A while back, I was doing a simple search on buildings in Montclair. I came across this article (posted below) from 1962, with the attached photo. It was about the destruction of the building that was to be replaced with a new $125,000 building. The new building was called the Eberhart Building.
Of course, I needed to learn more about the building that was now just a pile of rubbish, as seen in the photo above.
Location of the building – google maps
The photo above shows the structure as it looks today. In researching the address, I found that the real estate firm Winder and Gahan first occupied the site in 1938.
According to the article from 1962 – In 1921, a group of real estate men stood with “high hopes” in front of a small Spanish-style stucco building that looked entirely out of place in the open fields of the Montclair District.
“There was just a building with a sign “tract office” on it, the open fields and a dusty, narrow road in in front of it.”
This is probably how Montclair looked when that group of men stood in from of the building “with high hopes.” I don’t think they were standing in front of the same building demolished in 1962, as noted in the article. Unless it is one the right, and they moved it and changed its style?
Sales offices of real estate brokers and home builder Cos Williams 6501 Moraga Photo c1921 by Cheney Photo Advertising F-2830 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Cos Williams office is the small building on the left in the above picture. The street going uphill is La Salle Avenue. The address was 6501 Moraga Avenue.
Oakland Tribune Oct 31, 1925
New Real Estate Firm in Montclair
In 1933 A.H. WInder opened an office at the corner of Moraga Avenue and La Salle Avenue. The address was 6500 Moraga Avenue.
Oakland Tribune Sept 24, 1933
Winder was the exclusive sales agent for the Forest Park extension and Shepherd Canyon Park.
I bet you are wondering what this has to do with the building at 2070 Mountain Blvd. Trust me; it will all make sense soon.
In 1936 A.H. WInder and J. J. Gahan formed a new firm called “Winder & Gahan Corporation.”
Oakland Tribune Sep 24,1936
New Location Announced
“With the expiration of their present lease at 6500 Moraga Avenue,” states A.H.Winder, “we will build a new office on the on the recently -acquired site, using a frontage of 72 feet on Mountain Boulevard”
Oakland Tribune Oct 1937
Oakland Tribune Oct 24, 1937
In 1937 the real estate firm of Winder and Gahan announced the recent purchase by the firm of a piece of land (Block “H”) in the heart of the business district, near the intersection of Moraga Avenue and Mountain Boulevard.
Block H – 2070 Mountain Blvd
The Heart of Montclair Business Center
Oakland Tribune Feb 25, 1940
Winder & Gahan moved into their new office at 2070 Mountain Boulevard in November 1938.
Oakland Tribune Mar 05, 1939
It would eventually be the home of Eberhart Realty. I am not sure exactly when they moved to 2070 Mountain Boulevard.
Oakland Tribune May 20, 1962
2070 Mountain Blvd Google maps
My Research
Montclair from 1935 Courtesy East Bay Regional Park District.
The above picture shows “Block H,” an empty piece of land (the small triangle). In 1938 Winder & Gahan built their new offices there. That small building would be there until 1962. It was destroyed by a bulldozer, as noted in the first article I posted above.
Maybe they moved the other building in the photo from 1921 and updated, enlarged, and added stucco. The more I looked at photo
6466 Moraga on the right
I think the building on the right is the oldest in Montclair now and in 1962 it one of least two buildings that were from the 1920s. I do think after looking at the picture from the 1920s that it is quite possible that it the same building that was moved and became the Winder offices.
The grey building on the left is probably from that same era.
Residence of Col. John C. Hays – Oakland History Room
After Hays died in 1883, the estate was sold to William J. Dingee. Dingee built an opulent 19-room Queen-Anne-style mansion and had additional landscaping with gardens, terraces, and waterfalls. He also added such features as a deer park and an elk paddock.
Hays Canyon or sometimes called “Jack Hayes Canyon,” was the area in hills behind Piedmont. Now known as Thornhill Canyon, Thornhill Drive, and Moraga Avenue. For more info, please see here – Oakland Local Wiki – Hays Canyon
On June 6th, 1894, Manuel Souza Quadros was murdered on the old Thorn Road in the “Jack Hayes Canyon” (Hays Canyon) by an unknown man while returning home. “The assassin did his work well and left no trace behind him.” Quadros had a wife and three children. He had a very “good reputation as a sober and industrious fellow.” He was returning home after delivering milk to the Oakland Creamery.
