Elmhurst Presbyterian Church

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.

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.

More Info:

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

  • Oakland Heritage Alliance – Summer 1993 Newsletter

The Garden Spot of East Oakland

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

“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.” 

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.

Model Homes

More Info:

The End

The Bancroft Parkway

This is one of those posts where I had no writing intention, let alone know it existed. Two examples are my most popular post, “The Forgotten Tunnel,” or “The Backyard Fence War” I stumbled across articles on both while researching another post. Sometimes they pan out, and I find many exciting things to share. I wasn’t so lucky with this post, and it ended up being kind of a dud. I thought I would share it anyway.

Groundbreaking

A groundbreaking celebration was held in November of 1956 for the new Bancroft Avenue Parkway, and construction began soon after.

Oakland Tribune November 25, 1956

Bancroft Avenue was to become a major thoroughfare linking San Leandro and Oakland, relieving the traffic on MacArthur, Foothill, and East 14th (now International)

Oakland Mayor Clifford E. Rishell and Alameda County Supervisor operating an enormous earthmover, lifting the first load of earth.   

Construction for the Bancroft Avenue Parkway near 98th Avenue in the city’s Elmhurst district. DATE: 1956 Photographic print Albert “Kayo” Harris & Associates, photographers. The Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

They symbolized joint city-county participation.

Oakland Tribune November 25, 1956

The project’s estimated cost was $4,000,000 and was financed jointly from Oakland and Alameda County’s state gas tax funds.

Needed Relief

California Highways and Public Works Oakland Progress Page 37 – March- April 1958 

The need for this arterial was foreseen as early as 1927 when the major street plan of the city was formulated. Uncontrolled subdivisions in East Oakland’s early history had left a large area with no provision for the essential east-west movement.

California Highways and Public Works Oakland Progress Page 37 – March- April 1958 

The parkway was to provide the much-needed relief of Foothill Boulevard, MacArthur Boulevard, and East 14th Street (now international), as well as a direct connection to an existing major city street, Bancroft Avenue in San Leandro.

Studies for this thoroughfare were commenced in 1941, and protection of the right-of-way started.

The Bancroft Parkway

The parkway was to extend from the San Leandro city limits to East 14th Street(now International) and 46th Avenue.

“The project will convert Bancroft from a rundown noncontinuous street and railroad right-of-way to a major intercity thoroughfare and railroad parkway.”

California Highways and Public Works Oakland Progress Page 37 – March- April 1958 
Corner of Bancroft and 96th Avenues in the Elmhurst district of Oakland, California. 1965 Photographer unidentified. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

The Design

The parkway had a two-lane section on each side with room for parking. In the center divider was the Southern Pacific railroad spur line to the Chevrolet Assembly Plant, and it was concealed with trees and shrubbery.

California Highways and Public Works Oakland Progress Page 37 – March- April 1958 

The Units 

  • The first unit was 1.17 miles from the San Leandro border to 90th avenue.
  • The second unit was between 90th to 79th Avenues. – June 1957
  • The third unit was 79th Avenue to Havenscourt Blvd – Spring 1958

Total Length: 4.25 miles

Oakland Tribune June 14, 1957
Oakland Tribune August 26, 1961

Removal of Buildings

The City of Oakland acquired property along the route.

  • The east side of Church Street and 68th Avenue.
  • Between 90th Avenue and Parker Street.
  • The western side of Church Street and 73rd Avenue
  • The south side of Bancroft Avenue is east of 74th Avenue.
  • The north side of Bancroft Avenue between 96th and 98th Avenues.

The following is a list of removed structures for the extension of the Bancroft Parkway.

Oakland Tribune

A miscellaneous collection of buildings along Bancroft Avenue between 73rd Avenue and Havenscourt Blvd. were offered for sale by the City of Oakland.  

Oakland Tribune April 16, 1958

The assortment included duplexes, a store, several homes, and garages. They had to be moved or demolished. The minimum bid was $2,850 for the entire group.

Oakland Tribune 1961

The Final Destinatination

Oakland tribune March 27, 1951

Today Bancroft Avenue is down to one lane in each direction with bike lanes.

More:

The End

More Mansions

More on the mansions that once graced the streets of Oakland

Koa Hall – Bailey Mansion

W. H. Bailey, who owned plantations in Hawaii, hired W.J. Mathews to design his home, costing $70,000 to build circa 1889.

