USA > California > Alameda County > Oakland > Illustrated album of Alameda County, California; its early history and progress-agriculture, viticulture and horticulture-educational, manufacturing and railroad advantages-Oakland and environs-interior townships-statistics, etc., etc > 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
ever do for any city what Nature is steadily doing for the city of Oakland and vicinity. The fog clouds pass overhead at an elevation of from five hundred to two thousand feet. This is nature's sunshade, catching the rays of the summer sun and casting cool and grateful shadows on the land surface below, whilst it leaves that surface free from wind and dampness. There is a horizontal triangle of protection also. At the Golden Gate this sea breeze can and does come in on the water level; but by reason of the conformation of the hills, this tongue of wind becomes forked-one part traveling northward and the other to tlfe south- east. The small arrows show the course and divisions of this lesser current. One part bears northward around the point of hills north of Berkeley; the other bcars southeast down the bay. The former is quite strong, the latter rather weak. The reason for this is clear; the former runs in the direction of the prevailing sea breeze overhead, and hence maintains its velocity; the latter turns down the bay, almost at right angles with the general over current, and hence its force is dissipated and weakened. This forking of the Golden Gate current leaves Oakland again in the triangle of repose. Of this horizontal triangle the base is at the hills to the eastward, and the other two sides are the two forks of the Golden Gate's current of wind. For these reasons, con- sidering these two triangles, I think I may justly say Oakland is in the triangle of peace. Under these circumstances it is not strange that strangers do not realize the fact that there is such a marked differ- ence between the climate of San Francisco 2 006 and that of Oakland. I believe these tri- angles furnish the solution of the question. . On this point, too, there is a singular little fact well worth considering. That is this: When water runs out of a waterspout or trough, if the trough is uneven on the under side, some water drips or curls under, while the main stream goes ahead. Just so in this case.
"The general front of the fog-bearing sea breeze bumps against and rises over the uneven top of the San Francisco hills; a little of the wind curls under at the uneven summit of the first row of hills, and . bears down on San Francisco. But this curling down of the cloud current goes no further practically. This curling down and the two triangles of repose account, in my judgment, for the phenomenal fact that Oak- land, only six or eight miles from San Francisco, has
PACIFICIS
800
OAKLAND
GATE
FEET
H
GH
8
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
a climate so much more benignant, and as different as though the two cities were a hundred miles apart.
"The views here given will account for the follow- ing facts: (1) Why a stiff summer sea breeze bears down in the streets of San Francisco; (2) why that wind brings fog down with it to the land surface there; (3) why the waves on the Bay of San Francisco run higher on a line extending northeasterly from the inner face of the Golden Gate than elsewhere; (4) why the summer wind is strong across San Pablo Bay and up the Straits of Carquinez; (5) why Oakland has absolutely no fog down in her streets when it is down on the west side of the bay; (6) why there is no surface trade wind at Oakland; and (7) why the fogs of the San Francisco peninsula become grateful clouds over Oakland and vicinity.
"The environments of the slope on the eastern side of the Bay of San Francisco duplicate those of Athens, which is one of the reasons why Oakland is designated the Athens of the Pacific. This is not a fanciful, but a real resemblance. The hills about Athens and also the Grecian archipelago are one with the hills and bays here. The clouds, the temperature, the sky, the breeze, the landscape, the half-shadowed country, are substantially the counterpart of ancient Greece. Whenever the Creator casts a kindly handful of sun- beams on old Greece, he, next morning, casts gently another handful over the new Greece-this Athenian słope.
