History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 88

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206

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1856 .- At the election for Corporation officers held March 3, 1856, the office of Mayor, to which S. H. Robinson had been elected, was contested by C. Campbell, his

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

predecessor, and that of Councilman Shattuck, by William Harwood, but, on exami- nation of the merits of the case, the original candidates were, March 10th, declared duly elected. Of the other matters of interest occurring in this year, we have already spoken in connection with other subjects of special moment. The march of improve- ment, as regards the city, made rapid strides, and all was quiet with its citizens.

1857 .- On June 24, 1857, Dr. de Tavel offered to the Council ten acres for a cemetery, situated at the "back of Mr. Fountain's" on the Peralta Road, while another offer, of block number two hundred, of the same nature, was made by W. H. Bovee; and on July Ist the cemetery ordinance was passed, accepting the first of these offers. Subsequently the property passed into the hands of Isaac H. Brayton and Edward Tompkins, the latter of whom, under date June 23, 1863, petitioned the City Council to the effect that the time had arrived when interments should no longer be permitted within the city limits; they therefore requested that the cemetery should be closed, and the owners thereof released from all obligations to keep the same open as a public burial-ground. The matter was referred to a Committee, who, June 27th, reported that since the passing of the ordinance the place had been used as originally intended, and as no other place within or adjoining the city had been dedicated as a burial-ground, and unless provision in some other locality for that purpose were made, great inconvenience would result to the citizens; they therefore recommended that the contracting parties be not released from their obligation to keep the cemetery open to the public until another suitable locality should be appropriated to that purpose within a reasonable distance from town.

This cemetery was situated on Webster Street, whence nearly all the bodies have been removed. A considerable portion of the property is now in the possession of Peter Thomson, a member of the City Council.

The present beautiful Mountain View Cemetery, a history of which will be found elsewhere, was selected and purchased in the latter part of the year 1863; it consists of some two hundred acres and comprises a vale among the foot-hills. It is situated about a mile and a half east of Oakland, while the following named gentlemen consti- tuted the first Board of Directors: Hiram Tubbs, Dr. Samuel Merritt, J. A. Emery, Rev. I. H. Brayton, William Faulkner, S. E. Alden, Rev. T. S. Wells, G. E. Grant, J. E. Whitcher, Major R. W. Kirkham, W. H. Bovee, Henry Robinson.

The first mention we have of railroads is in 1857. On the 15th July of that year was adopted, entitled, “ An Ordinance granting to Joseph Black, John Caper- ton, and their associates the privilege of constructing a railroad from a point beginning at high-water mark of the San Antonio Creek at the point of the intersection of Seventh Street therewith at the east; then north sixty-four and a half degrees west along the end of Seventh Street the distance of seven thousand two hundred feet to a stake directly in front of the center of J. D. Brower's house; thence north seventy- seven and a half degrees west, six thousand two hundred and forty feet to the easterly end of Bay Street was adopted, with certain slight emendations, which privileges were accepted by Messrs. Black and Caperton on August 7th. Of this franchise, and of the subject of railroads generally, Mayor Williams, in his message to the Council of Sep- tember 10, 1857, says: "The ordinance granting to Messrs. Black and Caperton and

Genmis E.Bernal

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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.

their associates, certain railroad privileges through the city from Gibbon's Point to the site of a contemplated new bridge on Seventh Street was a source of greater solicitude than any, or indeed all, the other ordinances of the past six months. I am in the abstract opposed to monopolies, but when a great and incalculably important benefit to our entire city is proposed to be accomplished by associated enterprise and wealth to which individual means are entirely inadequate, all experience in government has demonstrated the wisdom and policy of granting to chartered companies a temporary monopoly to secure for the public the accomplishment of an otherwise impracticable benefit. What though the grantors do make large profit by the operation, so long as the whole public is largely benefited, their business promoted, their property enhanced in value, their profits increased, population multiplied, and every facility for public and individual prosperity surely promoted and encouraged, I consider the project emi- nently deserving of the public approbation. It is not to be expected of individuals to peril their pecuniary means in a great enterprise which is to shed its blessings like the dews of heaven upon all alike, without some prospect of an adequate return. Nor do the public desire it. Only convince them that the project is for the general good, and it meets at once with the public approbation. And the public approbation of any project is all that is needed to insure its triumphant and complete success. The char- acter and standing of the applicants for that charter, and their associates, and their peculiar situation as resident citizens among us, afford, in my estimation, a sufficient guarantee of the bona fides of the project, and their present prosecution of the objects of the grant afford full proof, if any were wanting, of their intention to complete this project and their well-founded confidence in its ultimate and successful accomplish- ment.

