School History
Earle E. Williams Middle School opened in 1990. It was named for long-time Tracyite Earle E. Williams. Mr. Williams was born on January 1, 1898, in San Mateo County. He came to Tracy on July 4, 1910 to live with his sister and her husband on their ranch in the Vernalis area. He attended New Jerusalem School and Tracy Union High School. In 1914, at age 16, he left school to work as a teaming contractor, in building the Old River Rock Gravel Plant southwest of Tracy at the mouth of Corral Hollow Canyon. In 1946, Mr. Williams founded and built the Kerlinger Plant of Pacific Cement and Aggregates, Inc. which he operated until he retired in 1965. He was married for 54 years to Elino Counihan of Petaluma and had 2 children; Jere Williams and Sheila August. Over the years, he met with many Tracy children, college students and scholars, providing many photos and other materials about the history of Tracy and the surrounding area. He was always willing to talk about Tracy’s old days up until his passing on July 4, 1983, exactly 73 years to the day after he first arrived here.
Mr. Williams was a man of many talents and interests.
Inventor: Developed several methods that made production of sand and gravel more efficient.
Social Organizations: Member of the Tracy Rotary Club, Tracy Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West and historian for the West Side Pioneer Society.
Civic Organizations: President of the Tracy District Chamber of Commerce, President of the San Joaquin County Chamber of Commerce, San Joaquin County Historical Society, regional vice-president of istrict 8 of the Conference of California Historical Societies, Tracy Community Memorial Hospital board of directors, Tracy Planning Commission, Tracy City Council, Mayor of Tracy.
Senior Citizen of the Year; selected by the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in 1973.
Author of Historical Books, Manuscripts, Essays and Biographies: these are a few of them.
Edward B. Carrell of Corral Hollow
Tales of Old San Joaquin City
El Camino Viejo: The Old Road of the Spanish Dons
The Central Pacific, the Union Pacific, and the Southern Pacific; their effect on the founding and growth of Tracy, California
The Region of Corral Hollow; a series of 43 essays published in the Tracy Rotary Club Bulletin
San Joaquin Valley Scenes; a series of essays describing the early plains on the West Side
Historic Old Tesla Hotel
Little America: the Girl of the Golden West – The story of a brave little pioneer girl on the mud flats of French Camp Slough
The Wild Yankee in Corral Hollow; Grizzly Adams in Corral Hollow
The Founding of Tracy, California; a Railroad Town