Bailey Mansion on Jackson Street – 1898 Oliver Family Photograph Collections Bancroft Library http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt0n39q1p1

The main hall’s woodwork was made of beautiful koa from the Hawaiian Islands. Koa carvings were also found by the main staircase. The reception room’s woodwork on one side of the hall was bird’ s-eye maple. Antique oak was used in the library and the dining room.

Oakland Tribune May 31, 1891

It was converted into a rooming or boarding house.’

Oakland Tribune March 11, 1916

The old mansion was razed in the late 1920s, and the Hotel Lakehurst was built.

Oakland Tribune Feb 02, 1930

It is now called Lakehurst Hall.

Location: 1369 Jackson St, now 1569 Jackson Street, at the corner of 17th Street.

More Info:

The Old Brown Home.

“The house that watched Oakland grow.”

Oakland Tribune Jan 25, 1956

The three-story, five-bedroom home was built in 1872 by Dr. Samuel Merritt.

In 1874, Roland Geir Brown, a capitalist, purchased the home. Brown was one of the early members of the San Francisco Stock Exchange.

Mr. Brown sold sewing machines for Grover and Baker. The Oakland Tribune reports that Brown was one of the wealthiest men in 19th-century Oakland.

Roland G Brown with two adults – in the carriage. – Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library – http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt409nc89b/?order=1

The Brown home was less than a block from Lake Merritt, before the lake shore was filled in.

Old Brown Home – undated (maybe 1956)

When President William McKinley was in the Bay Area for a week in May 1901, he visited the Brown home.

Oakland Tribune July 25, 1956

Lilian Brown, Roland’s daughter, lived in the mansion until her death in 1955.

The old Brown home at 1889 Jackson Street was demolished in 1956 to accommodate a parking lot.

Location: 1889 Jackson – between 17th and 19th Streets

More Info:

The Other Brown Mansion

Albert Brown came to Oakland in 1887 from New Jersey. He was an undertaker and a prominent lodgeman.

Albert Brown Home on Alice Street

Boarding Home

The mansion was converted into a boarding house shortly after Brown’s death. The Alice-Lake Apartments are now located there.

Location: 1387 Alice Street

More Info:

Alexander Mansion

“Aloha, nui,” or “Love be unto you.”  It is carved above one of the entrances

Samuel T. Alexander came to Oakland from Hawaii in the early 1880s. He was one of the founders of Alexander & Baldwin, an American company that cultivated sugar cane. 

Oakland Tribune

In 1882, Alexander purchased a lot on the northwest corner of Sixteenth and Filbert for $6,000.

Artistic Homes of California
Artistic Homes of California

The three-story Queen Anne-style home was designed by Clinton Day and was completed in 1883 at the cost of $20.000

Move to Piedmont 

The family lived there until 1912 when Mrs. Alexander moved to Piedmont to be closer to her son, Wallace Alexander. 

Rooming House

Sometime after 1912, the mansion was converted to a rooming house, and rooms were rented out until the mid-1960s.

Oakland Tribune 1919
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Oakland, Alameda County, CaliforniaVol 1 1903

New Life for Old Mansion

In 1967, the once venerable mansion stood deserted, and in despair, its boarded or broken windows were scheduled to be demolished.

The Oak Center Neighborhood Association members decided that the old mansion could be given a facelift and become a community “Neighborhood House.” Thus, demolition was halted.

Oakland Tribune 1967

They visualized a rehabilitated building with office space for the Oak Center Association, a children’s library and study hall, an adult library and reading room, a large all-purpose room for meetings and socials, and a room for individual and group counseling.

Vandals Strike

The group succeeded in saving the old mansion from the wreckers, only to have it nearly demolished anyway –by vandals. The house was broken into, ruined beyond repair, and finally demolished in 1968.

More Info:

Quinn Home

William H. Quinn House, 1425 Castro Street, Oakland, Alameda County, CA – Library of Congress – https://www.loc.gov/item/ca0017/

The William H. Quinn Home at 1425 Castro Street was moved to 1004-06 16th Street to make room for Highway 980.

Location: 1006 – 16th Street

William H. Quinn House – Oakland Local Wiki

Hush Mansion – Etnemere

It was built in 1865, the 14-room house of rococo architecture. The barn had room for ten horses and room for 20 tons of hay.

Oakland Tribune

The house had 14 rooms made of redwood. The barn had room for 10 horses

Oakland Tribune

The mansion had a wood and coal furnace, and the radiators are believed to have been the earliest models of that kind in the country. The rooms were paneled with massive doors 9 feet high. Beautiful mirrors adorned the wall.