"For years had our poor, hide-bound city been groaning under the nightmare of the most bold and unmasked imposition embargoed at both ends by odious and monstrous monopolies, illegal, oppressive, andiniquitous; her circumference manacled by unfounded claims, concocted by fraud and consummated by swindling, and her interior foully dis- emboweled by ruthless harpies preying on her vitals. It seems as if it would puzzle human ingenuity, or even fiendish malevolence, to contrive a system, like the virus of the tarantula, more iniquitously calculated to poison the life-springs of our prosperity, to reduce the value of our city property, prostrate credit, debar intercourse with our neighbors, divert business, choke up every avenue to progress, strangle every effort to prosper, ruin the industrious citizen and desolate our beautiful city, the fairest and brightest gem in California's diadem, than to shut off at one end of the city business intercourse with the traveling public and the whole surrounding country by the exaction of illegal tolls,* and on the other, under an unfounded and false pretense of an exclusive ferry monopoly, where there can be no ferry monopoly, bar a healthful intercommunication with San Francisco by exorbitant charges for transportation and the collection of illegal wharfage in direct violation and open defiance of a city ordi- nance; wrongs and outrages hitherto submitted to by a most patient public and long- suffering community.

"The remedy which it is our duty to see applied is plain, feasible, and easy; it is on the one hand to cause all persons exacting or collecting illegal tolls for crossing

* The Twelfth-street Bridge, then in the hands of H. W. Carpentier.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

the bridge to be prosecuted and punished and, by legal proceedings, cause the toll- gate which is an obstruction upon a public highway, to be removed as a nuisance, and on the other, to prosecute all persons, whether principals or agents, who exact, collect or receive, or cause to be collected illegal rates of wharfage, as is daily done in direct and palpable violation of a city ordinance, and encourage a healthful competition in steam conveyance between this city and San Francisco. * * * The establishment of a free bridge, a railroad and steam competition would soon roll back the black cloud that has so long hung like a pestilence over us and pour a flood of life-giving business through every vein and artery of our beautiful but prostrate city."

On May 20, 1861, there passed the Legislature " An Act granting to certain Per- sons the right to Construct and Maintain a Railroad through certain Streets in the City of Oakland." The description of the line being from a point at or near the westerly end of the bridge leading from the city of Oakland to the town of Clinton to a point on the bay of San Francisco, where the Alameda County shore approaches nearest to Yerba Buena Island, or at such a point as a railroad may be built from to said island, under, and by virtue of, an Act entitled, " An Act granting to certain persons the right to establish and run a ferry between the Island of Yerba Buena and the City of San Francisco, and to construct a railroad from said island 'to the Alameda County shore, the right to so construct, maintain, and operate being granted to Rodmond Gibbons, William Hillegass, R. E. Cole, Samuel Wood, Joseph Black, and George Goss, their associates, successors or assigns, for a period of fifty years. Thus was the present local line started. On November 20, 1861, the following ordinance was passed :-

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS :-

SECTION ONE .- The right of way along Seventh Street from its easterly limits, to or near its junction with Market Street; and from thence in a straight line to the western boundary of the city, which line is represented on a map filed with the Clerk of the Council, and marked "San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, Exhibit B," is hereby granted and released to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, for the pur- pose of laying a single or double railroad track, and the necessary side-tracks, along said street and line, and running cars and carrying passengers and freight thereon; said main track or tracks shall not be laid nearer than fifteen feet to the line of the sidewalk, on either side, and shall be made to conform to the grade of the street, and to present a level surface with the street at each street-crossing.

