Postcards have been an essential tool in advertising the city of Oakland for a long time. I have collected postcards from Oakland for years. I recently found a small advertisement published in the Oakland Tribune reminding people that “Postcard Day” was coming up, which piqued my interest.
Reminder AD Oakland Tribune 1910
I tried to find the exact postcards, but I didn’t have much luck, except for one or two. I have shared what I think might be them. If I get lucky and find them, I will update this.
Here is what I found.
OAKLAND IN PICTURES
In 1905, W.J. Laymance of the Laymance Real Estate Company suggested a unique way of advertising Oakland in which every citizen, even the humblest, could participate. They could send illuminated postal cards of this city to friends in other sections of the county, thus calling attention to its beauty and resources.
Some of the cards’ subjects were the Oakland Waterfront, Residence District, Lake Merritt, Court House, Club House, Piedmont Springs, Among the Flowers, Piedmont Park, East from Fourteenth and Franklin Streets, North from San Pablo and Fourteenth Streets, University of California, Injured Football Player, and the Greek Theater.
There were about 20 illuminated postal cards illustrating the beauties of the city. They sold the cards at two for five cents and ten for twenty-five cents. The postal cards were sold at drug and stationery stores. They hoped 10,000 people in Oakland would participate.
Oakland’s PostCard Day 1910
Oakland Tribune 1910
February 12, 1910, was designated “Oakland’s Post Card Day.”
The Oakland Chamber of Commerce undertook an extensive publicity campaign. Every man and woman in Oakland and most of the children were expected to send one or more cards advertising the city.
The card was a double booster card with a decorative scheme of dark green and orange on both cards, but the views of Oakland will be different.
Postcard Day 1910
The recipient was to retain the first half of the double card. The second half, which was detachable, was to be sent to the Chamber of Commerce requesting a brochure.
Return Card – circa 1910
Postcard Day – 1910
Picturesque residences on the shore of Lake Merritt, seen through the overhanging branches of beautiful old oak, the orange in the glowing sunset was a striking contrast to the tree’s deep green.
Postcard Day 1910
Oakland Tribune Feb 13, 1910
Postcard Day 1912
1912
Views of Oakland and other cities furnished by Southern Pacific.
Piedmont Park – A Beauty SpotIn Oakland On line of Southern Pacific
back side Piedmont Park – A Beauty Spot On line of Southern Pacific
Postcard Day 1913
Southern Pacific plans to help advertise Oakland with postcards to be mailed by the citizens of Oakland.
I hope to show Then and Now images of Oakland Schools in this series of posts. I highlight a bit of the history of each school. Some photos are in the form of drawings or postcards or from the pages of history books.
Note: Piecing together the history of some of the older schools can be tricky. I do this all at home and online—a work in progress for some. I have been updating my posts when I find something new. Let me know if I make any mistakes or add anything.
Fruitvale Schools 1-3
UPDATED AUGUST 2024
“Fruit vale Public School” – LatterFruitvale No. 1
Fruitvale School, in the early 1880s, was situated on the field. Circa 1880s OMCA H97.1.48
Oakland Tribune Jan 07, 1880
From what I can tell, the school was in the exact general location of Fruitvale Elementary School today, at the corner of Boston Street and School Street.
New Life as Church
1896, after Fruitvale No. 1 was built, the old school was moved and remodeled for use as a church. It was re-dedicated as the Higgins Methodist Episcopal Church in March of 1896.
SF Call Mar 09, 1886
SF Examiner March 1896
The Fruit Vale (as it was sometimes spelled) School district was formed in 1889 to build a new schoolhouse.
SF Examiner June 4, 1889
Fruitvale No. 1 – FruitvaleElementary School
In 1894, in the Fruitvale School district, the trustees were forced to meet the demand and take steps to build a larger school. The new school replaced the old Fruitvale School building from the 1880s.
SF Call Aug 27, 1895
The plans called for a $13,000 2-story building with a concrete basement. Each floor was to have four large classrooms and lunchrooms for the teachers. The principal’s office was on the first floor, and a space was reserved for a library. The basement had separate playrooms for the boys and girls, janitor rooms, and a heating apparatus.
