De Boom Street named for Peter Romain
De Boom Street was not named after Cornelius, but rather for his brother. “In 1850 Peter Romain De Boom of Antwerp came out Here, with more Capital to invest. He brought largely near the Pacific Mail Docks, where “De Boom Street” was opened & named after he died there – 4th March 1857.” (211_RC De Boom letter 19May1911)
Emma elaborated in her family history, “Peter Romain De Boom, god-father of Romain Camille DeBoom, helped to fight the several fires that destroyed the warehouses along the waterfront. In 1857 he contracted pneumonia after assisting in fire-fighting and died within a few days. He was buried in the Mission Delores Cemetery at 16th St. and Delores but I could not find his tombstone, the school having built a playground over that part of the cemetery.”
Peter Romain was a successful investor in real estate, including the San Francisco De Boom Tract which generated income for the De Boom family for decades.
According to Albert Shumate (Rincon Hill and South Park, Windgate Press, 1988, p. 111) Cornelius De Boom was in real estate and lived on 2nd St. and South Park in 1856, then a fashionable area. Neither Peter Romain or Cornelius would recognize the place today!
