USA > California > Alameda County > Oakland > Bishop's Oakland directory for 1874 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
Mustard and Spices. Burr C. C. & Co. (S. F.) xv and back of vol.
Newspapers. Alameda Encinal (Ala- meda) 4
Evening Torchlight
(wire)
viii
(Oakland).
252
News (Oakland)
136
Transcript (Oakland)
PAGE.
Notary Public.
Reverly John C. (Oak- land ii
Taylor & Co. (Oakland) .. 268
R. C. GASKILL, Agent of the Ama Ins. Co .; Office, 917 Broadway, Oakland.
HISTORICAL AND GENERAL REVIEW,
DECEMBER 1st, 1873.
Natural Advantages of Oakland, and her Progress.
The earlier residents of Oak- land were induced to become dwellers here because the cli- mate was superior to that on the western side of the Bay, and because the surroundings were in every way more beau- tiful and attractive. These are the great natural advantages operating in favor of Oakland, and from their character they must be perpetual. Oakland is a city of residences. The vast majority of her people are inter- ested in business at the metrop- olis, but every part of California is represented in her popula- tion. The establishment of the State University and the devel- opment of a perfect system of public schools in the city are next in importance to the natural advantage of climate and healthfulness.
This educational system is such that a child six years of age can enter at one of the primary schools and pass through the successive classes until fully qualified to enter the State Univer- sity. The University itself is upon the borders of the city. Thus parents can obtain for their sons and daughters educational facili- ties now equal to any in the United States. The extensive knowl- edge of this fact tends to hasten the influx of population. The people of the city have done much to increase its attractions and are now putting forward well-directed efforts to give to the place a commercial importance of its own. The half-million dollars expended in street improvements have given miles of splendid driveways. The liberal spirit of the people in maintain-
PAGE & JORDAN. Real Estate, 462 Tenth Street near Broadway, Oakland. 23
Phoenix Insurance Co. (Fire) of Hartford, BABER & ROFF, Agents, Broadway and Tenth, Oakland.
E. W. WOODWARD, 952 Broadway, Real Estate Agent and Collector.
10
OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
ing a system of public schools, the best in the State, has been well rewarded. Large tracts of land have been rendered acces- sible by street railroads. A cheap and well-appointed ferry be- tween Oakland and San Francisco has grown up as a natural re- sult, and we now have accommodations that are somewhat in ad- vance of the present demands of the city. There is half-hourly communication during the busier parts of the day, and hourly communication during the time when travel is lightest. The Central Pacific Railroad Company has done well with the people of Oakland. Its policy has been to accelerate the growth of the city and increase its prosperity. As the favorite place for resi- dences, the position of Oakland was long since assured.
More than twenty years ago, there were people in Oakland who had deliberately formed the opinion that whenever the transcontinental railroad should be built, its western ter- minus would be in this city, and that the place would become one of great commercial importance. This idea has been con- tinuously cherished, and the hopes of the most earnest friends of Oakland are likely to be realized. The terminus of the over- land railway is fixed here. The pier extending to Goat Island is a perishable structure, that can be used only three or four years more, and attention has for some time been given to prep- arations for a change of business to this mainland. The im- provement of the San Antonio Creek, as a harbor for the largest sea-going vessels, is sure to be made. The change that will take place upon the completion of that work must inevitably be great and important, and it must result in transferring to the east side of the Bay a very large amount of commerce, that will build up many branches of business now unknown here, and in a measure alter the character of the city and render it to a greater extent self-sustaining. While Nature has dealt very liberally with Oak- land, the people have not been inactive. They have evinced a determination to do for themselves everything that is possible. A partial improvement of the harbor is now in progress, and it is expected that this will soon be followed with work ordered by the Federal Government.
The more prominent events of the year are the annexation of Brooklyn and the removal of the county seat from San Leandro to a point in East Oakland, somewhat more ascessible. Brook- lyn has always been virtually a part of Oakland, advancing as it advanced, and suffering from any causes that tended to retard the progress of Oakland. The contemplated harbor improvement will be of incalculable benefit to that part of the city, doing for it, comparatively, more than for the Oakland peninsula. It is the site of some of the more important manufacturing establish- ments now in operation. In annexing themselves to Oakland, the people of Brooklyn acted with prudence and forethought. The removal of the county seat from San Leandro has been of material convenience to the public, saving much time and trouble and rendering unnecessary a journey of nine miles in order to reach the seat of justice of the county.
