Peterson Facilities History  ...  1936 - 1970

Peterson's original headquarters in the leased bottom floor of 1175 Howard St, in San Francisco. The lease was taken over from the former Caterpillar dealer - Robinson Tractor. Occupied from Nov 1936 to mid-1937

At start up, Peterson had two branch stores besides their SF headquarters. One was in Brentwood from 1936 - late 1950s. Pictured is the second of two Brentwood facilities.

Peterson's other initial branch location in Half Moon Bay. Occupied 1936 to late 1950s. Both the Brentwood and Half Moon Bay branches helped serve a largely agricultural base.

Peterson's second Headquarters facility - built in 1937 - was at 470 Bayshore Ave in SF. It had an extensive 4-bay shop with overhead cranes, a 5,000 line-item parts department and 6 field trucks. Occupied April 1937-1939

Peterson decided to downsize its SF operations in 1939 and moved its HQs across the bay to its Hayward facility. The new smaller SF store was here at 943 Harrison St. just off the new Oakland-SF Bay Bridge. Peterson's "iconic" murial was created for and painted onto the facade of this building. Occupied 1939 - mid-50s

Peterson's third headquarters, at 645 Watkins St., was built concurrently with the SF Bayshore facility in 1937. It was here that Peterson started focusing on the young construction industry's unique needs when everyone else catered to the farming community. Occupied April 1937 - Dec. 1941

In 1941, Peterson moved across town to the new A Street location, twice the size of their former headquarters. The facility took up an entire city block with a 6-bay shop, welding & fabrication services, and an extensive parts department. It was here that Howard's brother, Buster Peterson hired on and began building the first of many custom designs around Caterpillar equipment. Occupied 1942 - 1948

In 1947, Howard Peterson bought 20 acres of tomato fields in San Leandro on First Avenue (less than a mile from Caterpillar's original HQ), to build a new HQ facility. Peterson moved in a year later on Labor Day weekend, 1948 and has continuously occupied the facility up to present day.    

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In 1958, Peterson's involvement with heavy construction earned the on-site product support contract for Trinity Dam project near Redding, CA. Peterson built two facilities to service the area. Pictured is the Chico facilitly at 425 Southgate Ave, 2 miles south of town off Hwy 99. An airstrip was built behind both the Chico and Redding (below) stores to facilitate parts delivery and travel between Peterson's growing territory. Occupied July 1958 to present.

In 1958, Peterson moved into the former dealer's Redding facility to serve their newly acquired territory (formerly Sierra Tractor). In 1965, Peterson moved into a brand new facility at 5100 Caterpillar Rd, just north of town on Hwy 99. It has been the flagship store in Peterson's northern territory for years. Occupied 1965 to present

In 1959, Peterson acquired the Santa Cruz County territory of former Caterpillar dealer, Pringle Tractor. This facility was occupied from 1963 to 1970.

In 1960, Peterson opened up a branch facility in San Rafael to better service the north bay area of Marin County. Peterson had two facilities, occupied from 1960 to the early 70s. (second facility pictured)

In 1962, Peterson acquired the Santa Clara County territory previously serviced by former Caterpillar dealer Ditz Bros. Peterson's San Jose store was built in 1964 and occupied until 2002 when Peterson opened up a brand new facility in San Martin to service our southern-most territory.

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