In 1858, Miss Julia Aldrich was contracted to run a small private school on Isaac (Issac) Yoakum’s farm. Yoakum had built his house on the site of the present Lockwood School.The house was moved and replaced with a small building to be used as a school (see above).
The schoolhouse remained in use for another 42 years, with a small addition in 1892.
The school was located at the intersection of East 14th Street (County Road No. 1525 and now International Blvd), Mary Street, then 68th Avenue, and later 69th Avenue.
Map from 1912 – the red line is East 14th (now International Blvd)
In the first year, Lockwood had twelve students enrolled.
Twenty-eight boys and ten girls were enrolled in the school in February 1876. Alonzo Crawford was the teacher.
Oakland Tribune Mar 1, 1876
In August 1876 (typo in the newspaper), 20 boys and 21 girls were enrolled.
Oakland Tribune Aug 22, 1876
The Damon Family owned a general store at the corner of E.14th & 66th
The Kinsell Family lived on 94th Avenue just below E. 14th
The A.H. Merritt family lived on 66th Avenue
The Moss home was at 82nd and Foothill
The Silva’s owned a saloon at 84th and E. 14th
New School – 1902
The new school was built on the corner of East 14th Street and 68th Avenue in 1902. Charles H. Greenman was the principal. The school was demolished (I need to verify this) in 1936.
Across from the school was the 282-acre dairy belonging to William Manchido. The big pasture was later used as the landing field of Weldon Cooke,an early Oakland aviator. In 1910, Wickham Havens subdivided the land into what we now know as Havenscourt.
Oakland Tribune Nov 03, 1957
Old School is Sold – 1903
Oakland Tribune Feb 3, 1903
Class of 1904
Oakland Tribune May 1948
Lockwood Junior High
In 1913, Supervising Architect J.J. Donovan announced that a new Lockwood school building would be built at East 14th between 66th and 68th Avenues.
The school was to be one story in height, built in the early California style around a courtyard and Mission architecture. The wings were arranged to house a social center, a neighborhood meeting place, a cafeteria, and other modern innovations.
Old Timers Reunions
For many years, the former students of the school held an annual reunion for all graduates.
Oakland Tribune Feb 18, 1932
Oakland Tribune Jul 16, 1951
Oakland Tribune May 13, 1959
The Lockwood Quill
Oakland Tribune May 11, 1919
Lockwood School Band
Oakland Tribune May 1947
Oakland Tribune May 1947
Oakland Tribune Aug 5, 1909
Traffic Reserve
The first traffic reserve unit was formed at Lockwood in February 1928.
The Toler Heights subdivision changed hands so many times before the 1930, it seems they never really got around to selling the area with photos of new homes being built. The following is all I could find.
Lawlor Street
9703 Lawlor Street
Oakland Tribune Oakland Tribune Oct 27,1913 Address now is 9703 Lawlor St
The William M Stephens family was a successful African American family from Oakland. They owned the Stephens Restaurant, and Virginia, their daughter, won acclaim at the age of fourteen when her name Jewel City was selected for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition buildings in a competition sponsored by the San Francisco Call-Post. Virginia was the first African American woman to receive a law degree from the University of California Berkeley’sBoalt School of Law in 1929.
Stephens Restaurant at 200 East 14th Oakland Circa 1925 – photo by M.L. Cohen Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
The Stephens Family
William Stephens Circa 1901 Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California
William Stephens was born in 1870 in Accomack County, Virginia. He moved out to California while still a child and attended school in Oakland and San Francisco. After graduation, Stephens completed Heald College coursework before working with the Southern Pacific Railwayin 1886. Beginning as a Sleeping Car Porter, he worked his way up to a clerkship under H.E. Huntington, assistant to the company’s President.
In 1894 he lived at 1132 Linden Street in West Oakland.
In 1898, Stephens resigned from Southern Pacific and took a position with the Crocker family, traveling with them throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Through these travels, Stephens learned about the hotel and restaurant business.
