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 8
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The division switch engines at Port Costa, the West Oakland yard, and the San Francisco yard, number twenty-six. Four of these are the largest switch engines made, being eighteen by twenty-four ten-wheel locomotives, equal in size to the largest freight engines. The remainder of this class have sixteen and seventeen-inch cylinders. Because of the heavy service to which they are subjected they come in for repairs after about eighteen months' work. The average life of the passenger and freight engine on these lines is about two and a half years. The re- maining twenty-eight engines of the division are freight and extra passenger engines.
The blacksmithy has four forges and a steam ham- mer of ten tons. The machine shop is amply fitted with necessary tools, a lathe for turning tires, which is now at work upon steel tires for the South Pacific Coast Railroad, because the shops of that road at Newark have not the necessary tools for such work, an hydraulic press for putting wheels on, a large planer, a large slatting machine, three drill punches, and six lathes. Here also is the air compressor which supplies the block signal system, extending from the pier to Sixteenth Street on the overland lines, and to Alice Street on the Fifteenth Street lines. The roundhouse has room for twenty-one locomo- tives. The daily supply of coal used by the locomo- tives is, on the average, one hundred tons.
The department employs one hundred and ten men,
PLATE 16
HALL
RECORDS
HALL OF RECORDS.
37
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
and the pay roll is growing larger every month. These are classed as follows: Mechanics, thirty-four, comprising smiths, carpenters, boiler makers, ma- chinists, and painters; helpers, twenty-six; laborers, twenty-two; wipers, fifteen, being boys who are in the line of eventually becoming engineers; watchmen and dispatchers, eleven; a foreman of the roundhouse and a foreman of the machine shop. The engineers num- ber ninety-five, and the firemen ninety-eight. The monthly pay roll amounts to $21,000, of which the engineers receive $10,000, the repairing branch $6,000, and the firemen $5,000.
The passenger engines outside of Oakland and the yards make a monthly run of one hundred eighteen thousand four hundred seventy-eight miles; the freight engines, sixty-four thousand seven hundred eighty- six ; way switching, five thousand six hundred eighty- two; terminal switching, fifty thousand seven hundred forty-one; and miscellaneous, three thousand three hundred ninety-six, making a total distance traversed in this division each month of two hundred thirty- three thousand eighty-three miles.
The shipyard, which belongs to the bridge building department, is close alongside the repair shops, upon the shore of the creek. It was first established in its present place in 1874, and the steamers Oakland and Transit were the first boats built here. In quick suc- cession the Capitol, Julia, Amclia, and El Capitan were repaired upon these ways, and in 1878 the So- lano was built. This, the mammoth steamer of the company's fleet, is the largest ferryboat in the world. She has two beam engines, each sixty inches in diameter, with eleven feet stroke. Her eight steel boilers were built in Sacramento. The Apache and Modoc were then built for use on the Sacramento River, followed in 1883 by the Piedmont, as hand- some a boat as was ever used on any ferry service.
In the car department all cars or coaches arriving from the East are thoroughly inspected, repaired, and cleaned. The yard set apart for this purpose is prob- ably the most extensive and best fitted for the purpose in the United States. Its order and cleanliness at- tract the attention of every Eastern railroad man who visits it. There are ten parallel tracks, one thou- sand feet long, with all necessary switches and cut-offs, running into a long brick shop, with transfer table and a separate track for the wrecking train, which stands alone, fully equipped with all tools, provisions, and every requisite for picking up a wreck. The main avenue down the yard is thirty feet between tracks, and here are kept in handy rack sand bins all tools and material required for the work. From two hundred to four hundred passenger coaches are cleaned monthly at these yards.
CHAPTER VI.
ECCLESIASTICAL AND FRATERNAL.
Denominational Statistics-All the Various Evangelical and the Roman Catholic Societies Have Churches in Different Parts of the County-Other Religious Institutions-The Fraternities-They are all Represented-Clubs-Charitable Institutions, etc.
CONGREGATIONALISM .- There are at the present time fifteen Congregational Churches and seven missions in Alameda County. The oldest organization is that of the First Church of Oakland, Rev. J. K. McLean, pas- tor. It was organized December 9, 1860, with seven- teen members. The aggregate membership in the county now is nearly twenty-six hundred. The de- nomination has fifteen church edifices, of the aggregate value of $218,250. The annual contributions aggre- gate nearly $45,000 for congregational expenses, and about $15,000 for home and foreign missions, or a total of $60,000. There are twenty-five Sunday schools, with a membership of three thousand one hundred.