Hear the GUILD, CHURCH & CO.'S PIANOS at Gray's, 625 Clay St., S. H.
Have your Photograph taken by HOUSEWORTH, 12 Montgomery Street, opposite Lick House, S. F.
Atna Insurance Co. of Hartford, R. C. GASKILL, Agent, 917 Broadway.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF OAKLAND. 11
The city assessment rolls, from the fiscal year 1863-4 to date, have been as follows :
Year.
Amount of Assessment.
1863- 4
$ 794,121
1864- 5.
970,125
1865- 6.
1,107,949
1866- 7.
1,434,800
1867- 8.
1,832,428
1868- 9
3,363,478
1869-70
4,256,702
1870- 1.
4,563,737
1871- 2.
5,215,704
1872- 3
6,647,039
1873- 4.
18,539,303
Until the present year the assessment has been announced to have been at one-third of the actual value of the property ; but the custom has been changed, and property is now cited for what is deemed its market value. There has been a correspond- ing reduction in the rate of taxation-which is seventy cents on the one hundred dollars.
The city wharf was completed in August, 1872, and its first year's business amounted to $3,283.67. Charges had been fixed so as to produce revenue enough to pay the interest on its cost and running expenses. It has done little more than this during the first year, and the amount of business has so greatly in- creased that at the end of the second year there will be a con- siderable sinking fund to redeem some of the bonds issued to raise funds for its construction. The freight landed on this wharf during the year amounted to 20,634 tons. The wharf is now used to very nearly its full capacity, and if the city owned the site for another, it would be justified in building a second one.
The erection of the Grand Central Hotel is an event of much local importance. In size and elegance it is not inferior to any hotel on the Pacific Coast, and visitors from different parts of the State, and from the East, will be sure to entertain a more favorable opinion of Oakland on account of this enterprise.
The Oakland Street Railroad Company has extended its track from Temascal to Berkeley, and a branch has been constructed from the main line, at the junction of Broadway and Fourteenth Street, along San Pablo Avenue, for a distance of two miles. The business of these roads has kept somewhat in advance of the general growth of the city, so large a proportion of the newly erected dwelling-houses being in the suburbs.
The Oakland Gaslight Company has increased the capacity of its works by erecting a holder which will contain ninety thou- sand cubic feet of gas, and by enlarging its works in other re- spects, in order to meet the increased demands made upon them.
The Contra Costa Water Company has lately commenced the
PAGE & JORDAN, Ag'ts Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 462 Tenth nr Broadway, Oak'd.
Home Insurance Co. (Fire) of New York, BABER & ROFF, Agents, Broadway and Tenth, Oakland.
HOUSEWORTH'S SALES ROOM, 9 Montgomery Street, S. F.
E. W. WOODWARD, 952 Broadway, Ag't Royal Ins. Co .; Capital $10,000,000.
12
OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
building of a dam on the San Leandro Creek, at a point about eight miles from the central part of Oakland. Very extensive purchases of real estate and water rights have been made, and when the work now in progress is completed, there will be an artificial lake covering 12,000 acres of land, and having an aver- age depth of 100 feet. From the bar of the new dam to the company's pipes in East Oakland the distance is but six miles. The lake will have a capacity of forty thousand million gallons of water, and the stream flowing into it and the adjacent water- sheds will enable the company to furnish one hundred million gallons daily. If these estimates by the company be correct, Oakland has within reach, at the lowest cost, a water supply that will be ample for all time.
Land Titles.
ABSTRACT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE TITLE TO THE LAND ON WHICH THE CITY OF OAKLAND IS SITUATED.
During the first few years after the settlement of the city, it was the popular belief that the " Squatter Title " was valid, and most of the property was purchased from those who had origi- nally taken possession. After the amount of litigation that is usu- ally required to establish the legality of a Mexican grant, the Peralta title obtained recognition, and has withstood every at- tack subsequently made upon it. We append the outlines of an abstract of title to any city lot:
1. Grant from the Mexican Government to Luis Maria Pe- ralta, of the " Rancho San Antonio," embracing the lands upon which the City of Oakland is located. Dated October 18th, 1822.
2. In 1842, Luis Maria Peralta made a division of the Rancho San Antonio among his four sons, Ignacio, Antonio, Domingo, and Vincente, and put them in possession of their respective portions. Vincente Peralta received that portion on which the City of Oakland is situated.
