Montclair - A Bit of History

Early Photos of Montclair

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Dorothy Londagin

Some old photos of the Montclair District of Oakland – all are from the Oakland Public Library History Room.

When I can, I will show you the area now.

I will start off with one of the earliest photos of Montclair that I have seen. This is circa 1886. I hope that there are more like this.

Then

Students and teachers at Hays School in front of the school.
Circa 1886
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

Now

Another photo of the Montclair Firehouse

Storybook firehouse on Moraga Avenue in the Montclair
Circa 1934
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

The photo below is overlooking the area that is now Montclair Elementary School, and in the distance, you can see the intersection of Thornhill and Mountain Blvd and the Women’s Club.

Tracks for the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern Railway
(later Sacramento Northern Railway) in Montclair
Circa 1925
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

Then

LaSalle Avenue looking down the hill towards Mountain Boulevard
Montclair Real estate offices and trolley depot in view.
circa 1927
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

Now

Looking down LaSalle Ave towards HWY 13 – Google maps

The photo below is probably on LaSalle Ave from Mountain Blvd. the small building is where Highway 13 is now.

Sales offices of real estate broker and home builder Cos Williams in Montclair –
circa 1925 Eston Cheney, photographer.
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

The photo below is probably taken from where Highway 13 is now. Off in the distance is the Sacramento Northern Station. Located at what is now the top of LaSalle Ave, as seen in the above photos.

Graded and staked lots in the undeveloped Montclair
Signs for the Cos Williams Montclair sales offices
circa 1925
Eston Cheney, photographer.
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room

Then

Northeast corner of Mountain Boulevard and Medau Place
Fred F. Chopin on Montclair Realty Co.
circa 1950
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

Now

Corner of Mountain Blvd and Medau Place – Google Maps

Then

Sidewalk construction on Mountain Boulevard near Antioch Street Montclair
Circa 1958
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

Now

Then

Construction Scout Road and Mountain Boulevard in the Montclair
circa 1955
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

Now

Scout Road and Mountain Blvd – Google Maps

The photo below is overlooking the area that is now the intersection of Oakwood and Thornhill Drives. Showing houses on Oakwood Drive

Looking out towards the bay from near the ridge-line above the Montclair
Several winding dirt roads and homes in view.
circa 1930
Eston Cheney, photographer
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.

The End

Business, Early Montclair, History, People

The First Store in Montclair

Posted on March 23, 2019March 27, 2024 by Dorothy Londagin

Updated with new photos March 2024

Recently, someone asked about when 7-Eleven came to Montclair, which was about 1958. I thought I would go back a little farther and tell you about the first store in Montclair.

A Bit of History.

In 1925, Otto Schuneman bought land on Thorn Road and built a store. His store was a combination fountain, grocery store, and service station. The address was 281 Thorn Road.

Early residents of the area remember the place as a tourist bus stop, where refreshments were served at the fountain and an outdoor terrace.

The original building is still standing behind the 7-11 store.

**Showing the location of the first store**

Mr. Schuneman leased the store. E.G., Nickerson of 408 Florence Ave (now 5800 Florence Terrace) in 1926, and Captain Baldwin in 1928.

Funk’s Grocery – 1930-1940

In March of 1930, Davis L. Funk leased the store from Schuneman and bought out his remaining stock. Mr. Funk had owned a couple of other stores in Oakland.

He called his store Funk’s Grocery and Montclair Grocery.

The Funk family lived at 5677 Thornhill in the mid to late 30s to early 40s.

In the early 1960s, the Montclair Presbyterian Church bought the house from the owners.

My ex-husband and I worked for the church from 1983- 1987 and lived in the house.

This house, grocery store, and the Thorn Road Bible School (now Montclair Presbyterian) were all built in 1925-27.

Note: Montclair Presbyterian Church (MPC) and the Montclair Library were formed in March 1930.

Montclair Food Center 1940-1957

**Montclair Food Center – Carrol Mauro 1951**

In 1940, Funk took on a partner, his son-in-law Malcolm “Scotty” Hodge, the husband of his daughter Lenore, and the store was renamed the Montclair Food Center.

Funk and Hodge ran the store together until Funk died in 1949 at his home on Grisborne Avenue behind the store.

Hodge and his wife continued until 1957 when they couldn’t negotiate a new lease with Otto Schuneman, the owner. I thought it was because he could make more money leasing it to Speedee Mart.

When the store closed in 1957, it was the last one in Montclair to maintain a credit and delivery service. Montclair Food Center was more than just a store for many of its customers.

