In 1948, as part of the promotion for the movieMr. Blandings’ Builds a Dream Housestarring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, the studio built “dream houses” in cities across the United States. Oakland was chosen as one of the locations.
They initially planned to build 100 replicas of the home in the movie. In the end, only 73 dream houses were built. Some homes were sold by raffle, and some were auctioned off, with a percentage of the proceeds going to local charities. The charity in Oakland was Childrens’ Hospital.
Before the movie’s release, blueprints were sent to local builders by the studio, asking that they build the homes as close to the specifications as conditions would permit.
Children’s Hospital
They charged 50 cents to tour the house, with the proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital.
Funds from the sale of tickets to Mr. Blandings’ California Dream House were used to purchase a large Autoclave sterilizer for a new wing at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital.
Children’s Hospital branch members served as hostesses at the open house.
The Dream House
“This is very likely the most famous modern home in the world today”
Oakland Tribune September 18, 1948
The Oakland Dream Home was located in the Chabot Park area at 11000 Cameron Street. It was situated on three choice free from fog and only minutes from downtown Oakland. The lots overlooks the entire Bay Area (that might be a stretch) and five counties, adjoins Lake Chabot Golf Course and miles of bridle trails.
The had two large bedrooms, and a combination den or bedroom, a 36 foot living room with a 12 foot plate glass window overlooking the bay. There was a badminton court a double car garage, a rumpus room connected to a large outdoor area.
It was for sale in 1981 for $151,000, but sometime between then and 1994 it was demolished and a new house was built.
Oakland Tribune 1981
The house today – photographby author
More Info:
A Visit to Mr. Blandings’ Fictional Dream House – Blog
Black pioneers moved to Oakland soon after the town was founded in 1852. By 1860 23 blacks were living in the Oakland Township, and 18 were living in the town of Brooklyn (east of Lake Merritt, now a part of Oakland.)
The first schools in California, public and private, were segregated. The system of segregated schools developed without organized opposition or serious debate. Eventually, segregation became law with the California School Code of 1860 explicitily prohibited Black, Chinese, and Indian children from attending public schools.
The Black community recognized the need to educate their children in Oakland and the town of Brooklyn.
The Flood Family
Elizabeth Thorn Scott came to California during the Gold Rush with her first husband, Joseph Scott, and settled in Placerville, CA. Her husband died soon after their arrival. Elizabeth then settled in Sacramento, with her young son.
Seeing the need for a school for “non-whites,” she opened her home centrally located between M and N Streets on May 29, 1854, becoming the first “colored” private school in Sacramento.
Elizabeth Thorne Flood undated Oakland History Room
There were 14 students in the school between the ages of 4 and 29, and their families paid $1.00 per week, and they paid her $50.00 per month. Later the school became part of St. Andrews (AME) Church, holding classes in the basement.
Isaac Flood came to California in search of gold. In the early 1850s, he settled in the Brooklyn Township. Elizabeth and Iassc were married in 1855 (not sure when or where they met.) She retired from teaching and moved to Brooklyn.
In 1856 Elizabeth gave birth to a son George Frances Flood, who was said to be the first “black boy” born in Alameda County. She gave birth to a daughter Lydia Flood in 1862.
George F. Flood 1856-1924Lydia Flood Jackson 1862-1963
Again seeing the need for schools in the black community, she campaigned to get support for another school.
In 1857, she opened a private school for Black children in Alameda County in her home at 1334 East 15th Street. Members of the Black community supported this effort, paying tuition on top of paying taxes that covered schools their children could not attend.
This was the first private school in the Oakland area open to all minorities. Elizabeth’s goal for her school was to be competitive with White schools.
Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter Fall 1984
In 1863 the Shiloh A.M.E Church (now First A.M.E Church) assumed control of the school following its formal organization as a church. The Flood’s helped organize the church and were founding members. The church purchased the abandoned Carpentier schoolhouse (see Oakland’s First Schoolhouse)and moved the building to 7th and Market Streets in West Oakland. The tiny building served as the church’s chapel and housed the school. Elizabeth taught at the school until she died in 1867 (unexpectedly)at 39.
Isaac continued their quest for equal education for all children. He was a member of theCalifornia Colored Convention Movement, and they, as a group, challenged California’s segregation laws in the early 1870s, citing the recently enacted 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
He and a group of leaders in the Black community petitioned the School board in 1871 to end segregation.
Their daughter Lydiawas among the first to attend an integrated Oakland public school, the old Swett Grammar School on 12th Avenue and East 19th Street.
Brooklyn Colored School
The expense of supporting a private school was a heavy burden on the Black community, and in 1866 the parents from both Oakland and Brooklyn petitioned both the Oakland and Brooklyn’s Boards of Education to provide the education of Black children in both areas. After months of delay, the Brooklyn board voted to establish a public school in Brooklyn, and it was open to children in both areas.