In 1901, he married Pauline Logan (1874-1929) of Tehama, California.
Pauline Stephens circa 1898 Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Pauline gave birth to one daughter, Annie Virginia (who went by Virginia), on April 7, 1903. Due to his daughter’s health problems as a young girl, Stephens resigned from his post with the Crockers and began working at an Oakland social club. He moved on from this position in 1915 to manage the clubhouse at the Hotel Del Monte Golf and Country Club in Monterey County.
Pauline died in May 1929.
Oakland Tribune May 29, 1929
William died on November 21, 1932
Oakland Tribune Dec 2, 1932
Stephens’ Restaurant
Stephens worked at the Del Monte Hotel for about nine years. It was there he learned more about the restaurant business. His first venture was known as the Joy Lunch Room. From his very first business, he was successful, and in 1927 the old Joy Lunch became known as Stephens Restaurant.
Group of men standing in front of Stephens’ Restaurant & Lunch Room at 110 East 14th circa the 1920s Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California
The restaurant soon became the dining rendezvous of the ultra-fashionable folk of the city and gave lucrative employment to young African American men and women.
California Eagle Dec 1930
Stephens’ Restaurant grew from small quarters into an ample establishment seating over 200 people, occupying three locations near Lake Merritt.
William Stephens (right) and employee inside Stephens’ Restaurant circa the 1920s Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
The restaurant enjoyed great success during the 1920s and 1930s and was usually filled to capacity. Stephens took great delight in employing African American high school and college students so they could earn money for their education.
Oakland Tribune 1927
The final location of the restaurant was 200 East 14th (now International Blvd) at 2nd Ave and was in business until 1938 when Narcisi’s Italian Restaurant opened.
Stephens Cocktail Lounge
In 1936 it was announced that the restaurant added a cocktail lounge and was under the management of George Devant and Charles Simpson (Stephens’s nephew.) Charles inherited the recipes that made the restaurant famous.
Known to gourmets for years as the
“home of real Southern cooking”
Oakland Tribune Mar 27, 1936
Oakland Tribune 1936
Virginia Stephens
Born in Oakland on April 7, 1903, Annie Virginia Stephens was the only child of William and Paul. She attended public schools in Oakland until the family moved to Pacific Grove, where she graduated from high school.
In 1915 the San Francisco Call-Post held a naming contest for the buildings within the Panama-Pacific International Exposition – Virginia won the competition (1300 titles were submitted) when her name “Jewel City” was selected; she was twelve at the time.
“We regret to say that when it was discovered that Miss Stephens had colored blood there was a sudden silence on the part of the press and the recognition ever given her was a season ticket to the grounds.”
Virginia attended the University of California at Berkeley and received a bachelor’s degree in science in 1924.
While at Berkeley, Virginia and Ida L. Jackson was charter members Rho Chapter in 1921 and Alpha Nu Omega, a graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. These were among the first Greek sororities for African American women west of the Mississippi.
Members of Rho Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, University of California, Berkeley (left-right): Virginia Stephens, Oreatheal Richardson, Myrtle Price (in back), Ida Jackson (sorority president), Talma Brooks, and Ruby Jefferson (1921), African American Museum and Library at Oakland.
Encouraged by her father to attend law school, she enrolled in the Boalt School of Law at UC Berkeley and earned a degree in 19 9. At that time, she was only the second woman to receive a law degree from the school and the first African American woman to complete the progr m. Virginia passed the California Bar in the same year, the first African American female Attorney in California.
California Eagle 1930
Virginia married attorney George Coker (1906-1970) The Cokers helped tutor African American students for the State bar exams They moved to Virginia and maintained a private law practice there for almost a decade.
In 1939 after working in private practice for ten years, they moved back to California, settling in Sacramento. Virginia was appointed Attorney in the State Office of the Legislature Council in Sacramento in May 1939 In this capacity, she helped with drafting and amending legislative bills and worked under four different legislative councils:
Upon her retirement in 1966, Virginia attained the position of Deputy of the Indexing Section Virginia died in Sacramento at 83 on February 11, 1986.
