Living Double Lives For The FBI

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This is an updated post from 2019

A few years ago, someone in a Facebook group I belong to asked if anyone else remembered a story or rumor about Montclair in the mid-50s. The story was about a guy who owned a repair shop on La Salle Ave and was a spy for the FBI.

It took me a while, but I found it.

There are a few different versions of how they started working for the FBI.

Double-Lives 

Oakland Tribune

Dickson P. Hill, an Oakland radio store owner, said he and his wife Sylvia lived “double lives’‘ as Communists for the FBI from 1945 to 1949.

They joined the Alameda County Communist Party in 1945 and rose to the positions of membership chairman and education chairman receptively while serving as undercover agents.

Oakland Tribune Dec 1952

Approached By Communists

Dickson P. Hill said he and his wife were approached by communists in 1944 and asked the FBI what they should do. The FBI told them to try to join the Party so they could do the country  “a great service.” 

⬅ The Montclarion 1952

He named more than 50 one-time Reds in the Oakland-Berkeley area; he said he had met personally and identified 36 organizations as Communist Party clubs during his time as a member.

They finally quit as Communists for the FBI in 1949 because of the “tremendous mental pressure” of concealing their FBI connections from the Reds and his Red connections from their customers and family.

Clubs They Joined

The Hills were members of several clubs during this time. One was the North Oakland Communist Club, which held its meetings at Technical High School. Another was the 16th Assembly District Communist Club in Montclair. Some of the names he named were Montclair Residents, and one stood out to me because of the family’s history in Montclair.

Hill testified that Mirian Chown, the wife of Paul S. Chown, was a member of the Montclair Club. They were both communists. Hill stated that Paul was a “special group” member and had other party assignments.

Paul was the son of Sidney Chown, who owned a 2 1/2-acre ranch off of Snake Road and grew up in Montclair. Chown was the leader/representative of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE), Local 1412, and it was rumored that the union was kicked out of the CIO due to its leaning toward Communism.

Chown denied that.

UC Berkeley

 Lived in Montclair 

 Dickson and Sylvia Hill lived on Snake Road in the Montclair District of Oakland. They had three children.  

From the 1956 Pacific Telephone Directory

The Hills owned and operated the Montclair Radio & T.V. Sales and Repair shop at 6127 La Salle Ave.

From the Montclarion 1960

Sometime between 1949 and 1952, the Hill’s divorced.

 Joins Party to Help FBI in Roundup of Subversives

In April 1953, Sylvia Hill testified in the United States District Court in Pennsylvania that she heard Steve Nelson tell members of the Communist Party in California “to get the United States Government in as many internal difficulties as possible.”

Mrs. Hill testified that she met Nelson when she was chairman of the Communist Party in Alameda. She said she heard him address a party meeting and declared: 

“It was a mistake for me to believe Communism and capitalism could. live together.”

She also testified that she joined the Communist Party in 1944 or 1945 after an FBI agent approached her and said,

“Would you like to do this? There will be nothing in it for you, but you will be doing your country a great service.”

 She was the education director from 1946 to 1947 for the North Oakland Branch of the Communist Party; the name was later changed to the 16th A.D. (Assembly District) club in Montclair.

Nelson was one of five communists on trial charged with conspiring to overthrow the Government.

In 1944, Steve Nelson lived at 425 Taurus Rd in the Merriewood section of Montclair.

Oakland Tribune 1949

House Un-American Activities Committee Hearings

In 1953, Dickson was one of nine witnesses who appeared before the committee at City Hall in San Francisco. He was the only “friendly” witness.

During his testimony, he named names and organizations with communist ties.

He also testified that “the Reds backed a third-party idea in the 1948 election as a rich source of new recruits,” and made the Emeryville Westinghouse Electric plant one of their prime infiltration targets.

Oakland Tribune Oakland 1952

More Info:

Testimony of Paul Chown – Internet Archive

The End

The Little Daisy

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The Little Daisy

The Little Daisy was a small, local chain of women’s clothing boutiques selling shoes, jewelry, and accessories.

