Slim Jenkins saw the economic opportunity in the business district and opened a liquor store on December 5, 1933, the same day as the repeal of Prohibition. Soon the business expanded a cafe.
As I take a little break from my series on the schools in Oakland, I thought I would share this little bit of history with you.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Thomas Mahoney House, 69 Eighth Street, Oakland, Alameda County, CA . Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ca0013/>.
These photos have popped up many times over the years, and I didn’t give them much thought. They popped up again yesterday. I decided to look into them and see what I could find.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Thomas Mahoney House, 69 Eighth Street, Oakland, Alameda County, CA . Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ca0013/>.
Both photos are online at the Library of Congress. Please note there is a typo in the LOC description. The address is 669 Eighth Street.
I don’t know what became of the house after these photos were taken. I will let you know if I find out anything.
Early Pioneer
So, I started looking into Thomas Mahoney (sometimes spelled Mahony). Wow, I was amazed to find a Thomas Mahoney living at 669 Eight Street in 1871. In the 1880 census, he lived there with his wife and four children. I then located in an obituary from January 1900. In the obituary, I notice his daughter Laura’s married name is Bassett
!8718 Directory
1888 Directory
Mahoney came to California in the 1850s. He mined for a while in Tuolumne County before retiring on his ranch in the Hills of Oakland. In 1863, he sold his ranch and moved to the home on Eighth Street next to St. John’s Episcopal. He was married in 1863 and raised four children in the home. His wife died in 1891, and he died in 1900.
His obituary
Oakland Tribune Jan 29, 1900
Thomas Mahoney, a well-known pioneer of this city, died at his home at 660 Eighth Street, last evening, in the 71st year of his age.
The deceased was a native of Ireland and came to this State many years ago, where he engaged in ranching. He owned a large quantity of land to the north of the present city limits, from which the sites now comprising Mountain View, St. Mary’s, and the Jewish Cemeteries were purposed by the managers of those several burial places.
The deceased was a widower, his wife having died several years ago. He was the father of Mrs. Laura J. Bassett, Louise H., Emma E., and George Mahoney.
The funeral services will be held next Wednesday in St. John’s Episcopal Church. The interment will take place in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Oakland Tribune Jan 29, 1900
Family members continued to live in the home until around 1913.
St. Mary’s Cemetery
In 1863, Archbishop Alemany purchased 36 acres of land known as the ” Mahoney Ranch” from Thomas Mahoney. The land is now called St. Mary’s Cemetery, next to Mountain View Cemetery. Thomas Mahoney was buried there in 1900.
Laura Mahoney Bassett was well known for her reminiscences in the Sunday Knave in the Oakland Tribune. She was the oldest daughter of Thomas Mahoney, and she was born in Oakland in 1866, where she lived most of her 80 years. She died in 1950.
In 1970 Saundra Brown was the first black woman accepted for the Oakland Police Department’s Recruits Academy.
SF Examiner December 18, 1970
“I’m kind of optimistic”
Saundra Brown December 1970
Born and raised in Oakland. She felt she knew the problems of the young here. She said, “in a city like Oakland, with its Black Panthers and militant groups, there is a special need for minority police officers.” She worked with teens during her college days.
Saundra graduated from Fresno College with a degree in sociology. She always had her eyes set on working with juveniles and looked into law enforcement as a possible field. She applied to OPD immediately after her June 1969 graduation. No opening existed.
She was working as a claims adjuster when she heard that OPD was looking for a “black policewomen.”
Police Academy
Saundra Brown, the first black woman on the Oakland police force
At that time, a MALE recruit needed only a high school diploma or a score of 262 on a GED course. WOMEN must have a four-year college degree or four years of experience in law enforcement. She had that.
She attended the same 15 weeks of Police Academy as the 22 males in her class. She was expected to compete with the males.
She took courses in criminal law and report writing, first aid traffic investigation, and the Oakland penal code. There were also defensive tactics, involving strenuous activities such as calisthenics, some judo, and a little karate.
SF Examiner December 1970
“Oh, I did alright I guess” she laughed. I can throw the biggest guy in the class.“
Saundra Brown – December 17, 1970
During the course, she learned for the first time in her life, to handle firearms.
“I used to be scared of guns,” she laughed,. “but now I feel safer with a gun in possession because I know how to use it”
Oakland Tribune Dec 14, 1970
Graduation
Oakland Tribune December 14, 1970
On December 18, 1970, she accepted her star and adulations from Police Chief Charles Gain as the only woman in the police academy of 24.
She finished at the top of her class. She hoped to be assigned to the juvenile division. However, Chief Gain had other ideas.
As the only minority-group policewoman, to handle firearms, he joined a slightly more signere were 710 men on the force, only seven women.
At that time, women were not allowed to compete with men for advancement. Fascinated with the legal issues she encountered as a policewoman, Saundra decided to attend law school while continuing to serve her hometown of Oakland as a police officer until 1977.
She was a judicial extern at the California Court of Appeals in 1977 and a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, from 1978 to 1979 and 1980 to 1982. From 1979 to 1980, she was a senior consultant to the California Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice.