Oakland Tribune

It was reported that Susan B. Anthony once slept there.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Oakland, Alameda County, CaliforniaVol 2 1903

The house and barn property were purchased by Marston Campbell, Jr, as an investment. It was torn down in 1948.

The Hush Mansion Today – Google Maps

Location: 1401 28th Avenue on East 14th.

More Info:

Once owned by Merritt

In 1877, Dr. Samuel Merritt built a three-story home on Jackson Street. The house had bay windows, a front porch, and cone-shaped peaked.

The lot is part of the 45-acre parcel, which Merritt paid $4,000 in 1852.

Oakland Tribune 1963

John A Stanley purchased the house from Dr. Merritt in 1880 for $12,050. as a wedding gift for his daughter and her husband, Thomas Coghill.

The Coghill family lived there until 1920 when they sold it to John C. Money. After Mr. Money died in 1944, it served as a rooming house.

By 1963, it was the last old mansion on the block and was demolished to make way for a 32-unit apartment building.

Oakland Tribune Jan 05, 1964

Location: 1514 Jackson Street

More Info:

Orange Street Mansion

Edward P. Flint, a land developer and San Francisco businessman, moved to Oakland in 1860. He lived at 13th and Clay before moving to this house.

Oakland Tribune 1964

The site where he built the house at 447 Orange Street was part of a larger parcel he subdivided in Adams Point.

After Flint died, Admiral Thomas S. Phelps, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, purchased the property. In 1939, M.A. Marquard purchased the property and lived in the house until 1964.

The house was demolished in 1964 and replaced with a “modern 28-unit apartment building.

The new structure has 15 two-bedroom and 12 one-bedroom apartments, plus a penthouse. Al Colossi designed the building. It is located at 447 Orange Street.

 Mr. and Mrs. Marquard lived in the penthouse of the new apartment.

More Info:

The End

Clinton Park Urban Renewal Project

The nation’s first federally assisted rehabilitation project.

Oakland Tribune

Federal Housing Act of 1954

In 1955 a 125 block area bounded by E. 21st Street, 14th Avenue, E. 12th Street, and Lake Merritt was chosen as the “study area” for urban renewal.

Clinton Park urban renewal plan (project no. Calif. R-2), City of Oakland, California -November 1957-HathiTrust

In October of 1955, Oakland applied to the Federal Government to formally designate an 80 block area of East Oakland bordering Lake Merritt as its first urban renewal project.

First in the West

The area was Oakland’s first concentrated action against blight and substandard housing.  

Clinton Park was a conservation project, the first of this type in the Western United States. 

When the project began in July 1958, the area covered 282 acres contained approximately 1,358 structures and 4,750 dwelling units. Clinton Park Project is bounded by Lake Merritt, 14th Avenue, East 21st. and East 14th Streets

The field office for the project was located at 1626 6th Avenue. The field office, an example of urban renewal in action –was a 50-year old house that was located at 1535 10th Avenue.

Oakland Gets U.S. Grant

In December of 1955, the Federal Government earmarked $1 210,000 for Oakland’s Clinton Park Urban Renewal Program. This amount was two-thirds of the anticipated total cost.

New School – Recreation Center

“heart of the Clinton Park urban renewal area.”

The new Franklin School served as an educational and recreational facility and the nucleus of the project. The revised plans for the site called for the additional area and a recreation center to be added. The school replaced the old school building condemned as an earthquake hazard.

Oakland acquired property to double the playgrounds of Franklin School.

The new school opened in September of 1956.

Oakland Tribune September 1956
Franklin School Today – 2020 by Littledots

Due to many problems in acquiring property for the expanded facility, the Recreation Center and Playground area’s completion was delayed until the summer of l 961.

Oakland Tribune October 1960
1010 East 15th – today

Our City Oakland

In 1956 the Oakland Junior Chamber Committee of the Chamber of Commerce produced a movie on Oakland’s urban renewal program.
The movie, entitled ” Our City Oakland.”

Our City Oakland – American City 
Dedicated to Oakland Urban Renewal program for the elevation of human and property values of its neighborhoods .

The film (in color with sound)shows examples of Oakland’s slum dwellings, and census figures at the time showed Oakland more than 15,000 such structures (Wow!)

The film also tells of the work in Clinton Park.

Project Launched

In July of 1957, a wrecking crew started the demolition of eight houses near the new Franklin School. This would be the location of the new recreation center.

