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.
The Commemorator newspaper was a newspaper printed in South Berkeley from 1990-2013 by the Commemoration Committee for theBlack 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.
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.
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:
Moderate in price -well within the means of the average family.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Iveywood and the Iveywood Extension are subdivisions in the Elmhurst District.
1911 City of Oakland Map
It was the site of the old Ludovina Peralta Ivey homestead. Ludovina was Ignacio Peralta’s daughter and Luis Maria Peralta’s granddaughter.
The Peralta Land Company was the exclusive agent forIveywood, and The M.T. Minney Company(Minney-Morse) of Oakland was the exclusive agent for the Iveywood Extension.
Oakland Tribune
Both tracts had building restrictions that required each house to cost from $ 1500 to $2000 and that all the homes on each street would be in harmony with those adjoining, ensuring a standard value for both the lot and the house that sits on them. There were also restrictions that prohibited the sale of a lot to Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Negroes or people of their type.
Iveywood
Iveywood is located between East 14th (now International) to Bancroft Ave and 100th Ave and 104th Ave, including Sunnyside St., Birch St., Plymouth St., and Walnut St.
Looking North Across 106th towards Dante Ave Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
The Same area today – google maps10460 Dante Ave. In the photo above
“you live in the city and country both”
Oakland Tribune Mar 17, 1910
Iveywood Extension
Along the Foothill Blvd. Photo by Chaney Photo Advertising.
Iveywood Extension is located between Bancroft Ave and Foothill Blvd and 104th Ave to the San Leandro border, including Sunnyside St and Dante Ave. Byron St., Voltaire Ave., and Longfellow Ave.
Iveywood Extension fronts the north side of Foothill Blvd and East 14th Street.
SF Call 1910
“A beautiful tract containing 400 lots was placed on the market on October 1, 1910.”
Showing Block 26 on 106th between MacArthur and Byron AveLooking South on Voltaire at 106th Ave circa 1911Iveywood ExtensionShowing the National Rubber Plant at 105th and FoothillLooking south on Voltaire at 106th – today.
Electric Loop – Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Electric Loop -Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
Southern Pacific spent several million dollars building the electric interurban train service to Iveywood and Broadmoor. The Southern Pacific electric “Loop System” insured purchasers of lots in Iveywood with perfect transportation to downtown Oakland and San Francisco.
On 106th in the Iveywood ExtensionLooking East on 108th Ave from Bancroft Ave in Iveywood ExtensionOn 106th Ave – Google MapsLooking East on 108th AVe from Bancroft – Google Maps
Model Homes
Oakland Tribune 1939Oakland Tribune 19392300 108th today – Google Maps2415 106th today – Google MapsOakland Tribune 19402315 and 2321 109th Ave today – Google Maps
The first school in Oakland was founded in July 1853 with sixteen students. Miss Hannah J. Jayne, a member of a pioneer family after whom Jayne Street is named, was the first teacher. The school was located at Twelfth and Jefferson Streets and was purchased in 1853 for $900. Later, the home of Oakland High.
J.B. McChesneywas the high school’s first principal for many years, starting in 1867. In 1913 a grammar school at 13th Avenue and East 38th was named in his honor and later called McChesney Junior High. In 1989, it was renamed Edna Brewer Junior High, a long-time principal at the school.
McChesney Elementary School
Named for School Officials or Civic Leaders
Like McChesney School, many schools in Oakland were named after school officials, principals, and teachers.
Burckhalter Elementary School was named for astronomer and director of the Chabot Observatory Charles Burckhalter in 1927.
Clawson School was named in honor of William F. Clawson, an educator and principal at the Tompkins School until his death in 1882.
Clawson School
Campbell School at 4th and Grove Streets started out as Grove Street School. In 1907, it was renamed in honor of Oakland’s first superintendent of Oakland Schools, Frederick ‘Fred’ M. Campbell. Campbell’s daughter Mary was a teacher and then principal for 32 years, ending in 1926. In the early 1950s, the school was closed.
