USA > California > Alameda County > Alameda > Directory of the city of Oakland and its environs, including Alameda, Berkeley and Temescal 1872 > Part 3
USA > California > Alameda County > Berkeley > Directory of the city of Oakland and its environs, including Alameda, Berkeley and Temescal 1872 > Part 3
USA > California > Alameda County > Oakland > Directory of the city of Oakland and its environs, including Alameda, Berkeley and Temescal 1872 > Part 3
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JONES, PULLMAN & CO., 116 Sansom St., S. F., Braids of all kinds.
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OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
Mission and San Antonio (now Brooklyn) was a town before there was a solitary settler in Oakland. Indeed, for a year or two after the settle- ment of Oakland, San Antonio was in advance. It had formerly been an embarcadero from which were shipped the hides and horns collected in the adjoining country.
The first settlement was in 1851, and the original inhabitants were H. W. Carpentier, Edson Adams and A. J. Moon. By these persons the land was taken in possession, and through their efforts public. attention was first drawn to the location. Charles Minturn be- came interested with them, and placed upon the San Antonio Creek a steamboat that was ample to accommodate the business between Oakland and San Francisco. The town, in 1852, had no local business and no means of self-support. On account of the pleasantness of the trip over the Bay, and the delightful groves, numerous visitors were attracted, and a few gentlemen of means soon purchased land upon which they erected dwelling-houses. At this early date the present condition of the city was foreshadowed. It was a suburban resort. There were but few people in the place in 1852, but enough to require a public school and a city wharf. The Act of Incorporation vested in the Town Trustees the power to make these improvements, and also the right to dispose of the water front, which in the same Act was ceded by the State to the city. The first Board of Trustees, consisting of A. W. Barrell, A. J. Moon, Edson Adams and A. Marier, (H. W. Carpentier was elected, but failed to qualify) by a series of acts transferred to H. W. Carpentier the title to the water front, in return for which he was to erect a public school house and build a wharf at the foot of Broadway, the lat- ter to cost twenty thousand dollars. The subsequent history of this transaction furnishes an example of the most persistent and interesting litigation that can be found in the records of the several courts. The school house then built still remains in its original form, and preserves its ancient appearance, but it has been removed to the corner of Market and Seventh streets, and is now occupied as an African Church.
For two years following, the town continued to grow, and became a center of trade for the Mexicans living in the adjoining country. The lands in the Oakland Valley were brought under cultivation, and consid- erable quantities of produce were exported.
In the spring of the year 1853, the Oakland College School was estab- lished by Rev. Henry Durant, now President of the State University. A frame building on the northeast corner of Broadway and Fifth streets, that had been prior to that used as a hotel, was rented, and President Durant commenced teaching school with a class of three pupils. This school, planted in the Oakland forests in 1853, has grown and expanded, and has at last been developed into the University of California, the peer of any institution of learning in America. The establishment of the school was not a private enterprise, undertaken for pecuniary purposes. It was the result of a correspondence commenced as early as 1849, upon the founding of a college, and it was with that purpose in view that Pres- ident Durant made his humble beginning. Other and excellent literary
HUNTINGTON, HOPKINS & CO., Agents Jessop & Sons' Steel, Cor. Bush and Market, S. F.
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A GLANCE AT THE CITY'S HISTORY.
institutions have since sprung into existence, and it is not without pro- priety that Oakland is sometimes called the Athens of the Pacific Coast. But it is to be doubted if Oakland would now enjoy that distinction had fate led President Durant to select some other locality.
March 25th, 1854, a charter was granted for the "City of Oakland," (what is now termed the City Charter is an amendment to this Act) and a fresh impulse was given to public affairs. Three hundred and sixty- eight votes were cast at the first election after the granting of the charter, and Horace W. Carpentier was elected Mayor. The people of Oakland even then entertained very lofty ideas about the prospective importance of the place, and in his first message, the Mayor gave it as his opinion that the trans-continental railroad, that then seemed to be so far off, must terminate here. A newspaper called the Alameda Express was at that time published in Oakland, and in its columns can be found the message in full. There was a Fire Department and a School Department, and governmental machinery enough to run a vast city. The Council elected in 1854 was " Anti-Carpentier," and caused proceedings to be instituted to recover the water front. This and all other litigation against Mr. Carpen- tier touching the ownership of the property in question was unavailing.
