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” – Latter Fruitvale No. 1
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.
The Fruit Vale (as it was sometimes spelled) School district was formed in 1889 to build a new schoolhouse.
Fruitvale No. 1 – Fruitvale Elementary 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.
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.
The pastures of the Empire Dairy surrounded the school from 1880-1901
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.
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
- Fruitvale School website – OUSD
More on Fruitvale Elementary
- Bids accepted for New School – SF Examiner Mar 05, 1895
- New Fruitvale School Almost Ready- Oakland Tribune Aug 27, 1895
Fruitvale School No. 2 – Hawthorne School
In 1898, the Fruitvale District determined a need for another school to accommodate the growing population.
D. Franklin Oliver, a local architect, designed the new school.
In 1905, the school added nine more rooms.
In 1913, the name of Fruitvale School No. 2 was changed to Hawthorne School. The school was on Fruitvale at East 17th (Tallant Street)
1923, a concrete culvert was built, and Sausal Creek was filled in.
School Destroyed by Fire in 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.
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.
In September 1924, they laid the cornerstone of the new school building, which John J. Donovan designed. 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.
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.
The school is located at 1700 28th Ave, Oakland, CA 94601
Hawthorne Today
Today, Hawthorne is the home of the Achieve Academy.
Achieve Academy (TK-5) serves students in the Fruitvale neighborhood and is one of Oakland’s highest-performing elementary campuses.
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.
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.
Miss Alice V. Baxley was the first principal of Allendale School from 1904 to 1913.
Renamed Allendale 1913
In 1913 Fruitvale No. 3 was renamed Allendale School.
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.
Seventeen portables were placed on the site to house the students until the fall of 1959.
The day of reckoning has come for the old Allendale School building which has been razed”
New School Built
Architects George E. Ellinger and Roland Gibbs proposed a new school to cost $363,250.
Bids for a new school with 13 classrooms, a library, a multipurpose room, one kindergarten, and administration offices opened in 1958.
The school was completed in the fall of 1959.
Allendale Today
- Allendale School Website – OUSD
Fruitvale – Allendale Junior High
The new school, Allendale-Fruitvale Junior High, was constructed at Hopkins (MacArthur Blvd) and Coolidge Avenue.
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.
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 school’s auditorium gymnasium building was constructed in 1950.
In 1957, the school district opened bids for a new building at Bret Harte.
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
Bret Harte Middle School – Today
- Bret Harte Middle School – website
More Info:
- New Addition for Allendale School – SF Call and Post Aug 7, 1905
- Fruitvale School Name Changes – Oakland Tribune Aug 26, 1913
- 750 Children Marched from Burning School – Oakland Tribune Apr 30, 1923
- Hawthorne School Burns – Oakland Tribune Apr 30, 1923
- A Narrow Escape – School burns – Oakland Tribune May 01, 1923
- New Hawthorne School to be Built – Oakland Tribune Sept 04, 1923
- Cornerstone at Hawthorne – Oakland Tribune Sept 23, 1924
- New Hawthorne School Opens – Oakland Tribune Jan 24, 1925
- Hawthorne Soccer Champs for 1927 – Oakland Tribune Dec 19, 1926
- Bret Harte Competition – Oakland Tribune Apr 10, 1932
- New $497,700 Fruitvale School – Oakland Tribune Dec 01, 1950
- Allendale School Razed – Oakland Tribune Jun 21, 1957