Slim Jenkins saw the economic opportunity in the business district and opened a liquor store on December 5, 1933, the same day as the repeal of Prohibition. Soon the business expanded a cafe.
As I take a little break from my series on the schools in Oakland, I thought I would share this little bit of history with you.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Thomas Mahoney House, 69 Eighth Street, Oakland, Alameda County, CA . Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ca0013/>.
These photos have popped up many times over the years, and I didn’t give them much thought. They popped up again yesterday. I decided to look into them and see what I could find.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Thomas Mahoney House, 69 Eighth Street, Oakland, Alameda County, CA . Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ca0013/>.
Both photos are online at the Library of Congress. Please note there is a typo in the LOC description. The address is 669 Eighth Street.
I don’t know what became of the house after these photos were taken. I will let you know if I find out anything.
Early Pioneer
So, I started looking into Thomas Mahoney (sometimes spelled Mahony). Wow, I was amazed to find a Thomas Mahoney living at 669 Eight Street in 1871. In the 1880 census, he lived there with his wife and four children. I then located in an obituary from January 1900. In the obituary, I notice his daughter Laura’s married name is Bassett
!8718 Directory
1888 Directory
Mahoney came to California in the 1850s. He mined for a while in Tuolumne County before retiring on his ranch in the Hills of Oakland. In 1863, he sold his ranch and moved to the home on Eighth Street next to St. John’s Episcopal. He was married in 1863 and raised four children in the home. His wife died in 1891, and he died in 1900.
His obituary
Oakland Tribune Jan 29, 1900
Thomas Mahoney, a well-known pioneer of this city, died at his home at 660 Eighth Street, last evening, in the 71st year of his age.
The deceased was a native of Ireland and came to this State many years ago, where he engaged in ranching. He owned a large quantity of land to the north of the present city limits, from which the sites now comprising Mountain View, St. Mary’s, and the Jewish Cemeteries were purposed by the managers of those several burial places.
The deceased was a widower, his wife having died several years ago. He was the father of Mrs. Laura J. Bassett, Louise H., Emma E., and George Mahoney.
The funeral services will be held next Wednesday in St. John’s Episcopal Church. The interment will take place in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Oakland Tribune Jan 29, 1900
Family members continued to live in the home until around 1913.
St. Mary’s Cemetery
In 1863, Archbishop Alemany purchased 36 acres of land known as the ” Mahoney Ranch” from Thomas Mahoney. The land is now called St. Mary’s Cemetery, next to Mountain View Cemetery. Thomas Mahoney was buried there in 1900.
Laura Mahoney Bassett was well known for her reminiscences in the Sunday Knave in the Oakland Tribune. She was the oldest daughter of Thomas Mahoney, and she was born in Oakland in 1866, where she lived most of her 80 years. She died in 1950.
I hope to show Then and Now images of Oakland Schools in this series of posts. Along with a bit of the history of each school, I highlight. Some photos are in the form of drawings or postcards or from the pages of history books.
Note: Piecing together the history of some of the older schools is sometimes tricky. I do this all at home and online — a work in progress for some. I have been updating my posts when I find something new. Let me know of any mistakes or additions.
Brookfield Village School
Brookfield Village school opened for the new school year in September of 1944, the latest of Oakland’s 77 schools.
“Brookfield Village Elementary School opened without the benefit of bells.”
Brookfield was Oakland’s newest public school, which opened under wartime handicaps. Money and supplies were tight. Classes were being held in 19 portables that arrived three weeks before school started.
767 boys and girls were enrolled, just 33 less than anticipated in that first year.
New School
In February 1950, they held a groundbreaking ceremony for Unit 1 of the new Brookfield Village School.
Oakland Tribune Mar 13, 1949
The school unit was designed byConfer and Willis. The new building had 11 classrooms, a library, and an auditorium. It was a one-story building of wood frame construction.
Oakland Tribune Apr 24,1951
New Addition
Oakland Tribune Oct 23, 1957
Oakland Tribune Nov 26, 1957
In November of 1957, they broke ground for new addition costing $286,680. The new building will include a cafeteria, ten classrooms, a kindergarten, plus two special classrooms.
