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1884 - August
1885 - Spring
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1887 - May
1884 - June
Union Hall, a large two story brick building is built on the northwest corner of West and First Streets by J. F. Hoadley and John Field. It contained businesses and the post office on the ground floor, and a community room on the second floor. For the next 30 years, the second floor hall served as a gathering place for concerts and plays, lectures, movies, political events, school graduations, masquerade balls and other dances, and social club meetings. The Citrus Fair dance was held there for a number of years in the 1900s.
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In February 1903, Union Hall was purchased by Charles Humbert and Carl Haehl and became known as Humbert’s Opera House. On Oct. 14, 1915, a fire started in the Cloverdale Hotel on the lot just north of Union Hall, spread to the Hall and totally destroyed it.
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City water - The Riverside Water Co. is incorporated in August 1885 and a plan is made to pump water from the Russian River to a reservoir to be built on a hillside east of town. Town Ordinance No. 28 authorized the Riverside Water Co. to lay pipe throughout the streets of the town limits while the town trustees retained authority for setting water rates. William Sink was contracted to complete the project.
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Due to a lack of funds, an insufficient number of fire hydrants were allocated which caused some protest to proposed water rates for those who would not benefit from fire department services. The rates were set in Town Ordinance No. 29 in April 1886.
1886 - August
Good Shephard Episcopal Church is completed. The narthex (enclosed entrance) and belfry were added in 1887 with the bell added in 1888. In 1898, a new bell replaced the cracked bell which was donated to the fire department. The parsonage next door to the north was built in the fall of 1905. Between the two buildings is the Callwell Memorial Garden. [Location: 122 N. Main St.]
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1889
The first iron bridge across the Russian River at Cloverdale is built consisting of three spans; one 220 feet long and two smaller spans of 110 feet long each. However, the bridge did not extend across the entire riverbed, and in years of high flooding the bridge did not span the entire area of water. The bridge was located about 100 yards north of the current First Street bridge. In 1936, the two smaller spans were severely damaged by fire and it was decided not to repair the aging bridge.
The Methodist Episcopal Church (north), built on Lake St., is dedicated. The M. E. Church was the original organization from which a separate denomination, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, split off over the issue of slavery prior to the Civil War.
A combined Town Hall and Hose House for the fire department hose cart is completed on the northwest corner of Second and Commercial Streets. Prior to this, the Town Trustees held meetings next to Charles Mitchell’s saloon, the noise from which they found a bit disruptive. The Alert No. 1 fire company was formed in March 1886, and the Town Trustees purchased a hose cart with 400 feet of hose which arrived in May. A fire bell was purchased later that year. The volunteers were outfitted with shirts, caps and belts which, along with the hose cart, they exhibited in the 4th of July parade. The cart was kept in various places which all proved unsuitable, leading to the decision to build a hose cart house. The cost of the new building was about $400, $250 of which was paid by the town with the remainder raised by the fire department. The fire alarm bell was hung in the bell tower. In 1890, an addition was made to the building to accommodate a hook and ladder truck. It was later enlarged to extend the meeting room space and again in 1921 to provide room for the newly purchased LaFrance fire engine. The jail was also located on the property.