El Cerrito Tutors Come To You

On April 18th, 1906, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rumbled along the San Andreas Fault in California, rocking regions from Salinas to Eureka. Caught in the worst of the quake was the city of San Francisco on that fateful morning, which was eighty percent destroyed as a result of not only the ground shaking, but also fires that spread in the aftermath. Though some estimates were unclear as far as fatalities, at minimum, at least 3,000 people died across San Francisco and other bay area cities. Moreover, between 227,000 and 300,000 people were left homeless out of a population of about 410,000, with refugee camps popping up all over the region while people tried to rebuild. One of those camps was El Cerrito.

A group of refugees, fleeing the chaos of San Francisco, its ensuing fires, and crowds of displaced people, settled in what was then Don Víctor Castro’s Rancho San Pablo, adjacent to the ranch owned by the family of Luís María Peralta, the Rancho San Antonio. Within a few years, a post office was established in this small community, complete with a postmaster named Wilhelm Rust. This ensured that the camp would not only stay connected to the bay area and its happenings, but would also set the precedent for their eventual incorporation as a city. Originally naming the area “Rust” after the first postmaster, residents eventually changed the name to “El Cerrito” and by 1917, the village was recognized as a city of 1500 residents—all refugees, or connected to refugees, of the San Francisco earthquake.

El Cerrito offered a relief from the aftermath of the quake and the fires of San Francisco. Since that time, it has offered relief from the urban sprawl of the same city, rebuilt and revitalized over one hundred years after its almost-complete destruction. El Cerrito is something of a bedroom community now, smaller and quieter than the bustle near its boundaries. Residents since its founding have fought hard to keep it a refuge and desirable place to live. It celebrates its hundredth birthday this year—a full century of steady growth fueled by hope and ambition of its citizens.

El Cerrito tutors, working for Grade Potential, similarly want to provide a refuge from the storms of academic struggles. They are there to aid and help their clients, just as the region of El Cerrito presented itself to victims of the San Francisco earthquake and fires of 1906. With effort and persistence, setbacks can be remedied and progress can take place—this is what the story of El Cerrito’s beginnings teach us. Its tutors continue on in this great legacy on an individual basis, with their services and general expertise.