Irvington, Fremont

Before there was a city of Fremont, there was the town of Irvington, and earlier still a busy crossroads called Washington Corners. Fields of grain once spilled over an open landscape, spurring production here of the first wheat harvesters in California. After local landowners built the Washington College of Science and Industry in the 1870s, they renamed its host town Irvington. By 1890, it boasted the largest, most advanced winery in the state and had earned the title, Beautiful Irvington...