senior Chamber of Commerce representatives also participated.
BRS-RI-004	BRS-PUR-004	1937-07-28	Napa Journal	The Commission was to meet July 30 to make a final decision on taking over Blue Rock Springs as a civic recreation project. Earlier discussion addressed boundaries, the feasibility of a swimming pool, and ultimate cost.
BRS-RI-005	BRS-PUR-005	1937-07-28	Vallejo Evening News	The property owners and Recreation Commission met at the springs to discuss boundaries, a swimming pool, and other projects. Several commissioners favored acquiring the entire tract and developing it gradually. A final decision was scheduled for July 30.
BRS-RI-006	BRS-PUR-006	1937-07-30	Vallejo Evening News	The Commission met regarding the proposed purchase of the old Blue Rock Springs, described as 162 acres. The tract had recently been purchased by Vallejo residents from the American Toll Bridge Company, which had acquired it from the Madrids. The bridge company had intended a major playground, but a Hastings Mine blast allegedly disrupted the water strata. The article stated that only the City Council could consummate a purchase.
BRS-RI-007	BRS-PUR-007	1937-07-31	Vallejo Evening News	After weeks of study, the Commission adopted a resolution urging Vallejo to purchase the entire 160-acre tract from Justin McDonald for $20,000. McDonald reportedly agreed not to withhold homesites. The article stated that $15,000 had already been set aside and described a tentative 40-by-60-foot swimming pool.
BRS-RI-008	BRS-PUR-008	1937-08-02	The Sacramento Bee	Regional coverage reported the unanimous Recreation Commission resolution recommending that Vallejo buy and immediately develop the 160-acre tract as a civic recreation center after months of study and conferences with owner Justin McDonald and Mayor Fred Heegler.
BRS-RI-009	BRS-PUR-009	1937-08-08	Napa Journal	The City Council referred the Commission’s $20,000 purchase request back for a more concrete development programme and cost estimate. Commissioner E. J. Blanco questioned spending without a detailed account of future costs.
BRS-RI-010	BRS-PUR-010	1937-08-25	Vallejo Evening News	The front-page lead reported that the Council ordered purchase of the Blue Rock Springs property from Justin McDonald for $20,000. The tract was to become a recreation center; the City Engineer was directed to survey a road connection, and the City Attorney was instructed to prepare the purchase papers. The article also discussed prospective swimming, golf, ball fields, tennis, picnic grounds, and playground facilities.
BRS-RI-011	BRS-PUR-011	1937-08-25	Vallejo Evening News	A companion editorial declared that Council members had “inscribed their names on the pages of history” by ordering the purchase. It celebrated a perpetual public playground, praised unpaid civic service, advocated a ten-year improvement programme, and portrayed the acquisition as a benefit for present and future generations.
BRS-RI-012	BRS-PUR-012	1937-08-25	Vallejo Evening News	On the same front page as the purchase order, the Council continued operation of the existing golf course while directing a survey for a new road from Tennessee Street toward the recreation site. The article described possible BRS facilities including a swimming pool, golf course, ball diamonds, tennis courts, picnic grounds, and playgrounds.
BRS-RI-013	BRS-PUR-013	1937-09-03	Vallejo Evening News	The Recreation Commission sent a letter thanking the City Council for its action in the purchase of Blue Rock Springs. Signed by Elsa Widenmann, the letter predicted that the property would become a beautiful recreation center within a few years and a source of civic pride.
BRS-RI-014	BRS-PUR-014	1937-09-10	Vallejo Evening News	The City Council adopted an ordinance for the $20,000 purchase of Blue Rock Springs from Justin McDonald. The article stated that the property would be purchased in thirty days and developed as a recreation center for local residents.
BRS-RI-015	BRS-PUR-015	1937-09-17	Vallejo Evening News	Men to be housed at a proposed State Relief Administration camp at Lake Herman were reported as available for clearing the recently purchased Blue Rock Springs property. The planned October camp would hold up to 250 men, working 120 hours per month in return for clothing and subsistence but no pay.
BRS-RI-016	BRS-PUR-016	1937-09-24	Vallejo Evening News	The Recreation Commission announced that the deed to Blue Rock Springs would be turned over to the city in about two weeks. After delivery, the Commission and City Council were expected to discuss improvements; the Council retained control of improvements while the Commission would prepare recreation programs.
BRS-RI-017	BRS-PUR-017	1937-09-28	Vallejo Evening News	State officials sought an early decision on a southern Solano County SRA camp. Sites near Lake Herman, Benicia, and Blue Rock Springs were described as suitable. The newspaper expected Blue Rock Springs not to be chosen because city officials opposed using the recently purchased recreation center as a camp for itinerant unemployed men.