“The building cost was $16,000, and it is located in the healthiest spots of this healthy locality.”
SF Call August 27, 1895
The style of the new building was the Italian Renaissance. The architects were Cunningham Bros. of Oakland.
SF Call Aug 27, 1895
Oakland Tribune Jul 26, 1889
The pastures of the Empire Dairy surrounded the school from 1880-1901
Oakland Tribune Dec 13, 1970
Fruitvale School circa 1901
In 1913, Fruitvale School No. 1 was changed to just Fruitvale School.
New School Built
The new Fruitvale School was dedicated on December 1, 1950. It has 14 classrooms, a library, a cafeteria, a kindergarten, and an auditorium. The school was designed by Ponsford and Price Architects and cost $497,700. It can accommodate 569 students.
Oakland Tribune Nov 09, 1949
The dedication was attended by William Taylor, a long-time resident of the Fruitvale District; he was a student at the “old Fruitvale School “in the 1880s. Oakland Tribune June 1962
In 1913, the name of Fruitvale School No. 2 was changed to Hawthorne School. The school was on Fruitvale at East 17th (Tallant Street)
Hawthorne School Circa 1900 – Cheney Photo Advertising
1923, a concrete culvert was built, and Sausal Creek was filled in.
School Destroyed by Fire in 1923
Oakland Tribune Apr 30, 1923
On the morning of April 30, 1923, 750 pupils, teachers, and staff of the Hawthorne School were evacuated from their classrooms while the entire upper portion of the building was being destroyed by fire. The fire was believed to have started from sparks that fell from the chimney.
Oakland Tribune Apr 30, 1923
Three alarms were sounded, and all available firefighting apparatus rushed to the scene. Two firemen were hurt when a portion of the burning roof gave way.
New School Built
The district purchased the property fronting on East 17th Street, adjoining the playground. The new school was built away from the noise and traffic of Fruitvale Ave.
Oakland Tribune Sept 21, 1924
In September 1924, they laid the cornerstone of the new school building, which John J. Donovandesigned. The two-story building, which cost $102,000, contained ten classrooms, offices, and a room for the PTA.
The new school is located at 28th Avenue at East 17th Street, across from the old Fruitvale School No 2. The old school building was destroyed by fire the year before.
Oakland Tribune Sept 21, 1924
The following items were put into the sealed cornerstone:
Minutes of Board of Education May 1924
Minutes of Board of Education June 1924
Outline of the school plans
Program from Cornerstone ceremony
History of the PTA
Names of all the pupils enrolled
Group photos of all the classes.
School Directory
The new school opened in January 1925.
Oakland Tribune Jan 24, 1925
The school is located at 1700 28th Ave, Oakland, CA 94601
Achieve Academy (TK-5) serves students in the Fruitvale neighborhood and is one of Oakland’s highest-performing elementary campuses.
Hawthorne School -photo by Richard A. Walker Creative Commons 2023
Fruitvale No. 3 – Allendale School
Before 1904, children living along High Street had to walk to Fruitvale School No. 1 on School Street. The Allendale District was chosen because of its central location for the children from Laurel Grove District (Laurel District) to High Street and Foothill Blvd, then known as Old County Road.
Fruitvale School No. 3 was built in the Allendale neighborhood in 1904.
The 1904 school building cost $107,437 to build. The first year’s enrollment was 809. A four-room addition was added in 1910, and another four rooms, costing $49,458, were added in 1928.
Oakland Tribune July 19, 1910
Miss Alice V. Baxley was the first principal of Allendale School from 1904 to 1913.
Fruitvale No 3 – Renamed Allendale 1913
In 1913 Fruitvale No. 3 was renamed Allendale School.
Oakland Tribune Mar 1913
Oakland Tribuine Mar 1914
Dangerous and a Hazard
The school was deemed unsafe and closed in 1953. At the time, it was one of the oldest school buildings; two others from the pre-1906 era were still standing. The old school building withstood the 1906 earthquake.
San Francisco Examiner Dec 1953
SF Examiner Dec 20, 1953
Seventeen portables were placed on the site to house the students until the fall of 1959.