Brookfield Today
Brookfield Lions: Learning and Thriving with Pride.
Google Maps
The school is located at 401 Jones Ave., Oakland, CA 94603
Clawson School dates back to the 1880s, as seen in the image below.
Clawson in 1895
Clawson Elementary School was built in 1915. This Neo-Classical design had two stories and utilized extensive terracotta ornamentation. The ornamentation around its front doors. The building was designed by
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
The Clawson Elementary School was listed as standing near the intersection of 32nd Street and Magnolia Street in Polk-Husted’s Oakland, California, City Directory, 1918
Kindergarten
Entrance to the Kindergarten Classroom Clawson School pergola, Oakland, California (1916)Â 1
Principal’s Office
Auditorium
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
Bathrooms Boys and Girls
Clawson Closed
The building functioned as a school until it was closed sometime between 1971-1973. OUSD closed three schools in 1973 rather than spend the money needed to retrofit them, including Clawson School. Clawson couldn’t meet the new stricter seismic standards that went into effect in 1973.
New Life
Clawson Lofts Today Google Maps
After extensive remodeling and structural upgrading, the building reopened as The West Clawson Lofts in 1999.
Emerson School 1912 John Galen Howard collection of progress photographs, ca. 1905-1910
The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
Emerson Elementary School was built in 1913. It was designed by John J Donovan and John Galen Howard. The total cost of the school was $163,879. It was located at 49th and Shafter Avenue.
Oakland Tribune Jan 28, 1912
Oakland tribune Sept 20, 1912
Oakland Tribune Mar 29, 1914
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
School Architecture: Principles and Practices
By John Joseph Donovan 1921
Emerson Now
The address is 4803 Lawton Avenue. In 1978, it was torn down because it was considered seismically unsafe.
I hope to show Then and Now images of Oakland Schools in this series of posts. Along with a bit of the history of each school, I highlight. Some photos are in the form of drawings or postcards or from the pages of history books.
Note: Piecing together the history of some of the older schools is sometimes tricky. I do this all at home and online — a work in progress for some. I have been updating my posts when I find something new. Let me know of any mistakes or additions.
Durant School
Bids were in to build a new school at the corner of West Street. A bid of $5000 made by J.J. Chaplain was the winner. The new school was called the Durant School in honor of the Rev. Henry J. Durant, the 16th Mayor of Oakland (1873-1875) and one of the founders of the University of California.
Durant School opened in August of 1875. It was reported by the Board of Education that all grades were formed and that they had over 400 pupils with eight teachers.
In 1878 a 6-room addition was added.
Durant Elementary School
Plans for a new Durant School to be built were accepted in 1912. The old school was sold. The new building was constructed at the corner of 29th and West Street and was to exceed $160,000.
School Architecture: Principles and Practices By John Joseph Donovan 1921
In 1971 (probably before), it was determined that the school was structurally unsafe in the event of an earthquake. Bids were requested for the construction of a new school. I don’t know what happened with that. I couldn’t locate any pictures of a newer Durant School.
Views of Oakland California’. Oakland: Pacific Press Publishing Company, 1893
Lafayette School was located at 17th and West Street and was built in the late 1860s.
The Lafayette Grammar School was one of the first schools built in Oakland. Lafayette even housed Oakland High School in 1869.
Oakland Tribune 1905
Lafayette Grammar School was named in honor of Marquis de Lafayette, a French military leader and statesman who fought on the side of the colonists during part of the American Revolution.
Lafayette Grammar School later changed its name to Lafayette Elementary School.
A brand new school was dedicated in October of 1949. Constructed at the cost of $594,825, the new school has 22 classrooms, a kindergarten, and an auditorium.
The school was established in 1909 as an annex of Grant School, which was overcrowded. The Board of Education built a temporary structure of two rooms at the corner of Van Buren and Perry Streets. They called the school the Grant Annex.
Oakland Tribune Sept 1913
With the rapid growth of the surrounding area, it soon became necessary to build a permanent school.