Within the limits of the county this denomination has a theological seminary (the Pacific) and a prepar- atory school (the Hopkins Academy). The two own real estate valued at $100,000, and have endowments of $200,000.
The First Congregational Church of Oakland has a membership of one thousand members, and raises an- nually a large sum for the missions. It has the finest church edifice and chapel in the county, which is shown in plate No. 18.
PRESBYTERIANISM .- There are in the county nine- teen Presbyterian congregations, with a total member- ship of nearly three thousand. The number of Sun- day school scholars in these churches, with their mis- sion schools, is three thousand eight hundred. The total amount of money contributed by the members of these churches during the past year for all purposes was about $65,000. The largest of these congrega- tions is that of the First Presbyterian Church of Oak- land, Rev. Robert F. Coyle, D. D. (not long ago of the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church of Chicago), pastor. It now has a membership of upward of one thousand, having gained about three hundred the past year. It is shown in plate 13 in this book. Its mem- bers contributed about $26,000 in 1892, of which nearly $4,000 was for missionary work at home and abroad. These congregations are now in the newly created Presbytery of Oakland, which includes Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. There is a social organization known as the Presbyterian Social Union of Alameda County, which holds quarterly social meetings.
38
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
There are also two small United Presbyterian mission congregations in the county-one in Oakland and the other in Alameda-and a Reformed Presbyterian Chi- nese mission, neither of them yet having a church structure. Both of the United Presbyterian congre- gations expect to build this year, having secured building sites.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL .- One of the earliest denom- inations to organize a society in Alameda County was that of the Methodist Episcopal, and it is now one of the strongest. It has an aggregate membership of nearly three thousand in the county. The first society now numbers about one thousand members and has a large church edifice. It has upward of twenty build- ings in the county, of an aggregate value of about $150,000. Its·total annual contributions amount to $50,000 and upward. It is one of the foremost in Sunday school work.
The church structure is very complete in its ap- pointments in the way of Sunday school rooms, class rooms, parlors, libraries, etc. The sum of $10,000 was expended in improvements last year.
THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS .- This people intro- duced their faith into Oakland about the year 1874, first by means of tent meetings and the circulation of literature pertaining to their peculiar doctrines. In 1876 they organized a church, and erected a house of worship at the corner of 13th and Clay Streets. Soon after the introduction of their faith, they also estab- lished a publishing house, now known as the Pacific Press Publishing Company. This establishnient has had a marvelous growth, and is now capitalized at $200,000. The church organization also outgrew its first building, and in 1887 built a larger house, the auditorium having a seating capacity of about 1,200. This house stands at the corner of 12th and Brush Streets, on the same block as the publishing house. The membership of the church is 450, with a Sabbath school of 416 members, at present writing.
UNITARIANISM .- The first Unitarian society was founded in Oakland under the auspices of Rev. Charles W. Wendte, in 1886, with about fifty families, and at the present it numbers about three hundred families, or one thousand souls. This society of liberal Chris- tians erected a handsome church edifice in 1891, at a cost of $80,000, and contributes an annual income of about $9,000. Its bond of union is: "In the love of truth and the Spirit of Jesus Christ we unite in the worship of God and the service of man." It has about two hundred in its Sunday school. It has also con- nected with it several societies and clubs, among them the Starr King Fraternity of two hundred sixty-six
members, which maintains reading room, entertainments and literary classes, etc .; Unity Club of young people; Lend a Hand and Yule Clubs; Woman's Auxiliary, eighty members. There are also Unitarian congre- gations in Alameda and Berkeley, recently organized, which have not yet erected church edifices. The build- ing of the Oakland society is shown in plate No. 17.
ROMAN CATHOLIC .- There are twelve Roman Cath- olic parishes in the county, with a total membership of about seven thousand five hundred, and church and residence property valued at $200,000. Flourishing parochial schools are running in each parish. Some of these schools have prepared and sent specimens of their work for exhibit in the Educational Department at Chicago.
One of the finest churches of the denomination on the Pacific Coast is that of St. Francis de Sales parish, Oakland, just completed this year. It is shown in plate No. 22.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL .- There are five Protestant Episcopal parishes in Oakland; two of them, St. John's and St. Paul's Churches, are in central Oakland; the Church of the Advent, East Oakland; St. Andrews, West Oakland, and Trinity, North Oakland, There are also flourishing parishes in Alameda and Berkeley, and missions in other parts of the county.
UNIVERSALISM .- The First Universalist congregation of Oakland was organized some years ago and has a neat chapel seating about five hundred persons. It is under the pastoral charge of Rev. Samuel Goodenough, and has for many years been under his care.