In 1867 the Brooklyn Colored Schoolopened in the town of Brooklyn (now East Oakland.) It was the first public school for Black children in Alameda County. It was located at 1008 10th Avenue (or 1066 10th Avenue)in an old, dilapidated building that was originally a private residence (old Manning House) and measured only 35 by 38 feet.
Brooklyn Colored School Oakland CA – Miss Mary Jane Sanderson – Oakland History Room
A young Black woman, Miss Mary Sanderson, was the only teacher from 1867-1871. She was only 16 when she started teaching at the school (Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter winter-spring 1994.)
In 1870 the school was located in a room of the Adams Street Primary School, a two-story brick building built in 1866. (Brooklyn Independent December 3, 1870.) This might explain the brick building in the photo above.
In 1871 the minimum number of stents fell below the required 10. It was forced as there were more children from Oakland than from Brooklyn.
1871
The Black children of Oakland found it difficult to get to the Brooklyn School due to its remote location. In 1869, the Oakland Board of Education voted to open an evening school that admitted Black children and adults. The Black community rented a building on Jefferson Street, and the Board of Education contributed $25 a month towards the support of the school. D. Clinton Taylor, a white teacher, taught in the one-room school. The school closed in July 1869 after operating for only six months.
In 1872, Oakland’s Board of Education went against the State School code and approved integrating Oakland schools in a 5-2 vote.
More Info:
Elizabeth Scoot Flood: Early Oakland Educator – OPL Blogs
African American Women of the Old West By Tricia M Wagner 2007- Internet Archive
I found an article written by William Sturm (Oakland History Room) in the Oakland Heritage Alliance Newsletter for the Summer of 1993 on the Elmhurst Presbyterian Church. 1993 the church was celebrating its 100th Anniversary.
The article piques my interest, and I thought it should be easy to find more history to share with you. Well, it wasn’t. I didn’t see much more than what was included in his article and another from the Oakland Tribune. The church doesn’t seem to have a website but does have a Facebook page, but no history there.
A Bit of History
View of Elmhurst, California, looking west from the adjacent hill. DATE: circa 1907 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
In the 1890s, the town of Elmhurst was farmland and orchards with few houses here and there.
In May 1892, traction service began along the north-south on what is now International Blvd., on the Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward Electic Railway. To power the engines, a modern dynamo and roundhouse were built at Elmhurst on what is now 98th Ave. Elmhurst was just 17 minutes from central Oakland.
Electric street car approaching a stop on East 14th Street at 96th Avenue, looking east, in the Elmhurst district of Oakland, California. Date circa 1909. Vernon Sapper’s collection. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.Interior of shops at Elmhurst in 1895, from a print of W.F. Krueger – https://purl.stanford.edu/gh405bd4246
Land Donated
Elmhurst was just a year old when Andrew Jones, a pioneer, farmer, and landowner of the town, donated a piece of land on the east side of Jones Ave (now 98th Ave) near East 14th Street (now International Blvd) to the church.
Ch n le June 25, 1893
Jones donated land across the street from the two-story home he built in 1882.
OaklandTribune July 19, 1882
Residence of Andrew Jones Elmhurst – date unknown Oakland Public Library History Room
Oakland Tribune August 23, 1882
Church Organized
On June 4, 1893, the church was organized with 20 charter members, and on August 30, the ground was broken for a new house of worship.
“the Sunday school has a membership of fifty”
The Oakland Enquirer
Undated drawing of the church
On November 25, 1893, the church bell rang out, and the first service was held in the new building.
The Elmhurst Presbyterian was the pride of the area.
By 1902, Elmhurst had 1100 residents, a newspaper, a public school, several churches, and numerous businesses, including a hotel, livery stables, restaurants, grocery, and hardware stores.
Jones Avenue ( later 98th Avenue), looking southwest, in Elmhurst, California. DATE: [circa 1905] Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
In 1909 Elmhurst, along with Fruitvale, was annexed into Oakland. The church remained at the heart of the community, a link to the beginning of Elmhurst and a source of community strength.
Oakland Tribune 1922
In the 1960s, the congregation became predominantly African-American. The Rev. Michael Dunn, pastor from 1972-1981, made notable contributions to the church’s ministries; a chapel is named in his honor.
The church is still standing, and according to the Oakland Heritage Alliance Summer 1993 newsletter, they were using the same bell.
Home on Grand Avenue (now 90th Avenue) in Elmhurst, California Circa 1896 .Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room. Willow’s Block in Elmhurst, California. Elmhurst Shoe Store and other businesses in view. DATE: circa 1907 Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
The Court of All Nations is located on Hillen Street (formally Trumbull Street) near Mills College, with a view of the bay and the nearby hills. The group of fifty homes was built in 1925, with the first four starting in January of that year.
