History Detectives, South City Edition
Posted By Bill On Friday, November 26, 2010 @ 19:12 In high school, South San Francisco, history, news, sports, El Camino Real | 3 Comments
[1] View Larger Map
Prepare yourself for sheer hyperlocal awesomeness. [2] El Camino High School and [3] 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. [4] South San Francisco Patch wrote a [5] 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 [6] here. I left a [7] 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 [8] Drew Himmelstein replied that she wondered the same thing and promised to look into it.
And boy did she.
Read her full account [9] here. Really. Go read it. I’ll wait.
…
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.
[10] 
Drew’s efforts reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows, “[11] History Detectives.” San Jose’s own [12] Tukufu Zuberi would be proud. I just hoped Drew wore protective linen gloves as she was thumbing through those old yearbooks.
Article printed from All Camino: http://allcamino.com
URL to article: http://allcamino.com/2010/11/26/history-detectives-south-city-edition/
URLs in this post:
[1] View Larger Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=400+B+Street,+S+San+F
rancisco,+CA+94080-4489+(South+San+Francisco+High+School)&daddr=1320+Mission+Road,+South+San+Francisco,+CA+94080-1214+(South+San+Francisco+Unified+School+District:+El+Camino)&hl=en&geocode=FXF5PgId2N-z-CH42HEMpHpKlA%3BFWu_PgIdEq6z-CE1Zo8eWE3sHA&mra=pd&mrcr=0&sll=37.656577,-122.435331&sspn=0.042673,0.090895&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=37.657868,-122.43782&spn=0.023782,0.042572&z=14
[2] El Camino High School: http://echs.schoolloop.com/
[3] South San Francisco High School: http://ssfhs.schoolloop.com/
[4] South San Francisco Patch: http://southsanfrancisco.patch.com/
[5] great article: http://southsanfrancisco.patch.com/articles/football-south-city-stuns-colts-in-d
ramatic-finish
[6] here: http://southsanfrancisco.patch.com/articles/school-spirit-on-display-at-bell-gam
e#video-3129157
[7] comment: http://southsanfrancisco.patch.com/articles/football-south-city-stuns-colts-in-d
ramatic-finish#comment_73238
[8] Drew Himmelstein: http://southsanfrancisco.patch.com/users/drew-himmelstein
[9] here: http://southsanfrancisco.patch.com/articles/you-asked-patch-answers-the-bell-gam
e
[10] Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/3488050465/
[11] History Detectives: http://pressroom.pbs.org/Programs/h/HISTORY-DETECTIVES.aspx
[12] Tukufu Zuberi: http://tukufuzuberi.com/
Click here to print.