I found these photos during my research for my piece on Detroit of the West.
In 1931 Russell J Maynard opened his gasoline service station and repair shop on the northeast corner of 36th and Grove Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Way) at 3601 36th St.
At that time Oakland had more than 200 service stations along the cities main thoroughfares. in the days before the freeways San Pablo Avenue, Grove Street, East 14th Street, Telegraph Avenue and Foothill Blvd were main traffic arteries entering and leaving Oakland.
Oakland Tribune October 2, 1951
In 1931 Grove Street had 17 service stations, East 14th Street 29, Telegraph Avenue 22, San Pablo Avenue 22, and Foothill Blvd 17.
Loose zoning regulations and available land combined helped the expansion of service stations in the city in the 1940s.
These early stations architecturally were unique . Many had columns or faintly resembled Spanish haciendas or Italian Villas. Mr. Maynard’s station reminds you of a Southwestern Pueblo.
Mr. Maynard’s station, under numerous owners was there until 1951. In its place a freeway pillar now stands.
Misc. Photos
C. J. Bowers Union Oil service station, possibly at 3761 Park Boulevard in Oakland, California. DATE: 1940s Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Shell service station and undeveloped woods at Broadway Terrace and Harbord Drive in the Broadway Terrace district of Oakland, California. DATE:1933 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
A bit of history of the automotive industry in Oakland from 1911 to the mid-1960s. This is just a bit of history, as I have spent way too much time on this one post and need to get to work and finish the other 28 posts I have in draft form.
Be sure to check both pages of this post.
In 1913, automobile registrations in California reached 100,000. In 2021, California was the federal state with the highest number of motor vehicle registrations in the United States, with 14,268,528.
A large Fisher Body plant came next adjacent to the Chevrolet plant. Then the Buick Motor Company, Olds Motor Works, and Pontiac Motor Car Company opened warehousing facilities.
Oakland Tribune November 13, 1938
A-C, Delco,United Motors, and tire and truck companies added plants, factories, and warehouses.
Oakland’s first automobile manufacturer and the city’s first city’s most short-lived motor-car maker, opening in May 1911, the California Motor Car Company was housed in a two-story concrete building built in 1908 for the California Cotton Mills and located on the east side of High Street at the corner of San Leandro Blvd.
Oakland Tribune May 25, 1911
The owners, Walter Sachs (president) and A.J. Schram, proudly proclaimed that Oakland was to have
“the only large automobile manufacturing on the Pacific Coast.”
The first car, the Pacific Special, was ready to be tested in 1912.
Oakland Tribune June 1912
By 1914 the company was bought out by Cole California Car Company, and by 1915 the “Pacific Special” was no longer made.
More Info:
First Factory in Bay Region will turn out the Pacific Special – S.F. Examiner June 7, 1911
In 1916, Chevrolet opened the auto industry’s first West Coast assembly plant in Oakland in Elmhurst.
Breaking ground for the Chevrolet factory, 69th Avenue, and Foothill Boulevard in Oakland, California. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
According to the Oakland Tribune, the plant was built in 90 days. A crew of twenty men poured 7,000 yards of cement in forty-six days.
Photos by Cheney Photo Advertising
Chevrolet Motors became a division of General Motors in 1918. In 1923 plant expanded to include Fisher Body Division.
Production of the Chevrolet Series 490 began on September 23, 1916.
S.F. Examiner November 23, 1954
During the first year (1917) of full production, the plant assembled 10,089 cars.
Payday at the Chevrolet Plant November 24, 1919 – Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
By 1923 the original plant had been enlarged three times, increasing the workforce to 1,300.
Oakland Tribune October 23, 1927
Real Estate
Real Estate developers used the erection of the plant to their advantage. They advertised that you live close to your job at the plant. One development was named “Chevrolet Park. Melrose Highlands announced the “working man home.”
Oakland Tribune October 19, 1916
During World War II, the plant stopped the production of automobiles for commercial use and contributed to the war effort by producing mutations. When commercial manufacturing resumed, Chevrolet’s most well-known vehicles during the 1950s were built at the plant.
50 millionth General Motors Car
In November 1954, General Motors celebrated the fifty million passenger car by making a solid gold 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. In Oakland, they celebrated by giving public tours of the assembly and truck plants.
S.F. Examiner November 23, 1954
Plant Closes
In 1963 the plant closed and moved its operations to Fremont, CA.
Before the factory closed and moved to Fremont in 1963, more than 4 million Chevys rolled off the assembly line.
In 1965 the old factory was demolished to make room for the 13 million-dollar Eastmont Mall.
What did Oakland’s Eastmont Mall site look like in decades past? – The Oaklandside
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Elmhurst 1925 Vol 6 Image 27 – Library of Congress
Fageol Motors Company
“Fageol Signs Up For New Factory”
The Fageol Motors Companyof Oakland bought four acres of land between Foothill and Hollywood Boulevards (now MacArthur Blvd) and 107th Avenue to build an auto and truck plant.
The exterior of Fageol Motors Company plant, Iveywood Development in Oakland, California Cheney Photo Advertising Company. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
GROUND BROKEN FOR FAGEOL PLANT
“Oakland City Officials Join Company Heads in Celebrating Event – Trucks and Tractors to Be Built
“Factory is Welcomed To Oakland Auto Parade Celebrates Event”
Oakland Tribune June 19, 1917
Speeches were made by John L. Davie, mayor of Oakland, Frank R. Fageol, secretary and manager of the Fageol Motors Co., and Joseph H. King, president of the local Chamber of Commerce. After the groundbreaking, three short racing events entertained the large gathering of spectators. The celebration closed with a demonstration of the new Fageol tractor.