Oakland Tribune July 1957
Oakland Tribune June 30, 1957

Older Home Gets New Life

In 1956, the Greater Eastbay Associated Homebuilders purchased a 50-year-old home at 1535 10th Avenue.

Oakland Tribune April 1956
Oakland Tribune April 1956

Home and Garden Show

The house was moved from its lot to become an exhibit at the Home and Garden Show.

Oakland Tribune April 1956

It was completely remodeled as a part of Oakland’s Operation Home Improvement Campaign.

Oakland Tribune April 1956

 Following the show, the home was moved to and used as the Clinton Park Project field office.

The office was located at 1621 6th Avenue.

Oakland Tribune 1963

Looks like the house was moved sometime in the mid 1960s. A church is there now.

A Rehab Project

The homes at 624 and 630 Foothill Blvd

Many New Apartment Buildings

From 1956 to 1962, 57 new apartment buildings were constructed. By 1960 $4,000,000 had been spent on new apartment construction.

First Project

The ground was broken in May of 1956 for the first significant construction project for Clinton Park.  

Robert A. Vandenbosch designed the 32-unit apartment building at 1844 7th Avenue and East 19th Street.

 The three-story structure was built around an inner court that has balconies overlooking the court from every apartment.

Now called Casa Simone –

New Apartment Project

Looking from East 18th towards 12th Avenue Photo by Cheney Photo Advertising 1919

A new 12-unit apartment building replaced a “dilapidated” single-family dwelling at 12th Avenue and East 18th Street.

Oakland Tribune

The old structure was located at 1755 12th Avenue, was built in 1900. It had been converted illegally to an eight-unit apartment.

The structure costs $75.000 to build.

1133 East 18th Street

Garden Type Apartment

In 1958 a new $400,000 apartment was built at 1125 East 18th Street.

Oakland Tribune 1958

Two old homes and their outbuildings were razed to make room for the 40-unit two-story building with parking for the 24 cars on the ground floor.

1125 East 18th – Google Maps

An eight-unit apartment building at 645 Foothill Blvd was under construction at the same time.

Clinton Park Manor

Clinton Park Manor, a 144-unit complex, was built in 1958 at the cost of $1,400,000.  

  • 24 efficiency units
  • 50 one-bedroom units
  • 46 two-bedroom units
  • 24 three-bedroom units

Architect Cecil S. Moyer designed the four three-story structures with a landscaped courtyard in the middle.

It is now called Oakbrook Manor – 1229 East 19th Street

The complex is bounded by 12th and 13th Avenues and East 19th and East 20th Streets.

Google Maps

One of Oakland’s first schools, Brooklyn Grammar School, was built on the site in 1863. It was renamed Swett School in 1874, and in 1882 a new school Bella Vista was built there. Bella Vista School was razed in 1951.

The Valhalla Apartments

In March of 1960, a three-story 48-unit apartment building was built on the northeast corner of 12th Avenue and East 17th Street at the cost of $556,000.

Architect Cecil Moyer also designed this building. The new building contained (it might still have the same layout):

  • 3- bachelor apartments
  • 24- one-bedroom apartments
  • 11- two-bedroom apartments
  • 10- three-bedroom apartments

The courtyard had a swimming pool.

1720 12th Ave Google Maps

Six old homes, some dating back to the 1890s, were demolished to clear the site.

Today it is call Cambridge Terrace Apartments

Apartments

A partial list of the new apartment buildings

  • 2225-7th Avenue – 1957
  • 1618-6th Avenue – 1957
  • 1640 -6th Avenue -1957
  • 602 Foothill – remodeled
  • 1925-35 10th Avenue – 1960

New Supermarket

In 1960 Safeway Stores Inc. built a new 20,000 square foot building and a parking lot on 14th Avenue.

The Architects were Wurster, Bernardi, and Emmons of San Francisco.

1711 14th Avenue – Today – Google Maps

Loops’ for Traffic

To meet the problem of through traffic on a residential street, which caused neighborhood deterioration. Forty-seven intersections were marked to be altered, either to divert automobiles to through streets by way of traffic “loops.” or slow them down with curb extensions.

The traffic-diverting “loops” will be landscaped areas extending diagonally across intersections.

The result of these intersections was that through traffic in the project area is limited to 5th, 8th Avenues, north and south, East 21st Street, Foothill Blvd, and East 15th Street, east-west.

The Diverters -Google Maps

Diverters were placed at East 19th Street and 6th and 11th Avenues and East 20th Street at 7th and 10th Avenues. Also at East 20th Street and 12th Avenue.

