Posted in Business, Transportation

Detroit of the West – Oakland California

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin
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
Posted in Buildings, Neighborhoods, Transportation

Elmhurst Presbyterian Church

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

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
Posted in Black History

Commemorator Newspaper

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

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

Posted in Homes, Model/Display Homes

Piedmont Pines Display Homes

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

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
Posted in Early Montclair, Schools

Living on the Shore of Lake Temescal

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

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

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

“Montclair was wild as a hawk,”

Walter Wood

Walter was born in 1887 in a small, four-room house near the corner of 51st and Broadway, which his father had built and later 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 and superintendent for Contra Costa Water Company’s filtration plant, which supplied Oakland’s drinking water.

Oakland Directory 1889-90

Walter started school at the age of eight in North Oakland. Wood attended Peralta School until fourth grade. From 1899 to 1904, he attended Hays Canyon School, where he completed grades five through nine.

The Montclairion 1976

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 a 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 Montclarion 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, causing 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 farms was the Medau Dairy, which is now Montclair Park.

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, transferring 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 1842. He came to California in the late 1880s.

Logan was married twice, first to Elizabeth Robinson (1845-1886)in 1884, and they had 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 had eight children, five of whom were hers and two of whom were his, and one child 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 with his father, George Logan, stepmother, and brothers and sisters.

The Logan Family – The Society of Six

Later in life, he resided on Chabot Road, near Lake Temescal.

SF Examiner Oct 28. 1991

More Info:

The End

Posted in Uncategorized

Update

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

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/
Posted in Real Estate, Tract or Subdivisions, Transportation

The Garden Spot of East Oakland

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

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 for Iveywood, 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 maps
10460 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 Ave
Looking South on Voltaire at 106th Ave circa 1911
Iveywood Extension
Showing the National Rubber Plant at 105th and Foothill
Looking 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 Extension
Looking East on 108th Ave from Bancroft Ave in Iveywood Extension
On 106th Ave – Google Maps
Looking East on 108th AVe from Bancroft – Google Maps

Model Homes

Oakland Tribune 1939
Oakland Tribune 1939
2300 108th today – Google Maps
2415 106th today – Google Maps
Oakland Tribune 1940
2315 and 2321 109th Ave today – Google Maps

More Info:

The End

Posted in Uncategorized

School Names

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

A Bit of History – School Names

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.

Oakland’s First Schoolhouse – Steeple Among the Oaks

First High School Principal

J.B. McChesney served as the high school’s principal for many years, beginning in 1867. In 1913, a grammar school located at 13th Avenue and East 38th was named in his honor and later became known as McChesney Junior High. In 1989, it was renamed Edna Brewer Junior High, after 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 after 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

The Campbell School, located at 4th and Grove Streets, began as the 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 (c. 1885 – c. 1926) 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 originally known as The Elmhurst Annex. It was renamed in honor of E. Morris Cox, who died in 1925. Cox was the Assistant Superintendent of Schools.

The Durant School, located at 28th and West Streets, was formerly known as the 28th Street School, renamed in honor of the Rev. Henry Durant, head of the old Oakland College on 12th Street, which later evolved into the University of California.

Durant School

Kaiser Elementary was named in honor of Henry J. Kaiser Jr., an industrialist and civic leader.

Kaiser Elementary

Howard Elementary on Fontaine Ave was named after Charles P Howard, a civic leader. It is now the Oakland Charter of Knowledge.

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, a teacher and principal in the Oakland school district for 49 years, who retired 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.

  • Cleveland School
  • Garfield School
  • Harrison Grammar
  • Hoover Junior High
  • Lincoln Elementary
  • James Madison
  • Roosevelt High School –
  • Washington School – is now Sankofa United
Washington School

Named for Authors, Poets, or Historians

Longfellow School is located at 39th and Market Streets, Emerson at 48th and Webster, and Hawthorne School (formerly 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.

Franklin School – photo by Dorothy Londagin

The Prescott School, located at 9th and Campbell Streets, was named after William H. Prescott, a renowned 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 now Frick 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 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), located at Twenty-Sixth Avenue and East Ninth Streets, opened in 1914. The school was named after Dr. Jesse W. Lazear, a U.S. Army surgeon. J.W. McClymonds is responsible for coming up with the name. McClymonds, a superintendent for the Oakland schools, voiced his belief.

Lazear School, March 1915

“that schools should be named after persons who had accomplished something in the world’s work.”

JW McCymonds 1913

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 for John Charles Frémont, an American explorer, military officer, and politician.

The Horace Mann School originated as Melrose Heights School and was later renamed in honor of 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. The Bay School, located at 62nd Street and San Pablo Avenue, had a view of the bay.

Beulah School, located at Tompkins and Orchard Streets near Mills College, was part of the Beulah district.

Many were named after the district or neighborhood in which they were located.

Montclair School

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, located on A Street between 85th and 86th Avenues, got its name from 85th Avenue, which was formerly called Highland Street. Now called Highland Community School.

Lakeview School opened in 1914 at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Perry Street, offering a view of the lake. 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 located in the Redwood Heights neighborhood) on 39th Avenue.

Original Sequoia School on Scenic at Lincoln, circa 1915, photo by Cheney Photo Advertising

Skyline High School, Thornhill Elementary, and Piedmont Avenue School were named after the street on which they are on.

Castlemont High School was originally called East Oakland High, but “Castlemont” was more fitting, as it resembled a castle. It is now

Castlemont High

Hillcrest Elementary is located at the crest of the hill, and Bella Vista School is named after the beautiful view.