The Old Allendale School Just Before Demolition – From the Family of Doss Welsh
OaklandnTribune June 21, 1957
The day of reckoning has come for the old Allendale School building which has been razed”
The new school, Allendale-Fruitvale Junior High, was constructed at Hopkins (MacArthur Blvd) and Coolidge Avenue.
Oakland Tribune Oct 10, 1928
Oakland Tribune Nov 9, 1928
The Allendale-Fruitvale Junior High was changed to Bret Harte Junior High at a school board meeting in 1929; the other name under consideration was Dimond Junior High.
The school was named after Bret Harte, an American author and poet best known for his somewhat romanticized accounts of pioneer life in California. He lived in Oakland from about 1854 to 1857 at the home of his stepfather, Colonel Andrew F. Williams, who was later Oakland’s fourth mayor.
Oakland Tribune Nov 16, 1930
The school was the last to the new school to be built out of the 1924 Bond issue. It was constructed at the cost of $120,000.
The building contained 22 classrooms, and on opening day in 1930, 699 pupils enrolled. The school graduated students from Fruitvale, Allendale, Sequoia, and Laurel Schools.
The school opened in 1930.
The Oakland Post Enquirer Jan10, 1930
The school’s auditorium gymnasium building was constructed in 1950.
The Oakland Post Enquirer Aug 2, 1950
Oakland Tribune Aug 29, 1950
In 1957, the school district opened bids for a new building at Bret Harte.
Oakland Tribune July 7, 1957
The new building was built on campus in 1959, and another major expansion occurred in 1979.
The 1930 time capsule in a copper box found during the 1979 construction was never opened and has since been lost.
The school is located at 3700 Coolidge Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602
I hope to show Then and Now images of Oakland Schools in this series of posts. Along with a bit of the history of each school, I highlight. Some photos are in the form of drawings or postcards or from the pages of history books.
Note: Piecing together the history of some of the older schools is sometimes tricky. I do this all at home and online — a work in progress for some. I have been updating my posts when I find something new. Let me know of any mistakes or additions.
Brookfield Village School
Brookfield Village school opened for the new school year in September of 1944, the latest of Oakland’s 77 schools.
“Brookfield Village Elementary School opened without the benefit of bells.”
Brookfield was Oakland’s newest public school, which opened under wartime handicaps. Money and supplies were tight. Classes were being held in 19 portables that arrived three weeks before school started.
767 boys and girls were enrolled, just 33 less than anticipated in that first year.
New School
In February 1950, they held a groundbreaking ceremony for Unit 1 of the new Brookfield Village School.
Oakland Tribune Mar 13, 1949
The school unit was designed byConfer and Willis. The new building had 11 classrooms, a library, and an auditorium. It was a one-story building of wood frame construction.
Oakland Tribune Apr 24,1951
New Addition
Oakland Tribune Oct 23, 1957
Oakland Tribune Nov 26, 1957
In November of 1957, they broke ground for new addition costing $286,680. The new building will include a cafeteria, ten classrooms, a kindergarten, plus two special classrooms.
Brookfield Today
Brookfield Lions: Learning and Thriving with Pride.
Google Maps
The school is located at 401 Jones Ave., Oakland, CA 94603
Clawson School dates back to the 1880s, as seen in the image below.
Clawson in 1895
Clawson Elementary School was built in 1915. This Neo-Classical design had two stories and utilized extensive terracotta ornamentation. The ornamentation around its front doors. The building was designed by
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
The Clawson Elementary School was listed as standing near the intersection of 32nd Street and Magnolia Street in Polk-Husted’s Oakland, California, City Directory, 1918
Kindergarten
Entrance to the Kindergarten Classroom Clawson School pergola, Oakland, California (1916) 1
Principal’s Office
Auditorium
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
Bathrooms Boys and Girls
Clawson Closed
The building functioned as a school until it was closed sometime between 1971-1973. OUSD closed three schools in 1973 rather than spend the money needed to retrofit them, including Clawson School. Clawson couldn’t meet the new stricter seismic standards that went into effect in 1973.
