In the 1980s, my ex-husband and I were custodians at the Montclair Presbyterian Church. Our employment included living in the house next door to the church.

The church celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1980, and I was surprised it had been there so long.

Since going on an Oakland Heritage Alliance Tour of the Fernwood Neighborhood in the Montclair District of Oakland in about 1984, I have been an Oakland history buff ever since.  On that tour, I learned a train (Sacramento Northern) ran through Montclair in the early 1900s and that people lived in the area as early as the 1860s. This sparked my interest, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I remember spending countless hours poring over old newspapers and documents, trying to piece together the history of our neighborhood. Since then, I have spent much time looking into Montclair’s history and have learned a lot.

2018. I started this blog because I had collected so much information on Oakland’s history that I couldn’t wait to share it. I was posting in Facebook groups, which was a great way to connect with others, but there were better outlets to share my in-depth knowledge and research on Oakland’s history. The platform’s format often led to my posts needing to be noticed in the feed, and it took effort to maintain a cohesive narrative. I love sharing what I know and reading what others share, but I felt that a blog would allow me to present my information in a more organized and accessible way.

With the help from my dear friend Phil, I was off and running. It should be easy, I say to myself, because I had already laid out actual pages and everything I wanted to say.

But it wasn’t.

I get bogged down in the details. I worry about getting my facts correct.  Finding a happy medium between too much and too little is challenging.  So, this is a work in progress, so bear with me.

The rest is history.

First blog post