3. In 1851, Luis Maria Peralta executed an instrument pur- porting to be a will, wherein he ratified and confirmed the divis- ion of the Rancho San Antonio among his four sons, which in- strument, the Supreme Court of California says, estops the heirs of Luis Maria Peralta from denying said gift to his sons. [See 17 Cal. Reps., Adams v. Lansing.] The invalidity of title derived from the other heirs than the sons of Luis Maria Peralta is also declared by the United States Supreme Court, in a case growing out of the " Pretermitted Heir" title, decided in the early part of this year (1872) and not yet reported.
4. In 1854, the Board of Land Commissioners confirmed the northern portion of the Rancho, embracing the City of Oakland, to Vincente and Domingo Peralta ; and the same was afterwards, in 1855, confirmed by the United States District Court, and still later, at the December term in 1856, by the Supreme Court of the United States. (See 17 Howard.)
Best Piano Tuners at GRAY'S, 625 Clay Street, S. F.
Great Fires prove the Strength of the ÆTNA INSURANCE COMPANY.
LAND TITLES.
13
5. Ignacio, Antonio, and Domingo Peralta, to Vincente Per- alta, release and deed all of their interest in and to that portion of the Rancho embracing the City of Oakland. Dated November 28, 1853. Recorded in Liber " 8," of Deeds, Recorder's office, Alameda County.
6. Vincente Peralta to John Clar, (1-6); B. De La Barra, (1-12); Jos. K. Irving, (}); Jacob A. Cost, (}); John C. Hayes and John Caperton, (}). Deed dated March 13th, 1852. Re- corded in Contra Costa County, in which Oakland was at that date situated.
7. John Clar to J. K. Irving, deed of his interest, February 7th, 1852. Recorded in Contra Costa County.
8. B. De La Barra, (1-12) deed to J. K. Irving, J. M. Gog- gin and William Claude Jones ; William Claude Jones to Eugene Casserly ; J. M. Goggin and Eugene Casserly to J. K. Irving, Hayes, Caperton, and heirs of Cost, deceased.
9. J. K. Irving, party of the first ; John C. Hayes and John Caperton, parties of the second part ; Anna R. Poole, Catherine S. Lyons and her husband, Joseph Lyons ; Serena S. Young, and her husband, Alexander H. Young (heirs of Cost, deceased), " by William Poole, their attorney," execute a partition deed, duly proven, certified to and recorded in Alameda County.
10. Power of attorney from Anna R. Poole et al., heirs of Cost, to Wm. J. Poole, June 14th, 1853.
11. Power of attorney to Montgomery Blair, from same par- ties (except Serena S. Young, who was deceased, and left minor heirs, for whom Alexander H. Young signed as guardian), Feb. 2d, 1854.
12. Proceedings in Probate Court in the same year, by which interest the minor heirs of Serena S. Young became vested in Alex. H. Young.
13. Another partition deed to correct errors in description of lands not blocked off in former deed, reciting and approving the former ; the same in all other respects, between the same par- ties (except in place of Serena S. Young, deceased, was Alexan- der H. Young, " by M. Blair, their attorney in fact"). Dated May 1, 1854.
14. Deed from Anna R. Poole to John C. Hayes, ratifying and confirming the former deed of partition, and confirming the acts of Blair and Black as agents, Sept. 1st, 1858.
15. Similar deed to Hayes et al. from Jos. Lyons and wife, November 10th, 1858.
16. Similar deed to Hayes et al. from Alexander H. Young, March 27th, 1860.
Subsequent to the chain of conveyances traced, the title is vested in numerous owners, there being no other general claims. All the technicalities and defects which ingenuity can discover have been brought to notice. The numerous adverse titles had for years hung over property-holders like an incubus, and in the early part of the year 1869 the people began an organized move- ment to defeat them. The position of affairs was somewhat
PAGE & JORDAN, Real Estate, 462 Tenth Street near Broadway, Oakland.
North British & Mercantile Insurance Co. (British) BABER & ROFF, Agents, Broadway and Tenth, Oakland.