BRS-RI-018	BRS-PUR-018	1937-10-07	Vallejo Evening News	A brief report stated that ranchers extinguished a fire near Blue Rock Springs north of Vallejo.
BRS-RI-019	BRS-PUR-019	1937-10-11	Vallejo Evening News	The newspaper proposed renaming the newly acquired recreation property “Frisbie Park” in honor of General J. B. Frisbie. It supplied a press-reported ownership history from General Vallejo through Milton Brockman, Henry Connolly, Frisbie, and the Vallejo Land & Improvement Company, and stated that sanitary work and clearing of paths and roads would be early rehabilitation steps.
BRS-RI-020	BRS-PUR-020	1937-10-13	Vallejo Evening News	The City Council passed a resolution accepting the deed to Blue Rock Springs from J. E. McDonald. The article described the property as 162 acres and the sale price as $20,000.
BRS-RI-021	BRS-PUR-021	1937-10-15	The Sacramento Bee	The regional report stated that Blue Rock Springs became City of Vallejo property on Wednesday, October 13, when the Council adopted the purchase ordinance and accepted the deed from Justin McDonald.
BRS-RI-022	BRS-PUR-022	1937-10-19	Vallejo Evening News	Immediately after acquisition, Commissioner Frank Brew began conferences with recreation and engineering experts. The planning field included picnic grounds, baseball diamonds, a swimming pool, playgrounds, water quantity and quality, and the feasibility and location of a golf course.
BRS-RI-023	BRS-PUR-023	1937-11-03	Vallejo Evening News	R. E. Dennis, described as associated with San Francisco landscape engineer Mark Daniels, surveyed the newly acquired Blue Rock Springs property with Commissioner Frank Brew. Dennis praised the site’s natural beauty but stressed that a complete development programme should precede construction. The article added that Daniels had previously worked in national parks and had been selected to oversee landscaping at Treasure Island for the 1939 exposition.
BRS-RI-024	BRS-PUR-024	1937-11-05	Vallejo Evening News	The obituary of Alfred James Neil, a former Vallejo painter and boxer who fought under the name Al Neil, stated that he trained for fights at Blue Rock Springs and participated in many local ring contests before moving to San Francisco and entering the sign-painting business.
BRS-RI-025	BRS-PUR-025	1937-11-15	Vallejo Evening News	Golf architect Sam Whiting made a detailed terrain survey of Blue Rock Springs using a map prepared by City Engineer T. D. Kilkenny’s office. After a previous rough inspection, Whiting was retained by the City Council to study an 18-hole championship course and submit recommendations. Joe Mortara was cited regarding Whiting’s professional standing.
BRS-RI-026	BRS-PUR-026	1937-11-22	Vallejo Evening News	At the Mare Island Rifle Club’s annual meeting, officers and calibre committees were named and the club renewed its rifle-association affiliations. Members discussed the possibility of installing a municipal rifle range at Blue Rock Springs.
BRS-RI-027	BRS-PUR-027	1937-11-23	The Sacramento Bee	The regional report confirmed the Mare Island Rifle Club meeting and stated that a committee was appointed to confer with police, highway patrol, local rifle-and-pistol, American Legion, and sheriff’s teams concerning a proposed municipal pistol and small-bore rifle range at Blue Rock Springs.
BRS-RI-028	BRS-PUR-028	1937-12-08	Vallejo Evening News	WPA signs had been erected on roads leading to a new state camp near Lake Herman. The camp was being built by Solano-project workmen, was reachable by Blue Rock Springs Road or through Benicia, would draw water from Lake Herman, and was expected to house several hundred men who would work on county projects near Benicia and Blue Rock Springs.
BRS-RI-029	BRS-PUR-029	1937-12-11	Vallejo Evening News	A year-end survey of Vallejo improvements identified the City Council’s acquisition of Blue Rock Springs as one of the year’s most outstanding accomplishments. It described the property as a recreation center and stated that Commissioner Frank Brew was studying a long-term development programme.
BRS-RI-030	BRS-PUR-030	1937-12-27	Vallejo Evening News	A year-end review divided Vallejo’s major stories into good and bad news. It identified the $20,000 City Council purchase of Blue Rock Springs from Justin McDonald for a public recreation center as the city’s major good-news story, while ferry abandonment was the major bad-news story; Mare Island dock construction dominated the broader headline.
BRS-RI-031	BRS-WPA-001	1938-03-03	Vallejo Evening News	San Francisco golf architect Sam Whiting submitted a professional survey finding the Blue Rock Springs property suitable for a golf course. He estimated $36,575 for an 18-hole course, excluding the water system.