SECTION Two .- The said company shall have the privilege of erecting upon Seventh Street, at or near its intersection with Broadway, a platform or depot for the shelter of passengers and baggage, according to the dimensions and on a location, designated upon a map, filed with the Clerk of the Council and marked "San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, Exhibit A."

SECTION THREE .- For and in consideration of promoting the construction of said railroad, and the advan- tages accruing to the city of Oakland therefrom, and in consideration of one dollar, and upon the condition that the said San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company shall, within three years from this date, complete said road and bridge upon the line designated on the aforesaid map, marked Exhibit B., the use of that portion of the over- flowed land situated at the western terminus of said projected road, and bounded by the mainland on the east, and on the north and south by two parallel lines, each two hundred and fifty feet distant from the center line of said bridge, and extending from the mainland to the western limits of the city, is hereby granted and released to said company for the term of fifty years, and for such further time as the corporate franchise of said company shall be extended, and the Mayor of the city is hereby authorized to make, execute, and deliver to said company a conveyance, on the conditions aforesaid, of the same: provided, that if at any future time the city of Oakland shall lay out and establish a public street within the limits of said tract, and parallel with and adjoining said bridge, or crossing the said road at any point not occupied by the buildings of said company, said company shall claim no damages therefor. Passed November 14, 1861.

[Signed] Approved November 20, 1861. [Signed ]

E. GIBBONS, President of Council. J. P. M. DAVIS, Mayor of the city of Oakland.

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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.

AND WHEREAS, In pursuance of the aforesaid ordinance, the Mayor of the said city of Oakland did, on the twenty-fifth day of November, A. D. 1861, execute a deed, which said deed is in the words and figures following, to wit:

WHEREAS, On the 14th day of November, A. D. 1861, the City Council of the city of Oakland passed an ordinance entitled "An Ordinance concerning the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad," which was afterwards duly approved by the Mayor of said city on the 20th day of November, A. D. 1861, which said ordinance is in the words and figures following, to wit: "An Ordinance concerning the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad," which is quoted above, and therefore need not be reproduced; so we go on with the deed.

AND WHEREAS, By the said ordinance the Mayor of the said city is authorized to make, execute, and deliver to said Railroad Company a conveyance of the tract of land mentioned in said ordinance, on the conditions therein set forth.

Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by said ordinance, for and in behalf of said city of Oakland, in consideration of promoting the construction of said railroad, and the advantages to accrue to said city of Oakland therefrom, and in the further consideration of one dollar, and upon the conditions that said Rail- road Company shall within three years from this date complete said railroad and bridge, upon the line designated upon a certain map, copies of which are on file in the archives of said city, and in the office of the County Recorder, of Alameda County, marked San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, Exhibit B, I, J. P. M. Davis, the Mayor of said city, do grant and release to the said San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company the use o all that portion of the overflowed land situated at the western terminus of said projected road, and bounded by the mainland on the east, and on the north and south by two parallel lines each two hundred and fifty feet distant from the center line of said bridge, and extending from the mainland to the western limits of said city, as will more par- ticularly appear by reference to said map marked B, as aforesaid.

To have and to hold the above described premises unto the said San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Com- pany, for the use of said railroad for the term of fifty years from the date hereof, and for such further time as the corporate franchise of said company shall be extended. Together with all and singular, the tenements, heredita- ments, and appurtenances thereunto belonging, or in any way appertaining.

But if at any time the city of Oakland shall lay out and establish a public street within the limits of said tract and parallel to and adjoining said bridge, or crossing said road at any point not occupied by the building of said company, said company claim no damage therefor.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the corporate seal of said city to be affixed, this 25th day of November, A. D. 1861.

[Signed]

J. P. M. DAVIS, [SEAL.] Mayor of the city of Oakland.

Seal of the City of Oakland.

Be it therefore enacted that the said ordinance and deed executed in pursuance thereof, above named and recited, be and the same are hereby ratified and confirmed, and declared legal and valid according to the terms and conditions therein named, and that the said deed shall be prima facie evidence in all Courts of law, of the right of possession in and to the land therein described.