More Info:

The End

Posted in Homes, Model/Display Homes, Real Estate, Uncategorized

Court of All Nations

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

“Homes of Cosmopolitan Architecture”

Oakland Tribune Mar 29, 1925

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

Casa Rome
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
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.

More Info:

The End

Posted in Neighborhoods, People

Klinknerville – Oakland

Posted on by Dorothy Londagin

A bit of history of Klinknerville.

Klinknerville was a town in what is now the Golden Gate neighborhood. It was started by Charles Alexander Klinkner in 1885, the name was changed to Golden Gate in 1888, and it was annexed by Oakland in 1897.

Oakland Local Wiki
Klinkner Hall, at the present-day corner of San Pablo and 59th Street, in the late 1800s. (Oakland Library History Room.)

In 1877 (or 1878), Charles A. Klinkner and a partner purchased 14 acres of dairyland in the area of what is now 59th and San Pablo. The land was subdivided into lots for building homes.

“Ring the Bell, Klink, Klink, Klink, the boom continues, “Klinknerville,” lots 50 x 150 $600.00, houses built to order on the installment plan, Apply to Klinkner before buying elsewhere.“

Klinkner built a home for his family on San Pablo Ave near 59th Street

Klinkner Family Home – OMCA

He also established a horse car line that ran from Park Avenue to what today is 62nd Street.

By 1885, the construction of Klinknerville had begun. He first built modest Victorian homes.

Tract homes under construction and offered for sale – OMCA

To attract residents to Klinknerville, he built Klinkner Hall at 5832 San Pablo Avenue, and in 1888, on the other side of the Street, he built the Del Monte Hotel.

Showing Klinknerville Hall in 1919 – Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising

Klinkner Hall was the social center of the town. There was a grocery store, a drug store, a dry goods store, a meat market on the first floor, and a large community assembly hall where the clubs and lodges would meet on the upper floor. There was a steeple clock atop the building.

 A photo of Klinkner Hall with signs showing “Drugs, Insurance, Wells Fargo Express, Post Office and Real Estate.” Carts advertise Klinkner’s Rubber Stamps. OMCA H76.295.58O

Klinkner also built Eureka Park, a baseball field, which was the home of the Klinkner 9. Later on, it was the home of the Oakland Oaks, the city’s professional baseball team in the early 1900s, and the name was changed to Freeman’s Park.

Eureka Park. Johnny Maher, proprietor. Baseball grounds about 1886. OMCA

He also built about 75 houses. The houses were sold for between $3,000 and $5,000 or sometimes could be won in a raffle off a $2 ticket.

SF Chronicle 1892

Huckster

Klinkner & Co. buggy, barn in the background, ca. 1886-1893 – OMCA H77.57.26

Mr. Klinkner was one of Oakland’s earliest hucksters, if not the first. He was a staunch believer in the fact that it pays to advertise. Every Fourth of July, he would hitch up a span of mules to his cart. The mules were painted red, white, and blue, and the coach was plastered from top to bottom, advertising his business. On St. Patrick’s Day, they were green; at other times, they’d be an appropriate color for the occasion. Sometimes, he would match his colorful mules with equally bright dogs and a monkey or two.

Buggy. Dog, two monkeys on the back of a horse. Gift of Fred L. Klinkner H77.57.28

Golden Gate

But Klinkner and the town bearing his name did not last long. In 1888, Klinkner applied for the area post office to take the

“Klinknerville” name, “much to the disgust of the old families in the area,” who preferred the term “Golden Gate,” Thomas Klinkner wrote.

Oakland Tribune 1888

A back-and-forth ensued, with Klinkner even making a trip to Washington, D.C., to personally appeal to then-President Grover Cleveland.

The “Golden Gate” side won out, and the town’s name was changed shortly before Klinkner’s death. Golden Gate was annexed to Oakland in 1897.

The name “Klinkner” soon vanished from the area. What was once called Klinkner Avenue was changed to 59th Street.

Klinkner family: Charles seated in the wagon
photo from Oakland Museum of California

Klinker’s Family

Charles Klinker was born in Ausen, Germany, in 1852. His family then settled in Iowa when he was an infant. At age 20, he came west to San Francisco and opened the Red Rubber Stamp Factory on Sansome Street.

Klinkner died in 1893, at the age of 40, from a cold he neglected. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.

1983

C. A. Klinkner and Co. Red Rubber Stamps 1884 “Courtesy of California State Archives.”

Klinkner married Katherine Parke, an Oakland native. She was born in the town of Clinton (later part of Oakland) in 1855. Katherine Klinkner died in 1945.

They raised seven children in their home in Klinknerville.

  • Charles A. Klinkner 1876-1951
  • Fredrick S. Klinkner 1878-1954
  • Herman P. Klinkner 1881-1959
  • Cora V. Klinkner 1887-175
  • Harry D. Klinkner 1889-1968
  • Elma I. Klinkner 1891-1984

The Klinkner family home was demolished in 1929 to make way for a brick building, which housed a drugstore owned by Klinkner’s son, Fred, before closing in 1968, taking the last remnants of the Klinkner name in the neighborhood.

Oakland Tribune 1919

Katherine then moved into an apartment on the second floor of Klinkner Hall, where she lived until selling the building in 1941. She then moved next door to a small cottage at 1064 59th Street.

The DeRome Home 1076 – 59th St., Oakland, 1886. Gift of Junior League of Oakland-East Bay
H78.86.76

Her daughter, Mrs. Cora DeRome (see), lived next door at 1076, and her son, Fred, lived across the Street at 1097. Klinkner Hall was demolished and replaced with a grocery store.

Photos from the Oakland Museum – see here

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The End