She was a trial attorney of the United States Department of Justice Public Integrity Section from 1982 to 1983. She then served as a Commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1983 to 1986 and the United States Parole Commission from 1986 to 1989.
SF Examiner Jan 22, 1989
She was a Judge on the Alameda Superior Court, California, from 1989 to 1991.
Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong official portrait art by Scott Johnston, oil on linen, 38×27-inches, collection of the United States District Court of Northern California, Oakland
On April 25, 1991, Armstrong was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by William Austin Ingram. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 14, 1991, and received her commission on June 18, 1991.
She earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from the Pacific School of Religion in 2012, and she assumed senior status on March 23, 2012
The Grateful Dead once partied at 6024 Ascot Drive in the Piedmont Pines section of Oakland.
6024 Ascot Drive
Oakland Tribune May9, 1948
In 1948 house at 6024 Ascot Drive was advertised as an ‘ A Little Bit of Mexico” in beautiful Piedmont Hills ( Piedmont Pines), nestled in a glorious 2 1/4 acres: balconies overlooking a beautiful swimming pool. All the tiles in the bathrooms came from the Muresque Tile Co. of Oakland, one of the premier West Coast tilemakers in the 1920s and ’30s. Property highlights include a log cabin family room.
In 1968 Michael Leibert, his wife Alexa, and their 5 dogs lived at 6024 Ascot. Leibert was the founder of the Berkeley Repertory Theater.
The house had a routine existence until sometime during the late sixties, the house was rented by Owsley “Bear” Stanley (1935-2011) was an American audio engineer and chemist.
Stanley was the first known private individual to manufacture mass quantities of LSD. By his own account, between 1965 and 1967, Stanley produced no less than 500 grams of LSD, amounting to a little more than five million doses.
Bear: The Life and Times of Augustus Owsley Stanley III
By Robert Greenfield Google Books Bear: The Life and Times of Augustus Owsley Stanley III
By Robert GreenfieldOakland Tribune Jul 16, 1970
In 1972 the house was advertised an authentic Spanish “Villa.” Back on the market.
Oakland Tribune May 21, 1972
SF Examiner 1998
The house was sold in 2012 for 1.2 million dollars. A September 2012 article, “Rest Your Head Where the Grateful Dead Once Partied,” was posted on the Curbed San Francisco website.
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.
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
“Oakland in the days when oaks were here,and the Peralta’s owned all the land.”
Oakland Tribune Feb 1891
The house was located at N. E. corner east Eighth Street and Fourth Avenue, East Oakland.
The city directories list the addres as 404 East Eight Street. It was known in the early years as 202 Jefferson Street.
From the 1873 directory
From the 1884 directory
From the 1912 Directory
In Search of Gold
The lure of the gold drew Moses Chase and his son George to California in 1849. They sailed from Boston aboard the Capitol on a 176-day voyage.
Chase then became the first white man to settle in Oakland, and he first camped at the foot of what is now Broadway in 1849.
“Moses Chase was Oakland’s first authentic American settler”
Oakland Tribune May 1, 1932
After the search for gold did not pan out Chase leased land from the Peralta Family just east of what is now Lake Merritt. The area later became part of the Township of Clinton, later a part of Oakland.
The Cabin
He built a small cabin 14 feet wide and 24 feet from ship timbers, driftwood, and rough boards on this land. He intended to bring his new bride Mary Ellen Clinton back to California from Boston and live in the cabin. But she died before he arrived back home to marry her. Clinton Park was suposebly named in her honor.
Oakland Tribune May 1, 1932
In 1856 the front part was added. This would become the main section of the house. Over the years, other alternations and additions expanded the cabin into a two-story building of 17 rooms during its 86-year occupancy by Chase, his son, and his grandson.
The original section, after standing intact until 1936 when it was cut in half and became the laundry room.
Chase spent the later years of his life a near recluse on Bay Farm Island, but he died in the family home on February 17, 1891, at the age of 84. He was laid to rest at the Mountain View Cemetery.
In May of 1925, Albert B. Chase was married in the same room he was born 45 years before. Albert was the son of George Chase (1841-1919), the only child of Moses Chase.
At the time of his wedding, Albert was the only surviving member of the Chase family. His older brother died in 1924, and his sister in 1925.
Old Oakland Scene of a Marriage – Oakland Tribune May 2, 1925
Oakland 80th Birthday
In honor of Oakland’s 80th Birthday in May of 1932, the Clinton Improvement Association erected a sign on the home, noting its historical significance. Oakland Tribune Apr 07, 1932
Razing the Old Home
Oakland Tribune July 02, 1946
Oakland Tribune July 02, 1946
Through three generations, the old home continued at the family residence until, in 1936, Albert died. Albert’s widow sold the house to Guido Pacini, a trucking contractor.  Pacini graded the adjacent lot for his trucking business. The old home was completely renovated and was used as a residence for Picini’s daughter and her husband.
Oakland Tribune July 02, 1946
In 1946 workman from the Symon Brothers Wrecking Company started demolishing the “old Chase home,” a small rear portion of which was the original cabin that Chase built-in 1849.
