By Miriam Raftery
March 27, 2023 (Potrero) – A 300-year-old old oak tree toppled onto the porch of the former Potrero Café, next door to the historic Potrero Store, which was built in 1883 and first operated by Joseph and Damond Thing. The store remains open.
“The restaurant’s been closed for six years,” Michael Streenan, owner of the property, told East County Magazine. The tree damaged two exterior porches and an asphalt parking lot, but fortunately the buildings on the property are intact, he said.
“No one was injured when the tree fell. “Nobody even heard it come down. We just came out and saw it,” says Ryan Streenan, Michael’s son. Neither of the Streenans knows how old the café building is, though Ryan said it may have been a house for former owners of the store.
The most likely cause of the massive tree’s collapse is the recent heavy rainfalls that have left the ground saturated. “I guarantee you we’ve had 10 inches here,” says Jan Hedlun, a member of the Potrero community planning group. “I’ve been stranded three times on my own driveway because the water’s been 15 inches deep. I had one oak tree branch break and fall; another tree had a branch come down.”
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