Campbell School – OMCA
Cole Grammar School (c1885 – c1926) at 10th and Union Streets opened in 1885 and was named after Dr. Rector F. Cole, president of the board of education.
E. Morris Cox School was first called The Elmhurst Annex. It was renamed in honor of E. Morris Cox, who died in 1925. Cox was the Assistant Superintendent of Schools.
Durant Schoolat 28th and West Streets was the 28th Street School renamed in honor of the Rev. Henry Durant, head of the old Oakland College on 12th Street, which grew into the University of California.
Durant School
Kaiser Elementarywas named in honor of Henry J. Kaiser Jr., an industrialist and civic leader.
McClymonds High School was named after J.W.McClymonds, who was once the superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District.
McFeely School was named in honor of Susan McFeely, who was ateacher and principal in the Oakland school district for 49 years before her retirement in 1930.
Carl B. Munck Elementary was named for Carl B. Munck, who served on the school board from 1943 to the mid-1980s, 28 of those years as president.
Swett Grammar School(also known as Intermediate School No. 1) was located at 12th Avenue and East 19th Street. It was named after educator John Swett. In 1913, this historic school became the first of the lower high schools (junior high or middle School). In 1926, a new school was built on Steele St.
Named After Presidents
Many schools in Oakland are named after presidents.
Longfellow Schoolis at 39th and Market Streets, Emerson at 48th and Webster, and Hawthorne School (which was Fruitvale School No. 2)at Fruitvale and Talant Street. Hawthorne School is now Urban Promise Academy.
Emerson Elementary
Joaquin Miller Elementary and Bret Harte Middle School
Joaquin Miller Elementary
Franklin School at 9th Avenue and East 16th Street was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin.
Prescott School at 9th and Campbell Streets was named for William H. Prescott, a historian.
Named for Pioneers or Landowners
Chabot Elementary School was initially called the Claremont Annex School and was renamed Anthony Chabot School in 1927.
Chabot Elementary
Frick Grammar School (later a junior high) located at 62nd and Foothill Blvd was opened in 1912. It was named after Walter P. Frick, a well-known lumberman who donated the land for the school. It is nowFrick United Academy of Language.
Frick Grammar School circa 1915 – Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
Peralta Public School – The Peraltas Spanish Pioneers and the First Family of the East Bay
Peralta Public School – Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
Tompkins School was named for Edward Tompkins, an Oakland Pioneer.
Other Famous People
Ralph J. Bunche Elementary The school was named for Ralph Johnson Bunche (1903-1971). He taught Political Science at Howard University and was the first African American to get a Ph.D. in political science from an American university. He worked with helped Martin Luther King Jr. He was the first African American to be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. He helped form the United Nations and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President John F. Kennedy.
Burbank Elementary was named after Luther Burbank, a botanist and horticulturist who lived in Northern California. It is now Burbank Preschool Center.
Lazear School (now Lazear Charter Academy) at Twenty-Sixth Avenue and East Ninth Streets opened in 1914. The school was named after Dr. Jesse W. Lazear, an army surgeon. J.W. McClymonds is responsible for coming up with the name. McClymonds, a superintendent for the Oakland schools, voiced his belief.
“that schools should be named after persons who had accomplished something in the world’s work.”
JW McCymonds 1913
Lazear School March 1915
Dewey School at 37th Avenue and East 12 Street after George Dewey was an Admiral in the Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
Dewey Public School –
Fremont High School was named forJohnCharles Frémont,an American explorer, military officer, and politician.
Horace Mann School started as Melrose Heights School and was later renamed Horace Mann.
Original Horace Mann School circa 1915 photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
Name After The Location
The school’s location played a part in naming the earlier schools. Bay School at 62nd Street and San Pablo Avenue had a view of the bay. Beulah School at Tompkins and Orchard Streets near Mills College was in the Beulah district.
Many were named for the district or neighborhood they were in.
Allendale School, located at Penniman and 38th Avenues in the Allendale district, was founded in 1904 as Fruitvale School No. 3.