We have elsewhere shown that the construction of this road received, both here . and in Sacramento, strong opposition at the hands of the so-called owners of the water front, on the strength that a concession of the right of way would be the estab- lishment of a monopoly; but the Council thought differently, and in meeting assem- bled resolved that such a road was of vital importance to the interests of the commu- nity, and was calculated to destroy rather than foster a monopoly. Meanwhile the building of the road, with its wharf, went on apace, and on September 2, 1863, the first train of cars passed over the line, the track being completed from the end of the wharf to Broadway. After that date the cars made regular trips, in connection with the Contra Costa ferry-boat. It is also a matter worthy of record that the first engine and first three cars used on the line were all built at Oakland Point by a Mr. Young, while the second engine run was manufactured in Schenectady, New York. The honor of driving the first engine along the route belongs to James Bachelder.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

In the meantime the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad was being pushed vigorously forward, and its junction with the Oakland line was seriously contemplated, a scheme which was perfected on all the lines falling into the hands of the Central Pacific Railroad Company.

Then came the difficulty in regard to the granting of a site for a wharf at the foot of Franklin Street, already treated on in the portion of this chapter delegated to a consideration of the water-front question, and which it will be unnecessary for us to dwell upon here.

On April 1, 1865, the "local line" was extended to Larue's wharf, at San Antonio (Brooklyn), beyond which it did not extend until purchased by the Central Pacific, while, on March 25th, a fire broke out in the railroad station and destroyed property to the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars. Early in the month of August, of this year (1865), the report became current that the California Steam Navigation Company-then the great monopoly of the State-had purchased the Oakland Ferry and Railroad, but the rumor was set at rest by the assumption of its management by A. A. Cohen, the Superintendent and chief stockholder in the Alameda line, a move that was at the time considered as inimical to the future prosperity of Oakland.

Among the many railroad enterprises afloat at this time was one for the con- struction of a road from Oakland to Goat Island, the proposed line of which was filed in the office of the County Recorder, on January 22, 1866, certified by Charles Main, President; Peregrine Fitzhugh, Secretary; and L. H. Short, Engineer. The distance over which it was proposed to construct the road was, in a direct line from the outer end of the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company's wharf to the island, nearly two miles, and the greatest depth of water to be passed over, about sixty feet, and by it would railroad communication be brought to within one and five-eighths miles of San Francisco. All efforts, however, to place Goat Island in the possession of a railroad company have been defeated by. Congress, the island being the property of the United States.

On August 24, 1867, the Council granted permission to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company to. erect a station at the Point.

In 1863, the Western Pacific Railroad Company was formed, its route being from Sacramento via Stockton and Livermore to Oakland, while in the same year was launched the gigantic Central Pacific Railroad Company. In 1867 it became rumored that the last-named corporation had acquired by purchase the franchises granted to the first named, a report which subsequently proved well founded; but we must not anticipate. On August 24, 1868, an ordinance granting to the Western Pacific the right of way through certain streets in the city of Oakland, was passed; and on Sep- tember 25, 1869, Leland Stanford, President of that company, petitioned the City Council to the effect that it would be more convenient for the Company, and beneficial to the public interests if the Council would amend the ordinance granting the right of way through Fifth Street, so that the same should read Third and West Third Streets; therefore, section one of the ordinance entitled "An Ordinance granting to the . Western Pacific Railroad Company the Right of Way and certain Privileges in the City of Oakland," approved August, 24, 1868, was amended in accordance with the desire therein set forth. On October 4th, the Mayor returned the ordinance granting

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OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.

the privilege, with his reasons therefor, and on the question, "Shall the ordinance stand notwithstanding the veto of the Mayor?" being put to the Council, it was lost, there being no votes in favor of its passage, and five against it. On October 28, 1869, it was announced that the Western Pacific and San Francisco Bay Railroad Compa- nies had amalgamated and consolidated into a new company, with Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, E. B. Crocker, E. H. Miller, Jr., and A. P. Stanford as Directors, the capital being ten millions of dollars.