Discouragers were also placed at East 20th Street and 13th Avenue and East 19th Street and 13th Avenue.

New Mercury Lights and Traffic Signals

Excerpts of articles from the Oakland Tribune 1960

Other features of the program included:

  • New Recreation Center
  • Widening of several streets and the installation of curbs and sewers.
  • Planting of 1,600 trees about 20 per block.
  • Construction of pedestrian overpasses over Foothill Blvd and East 15th Street for safe access to Franklin School.
  • Installation of new street lighting, street signs, and traffic signs.

Beautiful Homes of Clinton Park

Project Report

By March of 1962, 1,081 structures, containing 3,056 dwelling units have been repaired to eliminate all code. Violation. There have been ll7 structures demolished during the same period.   

Final report of Oakland Renewal Foundation, Inc. on Clinton Park Project, Oakland, California. – @HathiTrust

During this same period, 57 new apartment buildings were constructed within the project area, adding l,l08 new units to the existing housing supply. 

More Info:

Oakland (Calif.). Housing Division. (, 1962). Clinton Park: a historical report on neighborhood rehabilitation in Oakland, California. Oakland, Calif.: The Dept.

Clinton – Oakland Local Wiki

The End

Lockwood Gardens

The name Lockwood has been a part of Oakland for a long time. I am still looking into where the name came from. Lockwood was (is) considered a part of the Elmhurst District.

In 1875 the Lockwood School District reported the following:

Oakland Evening Tribune 1875

The Site

The site of Lockwood Gardens was once the extensive estate of William Cluff Jr., a wholesale grocer of some prominence in the early days.

Lockwood Gardens is located between 64th and 66th Avenues on the south side of East 14th Street on 2 1/2 acres of land that was occupied by a golf practice range and one house.

project plans by Carl Warnecke, OHR 

Planning Stages

The proposed housing development that would become Lockwood Gardens was met with protest. The major complaints were as follows.

Oakland Tribune April 10, 1941

One of the provisions in the funding of government housing for the city was to carry out an “equilievant demolition” program. Under the provision for every new housing unit built, a substandard dwelling not within the project area must be demolished. The city had not met the requirements of the projects built in West Oakland. Lockwood was 372 housing units. Over 500 hundred homes would have to be demolished.

Oakland Tribune Mar 6, 1941
Newly constructed Lockwood Gardens public housing development in the Havenscourt district of Oakland,

The cost of building the projects was about $1,175,525. Lockwood was ready for occupancy in 1942.

The Early Years

Lockwood opened in August of 1942. Originally designed for low-income families regardless of employment, they were converted for the use of families in the defense industry only.

“this metropolitan area’s answer to Govenment housing officials prayers”

Oakland Tribune 1944

In 1944 Lockwood had a population of 1600, which included 372 family units and a total of 800 children. An all-volunteer Community Council. A very active Improvement Club to promote unity among the residents and expand social and sports programs for adults and children.

Oakland Tribune Feb 03, 1944

There were two newspapers and two orchestras that provided music for the semi-monthly adult dances and the weekly teen dances. There was a community victory garden.

Oakland Tribune Feb 3, 1944

Organized girls’ and boys’ clubs and carried out a full program of social and sports activities under the direction of volunteers.

There was an auxiliary police force of 40 members who provided their own uniforms and served under Chief of Police James Rouse.

Oakland Tribune Feb 03, 1944

Race and Housing

In a letter to the editor of the Oakland Tribune, Mrs. Mollie Thorner wrote the following:

Editor: Only recently has our whole neighborhood become fully aware of the shocking policies at Lockwood Gardens Federal Housing Projects. (65th Avenue). The neighborhood surrounding Lockwood Gardens is a fine democratic community where all peoples, regardless of race, creed, or color, live side by side to enrich all. The policy of Lockwood Gardens, however, is No admittance to any minority groups. Please note that this is a Federal Housing Project for GI families of low income. All Americans are asked to fight on the battlefield, regardless of race, creed, or color. What do the good people of Oakland think of a policy where, if the GI lives to come home, he finds a Federal Project closed to him because of the color of his skin? These projects are partly paid for by the Federal. Government, but the policy is left in the hands of each city. And since one poison always breeds another, it has now been learned that hundreds of families live in Lockwood Gardens whose income is way above the maximum ser for Federal Housing tenants. We believe that the housing authorities shut their eyes to this to keep up the discrimination policy.
We say with great pride that now that our community did at last found all these things out it will leave no stone unturned to have these policies changed. The citizens of all of Oakland have a duty in this.