"This slope is well watered and has an abundant rainfall every season. Such a thing as drought or ir- rigation upon it was never dreamed of, and will never be necessary. So fertile is this soil from Berkeley down to the county line that trees, flowers, and shrubs planted and properly tended, as, for example, about a new house, will at the end of the second or third season make the spot look as if it had been oc- cupied and cultivated ten years. I have seen this ac- tual result in almost numberless cases in and about Oakland. The heliotrope and fuchsia grow outdoors in Alameda County without so much as the shelter of a newspaper or sheet throughout the winter, and fre- quently attain a height of from eight to twelve feet. Geraniums thrive side by side with the heliotrope and fuchsia, and often reach a height of from six to ten feet. This slope is the paradise of flower and tree life as well as of animal and human existence. The aver- age annual variation in temperature at Oakland be- tween summer and winter temperatures-taking the average temperature of the months including winter and those including summer-is only eight degrees. Upon this inviting slope the most exacting and pains- taking home seekers, old Pacific Coast residents who
know the entire coast, have been and are now locating their homes. The stranger, not knowing the relative merits of different localities, may be satisfied with a better country than his, though not the best; but the old resident (from Washington Territory, Oregon, Nevada, and California) knows that the garden spot, the paradise of the Pacific Coast, is upon the slopes and in the valleys about the Bay of San Francisco.
"On this slope there are no less than thirteen towns and cities north of the Santa Clara County line- Berkeley, Temescal, Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Hayward, Niles, Alvarado, Newark, Cen- terville, Irvington, and Mission San José. Of these the principal ones are : Oakland, sixty thousand; Alameda, twelve thousand, and Berkeley, eight thousand-say, eighty thousand inhabitants in these three cities. The other towns and the intervening population include substantially twenty-five thousand people. So that, excluding San Francisco, this slope is at once the center of the State and of its population."
The population of the entire county is now at least one hundred thousand. It is increasing annually by fifteen thousand. This means a population of two hun- dred and fifty thousand in ten years, without any spe- cial additional causes contributing. But whatever else happens, incoming railroads, completion of the harbor, more active development of manufactories-any or all these are bound to accelerate the increase beyond that now going on. The surest county in California is Alameda.
HEALTH ADVANTAGES.
Low Death Rate and Exceptional Freedom from Sickness- Statistics of Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, etc.
The topographical situation and the natural condi- tions and phenomena previously mentioned, contribute to make Alameda County and its cities and towns, es- pecially Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley, and their suburbs, unexcelled for good health. One of the most important of these natural conditions is the daily after- noon breezes that sweep over the county from the Pacific Ocean in the summer and autumn seasons. These are so tempered and modified by the distance from the ocean and the conformation of the land that they are mild and bracing and yet are sufficiently strong to carry away any noxious or poisonous gases that may arise from sewerage or decomposing sub- stances. The same peculiarities of coast conforma- tion serve also to carry the fog prevalent along the coast away, so that it seldom settles down upon the eastern side of the Bay of San Francisco, because on striking the hills along the ocean coast, it is driven
RUBY HILL VINEYARD PROPERTY OF JOHN
PLATE 3.
ELLIN & SONS., LIVERMORE VALLEY ALAMEDA Co.
9
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
upward and over the bay at considerable height and strikes the Contra Costa Range. That portion of it coming in at the Golden Gate is driven along by the - plete system of sewerage is under contemplation. breezes accompanying to the Straits of Carquinez and San Pablo Bay. While the immediate coast from Point Reyes to Santa Cruz may be enveloped in fog, Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley and adjoining towns of Alameda County, are in sunshine or may be in par- tial shadow from the fog clouds passing several hun- dred feet overhead.
Being thus favored by nature, it is no wonder that the health of the community is exceptionally good, as is shown by the statistics, taken from the official records of the health offices.
The average death rate of Oakland for the past ten years shows an annual percentage of 13.57 per 1,000. The following is the rate per year from July I to June 30 :-
For 1882 and '83, 13.66; 1883-84, 13.92; 1884-85, 12.72; 1885-86, 13.22; 1886-87, 12.36; 1887-88, 15.03; 1888-89, 14.82; 1889-90, 13.43; 1890-91, 12.80; 1891 -92, 13.86.