Oakland Tribune 1913
In 1913 a large red brick building was built in a modern style of architecture opposite the Grant Annex at the corner of Grand Avenue and Perry Street. The new school was called Lakeview.
Construction of Lakeview School – circa 1913-14
Lakeside School
John J. Donovan was the architect of Lakeview Elementary. The estimated cost of building the school was $75,000.
Lakeview was situated on a high terrace with ivy-covered banks. Two flights of broad steps lead from the main building to Grand Avenue.
Lakeview School is situated at the head of Lake Merritt and surround by the beautiful Piedmont Hills. In one of the most attractive districts of Oakland.
Oakland Tribune Oct 1917
Across the street from the main building were two attractive smaller buildings that could not be seen from Grand Avenue.
There were manual art portables and a playground complete with equipment.
It appears that Julia Morgan designed an addition to Lakeview in 1915
Oakland Tribune Feb 1915
By 1917 Lakeview had an enrollment of 768.
Lakeview School circa the 1930s
Fire at the Lakeview School Annex – May 1937
Oakland Tribune May 03, 1937
MacArthur Freeway –
In 1926 a group of Lakeview district residents appeared before the Board of Education to advocate steps to protect the area behind the school from future development. See below
The world’s largest and fully mechanized mail handling facility designed to serve central California and the Pacific ocean area
Postmaster General – Aug 1959
It was announced that the facility would be built on a 12-block site in West Oakland bounded by Peralta, 7th, Wood Streets, and the Southern Pacific railroad yards.
Oakland Tribune August 26, 1959
The postmaster general officially named the Oakland project “Project Gateway”
Oakland Tribune August 26, 1959
Major Problems
City officials were excited that construction would begin in about one year. They expected an Oakland payroll of 750 workers and the clearing of some 20 acres of sub-standard homes for a significant redevelopment project.
Oakland Tribune August 30, 1959
Oakland Mayor Clifford E. Rishell noted that the post office project presents some significant problems, chiefly relocating 300 families (about 1000 people) in the project area.
Oakland Tribune July 25, 1965
The Oakland Redevelopment Agency was in charge of the relocation. A survey at the time determined that half of the 300 families had moderate incomes, permitting them to rent or purchase a home in other sections of the city. The other half will probably require public housing.
The job we face isn’t easy, but it isn’t impossible
Arthur Hoff – Oakland Redevelopment Agency
One of West Oakland’s most revered landmarks was lost when the New Century Recreation Center and the adjoining school property at Atlantic, Pacific, and Peralta Avenues were razed.
The project would also destroy a junkyard, a few businesses, and McFeely School, which opened in 1949.
Evictions
In a March 1960 special meeting of city and postal officials, 34 families were told they had already received eviction notices. The families lived in homes already sold to the government by Southern Pacific. Twenty-one families had already found new homes.
August 01, 1960, was when they were to begin clearing the site.
Oakland Tribune July 19, 1960
A squadron of bulldozers was set to plow into the 12-block block of buildings. Twelve parcels of the 187 total had been acquired in negotiation. Commendation orders were entered for the holdouts.
12 Blocks Cleared For the Postal Center
Oakland Tribune Nov 30, 1960Oakland Tribune Nov 30, 1960t
Sherman Tank
The postal officials were perplexed when building wrecker Aldo S. Allen submitted a low bid of $64,000 to clear the 20-acre site for Project Gateway. He was $10,000 lower than the next lowest bid and $50,000 lower than the highest bid.
“I got an idea” Allen a one time midget car racer explained.
Aldo S. Allen – 81st Ave Oakland CA
He planned to spend $2,000 on a surplus Sherman Tank of World War II vintage, a 73,000-pound dreadnaught powered by a 500 horsepower engine. The tank would be much more powerful, faster, and safer.
He was Right!
Aldo climbed into the tank in front of a row of six houses. He first practiced on a tree.
SNAP! Down went the tree.