Neighborhood Tenants Committees
Mrs. Mollie Thorner, Secretary

The Later Years

Oakland Tribune Jul 16, 1968
Oakland Tribune Jul 16, 1968
Oakland Tribune Dec 25, 1970

Even Later

Lockwood is also known as the “6-5 Vill” (Village) and is one-half of the “Vill.” The other half of the “Vill” is the recently torn down 69th San Antonio Villas housing project, where infamous drug kingpin Felix Mitchell is from. The 69th San Antonio Villas has since been remodeled into condominiums. Once an extremely unattractive housing project, the Oakland housing authority also remodeled Lockwood Gardens. However, unlike the 69th Vill, whose crime rate dropped after remodeling, these efforts have done little to thwart the crime that still plagues the 65th Vill.

Rappers such as G-Stack, Tuffy, Yukmouth, and the late Rap-A-Lot Records artist Seagram Miller all claim The Vill home. World Heritage Encyclopedia

Demolish or Rehabilitation

The Oakland Housing Authority received five federal HOPE VI grants totaling $83 million, enabling it to revitalize four large public housing sites and four small scattered sites. OHA’s first HOPE grant was used to renovate one of OHA’s original “war housing” developments, the 372-unit Lockwood Gardens, constructed in 1943. This was in 1994, 1998, 1999 and 2000

Lockwood Gardens was rehabilitated in the early 2000s.

Lockwood Gardens Today
Lockwood Gardens – Google Maps

More Info:


.

The End

Ostrich Farm in Oakland

Ostrich farming was promoted as a sound investment over a century ago.
The farms, well documented on postcards, and were tourist attractions.

Ostriches were brought to the United States in the early 1880s from Africa. In the wild, they lived in warm, dry climates. Southern California seemed to have conditions similar to their natural African environment. By the late 1890s, there were eight locations in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Deigo counties.

The popularity of feathers in women’s fashion made raising the birds an attractive investment.

Farm in Oakland 

In the fall of 1907, San Francisco newspapers ran an ad campaign for stock investment in an ostrich farm in Oakland. 

In July of 1908, W.H.” Harvey” Bentley of the Bentley Ostrich Farm in San Diego County announced the opening of a branch in the Elmhurst District (sometimes Fruitvale) of Oakland at East 14th and High Street.

Bentley Ostrich Farm East 14th (now International Blvd) and High Streets Oakland, California
Photographer: Cheney Photo Advertising Company c 1913

It opened on August 30th of 1908. It featured birds named Mr. and Mrs “George Dewey” (Admiral at the battle of Manila Bay) and the other Spanish American War hero from the Cuba campaign, “Fighting Bob” Evans commander of the Great White Fleet.

Forty-six birds compromised the original herd.

Could this be George or Bob?

In 1910 it was announced that the addition of a factory to their local salesroom and yards. Which meant the hats were made in Oakland and not San Diego. For the years 1907 to 1911, ostrich plumage on women’s hats was at its peak and all the rage.

Bentley Ostrich Farm East 14th (now International Blvd) and High Streets Oakland, California
Photographer: Cheney Photo Advertising Company c 1911

New Name

In January of 1912, the owner of the Bently Ostrich Farm, was killed in an auto accident near the San Diego farm.

Oakland Tribune Sep 21, 1913

His son sold the farm to a group of Oakland investors.

View of main entrance to the Golden State Ostrich Farm;
Souvenir Publishing Co 1915

The name was changed to Golden State Ostrich Farm in 1913.

;

The farm had spacious ground floor offices and salesroom. In the sales there was a magnificent display of plumes in all sizes, prices and colors.

Title: Salesroom and office [picture] : Golden State Ostrich Farm, East 14th and High streets 1910
Collection: Selections from the Collections of the Oakland History Room and the Maps Division of the Oakland Public Library
Date of access: May 31 2020 10:32
Permalink: https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/kt0p3022h1/

With the coming of World War I, as American and European women entered the workforce, utilitarian clothing replaced the flamboyant fashions of the early 1900s. Broader hats were pinned up with a broach or artificial flower.

Oakland Tribune 1909

Plucking is Painless”

Oakland Tribune May 01, 1952

The bird is shoved into a corner by several men. A hood is placed over the birds head. The plume is cut leaving about an inch of quill in the flesh. The quill would soon fall out.

Bankruptcy

Golden State Ostrich Farm in Oakland filed for bankruptcy in early 1915. 