“Fageol Plane is a Mecca of Big Crowds”
Oakland Triobune June 19, 1917
The plant’s first unit was to be built immediately at Hollywood Boulevard and 107th Avenue for $100,000, with more than 15,000 square feet of floor space. The structure was made of steel and brick, and cement.
Photos by Cheney Photo Advertising
Interior of Fageol Motors Company, Hollywood Boulevard at 107th Avenue in Oakland, California. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room. Circa 1931
“Since the founding of Fageol Motors Company, there had been a plan to build automobiles. Frank R. and William B. Fageol, with Louis H. Bill, built and marketed what was to be the most expensive luxury car of the time using the Hall-Scottaircraft engine. Marketed as the “Fageol Four Passenger Touring Speedster,” only three were known to have been produced before the government took over the engine manufacturing plant to build war planes, ending production.” From Wikipedia
The factory produced trucks and tractors; in 1921, Fageol became the first company to build a bus from the ground up.
Oakland Tribune June 1996
In 1938 the factory was bought by T.A. Peterman.
“On a 1938 business trip in San Francisco, Peterman learned that Fageol Truck and Motor Company was to be sold. Seeking an opportunity to expand into new vehicle production, he acquired Fageol fromSterling Motor Company for $50,000, receiving the 13.5-acre Fageol plant in Oakland, California, its tooling, and parts inventory; the purchase was completed in 1939″
Peterman died in 1945, and the business was sold in 1947 to a group of Peterbilt executives. His wife, Ida Peterman, retains ownership of the land.
In 1960 site was sold to the Draper Companies of San Francisco for the development of a $2,500,000 shopping center to be known asFoothill Square. Peterbilt moved to a new factory in Newark, CA.
More Info:
I am not sure if the factory was on land that was 4 acres or 13.5 acres. I bet they purchased more land later, bringing the total from 4 to 13.5.
In 1921 William Durant started Durant Motors, and a year later, opened a 20-acre, 300,000-square foot plant in Oakland along East 14th between 107th and 109th.
The site included a spur (an extension of the Stonehurst branch) built by Southern Pacific. They laid two miles of track on the factory grounds.
Oakland Tribune December 4, 1921
The chassis was assembled on the first floor, and bodywork was done on the second floor. When the completed chassis arrived at the end of the assembly line, the completed body was lowered on it.
The Oakland plant assembled Durant Model Fours and Sixes and later the economical Star Car.
Durant Motors operated until 1931 when it was renamed De-Vuax-Hall Motors. In 1936 the facilities were sold to General Motors, becoming Chevrolet Trucks, General Motors Truck, and Coach Division.
Later the plant was used as a regional parts warehouse.’
In the 1980s, two wings of the plant were converted into a marketplace bazaar called Durant Center (Durant Square Mall.)
I found an article written by William Sturm (Oakland History Room) in the Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter for the Summer of 1993 on the Elmhurst Presbyterian Church. 1993 the church was celebrating its 100th Anniversary.
The article piques my interest, and I thought it should be easy to find more history to share with you. Well, it wasn’t. I didn’t see much more than what was included in his article and another from the Oakland Tribune. The church doesn’t seem to have a website but does have a Facebook page, but no history there.
A Bit of History
View of Elmhurst, California, looking west from the adjacent hill. DATE: circa 1907 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
In the 1890s, the town of Elmhurst was farmland and orchards with few houses here and there.
In May 1892, traction service began along the north-south on what is now International Blvd., on the Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward Electic Railway. To power the engines, a modern dynamo and roundhouse were built at Elmhurst on what is now 98th Ave. Elmhurst was just 17 minutes from central Oakland.
Electric street car approaching a stop on East 14th Street at 96th Avenue, looking east, in the Elmhurst district of Oakland, California. Date circa 1909. Vernon Sapper’s collection. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.Interior of shops at Elmhurst in 1895, from a print of W.F. Krueger – https://purl.stanford.edu/gh405bd4246
Land Donated
Elmhurst was just a year old when Andrew Jones, a pioneer, farmer, and landowner of the town, donated a piece of land on the east side of Jones Ave (now 98th Ave) near East 14th Street (now International Blvd) to the church.
Ch n le June 25, 1893
Jones donated land across the street from the two-story home he built in 1882.
OaklandTribune July 19, 1882
Residence of Andrew Jones Elmhurst – date unknown Oakland Public Library History Room
Oakland Tribune August 23, 1882
Church Organized
On June 4, 1893, the church was organized with 20 charter members, and on August 30, the ground was broken for a new house of worship.
“the Sunday school has a membership of fifty”
The Oakland Enquirer
Undated drawing of the church
On November 25, 1893, the church bell rang out, and the first service was held in the new building.
The Elmhurst Presbyterian was the pride of the area.
By 1902, Elmhurst had 1100 residents, a newspaper, a public school, several churches, and numerous businesses, including a hotel, livery stables, restaurants, grocery, and hardware stores.
Jones Avenue ( later 98th Avenue), looking southwest, in Elmhurst, California. DATE: [circa 1905] Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
In 1909 Elmhurst, along with Fruitvale, was annexed into Oakland. The church remained at the heart of the community, a link to the beginning of Elmhurst and a source of community strength.
Oakland Tribune 1922
In the 1960s, the congregation became predominantly African-American. The Rev. Michael Dunn, pastor from 1972-1981, made notable contributions to the church’s ministries; a chapel is named in his honor.
The church is still standing, and according to the Oakland Heritage Alliance Summer 1993 newsletter, they were using the same bell.
Home on Grand Avenue (now 90th Avenue) in Elmhurst, California Circa 1896 .Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room. Willow’s Block in Elmhurst, California. Elmhurst Shoe Store and other businesses in view. DATE: circa 1907 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
