My hometown of Napa has gone through a lot of change over the last few generations.

Many of the beautiful old structures that were once unforgettable landmarks within our city are gone. Others have been changed or moved.

For example, I can still picture Lincoln and Shearer elementary schools of the 1930-1950s era. Remember those statuesque two-story brick structures?

Lincoln, on Main Street, was made of red brick. Shearer, on Pine Street, was made of yellow brick.

At some point in the 1960s, the powers-that-be decided that school buildings should be constructed to protect against earthquakes. So both schools were torn down.

They were replaced with unattractive ground-level buildings that are still in place today. What’s ironic is that both of the old buildings were so well-built that even the wrecking ball had trouble tearing them down.

Old Intermediate School also comes to mind. For most of the first six decades of the 20th century, it was on Jefferson Street, between Clay and Polk streets, where Safeway is now. This white two-story wooden structure with fire escapes hung on the side was certainly not statuesque, but it was memorable.

Dominant in the downtown area was the Migliavacca building. This impressive two story stone building occupied at least half of the north side of First Street between Brown and Coombs. On the corner of Brown Street, downstairs, was a branch of the Bank of America. Above the bank were doctors’ and lawyers’ offices. Mid-block was Albert’s, a popular department store of the time. The Migliavacca building and buildings behind and around it went away with downtown redevelopment in the early 1970s. Much of the space occupied by the bank and a portion of Albert’s became the site of an ugly clock tower (now removed) and a large fountain that no longer contains water.

Next is a building that is still around today, but not in the same location it was for perhaps 80 years. It’s that striking Victorian office building on the corner of Fourth and Even streets, just south of Nation’s. Dubbed the Migliavacca Mansion, it was the home of the Migliavacca family, local bankers. It was originally located by the river, in the vicinity of where the library is today. Some 20-plus years ago an enterprising developer moved the structure five short blocks to its current location, restored the exterior and made the interior into offices.

Another two-story stone structure of note is the Borreo building on the corner of Third Street and Soscol Avenue. Due to the flood project, it’s the only building left on the north side of Third Street from Soscol to the river. It belongs to the city of Napa, has been seismically retrofitted and updated and is ready for a long-term lease.

While I do not know the history of the Borreo building, I do know that from the 1930s to the 1950s, the ground floor was the showroom and repair facility for Vanderschoot Motors, the local Oldsmobile and Packard dealership. In 1948, the California National Guard rented the upper floor to house the newly formed Battery C, 636th Field Artillery Battalion, 49th Infantry Division.

I was a member of the unit and attended weekly meetings there every Thursday night for several years. The National Guard was a tenant in the building until the new armory on Menlo Avenue was completed in the 1950s.

Finally, a building that was begun but never finished, and whose shell was an eyesore for quite a few years. That was the Veterans Memorial Building, a much anticipated project that never came to pass.

Right after World War II, a community-wide movement grew to construct a building in Napa to memorialize the war veterans. A site on the west side of the freeway near Imola Avenue was selected, funds were donated and construction began. Haltingly, the construction progressed to the point where there was a skeleton of a building.

Then, amid charges of corruption, fraud and others of a lesser degree, as well as a shortage of funds, construction was stopped, never to resume. The skeleton stood solemnly for a few years as a memorial not to the veterans, but to what seemed like a good idea gone bad. Some time in the 1960s the skeleton structure was demolished.

Napa As It Was appears every other Monday, alternating with Betty Rhodes’ Senior Corner.