BRS-RI-032	BRS-WPA-002	1938-03-03	Vallejo Evening News	Continuation of Whiting’s report. The $36,575 estimate excluded a water system, which he placed at no more than $25,000. He stated that a nine-hole course would cost about 60 percent of the 18-hole figure. The Council ordered the report filed.
BRS-RI-033	BRS-WPA-003	1938-03-12	Vallejo Evening News	A youth nature group planned a March 19 excursion to Blue Rock Springs followed by a hike to Hunter’s Hill.
BRS-RI-034	BRS-WPA-004	1938-03-28	Vallejo Evening News	Consulting sanitary and hydraulic engineer Charles G. Hyde estimated $67,800 for spring development, auxiliary water, treatment and filtration, a swimming pool, wading pool, irrigation storage, sewage disposal and mosquito control. He concluded that spring yield alone could not reliably supply both golf and swimming needs and recommended a city-water connection from the Fleming Hill reservoir.
BRS-RI-035	BRS-WPA-005	1938-04-12	Vallejo Evening News	The City Council transferred control of the recently acquired Blue Rock Springs recreation property to the Vallejo Recreation Commission. Future projects were to follow the Whiting, Hyde and Kilkenny recommendations. Kilkenny proposed initial comfort-station, water-distribution, spring-development and sewage work totaling $9,000.
BRS-RI-036	BRS-WPA-006	1938-04-12	Vallejo Evening News	Continuation reproducing the city engineer’s staged recommendations and itemized $9,000 estimate: comfort station $3,850; water distribution $1,400; main spring $600; lower spring $300; sewage disposal $2,850. It refers to the general plan or blue print attached to the Hyde report and places the comfort station east of the old swimming-tank excavation.
BRS-RI-037	BRS-WPA-007	1938-04-13	Vallejo Evening News	Editorial commentary states that the city had acquired the property in 1937 for $20,000 and that the Council had transferred development responsibility to the Recreation Commission. It urged a long-term, staged improvement programme based on the expert reports.
BRS-RI-038	BRS-WPA-008	1938-04-16	Vallejo Evening News	The newspaper explicitly urged the Recreation Commission to seek WPA support, arguing that the labour-intensive Blue Rock Springs improvements matched the federal work programme and that Vallejo was due for a WPA project.
BRS-RI-039	BRS-WPA-009	1938-06-17	The Sacramento Bee	The Sacramento report states that President Roosevelt designated the Blue Rock Springs recreation project eligible for operation as a state WPA project, placing an $89,000 programme in line for final approval. It reported a proposed federal allotment of $44,115 and listed landscaping, swimming pool, buildings, roads, paths, fences, sewer, reservoir and filtration work. Comptroller-general clearance and state-administrator assignment were still required.
BRS-RI-040	BRS-REC-001	1938-06-24	Vallejo Evening News	The city had recently purchased Blue Rock Springs for a public recreation center. The Recreation Commission sought an engineer; work was expected within two weeks. Initial tasks included clearing brush, sewage and water systems, capping the springs, and comfort stations. The property had been declared eligible for a State WPA project, with $89,000 described as needed for improvement.
BRS-RI-041	BRS-REC-002	1938-06-28	Vallejo Evening News	G. H. Gordon of San Francisco was appointed to prepare detailed plans for WPA work at Blue Rock Springs, recently acquired by the city as a recreation center. The preliminary programme included brush clearing, water and sanitary systems, and capping the springs. Gordon had National Park Service engineering experience, including Zion National Park.
BRS-RI-042	BRS-REC-003	1938-07-07	Vallejo Evening News	With work expected within ten days and at least 80 men slated for the initial project, the Recreation Commission prepared a general reclamation policy. Gordon was to report on detailed plans. First work again included brush removal, sanitary and water systems, comfort stations, and capping the springs.
BRS-RI-043	BRS-REC-004	1938-07-08	Vallejo Evening News	The Commission planned to clean the lake, level its banks, introduce swans and other birds, and make the 160-acre park a game refuge. Guns were prohibited and a proposed rifle range was rejected. A caretaker was planned. Officials warned against removing shrubs or rocks and against carving initials into trees; redwoods were to be planted.
BRS-RI-044	BRS-REC-005	1938-07-26	Vallejo Evening News	A supervised youth hike visited Hunter’s Hill, an old quicksilver mine, and Blue Rock Springs, described as the proposed municipal recreational park. Eight named participants were led by George Tiernan.
