History Blog: Captain James Barron

Captain James Barron, originally from Ireland, came to California in 1861. His brother, Richard, came to California in 1855 and was well established in the shipping business. Richard bought Union City Landing from Capt. Benson in 1855. A year after James arrived in Alvarado, Richard sold Union City Landing and moved to Mt. Eden to open another landing.

James continued to run Union City Landing for many years, where he dealt in lumber and other hardware goods. He also had a warehouse where he stored sacks of grains for the local farmers. The grain could then be shipped to market in San Francisco when the market price was favorable.

A receipt from August 20, 1870, shows that S. P. Harvey contracted with James Barron to store 525 sacks of barley and 150 sacks of wheat. The receipt shows the business as "Barron's Union City Warehouse" and the location of Union City.

James sold the landing in October, 1886, to Moses Wicks. The price was $2,340 for 32.23 acres of land. The report of the transaction still called it Benson's Landing, despite it being over 30 years since he owned the property. James passed away in 1890 at the age of 62.