The Sunalta District – was almost the name given to Montclair.
In 1919, the Oakland Real Estate Board advertised in Oakland Tribune a “$50 cash Prize” to come up with a name for the area now called Montclair.
The deadline was Jan 1, 1920.
On Jan 11, 1920, the Tribune reported receiving about 2000 suggestions and decided on Sunalta.
Sunalta Wins
C.S. Rice of Oakland proposed Sunalta.
But for some reason, they felt there was yet a better name.
They extended the contest until Feb 15, 1920.
I have yet to find out the winner of that contest. I assume someone came up with Montclair. Thank you!
With 2000 entries, there had to be something better than Sunalta.
What did they observe to name it Montclair? I remember the train used to run behind Montclair school as a kid, then went across Moutain Blvd where tennis courts now sit on a trestle, then behind village on west uphill side, crossed Snake Road with a bridge and then ran through Shepard Canyon where it went through tunnel out to Moraga and through Lafayette.
The only info I found was the paper and was very little. Some say it was named after Montclair New Jersey. Maybe it is because Montclair means “clear mountain” in French, I don’t know.