BRS-RI-045	BRS-REC-006	1938-08-03	Vallejo Evening News	An editorial linked three child drownings in the Mare Island channel to the need for public swimming instruction and pools. It endorsed a pool at Blue Rock Springs and another future pool at Beach Park, noting that a waterfront pool would spare children the long trip to BRS.
BRS-RI-046	BRS-REC-007	1938-08-06	Vallejo Evening News	A Washington Playground bicycle party rode Benicia Road to the midway, turned onto Blue Rock Springs Road, cut into Lake Herman Road, ate lunch at Lake Herman, returned toward BRS to inspect the budding recreation center, and then passed Lake Chabot en route home.
BRS-RI-047	BRS-REC-008	1938-08-08	Vallejo Evening News	Gordon was scheduled to speak on “Blue Rock Springs Landscaping.” He had surveyed the springs and was responsible for landscaping and gardening. The article reported a proposed $25,000 swimming pool at the springs in 1939.
BRS-RI-048	BRS-REC-009	1938-09-27	Vallejo Evening News	A 1938 “20 Years Ago” retrospective states that mine host Manuel Madrid was improving the grounds at Blue Rock Springs, referring to an event around 1918.
BRS-RI-049	BRS-REC-010	1938-11-10	Vallejo Evening News	The Recreation Commission ordered “No hunting and shooting” signs posted at Blue Rock Springs and expected many Vallejo residents to visit during the Armistice Day holiday.
BRS-RI-050	BRS-REC-011	1938-12-15	Vallejo Evening News	Elbert M. Vail, district manager for East Bay Regional Parks, and landscape engineer A. B. Hyde inspected Blue Rock Springs with Recreation Commission director A. J. Kirkpatrick. Vail praised Vallejo for acquiring the land, described the recreational possibilities as effectively unlimited, and endorsed the Commission’s family-oriented plan. Hyde recommended beginning a large grove of trees; consulting landscape engineer John McLarnin was also expected to inspect the site.
BRS-RI-051	BRS-REC-012	1938-12-23	Vallejo Evening News	Twenty-six yards of cement were poured for the Blue Rock Springs septic tank, described as the conclusion of the project’s first large unit. The article gives dimensions of 34 feet by 9 feet by 11 feet and prints a capacity of 1,800 gallons. Lake-area, picnic-ground, spring-house, and pipe work were expected to conclude during the spring; residents were invited to inspect the improvements.
BRS-RI-052	BRS-REC-013	1939-01-13	Vallejo Evening News	More than twelve acres had been cleared by a workforce of forty or more men. Rocks and debris were removed, grass mowing was planned to reduce fire danger, and Arthur Hyden of the University of California, Berkeley, was expected to advise on tree planting across the larger city-owned acreage.
BRS-RI-053	BRS-REC-014	1939-01-21	Vallejo Evening News	The Amadahi group took a nature hike to Blue Rock Springs, planted wildflower seeds en route, climbed the rocks at Hunter’s Hill, played games, and held a treasure hunt. A full participant list and guardian were printed.
BRS-RI-054	BRS-REC-015	1939-01-23	Vallejo Evening News	The Vallejo Archery Club planned an April tournament at Blue Rock Springs, weather permitting. The article also discussed bow hunting and notable hunting exploits by archers.
BRS-RI-055	BRS-REC-016	1939-01-25	Vallejo Evening News	The two springs were reported to furnish at least 100,000 gallons of water daily. Water from the lower spring was intended for drinking, while water from the upper spring was to be conserved in a reservoir for the proposed swimming tank.
BRS-RI-056	BRS-REC-017	1939-02-06	Vallejo Evening News	The clipping states that 8,000 trees were to be planted at Blue Rock Springs during the next few years. Some had already arrived and others were to be obtained from nearby nurseries.
BRS-RI-057	BRS-REC-018	1939-02-10	Vallejo Evening News	A continuation fragment reports that the directors took steps to complete the sanitary system and water-distribution system first so that facilities would be available for picnicking. The remainder continued on page three, which is not included in this clipping.
BRS-RI-058	BRS-REC-019	1939-02-17	Vallejo Evening News	A mayoral campaign advertisement listed municipal accomplishments and disbursements. It credited establishment of a Recreation Commission and supervised youth recreation, and itemized the purchase of Blue Rock Springs at $20,000 among city expenditures.
BRS-RI-059	BRS-REC-020	1939-02-24	Vallejo Evening News	Recreation leaders invited Vallejo residents to inspect recent improvements at Blue Rock Springs. Trees had already been planted and additional trees were expected from the Feather River country.
BRS-RI-060	BRS-GOLF-001	1939-03-20	Vallejo Evening News	Vallejo Golf Club members honored Wilma Meyers and Joe Corcoran before their marriage. The article states that Corcoran had served as tournament captain for the previous two years and introduces Wilma to the club network.