The dredging of the Bar at the mouth of the San Antonio Creek greatly benefited the city, and the rivalry between the Larue and Minturn lines of ferry boats, by cheapening fares, advanced the prosperity of the town.
During the decade between 1854 and 1864, there is but little of in- terest to be noted. The First Presbyterian Church and the Catholic Church had been started, the College of California had been incorporated but had not an actual existence, the town grew moderately, and attracted but little attention. The improvement at the mouth of the Creek was not of long duration, and on account of the uncertainty of the ferry, many people who felt inclined to become residents of Oakland refused to do so.
The extending of a pier from "Gibbons' Point" into the deep water opposite Goat Island had long been projected, and when the San Fran- cisco and Oakland Railroad Company undertook the work, Oakland com- menced a new life. Population increased very steadily, communication with San Francisco was frequent and regular, and modern Oakland was ushered into existence. In 1868, real estate speculation began to assume prodigious proportions. Homestead associations almost without number were formed, and the lands north of the city that had for years been used as farms were staked off into homestead lots, upon many of which com- fortable and elegant residences have since been erected.
The great and apparently all-important event in the history of Oak- land, since it emerged from the condition of a country village and became a city in fact as well as in name, is the compromise of the water-front litigation and the cession of certain lands to the Western Pacific Railroad Company, whereby the terminus was secured for Oakland.
In 1867, the location of the Western terminus of the Pacific Railroad was a matter that attracted considerable attention in certain circles, but which the public generally had not commenced to consider. In the sum-
JONES, PULLMAN & CO., 116 Sansom St., S. F., Straw Hats.
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OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
mer of that year the City Council decided to obtain a settlement of the water front controversy if possible. As the property stood, no person could convey a valid title to it, the city and Mr. Carpentier each claiming it. If probabilities were to be considered, it seemed as if the city would lose in any proceedings that might be undertaken. Honorable John B. Felton was employed on a liberal contingent fee to attend to the matter. It soon became apparent that unless a compromise was effected, so that either the city or Carpentier could make a conveyance of some of this property to the Railroad Company, the terminus would be located else- where on the eastern shore of the Bay. Various negotiations were en- tered into, and the parties having come to a clear understanding, the whole affair was laid before the people of the city, receiving their formal endorsement and approval. In 1868, the Legislature being in session, a brief act was passed giving the City Council power to compromise and settle any litigation in which the city might be a party. On April Ist, 1868, the Council passed an ordinance releasing to Mr. Carpentier the city's claim to the entire water front, and ratifying and endorsing the acts of the first Board of Trustees, who had also conveyed to him the same property. Mr. Carpentier deeded the whole of it to the Water Front Company, and the Water Front Company conveyed certain portions of it to the Western Pacific Railroad Company. In consideration of the grant, the Railroad Company agreed to locate its terminus in Oakland, and ex- pend five hundred thousand dollars thereon within a stipulated time-con- ditions that have been faithfully kept. There was reserved to the city a portion of the water front of the northern bank of the San Antonio Creek, lying below Water street, between Webster and Franklin streets, and ex- tending to deep water. The cumbersome details by which the compro- mise was perfected are not given in this connection, as they have long since been placed publicly on record, and can readily be consulted by any one who desires a critical knowledge concerning them.
In June, 1869, the clouds that had been overhanging city property were dispersed, a compromise whereby all outstanding claims could be purchased at a nominal rate having been effected. This is of great im- portance, and will receive further attention in another connection. The years 1868 and 1869 were the most important in the city's history. The location of the terminus had been settled, land titles had been perfected, the State University secured for the city, and the local ferry had been im- proved so as to meet all the wants of the people. The wild real estate excitement having culminated without causing a depression in prices, the erection of buildings has progressed more rapidly than ever. The num- ber of people who arrive and depart daily amounts to several thousand. The value of the property subject to taxation cannot be less than twenty millions. A reputation has been established, and the city is flourishing and prosperous.