Subsequently the Western Pacific Railroad Company took formal possession of the "local line" and ferry; by these movements it is shown how the Central Pacific Rail- road first reached the bay of San Francisco, and the consolidation with the San Fran- francisco and Oakland and San Francisco and Alameda Railroads effected.

The wharves in use by those roads had been built with a view to the accommo- dation of the Oakland and Alameda ferry business, and were extended only to a depth of water sufficient to meet the requirements of the boats used upon those lines. Extensive additions were at once made to the Alameda Wharf for the temporary accommodation of the overland and interior freight, which was discharged there upon lighters, towed across the bay, and delivered to consignees at the Second and King- street Wharf, at which point freight for shipment on the road was also received, thus making San Francisco, practically, the terminus of the overland road as soon as the rails were laid to the eastern shore of the bay.

With the constantly increasing overland, as well as local freight, the necessity for some more expeditious method of handling it soon became apparent, and the steamer . Oakland was accordingly fitted up as the first car ferry-boat, carrying five loaded cars; and suitable slips being provided at Alameda and Second-street Wharves, freight was thus landed in San Francisco with but little delay and without breaking bulk ..

Meantime, work had been commenced at Oakland Wharf with the view of extending it to ships' channel, and providing suitable slips for the reception of the largest sea-going vessels, as well as for the boats in the regular passenger and freight ferry services.

The length of this wharf when it came into the possession of the Central Pacific Railroad Company was about six thousand nine hundred feet, with a width sufficient for a railroad track and a roadway for teams, having at the terminus a single slip for the ferry-boat El Capitan.

The plan adopted for its extension consisted of a new track for the main over- land line, connecting with the old wharf about four thousand feet from the Oakland shore and running parallel with the same to its terminus; and thence the extension of the wharf for a distance of about four thousand two hundred feet, with a width suffi- cient for three parallel tracks and a roadway for teams; the construction of three slips, one for the passenger-boat El Capitan, one for a new car ferry-boat (the Thoroughfare), and one of sufficient capacity to hold four large ships, with warehouses alongside for the temporary storage of grain when vessels were not at hand to receive it. Outside of these slips there was left an available frontage on either side of more than four thou- sand feet, where vessels lie with convenience and safety. Extensive passenger-depots were also provided for, and every arrangement made for the rapid transhipment of passengers and freight.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

A new freight ferry-boat, with a capacity for eighteen loaded cars, and additional room for sixteen car-loads of loose stock, was built and ready for use as soon as the new wharf was completed, in January, 1871, when the freight and passenger business of the company's roads was concentrated at that point. It is curious to observe the amount and nature of the material used in the construction of the wharf. Of timber and plank there were, seven millions and six thousand eight hundred and seventy-five feet, broad measure; eight hundred and forty-eight thousand six hundred and fifty- eight lineal feet of round piles; and two hundred and fifteen tons of iron.

On March 24, 1870, an ordinance to authorize the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad Companies to erect and maintain bridges across the estuary between the city of Oakland and Brooklyn was passed.

In 1873 an addition of three and seventy-nine hundredths miles to the Oakland and Alameda branch, consisting of a second tract through Railroad Avenue and Seventh Street, Oakland, from Bay Street to Harrison Street, and a branch thence to Mastick Station, Alameda, was built. This branch crossed the main line at the intersection of First and Alice Streets, and crosses San Antonio Creek on a bridge consisting of twelve spans of sixty feet each, and a swing-bridge with two clear openings of eighty feet each. The construction of this new line was necessary to enable the local trains and ferry to make half-hourly trips, which the rapidly increasing travel seemed to require, while, in consummating this arrangement, the Alameda ferry was abandoned, and the steamer Alameda, formerly run on that route, placed on the Oakland line, and making alternate trips with the El Capitan. The new track was completed and boats and trains commenced making half-hourly trips on September 29, 1873, an arrange- * ment which proved eminently satisfactory to the patrons of the line.

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History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 88

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood Number of Pages: 1206

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206