Western Star purse seiners Monterey Circa 1940

the Western Star was my grandfathers purse seiner, had built in 1940 it was 82' long, 220 HP held 140 tons in hold and 40 tons on deck. During the 2nd war the navy used it as a minesweeper, it was returned in 1945 just in time for for the greatest season in the history of the industry. My grandfather died in 1963 and was the last of the original pioneers. His name was Salvatore Russo and he came to Monterey over 105 years ago. He had 9 children his son Shedo S. ( Buck) Russo was city council member for 18 years and mayor o for 2 years 1959-61. He was a promoter of the boat harbor but had a lot of problems with the fisherman because they did not want to pay monthly rent. The boat harbor came to a vote twice but needed a 2/3's majority vote and lost. Because he was on the board of the League of Calif. Cities, they gave the City of Mty a loan to build the harbor. The City of Mty built a monument dedicating the harbor to his memory. This monument is in the parking lot across from the MOM museum by edge of the harbor. Thank you for letting me share this with you.jackandjanet2000@yahoo.com Jack Russo , I also worked for Granite Construction and I worked on the harbor from the beginning to end. I also was a photographer and have many aerial photos of all our projects all over the penninsula fpr over 40 years. It is time to get rid of a lot of photos, I had my own darkroom and Granite let me do as I pleased, from chartering planes to buying t he best equipment I needed. We should get together some time and see what I have. Thanks Jack