The records of the health office show that during the past eight years five hundred and sixty-four per- sons have died from pulmonary diseases. Of these two hundred and seven had resided in Oakland more than ten years; sixty-six died of whom the time of residence is not given; ninety-nine resided between five and ten years; twenty had lived here five years; sixty-eight, between threeand four years; thirty-eight, two years; seventy-one, between six months and one year; fourteen, six months; eleven, five months; fifteen, four months; thirteen, three months; nineteen, two months; nine, one month, and thirty-one, less than one month. This shows that very few, if any, of the deaths from consumption occurred among the old residents of the county, while hundreds of cases are known in which persons with weak lungs have entirely recov- ered.
The records of the health office of Alameda City show a lower death rate than that of any other city on the Pacific Coast, and in fact it is claimed by the health authorities, lower than any other city in the United States. It claims to have the most perfect sewer sys- tem, with appliances for continuous flushing, in use anywhere in the world, and that this tends to the bet- ter health of its citizens. The death rate is about II per 1,000.
The town of Berkeley, with its 8,000 inhabitants, has as yet not fully organized a board of health, though it has a health officer acting under instructions of its town trustees. The records of its health statistics are not complete and could not be accurately ascertained.
The death rate is, however, about the same as that of Oakland, being 14.97 per 1,000 per annum. A com-
The interior towns of San Leandro, Haywards, Niles, Livermore, Pleasanton, Irvington, Newark, Al- varado, Centerville, etc., while without boards of health, show by the records of death as published in their newspapers an exceedingly low deatlı rate in compar- ison with those of other parts of the United States.
ST. MARY'S COLLEGE.
One of the largest educational institutions in Ala- meda County is that of St. Mary's College, occupying a block of seven acres in North Oakland, fronting on New Broadway. St. Mary's was founded by Arch- bishop Alemany, of San Francisco, in 1863, and was conducted by the priests of the diocese on the out- skirts of South San Francisco until 1868, when the management was transferred to the order of Christian Brothers. In 1872 the college was empowered to confer academic honors. In 1887-88 a new and en- larged building was erected in Oakland, and the school was transferred to it in 1889. The faculty consists of eighteen professors and instructors, who devote their entire time to the school. The studies are divided into two departments, collegiate (classical and scien- tific) and commercial. There is also a preparatory department with four grades. The building is 190 feet frontage with wings of 150 feet. It is five stories high, is furnished with elevators and all modern im- provements. A model of this building and a special display of the work of the students of this college is exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in the Educa- tional Department.
METEOROLOGY, TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL.
· The temperature of the western shore of California for many miles inland is affected by the warm current in the Pacific Ocean known as the Japan stream. The topography also affects the temperature and the rain- fall. Along the coast the rainfall in some localities reaches 50 to 75 inches during the season, while in others the mean average runs from 20 to 30 inches. The average difference of annual rainfall in the State of California extending from northwest to southeast is a little over two inches for every degree, and the meteorological records for a number of years show that the increase in rainfall is about one inch for every 100 feet in elevation in ascending the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There is more rain in the northern part of the State, and a gradual decrease towards the south. People living at the East who have never visited Cali- fornia, who read of many feet of snow at Truckee or Bodie, California, are inclined to think all of California
IO
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
is under snow. The fact is that the points in this State where snow is measured by the feet are located at an altitude greater than Mount Washington, and while there may be eighteen feet of snow at the Sum- mit in Nevada County and at Truckee at an elevation of 7,000 feet, the orange trees eighty miles nearer the Pacific Ocean are laden with fruit. Alameda County lies west of the cold zone, south of the heavy rain belts of the northern coast, and yet is north of the dry belt of the southern coast.
The following tables show the rainfall in inches for the seasons of 1881-82 and 1891-92 inclusive, and the mean annual rainfall for the eleven years, the temper- ature for the same time and that of the seasons, as well as the relative humidity, etc., for the past year:
In only two years has the average temperature of the months ranged over 14 degrees, and that its mean -range is not quite 1212 degrees.
MEAN TEMPERATURE 1891-92.