“Whole Ostrich for the Price of a Feather”

 The press announcement said it was now cheaper to buy the entire ostrich than the amount once paid for the feathers to adorn a hat.

The ostrich farms in northern California had all but failed by 1915. The “industry” had a brief heyday, and in the end, defeat by war and a significant fashion change in hats.

The End

Then & Now – Old Lockwood School

Updated August 2024

Oakland Tribune Oct 10, 1965, and Pg.2

In 1858, Miss Julia Aldrich was contracted to run a small private school on Isaac (Issac) Yoakum’s farm. Yoakum had built his house on the site of the present Lockwood School. The house was moved and replaced with a small building to be used as a school (see above).

The schoolhouse remained in use for another 42 years, with a small addition in 1892.

The school was located at the intersection of East 14th Street (County Road No. 1525 and now International Blvd), Mary Street, then 68th Avenue, and later 69th Avenue.

Map from 1912 – the red line is East 14th (now International Blvd)

In the first year, Lockwood had twelve students enrolled.

Twenty-eight boys and ten girls were enrolled in the school in February 1876. Alonzo Crawford was the teacher.

Oakland Tribune Mar 1, 1876

In August 1876 (typo in the newspaper), 20 boys and 21 girls were enrolled.

Oakland Tribune Aug 22, 1876
  • The Damon Family owned a general store at the corner of E.14th & 66th
  • The Kinsell Family lived on 94th Avenue just below E. 14th
  • The A.H. Merritt family lived on 66th Avenue
  • The Moss home was at 82nd and Foothill
  • The Silva’s owned a saloon at 84th and E. 14th

New School – 1902

The new school was built on the corner of East 14th Street and 68th Avenue in 1902. Charles H. Greenman was the principal. The school was demolished (I need to verify this) in 1936.

Oakland Tribune Nov 20, 1902
The Oakland Tribune Collection, the Oakland Museum of California Gift of ANG Newspapers circa 1917

Greenman died while fighting a fire in the school playground in 1919. In the 1950s, they named the athletic field after Greenman.

Oakland Tribune Dec 7, 1909

Across from the school was the 282-acre dairy belonging to William Manchido. The big pasture was later used as the landing field of Weldon Cooke, an early Oakland aviator. In 1910, Wickham Havens subdivided the land into what we now know as Havenscourt.

Oakland Tribune Nov 03, 1957

Old School is Sold – 1903

Oakland Tribune Feb 3, 1903

Class of 1904

Oakland Tribune May 1948

Lockwood Junior High

In 1913, Supervising Architect J.J. Donovan announced that a new Lockwood school building would be built at East 14th between 66th and 68th Avenues.

The school was to be one story in height, built in the early California style around a courtyard and Mission architecture. The wings were arranged to house a social center, a neighborhood meeting place, a cafeteria, and other modern innovations.

Old Timers Reunions

For many years, the former students of the school held an annual reunion for all graduates.

Oakland Tribune Feb 18, 1932
Oakland Tribune Jul 16, 1951
Oakland Tribune May 13, 1959

The Lockwood Quill

Oakland Tribune May 11, 1919

Lockwood School Band

Oakland Tribune May 1947
Oakland Tribune May 1947
Oakland Tribune Aug 5, 1909

Traffic Reserve

The first traffic reserve unit was formed at Lockwood in February 1928.

Oakland Tribune May 18, 1947

More Info:

Also known as Havenscourt Junior High

Now the Coliseum College Prep Academy – OUSD

The present Lockwood School building was built in 1953-54

In 2007, Futures Elementary School opened as a small school on the historic Lockwood campus, which had been home to students for over 100 years.

  • Futures Elementary School – OUSD

The End

Stephens’ Family

Updated October 2022

The William M Stephens family was a successful African American family from Oakland. They owned the Stephens Restaurant, and Virginia, their daughter, won acclaim at the age of fourteen when her name Jewel City was selected for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition buildings in a competition sponsored by the San Francisco Call-Post.  Virginia was the first African American woman to receive a law degree from the University of California Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law in 1929.

Stephens Restaurant at 200 East 14th Oakland
Circa 1925 – photo by M.L. Cohen

Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

The Stephens Family

William Stephens Circa 1901
Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California

William Stephens was born in 1870 in Accomack County, Virginia. He moved out to California while still a child and attended school in Oakland and San Francisco. After graduation, Stephens completed Heald College coursework before working with the Southern Pacific Railway in 1886. Beginning as a Sleeping Car Porter, he worked his way up to a clerkship under H.E. Huntington, assistant to the company’s President.