Oakland Tribune August 16, 1960
Without pausing, he went towards the first house and bore a tunnel through it. The second story remained intact. Again, he aimed for the home. There was a roar, and the second story came down, burying the tank momentarily.
10 Minutes Flat! The time to clear the first house
Oakland Tribune August 16, 1960
It took 90 minutes to flatten and remove all six houses
Oakland Tribune August 16, 1960Oakland Tribune August 16, 1960Oakland Tribune August 16, 1960
Oakland Tribune August 16, 1960
Before and After
Oakland Tribune August 17, 1960
The Daily News Texan August 16, 1960
The post office Site is Now A Dump
Oakland Tribune July 15, 1963
1963, after five years of post office promises, the city demanded action. The site had become a 12-block dumping ground, and the city was losing $22,000 in tax dollars and $50,000 in additional school taxes. They were told that construction was set to begin in 1964. By July 1967, the building was nearly one-third complete. The belated Effects of a Long Wet Winter moved the opening date to March 1969.
This is the first in a series of posts on Oakland Schools.
I hope to show Then and Now images of most of the schools and a bit of the history of each school I show. Some photos are in the form of drawings, postcards, or from the pages of history books.
Note: Piecing together the history of some of the older schools is sometimes tricky. I do this all at home and online — a work in progress for some. I have been updating my posts when I find something new. Let me know of any mistakes or additions.
Updated September 20, 2020
Castlemont High School
In 1863, Frank Silva purchased 73 acres of land for a farm. Castlemont High now stands on his land.
Oakland Tribune Oct 19, 1965
Castlemont High School is in Oakland, California, United States, formerly known as East Oakland High School. The Castlemont name was selected by a vote of the students. Castlemont High School was founded in 1929 in a medieval-style building. The school is located at 8601 MacArthur Boulevard.
On August 12, 1929, East Oakland High School opened at the cost of $670,000. Still, the name was short-lived; by a vote of the students and faculty in 1930, the name Castlemont was officially brought to prominence before being nationally designated the most beautiful school structure in the country.
Oakland Tribune July 7, 1929
The building’s main entrance is accessed from Foothill Blvd down six steps to the reflection pool, then ascends six steps to the extended terrace and the four-entry solid redwood doors. The full length of Castlemont grounds adjacent to Foothill had been magnificently landscaped.
The building was replaced in 1961 as the old one was not earthquake-safe.
Castlemont is demolished
Castlemont is gone.
Castlemont Today
Google Maps
Google Maps
From 2004 to 2012, the large school housed three separate smaller schools called the Castlemont Community of Small Schools for eight years. The smaller schools were known by the names:
Castlemont Leadership Preparatory High (10-12)
Castlemont Business and Information Technology School (10-12) (CBITIS)
Dewey School was established as an elementary school at 38th Avenue and East 12th Street in 1899. It was a part of the Bray School District and the Fruitvale School District.
Oakland Tribune April 28, 1899
It was named after Admiral George Dewey, who was a hero in the Spanish-American War that was being fought at that time.
Dewey School circa 1916 Cheney Photo Advertising
Dewey School circa 1916 Cheney Photo Advertising
In 1964, Dewey became the first continuation high school in Oakland. Below is how Dewey looked in 1964. In 1913, an addition was added to the original school, which was still in use in 1964.
The Brooklyn School was a two-story building built in 1863-64 at the cost of $5,000.
Oakland Tribune Jan 20, 1887
Brooklyn was annexed into Oakland in 1872. After the annexation, the nine-year-old school was renamed Franklin Grammar and Primary School.
Oakland Tribune Dec 30, 1874
An addition to the school was added in 1879 at the cost of $3,217.
Oakland Tribune Dec 30, 1902
On December 02, 1902, the school was destroyed by fire.
Oakland Tribune Nov 30, 1904
Oakland Tribune April 18, 1906
The new school building was almost complete when the SF earthquake of 1906 struck. The brick and steelwork were done, and the building was ready for the roof. When the school was finally done, the total cost was $204,343,45.