Mean temperature of winter.
53.10
Mean temperature of spring.
.54.08
Mean temperature of summer 62.03
Mean temperature of autumn .57.09 Difference between the coldest and warmest of spring months
2.07
Difference between the coldest and warmest of summer months
3-34
Difference between the coldest and warmest of autumn
5.08
months.
Difference between the coldest and warmest of winter months
6.69
Difference between the coldest and warmest months of the year.
13.55
RAINFALL IN INCHES FOR YEARS AND MONTHS 1881-92.
IS87-88 | 1888-89
IS89-90
1890-91
1891-92
Years
1881-82| 1882-83| 1883-84 1884-85| 1885-86 1886-87
Months.
Quantity ...
Days. ......
Quantity ..
Days ...
Quantity ...
Days ........
Quantity ...
Days ..
Quantity ...
Days ...
Quantity ...
Days ......
Quantity ...
Days.
Quantity ...
Days . ...
Quantity ...
Days .......
Quantity ...
Days .......
Quantity ...
Days. ....
September
.40
1
.42
2
1.00
2
.35
3
.05
2
.05
1
.27
2
.92
I
.10
3
.87.
2
October.
.82
7
2.65
9
1.03
7
2.80
4
.30
2
1.59
5
6
.78.
3
3.52
November
1.49
5 4.33
7
.90
3
6
7.73
13
4.43
S
3.60
6
3.22
8
4.82
12 13.27
21
3.19
.95
7
2.31
9
2.42
9
1.95
3
3.81
9
1.92
7
8. 12
13
1.57
6
6.42
16
.90
4 10.22
5
5.76
12 11.37
16
3.68
9
February
2.05
10
.70
8
8.59
I1
1.07
5 2.57
II
.71
4
4.44
9
7.60
14
4.73
15
3. 10
II
2.89
March
4.2C
II
3.33
S
5.79
10
3.12
9
5.II
II
2.35
6 .10
2
.93
7
1.51
5
2.77
1.09
7
April.
1.51
8
2.20
11
.55
5
.10
I
5
.IO
2
.48
3
1.92
9
1.17
3
5
2.49
....
May
.15
3
3.50
3.03
IO
.08
6
.05
2 .46
.07
I
64 46.95
98 23. 19
57 20.87
68
Totals
IS. 13
64 20.22
NOTE .- Mean annual rainfall for eleven years, 24. 33 inches.
The following will more particularly illustrate the climate of Oakland for the past eleven years, as it regards the equability of seasons and the difference between the warmest and coldest :-
Years.
Spring . ...
Summer ...
Autumn ...
Winter ... .
Difference
1882
54-46
60.40
57.75
48.20
12.20
1 883
55.18
61.17
57.67
50.39
10.78
1884
55-73
59.36
56.92
59. 12
9.24
1885
56.16
60.07
56.73
49.57
10.50
1886
52.97
58.95
55.86
45.38 13.57
1887
56.35
60.27
54.78
51.IO
9.17
1888
54.12
60 06
56.44
46.So
13.26
1889.
54.63
61.16
54.25
16.20
19.26
1890
55-59
61.89
57.07
47.38
14.51
1891
58.08
61.23
59-52
51.69
13.33
1892
55.06
61.69
56.89
52.12
13.41
Means ..
55.29
60.46
56.72
49.81
12.47
2
.15
1
.IO
1
July
. 26
I
August
.06
I
7.30
12
2.89
7
6
6.64
9
December
5.09
IO 1.14
9
1.15
5.25
IC
.48
3
.30
4
7.83
16
1.02
4
.63
June
55 32.21
75/18.45
55 17.20
55 21.37
62 31.10
73 17.95
ʻ
MATERIAL GROWTH AND INCREASE. ·
Wonderful Progress of the County in the Past Quarter of a Century-Almost Doubled in Assessed Value within a Decade.