E. W. WOODWARD, 952 Broadway, Real Estate Agent and Collector.
14 OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
critical. The city was rapidly growing, and to allow the idea to go abroad that titles were insecure would check the progress of the city and cause incalulable mischief. Sound business policy overcame the desire to make a bitter fight, however, and the holders of the claims were induced to dispose of them at rates that were trivial. The specific claims were the Pretermitted Heirs' title, the Sisters' title, the Irving title, and the Cost title, and these comprised all general titles asserted by anybody to land within the City of Oakland. These titles were, by their several owners, conveyed to Henry Hillebrand, the City Clerk, who acted as a Trustee, and by him conveyance was made to the several property-holders. Nearly all the land in the city is now held by a perfect title, the Hillebrand deed removing all the clouds. These titles, except the Cost title, still cloud property outside of the old charter line. The principal ones, the Sisters and the Preter- mitted Heirs, are virtually defeated, and the property-holders, to save trouble and annoyance, have quite generally purchased the other claims.
The Kate Hayes Title covers that portion of Oakland township outside of the "Encinal Line," as laid down on our map. The Supreme Court of the State has sustained a decision rendered by E. W. Mckinstry, Judge of the Twelfth District Court, grant- ing a new trial on the motion made by the defendants (the prop- erty-holders). That decision was fatal to the claim, which, in itself, was but for a trifling interest. A new trial has not yet been had, and the result is regarded as a foregone conclusion, the law of the case having been decided beyond appeal.
Water and Gas.
About one-third of the population of Oakland use water ob- tained from the Contra Costa Water Company, and the remain- der procure it from wells. By digging to a depth of twenty feet a supply of pure fresh water can be obtained ; but on account of the increased size of the city, and the prevalent fear that well water is becoming contaminated with sewage, many persons are abandoning their wells and using the water that is obtained from the mountain streams. The Contra Costa Water Company commenced operations in the latter part of the year 1866, and since that time about fifty miles of pipe have been laid. Water is obtained from the Temascal Creek. At its eastern branch, five miles from Oakland, a cañon has been dammed, and an artificial lake, six hundred feet wide and three-quarters of a mile long, has been created. The water is seventy feet deep in win- ter, and the capacity of the reservoir is two hundred million gal- lons. The daily consumption of water varies from half a mil- lion to a million of gallons per day, according to the extent to which people may irrigate their gardens, The company has also appropriated the water of the Fruit Vale Creek and built a res- ervoir there, with a capacity of one million gallons. In case the mountain streams run low, use is made of artesian wells in
First Premium to Guild, Church & Co.'s Pianos at GRAY'S, 625 Clay St., S. F
HOUSEWORTH'S PEBBLE SPECTACLES, 9 Montgomery Street, under Lick House, S. F.
The ATNA is at the head of Fire Insurance Companies in America.
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM.
15
Brooklyn, the water from which is forced by steam power into the mains.
In view of a constantly increasing population and a rapid growth of permanent improvement, with a consequent increased demand, many have expressed a fear that the water supply would fail entirely, in the event of a dry season, and leave the city, in the more densely populated localities, where the well- water is not fit for use, on account of contamination by drainage, without water, and the whole at the mercy of the flames. Such a fear, it will be seen, is unfounded, for the company, in order to meet the increased demand, has acquired, by purchase, the water rights of San Leandro Creek to the upper end of the ca- ñon, two miles above San Leandro. At that point a suitable dam is being erected, so as to form a lake of the valley above, which will contain, when completed, forty thousand million gal- tons of water, equal to a daily supply of one hundred million gallons, a quantity sufficient for the supply of a population of one million.
The location of this dam is about eight miles from Oakland, and it will be so far completed as to bring in the water for use in 1874, with an average pressure in the city of Oakland of two hundred feet.
The completion of this enterprise will give Oakland a first-class water supply, equal to the best in the United States.
The purity of the water supplied by the Contra Costa Water Company has lately been tested by the State Assayer, who certi- fies as follows: "I consider the water analyzed to be of excel- lent quality, and well adapted to domestic use."
The city is furnished illuminating gas by the Oakland Gas- light Company, which commenced operations January 1st, 1867. The city entered into a ten-year contract in 1868, to light the streets. The company receives 19 cents per night for each lamp. The annual amount of the bills for lighting the streets in the city is $15,000. The company has laid about eighteen miles of mains. The works are located on the corner of Washington and First streets, and have a capacity of two hundred thousand cubic feet per day. The price charged to consumers is four dollars and fifty cents per thousand cubic feet.
The Railroad System.
It is broadly asserted that Oakland is the center of the railroad system of the Pacific Coast, and a mere glance at any railroad map shows that such is the case. The several lines of railroad in operation in California are either owned ór controlled by the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and they all concentrate in this city. Words cannot convey this idea as forcibly as any railroad map and an accompanying table of distances. Not only the railroads now in existence, but those projected and likely to be completed within the next few years, converge to the same point. As San Francisco now is, and ever must be, the metrop-
PAGE & JORDAN, Houses rented, 462 Tenth Street near Broadway, Oakland.
