Name/Title
FERNANDEZ MANSIONDescription
A sailor since age 13, Portuguese immigrant Bernardo Fernandez arrived in 1854. Bernardo left Lisbon, Portugal, in 1840 on a sea-going freighter. In 1854 he landed in Pinole and joined Manuel Sueyras in shipping and trade. Bernardo soon became the area’s primary merchant and trader. He partnered with Capt. Francis E. Cruz in his bay shipping business before becoming sole owner. By 1859, he had three schooners, and had built wharves, warehouses, a store and a house. His embarcadero was called Pinole Landing. That same year, he married Carlotta Cuadra at St. Mary’s Church in San Francisco.
Fernandez eventually purchased the waterfront lands from Tennent. His last home, the 22-room Fernandez Mansion, was built in 1894. From the lighthouse-like cupola at the top, Fernandez watched his enterprise. Bernardo’s son, Manuel Fernandez, served as Pinole’s beloved doctor for 47 years.
By 1877, Fernandez had acquired most of the valley lands and ranches. He would supervise his holdings from his black buggy. He was remembered as a kind man who would give a child a dime and an orange for opening a gate, but also as a strict businessman who wanted a penny owed to him.
Fernandez supported the school, and the family gifted a site for a city park in the 1930s, as well as land for a waterfront sewage-treatment plant in the 1950s.
During World War II, citizens rationed butter and meat and collected scrap metal. White-helmeted Civil Defense teams guarded Pinole Creek Bridge during blackout drills. Six servicemen died, including Dr. Manuel Fernandez’s son, Bernardo.Made/Created
Date made
circa 1850 - circa 1990Copyright
Copyright Holder
Pinole Historical Society
