Benicia Historical Society

14. Masonic Temple (1850) 110West J Street The first Masonic Temple in California was constructed in 1850 on land donated by Alexander Riddell and with lumber donated by Benicia founder Robert Semple. The lower floor of the building was used as a courtroom and country offices prior to completion of the State Capitol building in 1853. Benicia was the county seat for Solano County at that time. The second floor of this building is virtually unchanged and has remarkably ornate woodwork made by California frontier craftsmen. 15. Fish-Riddell House (c1900) 245West K Street Built by Franklin and Henrietta Riddell Fish about 1900, this Queen Anne Victorian home, though a relatively standard design, was unusually well constructed. With restoration, it has survived its rival, the Hastings mansion, visible in the background of this historic photo. 16. First Protestant Church Site (1849) City Park onWest K Street In April of 1849 the Reverend Sylvester Woodbridge, a Presbyterian missionary, became the minister of the first Protestant Church built in California. Here, in a simple Gothic Revival style church, he preached on Sundays, conducted Benicia’s first public school on weekdays, and slept in a sailor’s hammock in the building at night. Historians record that the reverend’s sympathies with the South during the Civil War caused dissension among the members of his congregation, causing his departure and the eventual closing of this church in 1871. Today, the site is a City Park and gateway to Old Town Benicia. 17. St. Catherines’s Academy Site (1849) City Park on MilitaryWest In 1854 Mother Mary Goemaere, a French-born Dominican nun, arrived in Benicia by chartered schooner from Monterey, establishing St. Catherine’s Academy at this site. Begun initially as a girls’ boarding school, the Academy became a co-educational boarding and grammar school in 1889. St. Catherine’s served educational needs of this area for over 100 years. It was razed in 1965 to make way for a shopping center. 18. Frisbie-Walsh House (1849) 235 East L Street This is the oldest residence in Benicia with its original unaltered exterior. This home was one of three identical houses shipped around the horn from Boston (in 1849) and reassembled here. A second house was sold in San Francisco and the third became the residence of General Mariano Vallejo at “Lachryma Montis” in Sonoma. The former Walsh house is still used as a private residence.