Unique Idea Result of Europe Trip
The unique idea was brought back by local builder R.C. Hillen after spending five months motoring through Europe in search of ideas for one of his next developments.
He wanted to reproduce the picturesque homes that dot the hillsides and valleys of European countries.
The homes are of five and six-room European style with American convenience. Each home is an architectural gem, specially adapted by W.W. Dixon, architect and the editor of the Home Designer Magazine, from sketches Hillen made during that trip.
They will include patios and landscaped gardens both in front and back.
Casa Romero
Oakland Tribune May 17, 1925
Casa Romero is a Spanish-Moorish type, and it opened in ???. The iron grill balconies before the windows and the flower-grown patio with pool and fountain suggest old Spain.
Oakland Tribune
W.W. Dixon, who designed Casa Romero, said, ” the name an old Spanish name dating from the days of the Mexican Grants in California.” Casa Romero means the house of the Romeros.
“‘Casa Romero’ Is All Electrically Equipped: Radio Featured.”
Oakland Tribune May 17, 1925
A Pipe-Organ Radio is installed in the living room. The rare acoustic properties of the room, eighteen by thirty-six feet in size and eighteen feet high, were fully utilized. A Radiola super-heterodyne is hidden behind what appears to be pipes of an organ on the balcony above. Using a central control, you could listen by loudspeaker or earphone connections by merely pressing a button.
The hidden radio – Oakland Tribune 1925
Casa Romero Today from Google Maps
European Style Homes
Some of the homes were designed along the lines of English cottage architecture, and others suggest French and Italian villa homes with homes from Spain, Norway, or Holland.
All have charming features and will include a large living room with a unique fireplace, a dining room with a buffet, and a kitchen with all the modern fixtures. Priced from $6500-$7900
Grand Duke
The Grand Duke Model Home – Oakland Tribune 1925
Dixon and Hillen
Walter W. Dixon(1884-1953)
Robert C. Hillen (1884-1955)
Style: Storybook, fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel
Dixon designed homes and other buildings, alone and with the firm Dixon and Hillen, from about 1910 to 1950, mostly in the East Bay.
Dixon built grand Storybook houses and houses in other styles and is best known for compact Storybook tract cottages.
Both were involved under the name of Dixon and Hillen Publishers with the Home Designer Magazine, based in Oakland and printed out of their office at 1844 Fifth Ave. The monthly publication costs $2.50 yearly for a subscription and covers mostly bungalow and Storybook types of homes.
They also designed the homes on Picardy Drive in Oakland.
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 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 – 1898Oliver 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.
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
“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, California – Vol 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.
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, California – Vol 2 1903
The house and barn property were purchased by Marston Campbell, Jr, as an investment. It was torn down in 1948.
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 propertyand 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.
The heavy missile, which neighbors said had hurled through the air like a
“shell from a cannon.”
Oakland Tribune October 28, 1931
A 40-pound rock, blasted from the hills above Millsmont, was hurled half a mile and crashed through the roof and dining room ceiling at the home of Fred Bailey, 4017 Altamont Avenue.
The rock was blasted from the nearby Heafey-Moore quarry.
“There is little doubt the rock came from the quarry, where men were blasting.”
A “strange-urge” told Mrs. Bailey to leave their home, and she did go. She left the house at 4:30 with her daughter and went downtown.
“every time I went into the dining room, something told me I shouldn’t be there.” Mrs. Bailey said
Oakland Tribune October 28, 1931
They returned home to find it in shambles. There was an eight-foot hole in the ceiling of the dining room. The rock landed on the couch/bed that their daughter used.
A bit of history of some of the mansions that once graced the streets of Oakland. More to come at a later date.
Burnham Mansion
Burnham Mansion was at the corner of Lakeside Drive and 17th Street. The three-story mansion was built in 1902 by John Russell Burnham.
Oakland Tribune 1955
The Burnham family selected the site on Lake Merritt’s edge because of its similarity to Lake Geneva.
The city’s first stall shower and an automobile garage were the house’s distinctive features. The Burnhams were the owners of one of the first two automobiles in Oakland.
Oakland Tribune 1955
The mansion was turned over to the American Red Cross for a hospitality center at the beginning of WWII. Alcoholics Anonymous occupied the home until 1955.
In 1956, construction was to begin on ne 60-unit apartment building. The new structure was expected to cost $2.5 million. Each of the 60 apartments ran completely through the building with views of Lake Merritt. Other features included parking on two levels, the elimination of corridors, an extensive elevator system, individual patios, and a rooftop garden.
