At the end of Part 4 of this series on Alameda’s oldest West End house, which the original owners Abram and Catherine Rich referred to as “Down Home,” I mentioned that after all this time doing a deep dive into 1620 Fourth Street, we still hadn’t met the current owners, Steve and Susan Campbell. That oversight will be remedied in this installment. But first, another discovery from the past.
‘Thrown From A Buggy’
Before we start making our way to the present day, there’s a story from the past that sheds further light on the Rich family in the 1890s. A newspaper story has been uncovered that featured the headline, “Thrown From A Buggy,” which told the story of two of the Rich sisters being thrown to the ground from a carriage while they were on their way to work. The story appeared in the Alameda Times Star.
On the morning of September 27, 1892, sisters Mary and Lucy Rich were on their way to work at the offices of the E. M. Derby Lumber Company in Oakland. At the corner of Eighth and Ellis streets, their horse suddenly “shied,” meaning it made a sudden movement after being startled. The buggy tipped and the young women were unceremoniously thrown out, with Lucy sustaining injuries but Mary Helen being miraculously unhurt. While no bones were broken, Lucy was expected to be unable to leave her home for several weeks due to bruises.
This newspaper article is a valuable contributor to the family history of the Rich family, since prior to reading it I did not know that both Mary Helen and Lucy worked for the E. M. Derby Company, the very same company that employed their father, Abram Rich, as a yard manager. It also helps explain how Lucy came to know E. M. Derby’s son, Augustus, whom she married in 1894. The clues to the past are out there—it’s just a matter of digging them up.
A dog will lead you home
Steve Campbell is a longtime Alameda resident. In the late 1990s he and his two daughters from his first marriage moved to the West End and settled on Haight Avenue. He later met Susan Rousso Campbell, a long-time teacher at Paden and now Bay Farm School. Steve had worked in commercial real estate for Prologis, the owner and developer of industrial warehouses. After work, Steve would go on daily walks with the family dog, Eddie, and somehow these walks always seemed to pass by an old house at 1620 Fourth Street.
On a whim, Steve left a note there with his phone number, saying he loved old houses and would be grateful for the opportunity to meet the owners. When he got home, the phone rang and it was Chuck Goggin, great-grandson of the original homeowner, Abram Rich. We learned more about Chuck Allegrini Goggin, who had been living in the house since the late 1960s, in Part 4 of this series. Whether it was the dog that kept guiding Steve over to 1620 Fourth Street, or whether it was Steve himself who was drawn to this house over and over again, it was obvious that there was some kind of magnetic attraction going on.
After 133 years, a move
By 1999 Chuck Goggin was 61 years old, and his mother Iola Mary, who was living with him at 1620 Fourth Street, was 91. As was discussed in Part 4, we’re not sure if Chuck’s wife Patricia was still with him at this time, since the records are incomplete on this. But for whatever reason, Chuck and his mom were ready to sell the old family homestead, and move to El Dorado County, California, where they had a longtime family connection. Chuck did not want to sell this family heirloom to just anyone though, and had a very specific idea of the kind of owner he wanted to take over “Down Home.”
Promises made
Once Chuck Goggin decided he was ready to sell the old house and move on, he knew he had potential buyers in the Campbells, since Steve had already expressed interest in the historic property. Now it was just a matter of making sure that the house would remain in good hands for the foreseeable future. Chuck had two main criteria in selecting a new owner for his family heirloom—that the house not be torn down, and that the property not be subdivided. Chuck had probably seen many older, historic homes on the West End torn down over the years, and didn’t want to see that happen to the “Down Home” property, which had been in his family for 133 years.
Promises kept
In the 26 years that the Campbells have owned this property, they have more than honored their promises to Chuck Goggin. Not only have they kept the house and the property fully intact, they have also preserved the old portions of the house in almost the exact condition they were in when they took ownership—other than invisible elements like improving the foundation and earthquake-strengthening work. A tasteful addition was constructed at the rear of the house in 2004, but it cannot even be seen from the street, thus preserving the original front elevation view.
In this happy home, where generations of the Rich and Goggin families have grown up, the Campbells also raised their daughters Mea and Molly. The children grew up at “Down Home,” and are now out in the world living their own lives, while never forgetting where they got their start.