Facts stated in other parts of this work show what vast sums of money have been expended in public and private improvements, what care has been taken to render the city healthy and attractive, and how her people foster learning and religion. There still reside in Oakland a
HUNTINGTON, HOPKINS & CO., Wholesale Hardware and Iron, Cor. Bush and Market, S. F.
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NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF OAKLAND.
hundred or more people who were here at its first settlement, and it is hardly to be wondered if they doubt the evidence of their own senses when contemplating the changes that have been wrought within twenty years.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF OAKLAND.
Although the pioneer city-builders in California thought that Oakland was on the wrong side of the Bay, the experience of the last few years teaches us that they were in error. It has become almost self-evident that the Bay has no right or wrong side, but that its entire shore has its appropriate use.
The city is located upon a sandy peninsula, containing about four square miles of available building ground. Oakland commands present importance because it is the favorite site for homes. Thousands of San Francisco gentlemen have been attracted by its pleasant climate and beautiful scenery, and have here located their dwellings. Persons of for- tune coming from all parts of California have chosen Oakland for their future residence. The advantages offered by the city are its easy access to San Francisco, its elegant appearance, its healthfulness, its perfect system of public schools, the State University, and the numerous educa- tional institutions conducted by private enterprise.
The Central Pacific Railroad Company has been liberal in providing ferry facilities. On the local railroad there are fourteen round trips daily, trains running from twenty minutes before six in the morning until half- past eleven at night. An average number of about four thousand five hundred people cross on the ferry daily, and the business is so rapidly in- creasing that a double track will be imperatively demanded in the imme- diate future. The time required for the trip is forty minutes, and it is cheaper and easier to reach Oakland than any other city or town in the vicinity of San Francisco. The elegant appearance of the city is univer- sally conceded. The smooth, macadamized streets, the numerous shade trees, the hundreds of beautiful gardens, and the thousand or more costly residences, render the place exceedingly attractive to the visitor. The death rate is one-half of that in San Francisco-a fact that is of itself sufficient proof of the remarkable healthfulness of the city. The after- noon winds that prevail in San Francisco during the summer months reach Oakland with diminished force. The close proximity of the hills in the rear of the city and the many large and stately trees serve as a protection. There are other reasons, perhaps difficult of comprehension, but the fact is well known that when the winds prevail in San Francisco with great violence only moderate breezes are felt in Oakland. The sea fogs of summer which roll in from the ocean vanish from Oakland several hours before they cease to overshadow San Francisco. Perfect immu- nity from wind and fog can be found only in the interior, but intensely hot and scorching weather is an annoyance that far more than counterbal- ances the pleasure to be derived from a sky that is always clear, and the freedom from the ocean mists. The temperature is somewhat less variable than in San Francisco. The public schools are not to be sur-
JONES, PULLMAN & CO., 116 Sansom St., S. F., Best Paper and Linen Collars.
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OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
passed in excellence, the reputation of the private seminaries of learning is established, and the inestimable value and importance of the University is understood and appreciated by the people of California so well that a mere reference is all that is here needed. The facts and statistics re- corded in this volume present the almost numberless advantages of Oak- land as a place of residence. The appreciation of those advantages is shown by the steadily increasing population, derived from all parts of the Pacific Coast.
