The History of the Lyle/Harvey/Dinsmore/Bronco Billy's Building

Sitting in old town Alvarado is one of the last buildings in Union City that has retained its classic Victorian look. The building that houses is over a hundred years old and still looks the same as it did 100 years ago. About the only difference between a picture taken in 1898 and one taken now is the lack of hitching posts in the front of the building.

In January 1896, M. H. Lyle purchased three lots at the corner of Smith and Vallejo Streets in Alvarado from Daniel J. Murphy. Soon, work was started on a two-story building with eight carpenters working on the project. By April, 1896, the building was completed and Mr. Lyle established a general mercantile store in the bottom story of the building. Dr. Hauber occupied an office in the upper story of the building. One of the main features of Mr. Lyle's store was a soda fountain.

Mr. Lyle was not in business long, and by 1901, he sold his general mercantile business to F. C. Harvey. In March of 1902, Harvey had a 40-foot by 40-foot, two-story addition built on the back of the building.

Sometime before 1908, a telephone system was installed in Alvarado and the telephone exchange was located in the F. C. Harvey store, and F. C. Harvey was the local telephone agent. A telephone directory from 1916 shows a total of 27 different phone numbers in Alvarado. Oddly enough, the Harvey store did not have its own phone number listed. Maybe just ringing the operator was enough. The first phone directory that showed a listing for the store was in 1948.

In the early 1930's, F. C. Harvey sold his business to Sam Dinsmore. Mr. Dinsmore ran his business for more than 40 years. Most of the older Union City residents that grew up in Alvarado remember Sam Dinsmore and the icon that his store was. His was the last general mercantile store in Union City.

In early 1942, as part of the civil defense work once World War II was declared, a fire alarm from the Holly Sugar Factory was installed on the Dinsmore store, as an air raid warning siren.

When the Nimitz Freeway was built, Highway 17 was routed from Union City Boulevard to the new freeway, avoiding Alvarado. Most of the stores in town were affected by this move, including the Dinsmore store. By the early 1970's, the business at the store was not enough to keep it going. Sam Dinsmore finally had to close the store and retire.

The building was vacant for a while, but a hot air balloon company used it for a few years. In 1972, the concrete foundation was installed. The building became Uncle Joe's Pizza and then Bronco Billy's Pizza.