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Thomas K. Beard Home


The Thomas.K. Beard home was built around 1912 at 102 Sycamore ave on the corner of Needham avenue Modesto. Thomas' widow Grace Ada sold the home shortly after his death in 1925. It had a couple of different owners before Walter Field president of Field Finance Corporation president of Field Finance Corporation purchased it in 1935. Field lived in the house with his family until about 1957 when he had the house demolished.

According to the the Modesto Bee, from late 1960 to 1962 he tried, through his lawyer, to get the city council to rezone property from residential to commercial so that he could build a service station on the vacant lot.

Walter Field (1894-1983) was in his sixties at this time, retired and residing in San Mateo. According to his lawyer he apparently wanted to use the house as a rental property. But since he could not find a tenant to rent the house to he decided to tear the house down.

By razing the house it he would accomplish two objectives: firstly, an empty lot would mean paying a lot less in property taxes compared to a large vacant house; and secondly, he was creating an eyesore on the corner lot which, he may have thought, would make it easier for him to get the lot rezoned. The lot was not totally covered as there were still remnants of the foundation still visible. It is not known as to why he didn't just sell the house.

However, when he had his lawyer petition the city council in 1960 to rezone the property, the residences in that area were strongly opposed to it. Needham avenue was a main connector between Highway 108 (McHenry avenue) and Highway 99 (9th street). And, at the time, there were already possibly two service stations already on Needham between the the two streets--one on the the corner of McHenry and the other on the corner of Orange avenue, with both being on the north side of the street. They believed that commercial development should be reserved for the south side of Needham. The city council agreed and declined his request. The lot remained vacant until after his death.


This photo from the mid-1950s shows part of the house in the background on the far left, shortly before its demolition. It also shows the side view  of the Penguin ice cream parlor which is the building with the flat roof in the center. This photo was taken on 15th st. looking toward Needham.

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