But Oakland aspires to be something more than a mere place of resi- dence. The germs for an extensive local business have already ap- peared, and in the fullness of time she is certain to be self-sustaining. An examination of the map of California will show that Oakland is now and was by nature adapted to be the railroad center of the State. By the Western Pacific Railroad, the distance from Sacramento to San Fran- cisco is materially less than around the southern extremity of the Bay, and the shortest possible route has been surveyed for the air line road between those two points by way of Oakland and Martinez. The project of bridging the Bay so that trains can run directly to San Francisco will not be a measure of economy until the traffic becomes so great that seven large and powerful steamers like the Thoroughfare cannot accom- modate it, according to the opinion and estimate of the leading civil en- gineers of California, given in response to questions in writing by the Mayor of San Francisco. To sustain such a business it would require an almost continual line of freight and passenger cars, arriving and de- parting. In respect to economy and rapidity of transit, Oakland holds the commanding position. It has been argued with seeming force that the commerce of a large city cannot be carried on when wharves two miles in length are required in order to reach deep water. This is emin- ently true, and unless Goat Island be used for terminal purposes, the superior advantages offered by the San Antonio Creek will be made available. The improvement of this splendid natural harbor is contem- plated by the Water Front Company, and plans for the work have long been in existence. To render it a proper harbor for vessels of the largest tonnage is properly a national work, and at the last session of Congress a survey of the Oakland Harbor was provided for, as preliminary to an appropriation for doing the work. Oakland can then feel that she has a commerce of her own. There will be no further necessity for the Central Pacific Railroad Company to erect costly and perishable structures almost in the middle of the Bay. The importance of the proposed work is duly appreciated, and its completion will be perhaps the most important event in the history of the city. At the present time a considerable portion of the wheat crop of the immense valley of the San Joaquin is shipped from the railroad warehouses on the extremity of the Oakland pier, and tea and other products of the Orient have been transferred at the same point.
Nature seems to have done everything possible in behalf of Oakland, but nothing worthy of attainment is ever offered except at the price of toil, and the amount of labor and perseverance demanded from Oakland
HUNTINGTON, HOPKINS & CO., Importers Hardware and Iron, Cor: Bush and Market, S. F.
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PROGRESS OF THE CITY.
is slight in the extreme. The merest effort is all that is needed. The city is not to be erected at the expense of San Francisco, nor is it ex- pected that the business of the metropolis need be diminished in order to secure Oakland's success. The business and wealth to center in Oakland will be an absolute and positive addition to the resources of the State.
PROGRESS OF THE CITY.
The city assessment rolls, since the fiscal year 1863-4, have been as follows :
Year.
Amount of Assessment.
I863-64 $ 794,12I
1864-65 970, 125
I865-66
1,107,949
I866-67 1,434,800
1867-68
1,832,428
1868-69
3,363,478
1869-70
4,256,702
I870-71
4,563,737
1871-72
5,215,704
The assessment for the fiscal year 1872-3 is not completed as the Directory goes to press, but it is estimated that it will show $6,000,000 of taxable property. The assessments for city purposes have been made at one-third of the actual value of the real estate and improvements, and at a low estimate the real value of property in the city is in excess of twenty million dollars.
The appraised value of property owned by the city is as follows :
School-houses and Lots $134,000
City Hall. 100,000
Water Front and Wharf.
25,000
Engine House on Broadway
1,500
Fire Engine and other Personal Property
15,000
Total $275,500
The city paid $12,500, one half the cost of Webster street bridge, and owns seven public squares, worth an average of twenty thous- and dollars each, so that the value of the property under the control of the city very nearly corresponds with the amount of the public debt.
Within the eighteen months ending June 30th, 1871, the prosperity and general progress of the city has been highly satisfactory. The bridge crossing the San Antonio Creek from the foot of Webster street, which, with the roadway on the Alameda shore, cost $45,000, has been a great convenience to the people of Alameda and Oakland. The travel across it has steadily increased, and a very considerable por- tion of the goods and merchandise used in Alameda is now purchased in Oakland. A street railroad company has a franchise to lay its track over the bridge, but work has not been commenced. The city wharf is
JONES, PULLMAN & CO., 116 Sansom St., S. F., White Goods.
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OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
not completed at this date, but it will speedily be made available. The structure is to cost twenty thousand dollars. It is built upon the water front reservation, and is an unusually solid and firm structure. Piers ex- tend from the extremities of Webster and Franklin streets, and are connected on the line of deep water in the creek. At low tide there will be a depth of nine feet of water. At the end of the wharf and at high tide the water is sixteen feet deep. It will afford ample accommodations for a steamboat landing, and for the numerous small vessels engaged in freighting lumber, wood, coal and other coarse com- modities to Oakland.
