Holiday Park

Does the name Holiday Park ring a bell with any Union City residents? Does anyone know where Holiday Park is?

In 1962, the land just west of James Logan High School was being turned in to a housing development called Holiday Park. Large full page ads ran in the Union City Leader encouraging Union City residents to "Move Up! to better living."

There were four different models to choose from, with 3 & 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. The prices ran from $15,500 to $18,950. That may seems to be very cheap when compared to current prices, but remember in 1962, minimum wage was $1.15 an hour.

The advertisements had an interesting line; "trade anything of value as down payment." Makes me wonder just what sort of things people traded in for their down payment.

Holiday Park was one of the first tract home developments in Union City. Just three years after incorporation, the city was still fairly rural with farm land between Alvarado and Decoto. Other developments started in the late 1960's and the early 1970's, such as West View Estates (on Almaden) and Casa Verde.