Iola Mary comes home
After Chuck Goggin’s mother Iola Mary died on September 19, 2004, the Goggin family made a special request of the Campbells. Would they be able to come back to Alameda and hold a memorial service in their old house, to honor the spirit of Iola, who had lived at “Down Home” for over 30 years?
The Campbells were quick to honor this request, and on the appointed day they cleared out of their house to allow the Goggin family to privately honor their dearly departed family member inside the four walls that had witnessed so many generations of Rich/Goggin family life. While Iola Mary may not have returned to her old home in physical form, her family did their best to conjure up her spirit, in the home that once served as an unofficial Catholic church on the West End of Alameda after the old St. Joseph’s Church burned down in 1919.
A commitment to service
While generations of the Rich and Goggin families served the community through church service, the Campbells have found their own way of service. Suzie Campbell is a longtime Alameda school teacher, and Steve Campbell has also found a way to serve the community in his “semi-retirement.” After a career in commercial real estate, Steve has been heavily involved with the development of the new Alameda Food Bank building on Alameda Point.
According to the City of Alameda website, “The Alameda Food Bank (AFB) has combated food insecurity by providing food to Alameda families for several decades. Founded in 1977 when it was operating out of a church, AFB has relocated several times to temporary locations over the years. In 2022, AFB approached the City about establishing a permanent home for the food bank, and subsequently purchased the site at 677 West Ranger Avenue in Alameda Point from the City. In July 2024, AFB received its final City approvals and began construction of its new home.”
Project threatened
After the new food bank project was approved, a lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs claiming that the City violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by approving the project. The lawsuit also alleged that the project would have a negative impact on a nearby “historic parking lot”. While this series on our Alameda Treasures sees the value in our historic architectural legacy in Alameda, I wouldn’t say that a parking lot (no matter how historic) should have priority over a new building that will help people feed themselves.
Lawsuit dismissed
Even with the threat of litigation hanging over the project, work continued on the new food bank building throughout late 2024 and into 2025. Steve explains that the number of people experiencing food insecurity is increasing by the year, making a new food bank building more vital than ever. According to the Alameda Food Bank website, “The number of families seeking our help jumped tenfold from about 800 a month in 2019 to almost 8,000 per month by mid-2020.” Finally, on April 22, 2025, Alameda County Superior Court judge Michael Markman ruled to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the project to go forward unencumbered.
Making connections
When I started this series about the Alameda Treasure at 1620 Fourth Street, I never thought I’d be writing about the Alameda Food Bank. Such is the nature of looking into things; you never know what you’re going to find and what connections will be made. What makes our old houses so interesting is not just the architecture or the style, or when they were built. It’s also the people who have lived in them and what their lives were like. I believe old homes have a soul, which comes from all the generations of people who have lived in them and perhaps left something of themselves behind in the spirit of the place. In learning about the people who have lived in our old houses, we connect to the past in a way that shows us where we came from, how we ended up where we are now, and where we may be going in the future.
The American spiritual teacher Ram Dass (1931-2019) once said, “Make friends with change,” because the nature of our world, and of ourselves, is one of constant evolution and change. As these stories about our Alameda Treasures show, the times are always changing, and the present is becoming the past as fast as we can write it down. In these articles, I endeavor to tell some lesser known stories of the past that can bring us all together as we create the history that will be told by future generations.
A Rich history
For the last five installments, we’ve taken a deep dive into the oldest house on Alameda’s West End, and traced the 133-year history of the Rich family and their descendants at this location, which was followed by 26 years—and counting—of Campbell family stewardship. I think it’s fair to say that if Alameda pioneers Abram and Catherine Rich could return to their old house today, they would most definitely recognize it and be filled with joy at how well “Down Home” has been preserved. Even more than that, they’d have the satisfaction of knowing that the Pioneer Gothic Revival cottage they built in 1866 has raised generations of Riches, Goggins, and Campbells. The almost 160-year-old house is still standing strong, and ready to house countless generations of future Alamedans, as long as they continue to honor Chuck Goggin’s request that “Down Home” never be torn down.
Thanks to Alameda Research Librarian Beth Sibley, Alameda Museum collections volunteer Myrna van Lunteren, and 1620 Fourth Street owners Steve and Suzie Campbell, for their help with this look into one of our oldest and most special Alameda Treasures.
Contributing writer Steve Gorman has been a resident of Alameda since 2000, when he fell in love with the history and architecture of this unique town. Contact him via [email protected]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Steve-Gorman.