The material growth and prosperity of Alameda County, especially during the past quarter of a century, has been gradual, progressive, and substantial, rather than of a musliroom character. It contains no towns or cities on paper. The interior towns and villages mentioned in this album are prosperous communi- ties and all have a productive country surrounding them.
During the earlier years of the county's history, the principal product of the land was in cereals, as the records of the assessor's office for 1856 show the cereal crop of that year to have been nearly two mil- lion bushels, on forty-two thousand fifty-four acres. Of this twenty-two thousand fifty-four was in wheat, and twenty thousand in barley, while there were
Difference between the warmest and coldest means of the seasons for eleven years is 16.51.
.
3 II. II
17
.45
.55
13
January
8
1.60
.Il
1
.15
.....
.02
6
.20
5
.05
PLATE 4.
RESIDENCE OF GEO .C. PERKINS, VERNON HEIGHTS, OAKLAND, CAL.
II
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
three thousand one hundred and eight acres in pota- toes. Of the orchards that year there were four hun- dred and twenty-six acres in apples and one hundred and seventy-three in peaches. There were thirty- four acres in vineyards. The live stock was put down at four thousand seven hundred and thirty- four head of horses, one thousand sixty-seven mules, seventeen thousand five hundred and forty-eight neat stock, and ninety-three thousand two hundred and eighty-one sheep. The average yield was estimated for the fifty-six thousand five hundred and nine acres under tilth at fifty bushels to the acre, valued at $120. From this the annual product of the thinly populated county at that time was estimated at $4,000,000. The growth of the county the past thirty years from its population of three thousand to upward of one hun- dred thousand, has been marvelous, and its industrial growth and prosperity have kept pace with its popula- tion, as the perusal of the succeeding pages will show.
The following tabulated statement, taken from the annual recapitulation tables of the county assessment rolls, shows the increase in the assessed value of real estate, improvements, and personal property, added together by years since 1882, and including that of 1892-93. During the eleven years mentioned there have been no so-called booms, but the growth has been gradual and steady:
is $89,700,041. Included in this total is $165,216 as the assessed value of telegraph and telephone lines in the county, which is not included in table.
Alameda County is practically without indebted- ness. In the year 1874 bonds in the sum of $200,- 000 were issued at eight per cent per annum interest, running for twenty years, ten per cent of the principal payable annually. These bonds were issued for the purpose of erecting the new county buildings on the removal of the county seat to Oakland. The interest and principal have been met each year, and only $20,- 000 now remains outstanding. This will be obliter- ated next year, and the county be entirely out of debt. The tax rate for 1892-93 was only eighty cents on the hundred dollars valuation.
THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
The government of the county is divided into legis- lative, executive, and judicial branches. The leg- islative is under the control of the Board of Super- visors, similar to the County Courts in some States and Board of County Commissioners in others. The ex- ecutive is partly under control of the Supervisors and partly under the general law as carried out by the Sheriff, constables, etc. There are five Supervisors, elected by the people of different supervisioral districts at the biennial elections, to serve for a term of four
TABLE SHOWING THE INCREASE IN VALUE OF ALAMEDA COUNTY BY TOWNSHIPS, CITIES AND INCORPORATED TOWNS, FOR II YEARS, 1882-92, AS SHOWN BY THE ASSESSMENT ROLLS.
Year ..
Township ...
Alameda
Berkeley .. ......
Township ...
Brooklyn
ship ... ...
Eden Town-
Hayward
Livermore .....
Township ...
Township ...
Oakland
San Leandro ..
Township ...
Washington
Oakland ..
Totals.