New Life
Clawson Lofts Today Google Maps
After extensive remodeling and structural upgrading, the building reopened as The West Clawson Lofts in 1999.
Emerson School 1912 John Galen Howard collection of progress photographs, ca. 1905-1910
The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
Emerson Elementary School was built in 1913. It was designed by John J Donovan and John Galen Howard. The total cost of the school was $163,879. It was located at 49th and Shafter Avenue.
Oakland Tribune Jan 28, 1912
Oakland tribune Sept 20, 1912
Oakland Tribune Mar 29, 1914
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
Emerson Now
The address is 4803 Lawton Avenue. In 1978, it was torn down because it was considered seismically unsafe.
I hope to show Then and Now images of Oakland Schools in this series of posts. Along with a bit of the history of each school, I highlight. Some photos are in the form of drawings or postcards or from the pages of history books.
Note: Piecing together the history of some of the older schools is sometimes tricky. I do this all at home and online — a work in progress for some. I have been updating my posts when I find something new. Let me know of any mistakes or additions.
Durant School
Bids were in to build a new school at the corner of West Street. A bid of $5000 made by J.J. Chaplain was the winner. The new school was called the Durant School in honor of the Rev. Henry J. Durant, the 16th Mayor of Oakland (1873-1875) and one of the founders of the University of California.
Durant School opened in August of 1875. It was reported by the Board of Education that all grades were formed and that they had over 400 pupils with eight teachers.
In 1878 a 6-room addition was added.
Durant Elementary School
Plans for a new Durant School to be built were accepted in 1912. The old school was sold. The new building was constructed at the corner of 29th and West Street and was to exceed $160,000.
School Architecture: Principles and Practices By John Joseph Donovan 1921
In 1971 (probably before), it was determined that the school was structurally unsafe in the event of an earthquake. Bids were requested for the construction of a new school. I don’t know what happened with that. I couldn’t locate any pictures of a newer Durant School.
Views of Oakland California’. Oakland: Pacific Press Publishing Company, 1893
Lafayette School was located at 17th and West Street and was built in the late 1860s.
The Lafayette Grammar School was one of the first schools built in Oakland. Lafayette even housed Oakland High School in 1869.
Oakland Tribune 1905
Lafayette Grammar School was named in honor of Marquis de Lafayette, a French military leader and statesman who fought on the side of the colonists during part of the American Revolution.
Lafayette Grammar School later changed its name to Lafayette Elementary School.
A brand new school was dedicated in October of 1949. Constructed at the cost of $594,825, the new school has 22 classrooms, a kindergarten, and an auditorium.
The school was established in 1909 as an annex of Grant School, which was overcrowded. The Board of Education built a temporary structure of two rooms at the corner of Van Buren and Perry Streets. They called the school the Grant Annex.
Oakland Tribune Sept 1913
With the rapid growth of the surrounding area, it soon became necessary to build a permanent school.
Oakland Tribune 1913
In 1913 a large red brick building was built in a modern style of architecture opposite the Grant Annex at the corner of Grand Avenue and Perry Street. The new school was called Lakeview.
Construction of Lakeview School – circa 1913-14
Lakeside School
John J. Donovan was the architect of Lakeview Elementary. The estimated cost of building the school was $75,000.
Lakeview was situated on a high terrace with ivy-covered banks. Two flights of broad steps lead from the main building to Grand Avenue.
Lakeview School is situated at the head of Lake Merritt and surround by the beautiful Piedmont Hills. In one of the most attractive districts of Oakland.
Oakland Tribune Oct 1917
Across the street from the main building were two attractive smaller buildings that could not be seen from Grand Avenue.
There were manual art portables and a playground complete with equipment.
It appears that Julia Morgan designed an addition to Lakeview in 1915
Oakland Tribune Feb 1915
By 1917 Lakeview had an enrollment of 768.
Lakeview School circa the 1930s
Fire at the Lakeview School Annex – May 1937
Oakland Tribune May 03, 1937
MacArthur Freeway –
In 1926 a group of Lakeview district residents appeared before the Board of Education to advocate steps to protect the area behind the school from future development. See below
