History Blog: Alvarado Buried Treasure

The August 9, 1899 issue of the Oakland Tribune has an intriguing article on Alvarado:

$10,000 in gold coin lies buried in downtown Alvarado. It was buried years ago by a tight fisted miser, George Simpson, who despised his wife and made sure she would never come across it. He did make a map of the treasure and entrusted it to two close friends before his death. The two persons that inherited the map are William Kent, a well-known Alvarado liquor man, and John Aylward of Livermore. No record has ever been found that shows they located the buried treasure (in an oyster can) which means that it must still be there for the taking. The location of the site? Lot 7, Block 35, on the corner of Levee Street and Maiden Lane.

Levee Street is now called Union City Boulevard. Maiden Lane still exists and is a short street just north of Horner that no longer meets Union City Boulevard. Lot 7 of Block 35 is a lot, just south of Maiden Lane. If you extended Maiden Lane to Union City Boulevard, it would look like Lot 7 is the Park and Ride lot.

For treasurer seekers that might sound enticing, but in 1899, Levee Street was much narrower than Union City Boulevard and the entire west side of Levee Street was demolished to make a much wider Union City Boulevard.

If the treasure did exist it would now be covered over in asphalt and be in the middle of the south bound lanes of Union City Blvd.