It was hip and trendy throughout the 1960s and 70s and was known as one of the officially sanctioned stores where local schoolgirls might buy their uniforms. 

In the 1980s, the name changed to The Daisy.

The store was founded by Willard “Bill” and Gladys “Daisy” Talkington.  The Talkingtons owned a clothing store in San Francisco before moving their operation to Oakland. 

 According to the Oakland Directory, the Lakeshore Little Daisy was opened in 1949. 

Oakland Directory 1949

In March 1953, they opened a store in the Montclair District at 2020 Mountain Blvd. The store soon became a favorite to many Hill area women for over 35 years and is still missed today.

The Monclarion Jan 1953

In 1955, they expanded the Montclair store by taking over four other stores on Mountain Blvd.

The Montclarion 1955

In 1963 they opened their fourth store in Lafayette, CA. By 1970 there were five stores in the Bay Area. The business offices were located on Claremont Ave in Oakland and later in Pleasant Hill.

The Montclarion

In 1985, the company changed its name to Daisy and adopted an “everyday low price” strategy to broaden its appeal. But as competition intensified, it was forced to close many of its locations, including the Montclair store.

Closes Two Oakland Stores

The Montclarion March 1988

The president of the Daisy Stores announced in March of 1988 that they would be closing five Daisy Stores, including the flagship store in Montclair and one on Lakeshore Blvd. He said:

“do not fit in with the Daisy concept of catering to the time conscious working women at her place of business.

Bill Bradshaw Daisy Stores

The stores were being phased out as the company planned to focus on its new Daisy 9 to 5 stores. The new stores will specialize in clothing for career women and be located near large office centers, like the one that opened in downtown Oakland in 1987.

Seeks Bankruptcy Protection

Oakland Tribune Feb 1989

Locations

  • Berkeley-2590 Bancroft Way
  • Danville- 356 S. Hertz
  • Lakeshore – 3433 Lakeshore Ave – 3300 Lakeshore
  • Lafayette – 971 Moraga
  • Marin – Town & County Village – 420
  • Montclair – 2020 Mountain Blvd
  • Pleasant Hill – 3380 Vincent Rd
  • Pruneyard –
  • San Francisco – 1 Embarcadero
  • Walnut Creek -1224 Broadway

More Info:

Daisy Talkington was born Gladys Warren in 1903 to Edward H. Warren and Alice Ludwig. She was raised in Oakland. She married Willard “Bill” Talkington sometime before 1938. Bill was from Washington. Daisy died in 1997

Contra Costa Times June 12, 1975
San Francisco Examiner

The End

“Negro Trail Blazers” in Oakland – Education

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Black pioneers moved to Oakland soon after the town was founded in 1852. By 1860, 23 blacks lived in Oakland Township, and 18 lived in Brooklyn (east of Lake Merritt, now part of Oakland).

Isaac and Elizabeth Flood lived in Brooklyn (Oakland). They were among the noted “Negro pioneers” of California, according to the “Negro Trailblazers of California.”

Segregated

The first schools in California, public and private, were segregated. The system of segregated schools developed without organized opposition or serious debate. Eventually, segregation became law with the California School Code of 1860 explicitily prohibited Black, Chinese, and Indian children from attending public schools.

The Black community recognized the need to educate their children in Oakland and Brooklyn.

The Flood Family

Elizabeth Thorn Scott came to California during the Gold Rush with her first husband, Joseph Scott, and settled in Placerville, CA. Her husband died soon after their arrival. Elizabeth then settled in Sacramento with her young son.

Seeing the need for a school for “non-whites,” she opened her home centrally located between M and N Streets on May 29, 1854, becoming the first “colored” private school in Sacramento.

Elizabeth Thorne Flood undated Oakland History Room

There were 14 students in the school between the ages of 4 and 29, and their families paid $1.00 per week, and they paid her $50.00 per month. Later, the school became part of St. Andrews (AME) Church, holding classes in the basement.

Isaac Flood came to California in search of gold. In the early 1850s, he settled in the Brooklyn Township. Elizabeth and Iassc were married in 1855 (not sure when or where they met.) She retired from teaching and moved to Brooklyn.