By 1957, Montclair was also changing. Payless Grocery Store (soon to be Luckys) and LaSalle Avenue Market were located in the business district, and a new Safeway would soon be built.

Min-a-Mart and Speedee Mart 1958-1966?

A Min-a-Mart opened in about 1958.

In 1959, the store was leased by Speedee Mart Corporation.

In 1964, the parent company of the 7-Eleven Stores bought all the Speedee Mart franchises in California.

They began slowly changing the name to 7-Eleven (7-11)

The End

History

Audrey Lucinda Robinson

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Dorothy Londagin

Audrey Lucinda Robinson – 1915-2008

Audrey Robinson was the first African American teacher at Thornhill Elementary School in Oakland, Ca.

Mrs Robinson 1966 thornhill — **Thornhill School 1966-1967**

Early Years

Audrey Lucinda Robinson was the daughter of Charles Nelson and Maude Gibson. She was born in 1915 in Oakland. She attended Peralta School and graduated from Claremont in 1930 and University High in 1933. The family lived at 6148 Colby Street.

She was a member of the Colored YWCA at 8th and Linden in West Oakland. She was a member of a club that included Lionel Wilson, the former Mayor of Oakland.

Audrey married Frederick D. Robinson, a Washington, D.C. police officer in 1941, shortly before he was deployed to fight in World War II. In 1944 Robinson died during combat in Italy.

Oakland_Tribune_Sun__Apr_5__1942_ — Oakland Tribune April 1942

Thornhill Elementary School

She was the first African American teacher at Thornhill School in the Montclair District of Oakland. She taught kindergarten for 10 years from 1966-1976. She said that she never experienced any form of racism from the children, staff, or parents. She said about one African American child would join her class every year. She loved her time at Thornhill and love the children. She was loved by the children.

Retirement

Audrey was dedicated to preserving the history of African Americans in the City of Oakland, and she volunteered with the African American Museum and Library of Oakland (AAMLO). She also became very active at the Oakland Museum, serving as Docent Chairman for the History Department. She also served as Vice President of Administration for the Cameron-Stanford House Preservation Association.

Audrey passed away in June of 2008 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Audrey was predeceased by her husband, a WW II fatality, and her son. She is survived by her daughter, Jeri, her grandson Frederick and two great-grandsons.

References:

Obituary East Bay Times – Audrey L. Robinson
Oral history – Audrey Gibson Robinson
Oakland Local Wiki – Gibson Family

The End

Buildings, Early Montclair, History

Thorn Road Bible School

Posted on January 15, 2019June 7, 2025 by Dorothy Londagin

In 1926, the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland approved the plans to build a Bible School in the Montclair District of Oakland.

18402338_10209483826033425_8414676837112543528_o — Drawing by Charles Williams circa 1926

The building was to cost about $25,000. It became necessary because they had outgrown the temporary accommodations at the school. They started out with seven students in January of 1926; by July, they had eighty.

In June of 1927, it was announced that the school would be open for four weeks during summer vacation.

Oakland Tribune, June 1927

The 1920s saw significant growth in Montclair, and the Bible school began holding Sunday services for the area’s residents. They held Easter Services up on Skyline Drive and festive Christmas services.

Christmas circa 1928

**Thorn Road** Bible Schoo,**l Circa 1928**

In 1930 Montclair Presbyterian Church was organized with 90 Charter Members.

In 1938 they built a new Chapel which was there until they built the present complex in the mid-1960s at 5701 Thornhill Drive.

The Chapel as it looked in 1940

18518255_10209529197807691_6198739890256919397_o

18451362_10209529197927694_3814965270914563087_o

The End

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The Rabbit Hole

Posted on April 23, 2018November 10, 2024 by Dorothy Londagin

I grew up in the Montclair District of Oakland, CA. I attended Thornhill Elementary School, Montera Junior High, and Skyline High School and spent some time at Merritt College.

I lived in Montclair until I was a young adult, and since then, I have lived by Lake Merritt, in the Fruitvale District, on Piedmont Ave, the King Estates Area, and now the Laurel District.

I have been an Oakland history buff since attending an Oakland Heritage Alliance Tour of the Fernwood Neighborhood in the Montclair District of Oakland in 1984. On that tour, I learned a train (Sacramento Northern) ran through Montclair in the early 1900s, and people lived in the area as early as the 1860s and have been hooked ever since. Since then, I have spent a lot of time looking into Montclair’s history, and I have learned a lot. This will be the best way to get it out of my head and onto paper.

