Klinknerville – Oakland

A bit of history of Klinknerville.

Klinknerville was a town in what is now the Golden Gate neighborhood. It was started by Charles Alexander Klinkner in 1885, the name was changed to Golden Gate in 1888, and it was annexed by Oakland in 1897.

Oakland Local Wiki

In 1877 (or 1878), Charles A. Klinkner and a partner purchased 14 acres of dairyland in the area of what is now 59th and San Pablo. The land was subdivided into lots for building homes.

Klinkner built a home for his family on San Pablo Ave near 59th Street

He also established a horse car line that ran from Park Avenue to what today is 62^nd Street.

By 1885, the construction of Klinknerville had begun. He first built modest Victorian homes.

To attract residents to Klinknerville, he built Klinkner Hall at 5832 San Pablo Avenue, and in 1888, on the other side of the Street, he built the Del Monte Hotel.

Klinkner Hall was the social center of the town. There was a grocery store, a drug store, a dry goods store, a meat market on the first floor, and a large community assembly hall where the clubs and lodges would meet on the upper floor. There was a steeple clock atop the building.

Klinkner also built Eureka Park, a baseball field, which was the home of the Klinkner 9. Later on, it was the home of the Oakland Oaks, the city’s professional baseball team in the early 1900s, and the name was changed to Freeman’s Park.

He also built about 75 houses. The houses were sold for between $3,000 and $5,000 or sometimes could be won in a raffle off a $2 ticket.

Huckster

Mr. Klinkner was one of Oakland’s earliest hucksters, if not the first. He was a staunch believer in the fact that it pays to advertise. Every Fourth of July, he would hitch up a span of mules to his cart. The mules were painted red, white, and blue, and the coach was plastered from top to bottom, advertising his business. On St. Patrick’s Day, they were green; at other times, they’d be an appropriate color for the occasion. Sometimes, he would match his colorful mules with equally bright dogs and a monkey or two.

Golden Gate

But Klinkner and the town bearing his name did not last long. In 1888, Klinkner applied for the area post office to take the

“Klinknerville” name, “much to the disgust of the old families in the area,” who preferred the term “Golden Gate,” Thomas Klinkner wrote.

A back-and-forth ensued, with Klinkner even making a trip to Washington, D.C., to personally appeal to then-President Grover Cleveland.

The “Golden Gate” side won out, and the town’s name was changed shortly before Klinkner’s death. Golden Gate was annexed to Oakland in 1897.

The name “Klinkner” soon vanished from the area. What was once called Klinkner Avenue was changed to 59^th Street.

Klinker’s Family

Klinkner died in 1893, at the age of 40, from a cold he neglected. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.

They raised seven children in their home in Klinknerville.

• Charles A. Klinkner 1876-1951
• Fredrick S. Klinkner 1878-1954
• Herman P. Klinkner 1881-1959
• Cora V. Klinkner 1887-175
• Harry D. Klinkner 1889-1968
• Elma I. Klinkner 1891-1984

The Klinkner family home was demolished in 1929 to make way for a brick building, which housed a drugstore owned by Klinkner’s son, Fred, before closing in 1968, taking the last remnants of the Klinkner name in the neighborhood.

Katherine then moved into an apartment on the second floor of Klinkner Hall, where she lived until selling the building in 1941. She then moved next door to a small cottage at 1064 59th Street.

Her daughter, Mrs. Cora DeRome (see), lived next door at 1076, and her son, Fred, lived across the Street at 1097. Klinkner Hall was demolished and replaced with a grocery store.

Photos from the Oakland Museum – see here

More Info:

• The Early Days of the Golden Gate District – Oakland North
• Golden Gate: Then and Now – Oakland North
• Stop here, this place: Klinknervilee – Oakland North
• Fanciful Flair in a Storied Victorian – Oakland Magazine

• Wild Night at the Golden Gate Del Monte Hotel – Oakland Tribune Dec 18, 1891
• Klinkner is Dead – Oakland Tribune Mar 17, 1893
• History of Klinknerville Is One of Bright Spots in Eastbay Early Days – Oakland Tribune Feb 20, 1934
• 59th Street Pioneer Moves – Oakland Tribune Nov 7, 1941
• Klinknerville – Oakland Tribune July 9, 1961
• ‘Klink, Klink, Klink’ on San Pablo Avenue – Oakland Tribune Sep 13, 1992

The End