In 1856, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, George Frances Flood, who was said to be the first “black boy” born in Alameda County. She gave birth to a daughter, Lydia Flood, in 1862.

George F. Flood 1856-1924
Lydia Flood Jackson 1862-1963

Again, seeing the need for schools in the black community, she campaigned to get support for another school.

In 1857, she opened the first private school for Black children(open to all minorities) in Oakland, Alameda County, in her home at 1334 East 15th Street. Members of the Black community supported this effort, paying tuition in addition to taxes that covered schools their children could not attend.

Elizabeth’s goal for her school was to be competitive with White schools.

Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter Fall 1984

In 1863, the Shiloh A.M.E Church (now First A.M.E Church) assumed control of the school following its formal organization as a church. The Flood’s helped organize the church and were founding members. The church purchased the abandoned Carpentier schoolhouse (see Oakland’s First Schoolhouse)and moved the building to 7th and Market Streets in West Oakland. The tiny building served as the church’s chapel and housed the school. Elizabeth taught at the school until she died in 1867 (unexpectedly)at 39.

Isaac continued their quest for equal education for all children. He was a member of the California Colored Convention Movement, which challenged California’s segregation laws in the early 1870s, citing the recently enacted 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

He and a group of leaders in the Black community petitioned the School board in 1871 to end segregation.

Their daughter Lydia was among the first to attend an integrated Oakland public school, the old Swett Grammar School on 12th Avenue and East 19th Street.

Brooklyn Colored School

The expense of supporting a private school was a heavy burden on the Black community. In 1866, the parents from Oakland and Brooklyn petitioned the Oakland and Brooklyn Boards of Education to provide the education of Black children in both areas. After months of delay, the Brooklyn board voted to establish a public school in Brooklyn, which was open to children from both places.

In 1867, the Brooklyn Colored School opened in Brooklyn (now a part of East Oakland). It was the first public school for Black children in Alameda County. It was located at 1008 10th Avenue (or 1066 10th Avenue)in an old, dilapidated building that was initially a private residence (the old Manning House) and measured only 35 by 38 feet.

Brooklyn Colored School Oakland CA – Miss Mary Jane Sanderson – Oakland History Room

A young Black woman, Miss Mary Sanderson, was the only teacher from 1867-1871. She was only 16 when she started teaching at the school (Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter winter-spring 1994.)

In 1870, the school was located in the Adams Street Primary School room, a two-story brick building built in 1866. (Brooklyn Independent December 3, 1870.) This might explain the brick building in the photo above.

In 1871, the minimum number of students fell below the required 10. The school was forced because there were more Oakland children than in Brooklyn.

1871

Due to its remote location, the Black children of Oakland found it challenging to get to the Brooklyn School. In 1869, the Oakland Board of Education voted to open an evening school that admitted Black children and adults. The Black community rented a building on Jefferson Street, and the Board of Education contributed $25 a month to support the school. D. Clinton Taylor, a white teacher, taught in the one-room school. The school closed in July 1869 after operating for only six months.

In 1872, Oakland’s Board of Education went against the State School code and approved integrating Oakland schools in a 5-2 vote.

More Info:

Maynard’s Texaco Station

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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.

Maynard’s Texaco Station, date unknown Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter Summer 1994

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.
On Thornhill Drive

The End

Detroit of the West – Oakland California

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Detroit of the West – Oakland California

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.

Detriot of the West

In 1915 General Motors (G.M.) introduced the Chevrolet Series 490 sedan, selling for $490. The demand for this car was strong all over the country.

After surveying the coast, the leaders of G.M. decided Oakland was the logical place to build a new plant.

Oakland Tribune February 26, 1936

Oakland was ideal, with facilities for Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Western Pacific railroads and deep-water ports.

In 1916 G.M. opened a Chevrolet Assembly Plant at 69th and Foothill Blvd. 

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.

California Motor Car Company

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:

Chevrolet Assembly Plant

Oakland Tribune June 4, 1916

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.