In 1894 he lived at 1132 Linden Street in West Oakland.

In 1898, Stephens resigned from Southern Pacific and took a position with the Crocker family, traveling with them throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Through these travels, Stephens learned about the hotel and restaurant business.

In 1901, he married Pauline Logan (1874-1929) of Tehama, California.

Pauline Stephens circa 1898
Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

Pauline gave birth to one daughter, Annie Virginia (who went by Virginia), on April 7, 1903. Due to his daughter’s health problems as a young girl, Stephens resigned from his post with the Crockers and began working at an Oakland social club. He moved on from this position in 1915 to manage the clubhouse at the Hotel Del Monte Golf and Country Club in Monterey County.

Pauline died in May 1929.

Oakland Tribune May 29, 1929

William died on November 21, 1932

Oakland Tribune Dec 2, 1932

Stephens’ Restaurant

Stephens worked at the Del Monte Hotel for about nine years. It was there he learned more about the restaurant business. His first venture was known as the Joy Lunch Room. From his very first business, he was successful, and in 1927 the old Joy Lunch became known as Stephens Restaurant.

Group of men standing in front of Stephens’ Restaurant & Lunch Room at 110 East 14th circa the 1920s
Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California

The restaurant soon became the dining rendezvous of the ultra-fashionable folk of the city and gave lucrative employment to young African American men and women.

California Eagle Dec 1930

Stephens’ Restaurant grew from small quarters into an ample establishment seating over 200 people, occupying three locations near Lake Merritt.

William Stephens (right) and employee inside Stephens’ Restaurant circa the 1920s
Stephens Family papers, MS 5, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

The restaurant enjoyed great success during the 1920s and 1930s and was usually filled to capacity. Stephens took great delight in employing African American high school and college students so they could earn money for their education.

Oakland Tribune 1927

The final location of the restaurant was 200 East 14th (now International Blvd) at 2nd Ave and was in business until 1938 when Narcisi’s Italian Restaurant opened.

Stephens Cocktail Lounge

In 1936 it was announced that the restaurant added a cocktail lounge and was under the management of George Devant and Charles Simpson (Stephens’s nephew.) Charles inherited the recipes that made the restaurant famous.

Known to gourmets for years as the

“home of real Southern cooking”

Oakland Tribune Mar 27, 1936
Oakland Tribune 1936

Virginia Stephens

 

Born in Oakland on April 7, 1903, Annie Virginia Stephens was the only child of William and Paul. She attended public schools in Oakland until the family moved to Pacific Grove, where she graduated from high school.

In 1915 the San Francisco Call-Post held a naming contest for the buildings within the Panama-Pacific International Exposition – Virginia won the competition (1300 titles were submitted) when her name “Jewel City” was selected; she was twelve at the time.

“We regret to say that when it was discovered that Miss Stephens had colored blood there was a sudden silence on the part of the press and the recognition ever given her was a season ticket to the grounds.”

The Crisis, Vol. 11 pg 36, No. 1

College

Virginia attended the University of California at Berkeley and received a bachelor’s degree in science in 1924.

While at Berkeley, Virginia and Ida L. Jackson was charter members Rho Chapter in 1921 and Alpha Nu Omega, a graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha. These were among the first Greek sororities for African American women west of the Mississippi.

Members of Rho Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, University of California, Berkeley (left-right): Virginia Stephens, Oreatheal Richardson, Myrtle Price (in back), Ida Jackson (sorority president), Talma Brooks, and Ruby Jefferson (1921), 
African American Museum and Library at Oakland. 

Encouraged by her father to attend law school, she enrolled in the Boalt School of Law at UC Berkeley and earned a degree in 19 9. At that time, she was only the second woman to receive a law degree from the school and the first African American woman to complete the progr m. Virginia passed the California Bar in the same year, the first African American female Attorney in California.

California Eagle 1930

Virginia married attorney George Coker (1906-1970) The Cokers helped tutor African American students for the State bar exams They moved to Virginia and maintained a private law practice there for almost a decade.

In 1939 after working in private practice for ten years, they moved back to California, settling in Sacramento. Virginia was appointed Attorney in the State Office of the Legislature Council in Sacramento in May 1939 In this capacity, she helped with drafting and amending legislative bills and worked under four different legislative councils:

Upon her retirement in 1966, Virginia attained the position of Deputy of the Indexing Section Virginia died in Sacramento at 83 on February 11, 1986.

More:

The End