2018. I started this blog because I had collected so much information on Oakland’s history that I couldn’t wait to share it. Posting in Facebook groups isn’t the best outlet for me. I love sharing what I know and reading what others share, but things get lost on Facebook.

I got started with the help of my dear friend Phil, and I was off and running. It should be easy, I say to myself, because I had already laid out actual pages and everything I wanted to say.

But it wasn’t.

I tend to get bogged down in the details, worry about getting my facts correct, and find it hard to find a happy medium between too much and too little. So, this is a work in progress, so bear with me.

I hope you will enjoy history as much as I do!

Down The Hole, I Go

But I have strayed from the topic of this post. When researching one thing, you often find something else that has nothing to do with what you are looking for, but it piques your interest. That happens to me a lot.

You might know this as the “Internet rabbit hole” you see when you research one thing and then accidentally go to Wikipedia, and then you are trying to find out what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. That is it in a nutshell.

One rabbit hole I get sucked into often is I will see a picture like this one and want to know more about it.

Location
Is it still there?

Those two things can be challenging as the location is sometimes vague and wrong. Sometimes, the area is correct. When looking up the house, I wonder who it was built for. Were they famous or rich, maybe both?

I have compiled many of these pictures of newly built houses. I decided to create a map using Google Maps. The map I have made is “What was there or still is… Oakland, California.“

I have already added many homes I found while down the rabbit hole.

Some are from long ago and long gone, but some are still there.
This information is based on clippings, newspapers, and photos. It may not be accurate, as address numbers have changed, and locations are often vague.

Maroon – Still there
Black – Gone
Yellow – Landmark
Green – Berkeley
Purple – Piedmont
Red – Questions – researching

I still have many pages in the works; I must get myself out of this hole.

This might help explain Rabbit Hole.

Enjoy!

Early Montclair, History, Transportation

The First Bus Lines in Oakland

Posted on February 13, 2018July 30, 2023 by Dorothy Londagin

New Service to Montclair — **From Ac Transit Time Sept 1961**

In May 1921, The Key System began operating a motorcoach service. The first line opened to Mills College on May 16, 1921; a week later, on May 21, service to Montclair began.

**Montclair Coach –** **AC Tranist Photo**

The Realty Syndicate purchased and paid the bills for the motor coaches to provide transportation for potential customers to Montclair. The coaches were painted to match the streetcars.

There is a little dispute about which line was first, the Montclair or the Mills College lines. I think it’s a tie – they both started in May 1921.

The first tract office was a tent; later, it became a small building. The tract office was then moved to the triangle land at Mountain Blvd, Antioch St, and Antioch Ct. The building later became the offices of Winder Gahan, real estate agents dealing with Montclair. The photo shows that the original site was on the opposite side of Moraga Rd (at LaSalle), now in the middle of the Warren Freeway (Hwy 13).

The Schedule

During the commuting hours, 6 am-9 am and 5 to 7 pm every 20 minutes. During the remainder of the day, a 40-minute service. The fare was 6¢ with transfer privileges to streetcars. In 1924 they offered a service to run until midnight. Before this, bus transportation had been confined to the out-of-town service along the highway.

New Terminal – October 1928

In 1928 a new $18,000 Terminal was built in Montclair. It was located at the corner of Mountain Blvd and La Salle, a short walk to the Sacramento Northern station. Local architect Hamilton Murdock designed the Spanish Style building, the first building structure in Montclair. An Architectural Guide – Pg. 276

The building is still standing and is located at 6206 La Salle Ave.

A Reunion

In September 1961, a forty-year-old photo led a reunion between two former drivers who pioneered local motorcoach service in the East Bay.

J.L. “Marty” Martin started working in May 1921, and C.E. Pehrson began in September of that same year. They met in Montclair at the approximate site of the first terminal and discussed new verses or coaches and how much things had changed.

Various from the Oakland Tribune

More Info:

Historical Photo of Early Bus Found Transit Times April 1975
Reunion of early drivers Transit Times September 1961
More on A.C. Transit – Transit Times September 1963

The End

Tract or Subdivisions

Casa Altadena

Posted on November 9, 2017May 4, 2025 by Dorothy Londagin

In Smith Reserve

“Atop one of the knolls, commanding full advantage of the ever-changing vistas, is Casa Altadena, the distinctive exhibition home of Realty Syndicate. Company”
SF Examiner February 11, 1928

Casa Altadena is of Spanish architecture. It occupies a knoll overlooking beautiful wooded vistas and canyons on one side and a panorama of the bay on the other.