More Info:

Fageol Motors Company

“Fageol Signs Up For New Factory”

The Fageol Motors Company of 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-Scott aircraft 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 from Sterling 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″

Wikipedia

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 as Foothill 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.

Durant Motors

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.)

Today

More Info:

Willys-Overland Pacific Company

The Willys-Overland Pacific Company opened a new distributing plant at East 14th (now International Blvd) and 57th Avenue (5625) in November 1925.

Oakland Tribune November 22, 1925

In 1929 the company introduced the new Whippet Sedan four and six models.

Oakland Tribune
The Factory Today – Google Maps 5901 International Blvd.

More Info:

Pages: 1 2

Elmhurst Presbyterian Church

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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.

Oakland Tribune 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.

More Info:

Location:  Elmhurst Presbyterian Church. . 1332 98th Avenue Oakland 94603

  • Oakland Heritage Alliance – Summer 1993 Newsletter

Commemorator Newspaper

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The Commemorator newspaper was a newspaper printed in South Berkeley from 1990-2013 by the Commemoration Committee for the Black Panther Party and focused on promoting the goals of the Black Panther Party as outlined in its Ten Point Program. The newspaper served to teach the history, goals, and principles of the Black Panther Party, as well as report community news mostly related to living wage employment, violent crime, and adult literacy.

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The Collection

The Commemorator newspaper collection consists of 54 issues of Commemorator newspaper printed from 1990-2012. The newspaper consists of reports on the activities of the Commemoration Committee for the Black Panther Party, profiles and activities of former Black Panther Party members, community news and op-ed articles, letters to the editor, photographs, and events listings.

More Info:

The End

Piedmont Pines Display Homes

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Happy New Year!

A bit more history of the display or model homes in the Piedmont Pines neighborhood. There seems to be a lot of information on these homes, and local architects (now famous) designed many.

Spanish View Home – Ascot Lane

“The Spanish View Home is completely equipped with the latest ideas in modern home construction”

Oakland Tribune 1932

The Spanish View Home and the one next to it were designed and built by Thomas Sharman.

Oakland Tribune June 26, 1932
“Spanish View Home” 31 Ascot Lane – Google Maps

Architectural Prize Home – 1933 – Unknown Location

I haven’t been able to locate the address of this house. If you recognize it, please let me know.

Oakland Tribune November 19, 1933

The Architectural Prize Display Home was designed by Miller & Warnecke. The design was chosen from among 19 individual plans submitted by 11 different architects during a competition in the spring of 1933.

Oakland Tribune December 10, 1933

It opened in December 1933. Thirty-nine hundred and eighty-five visitors walked through the home on its opening day, and by the end of the first two weeks, over Seventy-five hundred people had visited the house.

The home was created with these three principle points:

  1. Moderate in price -well within the means of the average family.
  2. It had to fit the site in Piedmont Pine and take full advantage of the contour of the lot, the size of the lot, the view, and the trees.
  3. It had to set a standard for the future homes to be built in the area.

Miller & Warnecke had this in mind when they designed the home.

Oakland Tribune Dec 1933

There are seven large rooms, including the rumpus room or recreation hall, in the basement. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are on the patio level. The bedrooms are elevated a half story above the living room.

Oakland Tribune November 26, 1933

The home was furnished by Breuner’s of Oakland, and L’Hommedieu were the selling agents.

Pages: 1 2

Living on the Shore of Lake Temescal

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In researching Montclair (a district in Oakland), I have come across many interesting stories. Here is one of them.

“Montclair was wild as a hawk,”

Walter Wood

In a 1976 article in The Montclarion entitled “Old Timer Reminisces,” Walter Wood talks about growing up along the shores of Lake Temescal.

Walter was born in 1887 in a small four-room house near the corner of 51st and Broadway, built by his father and torn down to make room for the widening of 51st. His father died in 1886 before Walter was born.

When Walter was attending school, he lived with his mother and stepfather, George W. Logan.   They lived on a farm alongside Lake Temescal, where Logan was the caretaker/superintendent for Contra Costa Water Company’s filtering plant that supplied Oakland’s drinking water.