To reach the Moss Ranch (not sure where this was will have to research more), he had to pass through the canyon pass Blair Park. When found, he was lying on the seat of his wagon “in a lonely place” in the canyon. He was shot in the breast. He was killed instantly by a 44 caliber pistol.
Theodore Medau, a rancher, gives an only clue to the murder. He says, “a middle-aged man, who was very excited,” stopped him and said that a man was dead down the road. The man said he had 15 miles to drive, and he was in a hurry. Medau went down the road a few hundred yards and found the deceased. San Francisco Chronicle June 07, 1984
Miller does not seem to be frightened at the prospect of a noose.
San Francisco Call Nov 14, 1894
Acquitted of Murder
Frank Miller Will Not Have to Stand a Trial
The moment Miller walked out of the courtroom, he said he was going to “start to walk East at once.”
San Francisco Chronicle Nov 21, 1894
Discharged and Rearrested
San Francisco Chronicle Nov 21, 1894
Murdered Man’s Estate
San Francisco Chronicle Nov 24, 1894
Cold Case
Now the question is who killed Manuel Quadros? I can’t find anything on it…yet.
Is this considered a “cold case”?
Is it still on the books?
Does the modern-day Oakland Police Department even know about this murder?
Was he murdered for his estate?
Inquiring minds want to know.
More to come, I hope.
Update
In January of 1886, a man by the name of John Schneider (the name he gave them) was arrested for a stagecoach robbery in Ukiah. When he was arrested, the SF Call published a picture of him. See Below
Attorney Tom Garrity recognized the man as Frank Miller. Garrity was Miller’s attorney during the Manuel Quadros’s murder case. Two other men also identified Schneider as Miller.
Growing up in Montclair (for me), Thornhill Drive was always just Thornhill Drive. But come to find out it was once called Thorn Road (sometimes Thorne Road). Thornhill is a more delightful-sounding name than Thorn. But there is a perfectly good reason why it was called Thorn Road.
The name goes back to 1856 when a man named Hiram Thorn (Hiram Thorne) built the road at a hefty expense. Thorn’s road brought redwood logs to Oakland out of the vast forest known as the Moraga Redwoods, where he ran a lumber mill on Pinehurst Road. Thorn was later given a franchise to run and collect tolls for the road, it was one of 3 toll roads in Oakland. In 1933 Thorn Road officially became Thornhill Drive.
From the 1870 Oakland City Directory
Since I found out about Thornhill Drive, I have been inquisitive about the names of our city streets. You can read more at the Oakland Local Wiki page Street Names if interested.
It is named after the Shepherd Family, who owned about 200 acres and lived there from 1875 to the early 1900s.
Oakland Tribune Feb 16, 1927
You can view the location of Shepherd’s land in a Map of the City of Oakland, Berkeley, Oakland & Brooklyn Townships, and Alameda dated 1889, Published by E.P. Vandercook & Co. Real estate agents.
William J Shepherd (1844-1921) emigrated from England in about 1865 with his parents, Thomas and Ellen Shepherd, brothers John and Thomas, and sisters Mary Ann and Elizabeth.
Oakland Tribune Nov 4, 1876
In 1878 William married Mary Rogers (1842-1907). They had six children, William, James, Mary, Ellen, Louise, and Robert. They attended the Hays Canyon School.
Oakland Tribune Mar 10, 1875
LARGE LANDOWNERS OF 1876-BUSINESS DIRECTORY OF OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-OF ALAMEDA TOWNSHIP-
SF Examiner Mar 25, 1878
1895 Directory
Robert ShepherdLillie ShepherdRobert Shepherd
Hays School Graduation – 1901
William Shepherd died in San Jose in 1921
Oakland Tribune Jun 7, 1921
Shepherd Pass Road –
A few articles discuss building a road that would run through the Canyon to connect to Skyline using County Road 2457 (now Shepherd Canyon Road.)