Allendale School – from the Oakland History group on Facebook
Highland School on A Street between 85th and 86th Avenues got its name from 85th Ave, formally called Highland Street. Now called Highland Community School.
Lakeview School opened in 1914 at Grand Avenue, and Perry Street has a lake view. The school began as an annex to Grant School on Broadway (later moved to Pill Hill) and is located on Perry Street. Westlake Middle School is west of Lake Merritt.
Santa Fe School at 54th and Adeline Streets in the Santa Fe Tract.
Santa Fe School
Nature played a part in the naming of some schools: Laurel School on Kansas Street, Manzanita (now Manzanita Community School) at East 26th and 24th Avenue, Sequoia School on Lincoln Avenue, and Redwood Heights School (also in the Redwood Heights neighborhood)on 39th Avenue.
Original Sequoia School on Scenicat Lincolncirca 1915 photo by Cheney Photo Advertising
Skyline High School, Thornhill Elementary, and Piedmont Avenue School were namedafter the street they are on.
Castlemont High School was first called East Oakland High, but Castlemont was more fitting as it resembled a castle. It is now
Castlemont High
Hillcrest Elementary is at the crest of the hill, and Bella Vista School, Bella Vista means beautiful view.
The Court of All Nations is located on Hillen Street (formally Trumbull Street) near Mills College, with a view of the bay and the nearby hills. The group of fifty homes was built in 1925, with the first four starting in January of that year.
Unique Idea Result of Europe Trip
The unique idea was brought back by local builder R.C. Hillen after spending five months motoring through Europe in search of ideas for one of his next developments.
He wanted to reproduce the picturesque homes that dot the hillsides and valleys of European countries.
The homes are of five and six-room European style with American convenience. Each home is an architectural gem, specially adapted by W.W. Dixon, architect and the editor of the Home Designer Magazine, from sketches Hillen made during that trip.
They will include patios and landscaped gardens both in front and back.
Casa Romero
Oakland Tribune May 17, 1925
Casa Romero is a Spanish-Moorish type, and it opened in ???. The iron grill balconies before the windows and the flower-grown patio with pool and fountain suggest old Spain.
Oakland Tribune
W.W. Dixon, who designed Casa Romero, said, ” the name an old Spanish name dating from the days of the Mexican Grants in California.” Casa Romero means the house of the Romeros.
“‘Casa Romero’ Is All Electrically Equipped: Radio Featured.”
Oakland Tribune May 17, 1925
A Pipe-Organ Radio is installed in the living room. The rare acoustic properties of the room, eighteen by thirty-six feet in size and eighteen feet high, were fully utilized. A Radiola super-heterodyne is hidden behind what appears to be pipes of an organ on the balcony above. Using a central control, you could listen by loudspeaker or earphone connections by merely pressing a button.
The hidden radio – Oakland Tribune 1925
Casa Romero Today from Google Maps
European Style Homes
Some of the homes were designed along the lines of English cottage architecture, and others suggest French and Italian villa homes with homes from Spain, Norway, or Holland.
All have charming features and will include a large living room with a unique fireplace, a dining room with a buffet, and a kitchen with all the modern fixtures. Priced from $6500-$7900
Grand Duke
The Grand Duke Model Home – Oakland Tribune 1925
Dixon and Hillen
Walter W. Dixon(1884-1953)
Robert C. Hillen (1884-1955)
Style: Storybook, fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel
Dixon designed homes and other buildings, alone and with the firm Dixon and Hillen, from about 1910 to 1950, mostly in the East Bay.
Dixon built grand Storybook houses and houses in other styles and is best known for compact Storybook tract cottages.
Both were involved under the name of Dixon and Hillen Publishers with the Home Designer Magazine, based in Oakland and printed out of their office at 1844 Fifth Ave. The monthly publication costs $2.50 yearly for a subscription and covers mostly bungalow and Storybook types of homes.
They also designed the homes on Picardy Drive in Oakland.