Cook Brothers Equipment Distributors began a 10-year lease of the old homestead after clearing it. Oakland Tribune July 02, 1946
Showing the 404 East 8th Street in 1951 – Sanborn Map
“The Pines” was the beautiful home and surrounding gardens of Mr. and Mrs. Philip E. Bowles. Built-in 1910, it stood at No. 2 Bowling Drive in what is now Rockridge (I guess).
In 1909, Philip E. Bowlespurchased 51 acres (58 acres in some publications) of land in “Claremont Hills,” adjoining the Horatio P Livermore Homestead. Bowles was the president of the First National Bank of Oakland and a Regent of the University of California from 1911-22.
He signed a contract to erect a residence that would cost $31,000. The Architect was L.B. Dutton. He engaged an expert landscaper who designed the estate’s grounds by following Bowles’s plans.
The home, built in the Italian Villa style, had twenty-two rooms and a full basement. It had six master bedrooms, dressing rooms, five bathrooms, three sleeping porches, a library, a drawing room, and a conservatory.
Oakland Tribune March 28, 1909
The house and grounds had a fascinating view of the bay and surrounding country.
Inside the home
Gardens
Mr. and Mrs. P.E. Bowles on a garden path at The Pines
The home was surrounded by a veritable forest filled with quail and dotted with miniature lakes stocked with large rainbow trout and a well-stocked bass pond.
There was a Japanese Tea garden with pools containing rare goldfish, golden carp, and unusual aquatic plants.
There was also a tennis court, a swimming pool, an oversized garage, and a horse stable with a trotting park.
Mr. and Mrs. P.E. Bowles on a garden path at The Pines
Mr. Bowles purchased from all over the world; he bought the best. The rhododendrons were especially lovely.
SF Chronicle July 28, 1913
Architecture & Engineer of California Magazine issue featured the home. It states the architect was L.B. Dutton. Architecture & Engineer of California Jan 1911, pg. 204 –
High Society at The Pines
Many dances and social events were held at The Pines.
Oakland Tribune June 17, 1910
In 1912, the Bowles’s daughter Amy married Hiram Johnson Jr., the son of Governor Hiram W. Johnson. The wedding was held at The Pines.
Oakland Tribune May 30, 1912
Death of P.E. Bowles
On January 20, 1926, Philip Bowles died at 67.
SF Examiner January 21, 1926
Possible Park
Mayor Davie urged the city of Oakland Park board to purchase land and a home for $700,000for a public playground or park. That fell through.
Oakland Tribune October 15, 1926
Claremont Pines
Oakland Tribune August 26, 1928
In May of 1927, a year after Philip Bowles died, Mrs. Bowles sold the entire estate to a group of men from southern California, and they hired the York Company, Inc. of Oakland to handle development and sales.
The York company subdivided the land and called it Claremont Pines, combining the name of the nearby district with the name of the Bowles Estate.
In 1927 or 1928, Andrew Williams of the Andrew Williams Store, a local grocery chain, purchased the home at No. 2 Bowling Drive.
Oakland Tribune February 26, 1928
After spending two years remodeling and adding new furniture, including expensive Persian rugs, Williams put the home up for sale in 1932
As for No. 2 Bowling Drive 1931
Oakland Tribune September 05, 1932
The Wrecking Ball
In 1938, the main house was destroyed by the wrecking and sold off piece by piece—a sad ending to a home that was just 28 years old.
Oakland Tribune Feb 1938
Bowles Hall – UC Berkeley
In 1928, in memory of her husband, Mrs. Bowles donated $250,000 to the University of California to build a dormitory for men, wholly and appropriately furnished, on or near the University campus in Berkeley. It is known as Bowles Hall.
A caretaker house was located at the front gates of the estate. It stood at the portal through the high metal-spiked fence around the estate. The five-room bungalow, which formally served as the guardian of the estate, was used as the tract office from 1928- 1948.
It was at this little cottage where the streetcar once stopped.
In 1948, the cottage was sold to Charles Ray Jr. of 1028 85th Avenue, and he placed it on the lot next to his.
Official and historical atlas map of Alameda County, California. Compiled, drawn, and published from personal examinations and surveys by Thompson & West. Oakland, Cala. 1878. Res. & farm of P.A. Finigan, Brooklyn Tp.
The Alden Farm (Alder Farm) once stood on the land whereHoly Names University is located today.
In 1874 Charles Low owned the property. A barn was located where Tobin Halls and the university’s gymnasium are today. He built a house for his family on the site where Brennan Hall stands today. You can see a map of the campus here.
Oakland Tribune May 1877
Oakland Tribune Nov 28, 1877
In 1877 Peter A. Finigan (Finnegan) purchased the property from Low and built a second house near where Cushing Library is today.
In 1884 Thomas Magee of Thomas Magee & Sons Real Estate Firm purchased the farm. I bet Magee Avenue was named after him.
Magee added a second story to the house that Finigan built.
During the early years, the Magee would spend winter at their home in San Francisco and summer on Alden Farm. After the 1906 earthquake and fire, they made their home permanently at Alden Farm.
Alden Farm was considered one of the premier showplaces in Oakland. Many social events and weddings were held there over the years.