1882 $ 4,778, 150 $1, 671, 177 $3,323,568 $2,777,089 $386,457 $250,503 $2,913, 462 $3,421,394 $577,086 $4, 175,402 $24, 675, 331 $48,949,619
IS83
5,918,403
2,357,812
2,464, 186
3,048,997
3,277,087
3,640, 860
523,322
487,730
3.877,819
4,573,174
664,926
4,690,358
31,633,283
61,315,526
1886
6,298, 150
2,418,944
2, 184,035
3,058,37I
484,718
465,456
3.526 325
3,891, 119
4,271,587 4,324, 162 4,701,561
592,085 617,315 659,777
4,278, 100
28,498,030 29,415,34I
55,926,236 58,171,746 64.447,916
1888
7,230,332
3, 126, 125
3,140,492
3,260,479 3,599,26I
519, 120 687,022
533,445
4,010,093 4,112,400
5,248,353
781,810
4,900,092
34,727,926
68,941,464
1 890
9,022,866
3,497,413
3,328,925
3,861,245
638,825
526,645 509, 885
4,238,380
5,457,036
863,500
5, 114,495
39, 275,659
75,808,220
1891
10,245, 155
4,092,040
3,477,345
3,944,623
691,665
620,805
4,490,983
6,762,357
930,425
5,205,041
42,566, 283
81,031,722
1892| 10,918,625 6,240,435
5,019.925
3.969,495
777,040!
614,475
4,575, 195 6,165,825 982,065
5,289,9901
44,288,755
88,841,825
The assessed value of the fiscal year 1892-93 of the four hundred and forty thousand three hundred and fifty-five acres of land in the county lying out- side of the cities and incorporated towns, is $17,209,- 725. The assessed value of the improvements on this land is $2,780,580. Of the entire area of the county, fourteen thousand two hundred and ten acres are within the corporate limits of cities and towns, and are valued at $39,369,775, with improvements to the value of $22,137,020. The personal property valuation is $7,464,620, and the total assessed value of the county
years. Their terms are so fixed that all do not go out of office at the same time. Of the present Board the terms of two will expire January 1, 1895, and the re- maining three January 1, 1897. The regular meeting of the Supervisors is held on the first and last Mon- day of each month. The Supervisors have charge of much of the county's business, fix the tax levy, open highways, grant railroad and other franchises, county licenses, look after the poor, etc.
The other county officers are the County Clerk, who is ex-officio Clerk of the Superior Court, which
613,463
4.324, 198
30,013,676 29,500,535
62, 141,462
1884
6,091,513
2,305,378
644,205
4,501,828
4,173,535
1887
6,521,991
2,491,450
2,337,355
4,660,275
31,398,528
1889
7,872,699
3,283,960
3, 265, 180
3,617,95I
604,509
286,268
3,223,412
3,662,360
4,415.375 4,291,559
1885
6,805,763
2,618,702
2,395,595
2,350, 159
475,672 498,930
408, 198
57,531,758
515,284
Murray
...
2
I2
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
has jurisdiction over criminal, civil, and probate busi- ness, and is likewise clerk of the Board of Supervisors; the County Auditor, County Assessor, County Tax Collector, County Treasurer, County Recorder, County Surveyor, Sheriff, Coroner, County Superintendent of Schools, and District Attorney, whose duties are similar to those performed by like officers in other States; the Public Administrator, whose duty it is to administer on estates of deceased persons whose heirs are unknown. There is no Register of Wills or Prothonotory. All wills are filed with the County Clerk, and proof is made in the Probate depart- ment of the Superior Court. The terms of the County Assessor and the County Superintendent of Schools are four years, and those of the other officers two years.
The Judicial Department, or Superior Court, is di- vided into four departments, each presided over by a judge, all having concurrent jurisdiction and sometimes sitting together in bank in important cases. Each de- partment has assigned to it civil, probate, and criminal cases, these being distributed by the County Clerk
according to the date of filing, as provided by the rules of the Court. The Superior Court has jurisdiction of all felonies and high misdemeanors, the jurisdiction of lesser offenses being vested in Police Courts in cities and the Justices' Courts of the townships, from whose decisions appeals may be had to the Superior Court. The Justices of the Peace likewise have jurisdiction in civil matters in actions at law, where the amount claimed, exclusive of interest and costs, does not ex- ceed $300.
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.