Franklin Grammar School – Cheney Photo Advertising circa 1912
In 1923, an oblong-shaped assembly hall was built at the rear of the school on 10th Ave and E16th. The cost is $40,000.
Oakland Tribune Nov 7, 1926
In 1943, the school’s address was 1530 Ninth Avenue.
In 1953, the 1906 brick building was declared unsafe. In 1955, it was demolished to make way for a new building. The new school was a principal part of the Clinton Park Urban Renewal Project. The school opened in Sept 1956 and was dedicated in Jan of 1957. The new school cost $467,000.
In 1956, a man, while remodeling his store, found an old report card from 1875.
Frick was built on the Boulevard between Baker and Bay View (now Foothill and 62nd). The school takes its name from W.P. Frick, who donated the lot the school is to be built on. It was then part of the Lockwood District. The school was dedicated on March 17, 1909.
Oakland Tribune Sept 20, 1908
The first school was kindergarten through the seventh grade. The building had eight rooms. With the rapid growth of the area around Frick School, it was decided to make Frick School a junior high in 1923.
Frick Grammar School circa 1915 – Cheney Photo Advertising
New School
Oakland Tribune May 30, 1926
In 1927 a new school was built on adjoining land and was called Frick Jr. High School. The style of the new building is Spanish and Moorish architecture.
Oakland Tribune June 05, 1927
Another New School
In 1953, it was determined that the 1927 building was an earthquake risk. In 1957, the was broken for a new school fronting Brann Street. The old building was razed during the summer of 1960. The present school has been in use since 1960-61.
Horace Mann was built in about 1910-1912. The school is located at 5222 Ygnacio Avenue. It was known as Melrose Heights School first.
Horace Mann Grammar School
Groundbreaking for the new Horace Mann school after it was determined to be not earthquake-safe was in 1959. The new school was formally dedicated in 1961.
Sequoia Elementary School is located on Lincoln Avenue at Scenic Avenue. It was built in 1910. Ida M. Hammond was the first principal. The building below is facing Scenic Avenue. The address of the school is 3730 Lincoln Avenue.
Original Sequoia School Lincoln Avenue and Scenic Street
Cheney Photo Advertising Company circa 1910
In 1926, a new school building was built adjoining the original. The new building will have 13 to 14 rooms and an auditorium. It will face Lincoln Avenue, as seen below.
The original building is razed to make room for a new $235,880 addition. The addition added seven classrooms and a cafeteria.
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’sBoalt 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 Railwayin 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.”
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.
Royal Edward Towns (February 10, 1899–July 23, 1990) was one of the first African American firefighters in Oakland. He was born in Oakland in 1899.
Royal E. Towns
He joined the OFD in 1927 and was assigned to Engine Company No. 22, a segregated firehouse in West Oakland. The station is located at 3320 Magnolia Street. He helped train many other black applicants to pass the test and was a scoutmaster for a Boy Scout troop that included Sam Golden, who became the first African American fire chief in Oakland.
The exterior of Engine No 22 firehouse
Royal Towns was the 11th black Oakland fireman hired in 1927. They didn’t employ the 12th for another 15 years.
Royal E. Towns (center) and his colleagues with Engine Company No. 22 of the racially segregated Oakland Fire Department. (1943)
Royal E. Towns and his colleagues with Engine Company No. 22 of the racially segregated Oakland Fire Department. (1943)
In 1971 there were only 35 black firefighters.
Towns became the first to be promoted in the OFD. He became a chief operator in 1941 and retired as a lieutenant in 1962.
Royal Towns on the left with Oakland firefighters standing in front of fire engine no. 22 – Circa 1943
Royal Towns was instrumental in helping desegregate the fire department. He helped train many other black applicants to pass the fire department test.
Personal Life
Royal Towns was born in Oakland on February 10, 1899, to William Towns and Elizabeth Towns.
Towns married Lucille Dennis on May 26, 1920. Together they had three children. The family lived in various locations within Oakland.
The photos are courtesy of the Royal E. Towns papers, MS 26, African American Museum and Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California. Photos at Calisphere
According to the tenants of the Peralta Villa housing projects in West Oakland, they first heard about the program when the group of boys from the Alameda County Central Labor Council (funded by a grant from the War on Poverty) started demolishing the backyard fences and flower gardens.
