Riverside County
Biographies
PRIESTLEY
HALL
Though more than twenty-one years have passed
since Priestley Hall departed this life, he is still remembered by many of
Riverside’s older residents as one of the most prominent and respected citizens
of the municipality and county. A contemporary biographer wrote: “Among men to
whom the Riverside community would gladly do honor none was more worthy by
reason of his constructive energy than the late Priestley Hall. A large area on
which beautiful homes and homesteads now stand was developed from land owned by
Mr. Hall and his family. Possessed of rare intellectual gifts, he had the
foresight of a pioneer and the practical energy to realize visions and make his
aims and purposes come true.”
Mr. Hall was born in Cincinnati,
Ohio, May 15, 1859, and was but a year old when his parents established their
home in New York city, where he acquired his early
education. He was a youth of fourteen when the family came to California in
1873, a date which marks practically the beginning of the real history of
Riverside. Priestley Hall continued his education in the local schools here
until 1877, and subsequently became associated with horticultural enterprises.
In 1880 Mr. Hall purchased one
hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land from Mrs. Annie Denton Cridge. This land lay east of his father’s place. Later he added another eighty
acres, and with forty acres left him by his father he possessed two hundred and
eighty acres, all within the city limits. The first important development of
this land for residential purposes was done in 1886, when he subdivided twenty
acres and sold it. In the spring of 1887 he subdivided and sold forty acres
more. The success in handling these two subdivisions encouraged him to plan the
improvement and development of the entire tract, and part of his father’s
homestead as well. This he platted as Hall’s Addition to Riverside. Mr. Hall
graded avenues and streets, laid out parks, set out thousands of ornamental
trees, and during his lifetime sold every lot and parcel except twenty acres
comprised in his homestead. As a result of this, one of the largest real estate
development transactions in Riverside county, he
realized a substantial fortune.
As a young man he acted as assistant
engineer of the Gage canal system under C. C. Miller, and was really a
technical expert in irrigation and hydraulic engineering. In the development of
his land he incorporated Hall’s Addition Water Company, became its president,
and laid pipe lines from the reservoir two and a half miles to his addition,
passing all the principal avenues and providing a sufficient supply for both
irrigation and domestic purposes. After expending sixty thousand dollars on
this system he sold to the Artesia Water Company at the actual cost of
installation.
In June, 1887, was incorporated
Hall’s Addition Railroad Company, with Mr. Hall as president and general
manager. This company built and equipped a mile and a half of street railway
from Tenth and Main to the center of the Hall tract. The cars were operated by
mule power. This car line he consolidated with the Riverside Arlington Railway,
and became a director in the latter. He also organized and was sole proprietor
of Hall’s Addition Nursery Company, which supplied horticultural and ornamental
stocks over a wide territory. Hall’s Addition he made one of the most beautiful
residential sections of the city, and all who recognize its limits appreciate
the wonderful work done there by its originator.
His enterprise extended in other
directions. At Corona he developed and placed on the market a large acreage of
alfalfa land, and its development led appreciably to the present prosperity and
growth of Corona. Near Arch Beach he was interested in land as far as San Juan
Point. During his lifetime his home place was noted for the wonderful quality
of the oranges produced in his groves. He was a republican and prohibitionist,
and worked ardently for prohibition. He was a member of the Second Church of
Christ, Scientist, and his life was a complete exemplification of the doctrines
of his faith. He was also affiliated with Evergreen Lodge, No. 259, F. & A.
M.; Riverside Chapter, No. 67, R. A. M.; and Riverside Commandery,
No. 28, K. T. He was highly esteemed as a Mason, and the resolutions passed by
these bodies at the time of his death presented a straightforward record of the
beauty of his character and his devotion to friendship and fraternal
brotherhood. No resident of Riverside was more imbued with civic pride, and
none was more frequently a leader in public movements that would tend to
develop or improve the city.
On the 29th of July,
1890, Mr. Hall was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Overton, a native of Avoca,
Wisconsin. As a wedding gift Mr. Hall gave his wife beautiful Rockledge, which
has been her home ever since. For many years she has been a consistent member
of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
The death of Mr. Hall occurred in
July, 1911, when he was sixty-two years of age. Many of his oldest friends and
business associates were his brothers in Riverside Commandery
No. 28 of the Knights Templar, and the formal “In Memoriam” drafted by this Commandery and entered into its records as a tribute of
respect contains some discriminating references to him as a man and citizen
that may be appropriately used in the conclusion of this brief article:
“Of a deeply religious nature with
none of the asperities of sect, kindly, generous, with a large sense of charity
toward the failings of others, it seemed impossible for him to view his fellowmen
from any narrow standpoint. Few men worked more assiduously in business, yet
his success was marked by a greater standard than money.
“He was of a retiring nature, never
ostentatiously or offensively advancing any of the views he held so decidedly
on all important measures concerning the community, maintaining them in his
gentle way, often with greater effect than loud and apparent persistence would
have done. Public life, other than a strict attention to the duties of a
private citizen, had no attraction for him His home to him was the ideal spot
on earth and his love of birds and flowers was one of his marked
characteristic.
“All of our Commandery
who knew him, all his neighbors and business associates, in speaking of him
will always have in mind his uncommon amiability and genial smile and word, and
after character is considered, what higher word of praise can be uttered.”
Transcribed By:
Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: California
of the South Vol. II,
by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
445-448, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Cecelia
M. Setty.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S RIVERSIDE
BIOGRAPHIES