Oakland Tribune Jun 15,1896
Oakland Tribune Sept 18, 1897
Oakland Tribune Daily Knave 1953. Settling a moot point in Oakland nomenclature from William’s nephew.
Oakland Tribune Jul 6,1953
Shepherd Canyon Freeway – Highway 77
California Highways and Public Works – March -April 1958
“Cal Trans bought up land in Shepherd Canyon with the plan of building highway 77. It was to be an extension of Park Blvd. and would run up the canyon and connect highway 13 with Contra Costa county (much as highway 24 does just two miles north). Fortunately, community activists argued against the plan, and the area was preserved. In 1972, assembly member Ken Meade officially protected the area with AB561. After the downfall of the freeway plan, the Shepherd Canyon Corridor Plan was shaped by volunteers, and now guides the preservation of the canyon.”
I wish I had more to share about Thornhill Park. I only learned about it by accident when looking into Judge EM Gibson’s home, who lived on a ranch where Thornhill School is now and over to Aspinwall Drive. He lived there in the late 1880s.
Thornhill Park went on sale in May 1917. The Reality Syndicate handled the sales at first.
Thornhill Park was an area of small farms of 1/4 acre to 1 acre where you could grow your food or raise chickens, as noted in the ad below.
Oakland Tribune May 1917
Oakland Tribune 1922
The home of F.M. Boggs was the home of Judge EM Gibson (more about him later), and after the home of Dr. Mark Emerson, Alameda County Coroner, and now St. Johns Church, is in that location. Approximate location 1707 Gouldin Road
Oakland Tribune April 1922
By 1922 they were having a “Liquidation Sale” and trying to “close out” the rest of the tract by selling 1/2 acre lots for 66 cents on the $1.00.
It seems Thornhill Park wasn’t a big seller. I noticed it wasn’t advertised as much as any other tracts in Montclair, like Forest Park, Merriewood, or Fernwood, were.
Later, Phil Hearty, a developer and agent who had an office at 5815 Thornhill for years, took over the sale of the remaining Thornhill Park lot. Now Thornhill Park is part of Forest Park and Montclair Highlands.
Some of the homes in Thornhill Park –
Oakland Tribune April 1922
A September 1919 advertisement for “6-Room Bungalow on One Acre in Beautiful Thornhill Park” located at 650 Thorn Road is now 6116 Thornhill Drive. The Langdon family lived there from about 1923- 1945.
6116 Thornhill Drive about 1948 – from the Forgotten Montclair Group on Facebook
Oakland Tribune Sept 24, 1919
6138 Thornhill Drive is another of the original homes in Thornhill Park. Back in the 1920s, the address was 670 Thorn Road. The Bullard family lived there until the 1990s.
Storybook firehouse on Moraga Avenue in the Montclair
Circa 1934
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
The photo below is overlooking the area that is now Montclair Elementary School, and in the distance, you can see the intersection of Thornhill and Mountain Blvd and the Women’s Club.
Tracks for the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway
(later Sacramento Northern Railway) in Montclair
Circa 1925
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Then
LaSalle Avenue looking down the hill towards Mountain Boulevard
Montclair Real estate offices and trolley depot in view.
circa 1927
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Now
Looking down LaSalle Ave towards HWY 13 – Google maps
The photo below is probably on LaSalle Ave from Mountain Blvd. the small building is where Highway 13 is now.
Sales offices of real estate broker and home builder Cos Williams in Montclair –
circa 1925 Eston Cheney, photographer.
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
The photo below is probably taken from where Highway 13 is now. Off in the distance is the Sacramento Northern Station. Located at what is now the top of LaSalle Ave, as seen in the above photos.
Graded and staked lots in the undeveloped Montclair
Signs for the Cos Williams Montclair sales offices
circa 1925
Eston Cheney, photographer.