In December 1943, there were winds up to 75 MPH and many fires in the hills and the East Bay. There were at least 10 brush and grass fires reported all over Northern California.
The smell of burning eucalyptus hung over the city for hours
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 19443
The fire in the Oakland hills started near Broadway Terrace and Skyline, in the area above the Broadway Tunnel (Caldecott Tunnel). There also was a fire on Snake Road.
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
The fire started just after midnight and burned for about 3 hours. The fire was most likely started by down wires knocked down by gale-force winds. There were over 30 fires reported all over Oakland.
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Wind and Fires Wreck Havoc
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Oakland Tribune Dec 09, 1943
Fire destroyed the garbage facility at the end of Davis Street
The fire bore a striking resemblance to the disastrous 1923 Berkeley fire, which swept from the hills, destroyed 600 buildings, and leaving 4000 homeless.
Oakland Tribune October 16, 1960
The fire started at 11am and was under control by 2:30 pm and officially out by 4pm.
Oakland Tribune October 16, 1960
More than 200 firemen from the Oakland and San Leandro fought the fire for over four hours with the help of the residents who lived in the area. At times the fire came within feet of homes and rained sparks on their roofs. The damage was held to the loss of two houses, brush and oak trees.
From noon until 2pm the battle was a see-saw affair
Oakland Tribune October 16, 1960
Weekend Warriors
SF Examiner October 16, 1960
For the residents, it was a battle to the death. They stood of roofs and garages pointing hoses with little pressure behind them at the walls of flame, which roared through the brush and oak trees.
In the hills above, Leona Street flames roared 50 feet into the air and came within that distance of homes. At one point, police advised people to advise the residents on Leona Street, Mountain Blvd, and Mountain View Avenue to evacuate.
There were unconfirmed reports of two boys playing with matches in the quarry area just before the fire started.
Oakland Tribune October 16, 1960
At the time, the winds gusted 45 mile-per-hour, which spread the fire across Mountain Blvd. but quick work by firemen and homeowners stopped the fire from spreading in that direction.
More than 100 homes were endangered during the day. Most were in the $30,000 bracket.
The Homes
6384 Mountain Blvd – destroyed
6434 Mountain Blvd – destroyed
The home at 6434 Mountain Blvd belonged to William Crecque, and 6384 Mountain Blvd belonged to Charles Suggs.
Royal Edward Towns (February 10, 1899–July 23, 1990) was one of the first African American firefighters in Oakland. He was born in Oakland in 1899.
Royal E. Towns
He joined the OFD in 1927 and was assigned to Engine Company No. 22, a segregated firehouse in West Oakland. The station is located at 3320 Magnolia Street. He helped train many other black applicants to pass the test and was a scoutmaster for a Boy Scout troop that included Sam Golden, who became the first African American fire chief in Oakland.
The exterior of Engine No 22 firehouse
Royal Towns was the 11th black Oakland fireman hired in 1927. They didn’t employ the 12th for another 15 years.
Royal E. Towns (center) and his colleagues with Engine Company No. 22 of the racially segregated Oakland Fire Department. (1943)
Royal E. Towns and his colleagues with Engine Company No. 22 of the racially segregated Oakland Fire Department. (1943)
In 1971 there were only 35 black firefighters.
Towns became the first to be promoted in the OFD. He became a chief operator in 1941 and retired as a lieutenant in 1962.
Royal Towns on the left with Oakland firefighters standing in front of fire engine no. 22 – Circa 1943
Royal Towns was instrumental in helping desegregate the fire department. He helped train many other black applicants to pass the fire department test.
Personal Life
Royal Towns was born in Oakland on February 10, 1899, to William Towns and Elizabeth Towns.
Towns married Lucille Dennis on May 26, 1920. Together they had three children. The family lived in various locations within Oakland.
The photos are courtesy of the Royal E. Towns papers, MS 26, African American Museum and Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California. Photos at Calisphere