Lake Merritt – Anthony Chabot’s Home – circa 1886 – Photo by Frank B. Rodolph – http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt9d5nd40c/?order=1
The old home of Anthony Chabot, founder of Oakland’s modern water system, was torn down in 1952. The city had declared the house a fire and health hazard. The home was located at 104 East 15th and 2nd Avenue.
Lake Merritt – Anthony Chabot’s Home – circa 1886
The building had been used as a rooming house for years, taking in enough money to pay the taxes, and was still owned by Ellen Chabot Bothin.
The home was a modest one, considering the owner was a millionaire. The house was two stories with an attic, its rooms with high ceilings, marble mantels, and velvet embossed walls.
The Chabot’s name is a part of our history, with the following named after them.
Chabot Road
Chabot Observatory
Chabot School
Lake Chabot
Goodall Mansion
Edwin Goodall built an elaborate mansion in 1880. The house was located at 1537 Jackson Street.
The home had paneled walls, a bed carved out of mahogany, and a small theater with dressing rooms.
In 1918, Dr. M.M. Enos purchased the home and operated it as the St. Anthony Hospital until 1923, when it became theJackson Lake Hospital.
Oakland Tribune 1960
In 1960, the hospital was razed to make room for an apartment building called the Jackson Lake Apartments.
Oakland Tribune Sept 23, 1960
Jackson Lake Apartments
King Mansion
Charles H. King built his mansion in about 1884.
King City, a rural community in the Salinas Valley, was named in 1886 for Oakland’s Charles H. King.
In 1971, the old and neglected King family Mansion still stood at 1029 Sixth Avenue and East 11th Street. The home at one time had 38 rooms. Not sure exactly when the home was razed.
Mein Mansion
Oakland Tribune 1964
The mansion of Capt. Thomas Mein was located at the corner of Jackson and 15th Street.
Oakland Tribune 1964
The three-story, 16-room Victorian was built in 1899 and included a winding staircase and marble fireplaces.
Oakland Tribune 1964
In 1964 home was razed to make room for a new 34-unit apartment called the Delphian.
Oakland Tribune 1965
Palm Knoll
Oakland TribuneJan 12, 1947
Palm Knoll, was the home of Governor (later Senator) George C. Perkins (1839–1923). The 24-room mansion, Vernon and Perkins Street, was built in 1890.
Palm Knoll was razed in 1947 to make room for apartments.
How it looked before it was demolished Oakland Tribune Jan 12, 1947
Playter Home
Ely Welding Playter, a successful hardware merchant in San Francisco, built the mansion in 1879 at 14th and Castro Streets. The area was the center of Oakland’s elite. He lived there with his family until 1885.
YWCA (old Player Home) at 14th and Castro Streets in Oakland, California. Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room. Undated
It was a three-story structure with long, narrow windows.
Playter was the 24th Mayor of Oakland. He served two terms, 1885 and 1886, and was a Republican.
In 1907, the YWCA raised enough money to purchase the home to be used as the association’s headquarters and a home for “working girls.”
Oakland Tribune Feb 18, 1907
The house was torn down in 1948 to make room for a service station.
The hospital was Once a Mansion.
The original home of the Solomon Ellsworth Alden family, then the John Edgar McElrath family.
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 fromthe 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.
In 1962 a pair of lions statues were removed from their perch guarding the Alameda County Hall of Records since about 1875. The county board of supervisors agreed the statutes should be entrusted to Knowland State Park, where they were placed at the zoo entrance.
Oakland Tribune May 08, 1963
Thought to be Stone
“Most everyone believed they were stone or concrete underneath the paint,” Razeto said. “But tap them, and they ring…like a bell.”
Oakland Tribune May 11, 1963
Old photographs indicate the lions were an integral part of the original Victorian design, including two front lion wall plaques (removed before 1930)and a dozen bearded gargoyles at the eaves.
Oakland Tribune March 11, 1964
Old Hall of Records
The Hall of Records was erected in 1875. The hall sit had been the parade ground of the Oakland Guard from 1865. Architect Henry H. Meyers designed the ornate hall complete with entrance columns, leaded glass windows, and a grand rotunda.
Hall of Records updated Oakland History Room
A south wing was added in 1900 and a north wing in 1916. It was remodeled in 1945 when the welfare and school departments moved there.
In 1957 it was determined that nothing more could be added to the building without it collapsing.
In 1964 the Old Hall of Records was demolished to make room for the new $2.5 million Probation Center.
Today
For years the lions were greeting people as they entered the Zoo. I bet thousands of kids and adults had had a picture taken of them sitting on one the lions. I know I did. Sadly, the lions no longer greet people as they have been moved from their prominent perch to the exit area.
original iron lions, which guarded the entrance to the County Hall of Records since 1880 placed here in 1963 by the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County.