The fences were removed, Housing Authority officials say, as the first step in a program of “beautification”
The tenants were irate because some had paid the OHA for the fences and planted their gardens. No advance notice was given – the workers just started tearing everything up.
As a part of the War on Poverty, a work-study program was funded to provide the salaries of University of California students to work with the tenants.
The students worked with the residents of Lockwood Gardens to help them develop a sense of community identity and to learn how to help themselves.
These students encouraged the tenants to form the Lockwood Improvement League.
The War on Poverty funded the program,the same people supporting the “Beautification Program” and removing their fences.
The tenants of Peralta Villas met at Cole School and formed the Peralta Improvement League. Thirty tenants volunteered to create their own “human fence” They wrote up a list of demands and began their fight to save their gardens.
Stop tearing down the remaining fences.
Rebuild the fences already taken down
Reimburse the tenants whose private property was destroyed
Consult the tenants first before doing any further work
Oakland Tribune July 1965
The labor for the “Beautification Program” was provided by the Alameda County Labor Councilthrough a grant from the War of Poverty.
Lockwood Gardens
On June 25, 1965, the OHA decided to “beautify” the projects. They started with Lockwood Gardens.
The people of Lockwood Gardens newfound sense of community identity was outraged.
Each thirty-plus units in Lockwood Gardens had a yard, and most had fences. Some had lawns, and some had shrubs and flowers.
The enclosed yards gave the tenants a sense of individuality, security, and pride.
All backyard fences would come out; the lawns, shrubs, and flowers would be dug out. A common turf area without fences would replace private yards.
Oakland Tribune June 30, 1965
They had been using my yard as adverstiment for years.”
They were also upset by the lack of warning. They got 200 signatures in favor of keeping the fences.
The Lockwood Gardens tenants were all for beautification but not at the expense of their backyards. One tenant was upset because he had just rebuilt his fence. Not all the tenants of the tenants took care of yards or kept their fences in repair. But they felt the OHA could work it out with those tenants.
The Protests
Beautiful Backyard – July 1965 San Francisco News-Call Bulletin newspaper photograph archive
The tenants of both Peralta Villa and Lockwood Gardens protested and managed to halt or limit the work that could be done at either of the projects.
Oakland Tribune July 13, 1965
The OHA laid out a new backyard fence policy.
“Residents must keep their backyards neat and in repair; no new fences could be installed; no satisfactory fence will be torn down now, but eventual elimination of all fenced areas can be expected.”
In August of 1965, the OHA board voted to poll each family of Campbell Village, Lockwood Gardens, and Peralta Villa if they want a fence. Everyone was to be asked, even those who lived on the 2nd floor. There was a total of 916 total units in the three projects.
The tenants were given two choices in the questions asked :
Oakland Tribune Sep 01, 1965
“It appears to be a lower-the-cost- maintenance program”
The Pro-Fence group leader
In July 1966, one tenant reported that all the fences had been removed, and the place looked like a dump. The lawn was dead in most areas as it wasn’t being watered.
Growing up in Montclair (for me), Thornhill Drive was always just Thornhill Drive. But come to find out it was once called Thorn Road (sometimes Thorne Road). Thornhill is a more delightful-sounding name than Thorn. But there is a perfectly good reason why it was called Thorn Road.
The name goes back to 1856 when a man named Hiram Thorn (Hiram Thorne) built the road at a hefty expense. Thorn’s road brought redwood logs to Oakland out of the vast forest known as the Moraga Redwoods, where he ran a lumber mill on Pinehurst Road. Thorn was later given a franchise to run and collect tolls for the road, it was one of 3 toll roads in Oakland. In 1933 Thorn Road officially became Thornhill Drive.
From the 1870 Oakland City Directory
Since I found out about Thornhill Drive, I have been inquisitive about the names of our city streets. You can read more at the Oakland Local Wiki page Street Names if interested.
