Many of the cities and towns of the Bay Area don't have much left from their earliest settlements. The land is precious and expansion often pushes out the old to make way for the new, especially in a region that has been occupied for hundreds of years. While the recorded history of the Fremont ties itself to Mission San José, one portion of what is now Fremont, Niles has it's history built around a massive flour mill that serviced the farmlands on the other side of the foothills that the town butted up against.
Originally called Vallejo Mills, a small settlement sprung up at the end of a canyon, who's other end lead out through Sunol and into the south end of Pleasanton and into the San Ramon Valley, where massive farms grew wheat and other crops and the town acted as a depot for these supplies thanks to an extension that fed off the Transcontinental Railroad. Within a decade that traffic somewhat dried up thanks to a shorter line that came over the top of the bay through Benicia, but the railroad was still a vital lifeline for years to come. The town didn't die, but it did change it's name thanks to the Central Pacific railroad, who renamed it Niles after Addison Niles in 1869. Originally a lawyer for the Pacific Railroad, Addison Niles became an Associate Justice in the California Supreme Court and served from 1872-1880, passing away a decade later in 1890.
Niles eventual claim to (current) fame is that it housed one of the first movie studios on the west coast, EssanayStudios who shot hundred of films in Niles Canyon and the surrounding areas from 1912 through 1915. Some of these films included Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp which thrust his most famous character 'Tramp' into the spotlight and Broncho Billy the first western cowboy star. The studio moved south to Los Angeles in 1915 but they opened the door for west coast movie making, not only in the Bay Area but for the everything that came to be in LA soon thereafter.
Niles still has it's main street with many of it's original buildings that are now mostly antique shops, though a number restaurants and other stores are also on the main drag. In town on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I wandered the antique shops not knowing what I'd find (a crazy personalized Hot Wheel with a kids face on it and a 20 year old X-Men coloring book were bought for friends) and as I walked back down the street towards my car, I passed by Bronco Billys Pizza and the sign I saw in front of the restaurant just called for me to have a late lunch/early dinner of appetizers. I've had mac n' cheese bites before, but always from the comfort of my own home with varying levels of success. I hadn't had mac n' cheese bites at a restaurant in years,
The Review
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Bronco Billys Kids Meals Mac & Cheese bites
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| A few tables are outside and are great spots to eat if the weather is good or it's busy inside. |