Fire Insurance on Dwellings and Personal Property made a Specialty ; BABER & ROFF, Agents, Oakland.
E. W. WOODWARD, 952 Broadway; Houses to Rent.
16
OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
olis of the Pacific Coast, the managers of railroads are compelled to locate their terminal improvements in Oakland, because they further their own interests by so doing. The Central Pacific Railroad Company owns seventy acres of land at the Oakland Point, used as a site for round-houses and work-shops. A plan- ing-mill has been in operation upwards of one year, and in it is prepared all the timber used in the construction and repair of bridges on the line of the road. At the present time over 7,000,- 000 feet of lumber and the materials for the construction of a large and commodious freight-boat, are on hand. The city has refrained from any attempt to open streets through this tract of land, at the request of the Company, upon representing that this ground is required for the purposes we have named, and in cut- ting it up by numerous streets its usefulness would be so im- paired that it would be necessary for the Company to seek for accommodations elsewhere. The Company also owns an area of three hundred and fifty acres on the water front, extending from the former tract toward Goat Island, with a frontage of nearly half a mile on ship channel. The Company has recently made extensive purchases of real estate near the head of the San An- tonio Creek, and it owns a large tract of hilly land a few miles south from Brooklyn, from which can be obtained an almost un- limited supply of earth for filling in and reclaiming marsh and tide lands. The wharf projecting from the Oakland Point is eleven thousand feet in length, and at the end of it there are twenty-six and one half feet of water at low tide, and thirty- three and one half feet of water at high tide, upon which have been erected extensive depots, railroad offices, warehouses, and ample facilities for the storage of grain, etc. The structure is built in the most firm and enduring manner, and nothing has been omitted that engineering and mechanical skill could suggest. The overland trains and the accommodation trains for San José, Sacramento, Stockton, and Marysville are run over the track laid through First Street, and the local trains are run over the Sev- enth Street track. Communication between San Francisco and Alameda is now maintained by a branch line of the Oakland road, which was completed on the first of October last. Its dis- tance is about four miles, extending from Harrison and Seventh streets and crossing San Antonio Creek by a substantial bridge seven hundred and eighty-six feet in length, with a draw of two openings of eighty feet each. Ten trips are made daily. The Oakland Ferry service has been much improved by the discon- tinuance of the old route to Alameda. Twenty-five trips each way are now made daily, and, during business hours, one is made every thirty minutes. At Broadway and Brooklyn Stations, commodious accommodations have been provided for passen- gers, and at the latter a round-house for locomotives has been recently erected.
At the Central Pacific Railroad Company's Wharf, from June 30th, 1872, to June 30th, 1873, one hundred and ten vessels have received their cargoes of grain, aggregating 161,134 tons.
Old Pianos taken in Exchange at GRAY'S, 625 Clay Street, S. F.
HOUSEWORTH'S PHOTOGRAPHIC PARLORS, 12 Montgomery Street, opposite Lick House, S. F.
Etna Ins. Co. was established in 1819; R. C. GASKILL, Agent, Oakland.
17
DRIVES AND PLEASURE RESORTS.
The street railroad system of Oakland is very comprehensive, all of the streets of present or prospective importance being covered by a franchise; but there are only two companies that have expended any money or shown any signs of vitality. The Oakland Railroad Company's franchise covers Broadway from the water front to the charter line, and thence by the most direct route to Berkeley. The road is built and provided with rolling stock. It is five and one half miles long. Thirteen one-horse cars run regularly, and, when occasion requires, six two-horse cars and six flats are added. Fifty-one horses are kept in the company's stable at Temescal. The San Pablo Avenue branch of the Oakland Railroad Company extends to a point near the Oakland Trotting Park, a distance of two miles. Three cars run regularly every fifteen minutes during the day.
The Oakland, Brooklyn, and Fruit Vale Railroad is completed from the crossing of Broadway and Seventh streets, in Oakland, to the central portion of the town of Brooklyn, a distance of two miles, and the business transacted is about sufficient to pay cur- rent expenses and interest on the investment. It is contemplat- ed to extend this road to the County Court House, a distance of several blocks from its present terminus. Trips are made every half hour.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.