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room
Then
Northeast corner of Mountain Boulevard and Medau Place
Fred F. Chopin on Montclair Realty Co.
circa 1950
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Now
Corner of Mountain Blvd and Medau Place – Google Maps
Then
Sidewalk construction on Mountain Boulevard near Antioch Street Montclair
Circa 1958
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Now
Looking Up Mountain Blvd. Google Maps
Then
Construction Scout Road and Mountain Boulevard in the Montclair
circa 1955
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Now
Scout Road and Mountain Blvd – Google Maps
The photo below is overlooking the area that is now the intersection of Oakwood and Thornhill Drives. Showing houses on Oakwood Drive
Looking out towards the bay from near the ridge-line above the Montclair
Several winding dirt roads and homes in view.
circa 1930
Eston Cheney, photographer
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Recently, someone asked about when 7-Eleven came to Montclair, which was about 1958. I thought I would go back a little farther and tell you about the first store in Montclair.
A Bit of History.
In 1925, Otto Schuneman bought land on Thorn Road and built a store. His store was a combination fountain, grocery store, and service station. The address was 281 Thorn Road.
The Montclairion – circa 1957
From 1935
Early residents of the area remember the place as a tourist bus stop, where refreshments were served at the fountain and an outdoor terrace.
The original building is still standing behind the 7-11 store.
Showing the location of the first store
Mr. Schuneman leased the store. E.G., Nickerson of 408 Florence Ave (now 5800 Florence Terrace) in 1926, and Captain Baldwin in 1928.
The Monclarion
From the Montclarion 1964
Funk’s Grocery – 1930-1940
In March of 1930, Davis L. Funk leased the store from Schuneman and bought out his remaining stock. Mr. Funk had owned a couple of other stores in Oakland.
He called his store Funk’s Grocery and Montclair Grocery.
The Funk family lived at 5677 Thornhill in the mid to late 30s to early 40s.
In the early 1960s, the Montclair Presbyterian Church bought the house from the owners.
My ex-husband and I worked for the church from 1983- 1987 and lived in the house.
Note: Montclair Presbyterian Church (MPC) and the Montclair Library were formed in March 1930.
1941 Directory for Montclair
Montclair Food Center 1940-1957
Montclair Food Center – Carrol Mauro 1951
From Carrol Mauro
In 1940, Funk took on a partner, his son-in-law Malcolm “Scotty” Hodge, the husband of his daughter Lenore, and the store was renamed the Montclair Food Center.
Funk and Hodge ran the store together until Funk died in 1949 at his home on Grisborne Avenue behind the store.
Oakland Tribune 1949
Hodge and his wife continued until 1957 when they couldn’t negotiate a new lease with Otto Schuneman, the owner. I thought it was because he could make more money leasing it to Speedee Mart.
Montclarion 1957
Montclarion 1957
When the store closed in 1957, it was the last one in Montclair to maintain a credit and delivery service. Montclair Food Center was more than just a store for many of its customers.
By 1957, Montclair was also changing. Payless Grocery Store (soon to be Luckys) and LaSalle Avenue Market were located in the business district, and a new Safeway would soon be built.
Min-a-Mart and Speedee Mart 1958-1966?
A Min-a-Mart opened in about 1958.
In 1959, the store was leased by Speedee Mart Corporation.
In 1964, the parent company of the 7-Eleven Stores bought all the Speedee Mart franchises in California.
They began slowly changing the name to 7-Eleven (7-11)
In 1926, the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland approved the plans to build a Bible School in the Montclair District of Oakland.
Drawing by Charles Williams circa 1926
The building was to cost about $25,000. It became necessary because they had outgrown the temporary accommodations at the school. They started out with seven students in January of 1926; by July, they had eighty.
Thorn Road StudentsCicra 1926Thorn Road Students
In June of 1927, it was announced that the school would be open for four weeks during summer vacation.
Oakland Tribune, June 1927
The 1920s saw significant growth in Montclair, and the Bible school began holding Sunday services for the area’s residents. They held Easter Services up on Skyline Drive and festive Christmas services.
Sunrise Service Circa 1928
Christmas circa 1928
Thorn Road Bible Schoo,l Circa 1928
Oakland Tribune April 05, 1930
In 1930 Montclair Presbyterian Church was organized with 90 Charter Members.
Oakland Tribune, April 1930
In 1938 they built a new Chapel which was there until they built the present complex in the mid-1960s at 5701 Thornhill Drive.
