History Detectives, South City Edition


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Prepare yourself for sheer hyperlocal awesomeness. El Camino High School and South San Francisco High School have been playing a cross-town rivalry football game annually for almost fifty years. They call it the Bell Game. South San Francisco Patch wrote a great article about this year’s game. It’s a fun read because in finest rivalry tradition, it was a nail-biter down to the finish. Patch published some terrific photos here. I left a comment on the article, asking why it’s called the Bell Game. I saw on a map that both schools are practically on El Camino Real, so I wondered if the name is a reference to the historic El Camino bell markers. South San Francisco Patch editor Drew Himmelstein replied that she wondered the same thing and promised to look into it.

And boy did she.

Read her full account here. Really. Go read it. I’ll wait.

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She made my day, going all out to get to the bottom of this story, enlisting the help of local historian Kathy Kay. Their ultimate findings were surprising, but not disappointing. Let’s just say with a knowing wink that I suspect there is more to the story than even the involved parties were aware of. El Camino Real loves its bells, and works in mysterious ways to get them.

Tukufu Zuberi - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009Drew’s efforts reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows, “History Detectives.” San Jose’s own Tukufu Zuberi would be proud. I just hoped Drew wore protective linen gloves as she was thumbing through those old yearbooks.

3 Responses to “History Detectives, South City Edition”

  1. I’m glad you liked it. Please note that I am available for future investigations (concerning South City, of course). And I’ll let you know that no linen gloves were required!

  2. Bill says:

    Uh oh, sounds like you caught the history bug! I warn you, you can lose entire days in this stuff!

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