Oakland Directory 1889-90

Walter started school at the age of 8 in North Oakland. Wood attended Peralta until fourth grade. From 1899 to 1904, he went to Hays Canyon School for the fifth through ninth grades.

Walter and his seven brothers and sisters walked from Lake Temescal to Peralta School in North Oakland.

Walter Wood’s Report Card – The Montclarion 1976

The Hays Canyon School (where the old Montclair firehouse is) was located two miles from the lake when they walked there in the early 1900s. Sometimes, remember Wood, they rowed a boat to the other end of the lake and walked from there.

The Montclarion 1976

The school was a beautiful Victorian one-room building with a bell and cupola. There was room for forty students and one teacher.

When Walter was 11, he was a mule driver with the crew that dug the first tunnel(Kennedy Tunnel) from Oakland to Contra Costa County. He spent a summer working on the project, earning him the honor of being the first person through the tunnel. He was near the front when they broke through, and a man who looked after Walter gave him a shove and pushed him through.

The Montclaron 1976

A Day in the Life

On a typical Day in 1899, Walter Wood would wake up on the farm and, after breakfast, do an hour’s worth of chores.   

Lake Temescal in 1898 – The Monclarion 1976

In addition to their regular chores, the Wood and Logan children were assigned the duty of weed-pulling on the Temescal dam. If weeds grew on the side of the dam, squirrels would dig into the barrier and cause damage.

Oakland Tribune Nov 1902

Playtime came on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. Wood and his siblings had run the area, as it was completely undeveloped except for a few farms.

One of the few farms was the Medau Dairy, where Montclair park is today.

Medau Dairy– Alameda County: The Eden of the Pacific

Superintendent Logan

Oakland Tribune Feb 1889

George W. Logan started working for the Contra Costa Water Company (now EBMUD) as the Superintendent of the Lake Temescal dam in 1888.

Oakland Tribune 1889

Logan worked at Lake Temescal for 18 years; he transferred to Lake Chabot in 1904 and retired from the company in 1916.

Bubbles Vol. II July 1918

George William Logan (1842-1928)was born in Canada in 1848. He came to California in the late 1880s.

Logan was married twice, first to Elizabeth Robinson (1845-1886)in 1884, and they had two children a daughter, Jessie, and a son Maurice. Elizabeth died in about 1886 or 87.

Oakland Tribune Feb 1906

His second wife was Mary Jane Hayden Wood (1860-1958); they raised eight children, her five children, his two and their one together.

  • Jesse Logan (1884-1961)
  • Maurice Logan (1886-1977)
  • Harry Logan (1889-1959)
  • Ann Wood (1880- ?)
  • Josephine Wood(1882-1970)
  • Juanita Wood(1883-1934)
  • Alfred Wood (1885-1920)
  • Walter Wood (1887-1990)
Oakland Tribune 1913

Maurice Logan

Maurice (1886 -1977) was an American watercolorist, commercial artist, arts educator, a member of the Society of Six, and a professor at the California College of the Arts in Oakland.

Oakland Tribune 1977

Logan grew up on the shores of Lake Temescal, his father, George Logan, stepmother, and brothers and sisters.

The Logan Family – The Society of Six

Later in life, he lived on Chabot Road, close to Lake Temescal.

SF Examiner Oct 28. 1991

More Info:

The End

Update

Posted on by
4

As many of you know, my husband had a heart attack last year and spent four months in the hospital waiting for a transplant. His heart continued to fail; they opted to install an LVAD (left ventricular assist device), a bridge to a heart transplant. He has not gone back to work and probably won’t soon. I am now his caregiver. In October, he was put back on the heart transplant list. He now needs both a heart and a kidney. So, now we wait to get a call telling us they have a heart.

Researching Oakland’s History is so much fun and a lot of work simultaneously. Because my work on this site doesn’t earn me anything, I gratefully accept PayPal donations to support it. Keeping the site up and running costs money, as does my subscriptions to online sites like Newspapers.com or Ancestry.com com.

I would also like to share an article from The Oaklandside, where I was interviewed.

https://oaklandside.org/2022/12/02/oakland-history-wiki-facebook-group/