BRS-RI-061	BRS-MI-001	1939-06-29	Vallejo Evening News	A Shop League baseball report labels Shop 31 as the Machinists and lists a player named Odell at first base in the Shop 31 box score.
BRS-RI-062	BRS-GOLF-002	1940-02-09	Vallejo Evening News	The Vallejo Recreation Commission and a Vallejo Golf Club delegation considered three possible sites, including Blue Rock Springs. Joe Corcoran was named as a member of the golf-club delegation.
BRS-RI-063	BRS-GOLF-003	1940-02-17	Vallejo Evening News	A sports column compares three candidate sites for the future Vallejo golf course and discusses the advantages and limitations of Blue Rock Springs, Lake Chabot, and land adjacent to the existing course.
BRS-RI-064	BRS-GOLF-004	1940-02-17	Vallejo Evening News	The Vallejo Elks planned a St. Patrick's Day golf tournament for March 16. Joe Corcoran was listed among the organizing committee members.
BRS-RI-065	BRS-GOLF-005	1940-02-20	Vallejo Evening News	A city and golf-club committee meeting was scheduled to discuss three sites, including Blue Rock Springs. Joe Corcoran was again named to the Vallejo Golf Club committee.
BRS-RI-066	BRS-GOLF-006	1940-07-03	Vallejo Evening News	Tournament pairings at the Vallejo Golf Club list Joe Corcoran in the defeated championship flight and Ed Corcoran in another pairing.
BRS-RI-067	BRS-GOLF-007	1940-11-15	Vallejo Evening News	Plans and cost estimates for a nine-hole course at Blue Rock Springs were to be submitted to the City Council. Joe Corcoran was on the golf-club committee helping prepare the report.
BRS-RI-068	BRS-GOLF-008	1941-02-10	Vallejo Evening News	Jack Doyen and Ray Potter won a Blind Bogey tournament at the Vallejo golf course. Joe Corcoran was listed among other golfers on the course that day.
BRS-RI-069	BRS-GOLF-009	1941-02-11	Vallejo Evening News	Fundraising pledges and a committee were reported for the Blue Rock Springs municipal golf course. J. G. Doyan pledged $100; Joe Corcoran and Ed Corcoran pledged $25 each; Hugh Busby was named to the fundraising committee.
BRS-RI-070	BRS-GOLF-011	1941-04-18	Vallejo Evening News	Golf tournament pairings list Joe Corcoran and Hugh Busby while an adjacent report states that work on the new Blue Rock Springs course was delayed by labor shortages and might be ready by July 1.
BRS-RI-071	BRS-GOLF-010	1941-10-25	Vallejo Evening News	The newly completed municipal golf course at Blue Rock Springs was scheduled to open and be dedicated the next day, October 26, 1941. Joe Corcoran was listed among the club directors; Mrs. Jack Doyan appeared among the women receiving guests.
BRS-RI-072	BRS-GOLF-012	1942-02-23	Vallejo Evening News	Washington Birthday tournament results at the Blue Rock Springs course list Joe Corcoran and H. Busby among the participants and identify the municipal course as an established competition venue.
BRS-RI-073	BRS-MI-002	1942-03-13	Vallejo Evening News	The Blue Rock Springs municipal course hosted simultaneous Mare Island shop and Elks tournaments. Joe and Eddie Corcoran were named to the Elks committee.
BRS-RI-074	BRS-MI-003	1942-12-03	The Solano-Napa News-Chronicle	A wartime ride-sharing club organized golfers by Mare Island shops and local businesses. Joe Corcoran was named captain for Shop 31; Hugh Busby represented C. F. Hatch.
BRS-RI-075	BRS-MI-004	1943-04-02	Grapevine	A five-man Shop 56 golf team defeated Shop 51. The score line places Joe Corcoran on the Shop 51 side.
BRS-RI-076	BRS-MI-005	1945-07-19	The Times-Herald	MIRA Shop League golf results at the municipal course list Joe Corcoran among the Shop 36-A competitors.
BRS-RI-077	BRS-MI-006	1948-03-26	Grapevine	An Ordnance Supply social item names Joe Corcoran as master of ceremonies at a stag party. A separate note on the same page states that Robert Gloeckner returned to work after release from Oak Knoll hospital.
BRS-RI-078	BRS-MI-007	1958-05-12	The Times-Herald	Leo Suennen of Shop 38 and Herbert R. Dillender Jr. of Shop 67 devised a tool for safe removal of captive screws, projected to save about $1,400 annually; they split a $75 award.