The contract for constructing this wharf had been let to Boobar & Co. for $17,250, but there having been additions and alterations, the Council has set apart $20,000 as a wharf fund. On the line of deep water, there is a frontage of 320 feet. The pier extending from Franklin street is forty feet wide, and that from Webster street is twenty-five feet wide. There is a slip forty-five feet wide on the eastern side of the wharf.
The city has been enlarged by extending her limits, so as to embrace a thickly settled portion of the Oakland Valley, the map at the com- mencement of this volume showing the exact lines. This enlargement was the act of the people interested, who, by an affirmative vote of two to one, decided to bring their property under the jurisdiction of the city. They were prompted to do so on account of the educational fa- cilities at the public schools, the benefits to be derived from the pro- tection afforded by the Police and Fire Departments, and the readiness with which streets can be laid out and improved under the laws relative to the City of Oakland.
The exemption from the payment of an unjust and odious road tax, which did not benefit the city, is another subject for congratulation. For more than ten years a tax averaging forty-six cents on each one hundred dollars had been levied on property in Oakland, and expended for the improvement of roads through the ranches in the rear of Oakland, and in other parts of the county. The Legislature of 1871-2 abolished the tax, and the burdens imposed upon the people are to that extent light- ened.
The city's title to the water front reservation on the creek has been perfected by a decision of the Supreme Court, defeating the adverse claim asserted by the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Com- pany.
A new engine house has been erected on the City Hall grounds, and an order has been sent East for another powerful steam fire engine, which is expected to arrive in Oakland in September. The Police De- partment has received special attention, is splendidly organized and is in the highest degree efficient. During the year 1871, 1,055 arrests were made. The latest improvement is the establishment of a line of tele- graph connecting the City Hall with various remote parts of the city, which facilitates the work of the policemen, often leads to the capture of escaping criminals or suspected persons, and will be invaluable in en- abling an alarm of fire to be given promptly. The telegraph line has
HUNTINGTON, HOPKINS & CO., Agents Jessop & Sons' Steel, Cor. Bush and Market, S. F.
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, LAND TITLES.
not been constructed at the expense of the city, but has been paid for from the private funds of the Captain of Police, Foster B. Tarbett.
Morse instruments are used, and each police officer is able to receive and transmit messages. On several occasions, fire alarms have been communicated with promptness to the City Hall, and the firemen have been enabled to proceed to fires with the least possible delay. There is a station at Seventh street, south side, between Broadway and Washing- ton streets, and one at Wilson's saloon, at the Oakland Point. The office of the Daily News is also in telegraphic communication with the City Hall. Capt. Tarbett is entitled to credit for the great efficiency of the Department. The officers under him are men of experience, and they have the respect and confidence of the people of Oakland. The avenues of approach to the city are carefully guarded. Every train that enters or departs from the city is inspected by some officer, and known thieves have often been captured while attempting to escape with their plunder, even before the officers making the arrest had heard of a robbery, or the owner of the goods had become aware of his loss. Incidents of this na- ture have happened so often, that of late the swarm of sneak thieves that infest the lower quarters of San Francisco have ceased to visit Oakland, because of the certainty -that they would be caught should they commit depredations. The security enjoyed by the people on account of this wholesome terror among evil doers is hardly realized. Without ample police protection, Oakland would be a most inviting field for burglars and robbers, and property would be very insecure. The eleven men on the regular force are barely enough to attend to the duties that are required ; a large area of territory is to be looked after, and the city should not be backward about employing a sufficient number of vigilant sentinels.
There has been a marked improvement in the general aspect and ap- pearance of the city. House building has been confined to no particular locality. In every part of the city can be seen new buildings and houses in process of erection. On Broadway, above Eighth street, several .ele- gant and substantial fire-proof brick buildings have been erected. We enumerate the buildings of the Union Savings Bank, Benitz' Building, Sessions' Building and Canning's Building. These are two-story brick buildings, with basements, built in the most solid and substantial man- ner and are ornaments to the city. The completion of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, on Jefferson street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, adds another magnificent structure to the number of which Oakland already boasts. The condition of the city is prosperous, its growth from year to year, for six years past, has been in an increasing ratio, and the most sanguine hopes have been fully realized.
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