BAPTISTS .- The first organization of the Baptists in Alameda was that of the First Church, Oakland, in 1854. There are now ten organizations in the county, with nine church buildings, of the aggregate value of about $70,- 000. The total membership is about one thousand six hundred. The annual contributions for all pur- poses averages about $25,000. There are thirteen Sunday schools, with one thousand four hundred pupils enrolled.
The Free Baptists have an organization in Oakland with a membership of about one hundred and a build- ing and lot worth about $6,000.
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST .- There are two congregations of the Christian Church in Alameda County, with a membership of about six hundred. The largest of these is in Oakland and includes in its membership leading citizens. The other is at Irvington, in Wash- ington Township.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN .- There are three Lu- theran congregations in Alameda County; two of these
PLATE 17
ERECTED
FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH, 14AND RASTRO STS., OAKLAND.
39
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
are German. They have church structures and large congregations. The English Lutheran congregation have recently purchased a lot in the central portion of Oakland and are now erecting a handsome church thereon.
HEBREW CONGREGATIONS .- There are two He- brew congregations in Oakland-one known as the Orthodox and the other Reformed. The First Hebrew Congregation owns a synagogue at Clay and Thirteenth Streets and has regular services. At present it is without a rabbi. The other congregation, known as Beth Israel, is not very large and is renting a chapel for a synagogue.
LATTER-DAY SAINTS -There is a small congrega- tion of Latter-day Saints (Josephites-anti-polygamy Mormons) who own a small church and lot in Oak- land.
OAKLAND YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. -The association in Oakland was organized in 1879, and has had a perpetual existence from that date for- ward. Its earlier years were filled with many trials and difficulties, and at some points it seemed as though the work must be given up. These difficulties were all surmounted, however, and to-day the association has its home in the handsome building on the corner of Twelfth and Clay Streets. The lot and improve- ments upon it are to-day worth nearly, if not quite, $100,000. The erection of the building is due to the persistent efforts of Captain Bray, who was secretary during the years from 1885 to 1891.
The nominal membership fee is five dollars per year, including evening educational class advantages, to- gether with all the privileges of the gymnasium, bowl- ing alley, bathrooms, reading room, members' parlor, social entertainments, receptions, and frequent literary entertainments of a high order. The Junior Depart- ment includes boys from the ages of eleven to sixteen, who have all the above privileges, under certain re- strictions and during certain hours of the week. In the Physical Department a thorough system of medical examinations and measurements is carried out under the directions of the physical instructor. No boy or young man is permitted to exercise in the gymnasium without having first taken the necessary examination, to determine whether or not he has any physical im- perfections which would make any line of exercise in- jurious to him.
The management of the association is, at the present time, vested in a Board of Directors, composed of eight- een business men of the city. The membership roll last year(1892) reached seven hundred.
YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION .- On Oc-
tober 5, 1877, a number of ladies of Oakland met to- gether and organized the Young Women's Christian Association of Oakland. The association was incor- porated under the laws of the State, on November 19, 1882. Its work among homeless and friendless young women was similar to that done by the Young Men's Christian Association. Its object was outlined to be for the purposes of establishing an industrial depart- ment to provide employment for destitute and unem - ployed women; also a reading room and library for girls and women; to seek out young women and uncared-for children residing in the city, or who, on arriving in Oakland friendless or homeless, needed advice, sympathy, or temporary aid, to extend to them the hand of encouragement, to surround them with moral and religious influences, and to provide them with a Christian home, to carry Bible truths, Christian sympathy, love, and help to families needing such min- istrations, also to persons confined in hospitals and prisons.
A new, handsome building of three stories in height was erected during 1892 and dedicated shortly before Christmas. Its purpose and use is the same as that of the Young Men's Christian Association. The lot and building are worth about $40,000. It was erected largely by the liberal contributions of friends. It is being furnished the same way.
YOUNG MEN'S INSTITUTE .- Taking pattern from the Young Men's Christian Association's work among young men, and especially among those homeless and friendless strangers from the Eastern States, the younger members of the Roman Catholic Church organized a few years ago a society among the young members of the denomination, called the Young Men's Insti- tute. There are a number of these societies or councils in Alameda County. They have a very bene- ficial effect, providing rooms and places where young men without homes may spend pleasant evenings.
YOUNG LADIES' INSTITUTE .- Similar to the Young Women's Christian Association is the Young Ladies' Institute, with its membership confined to the young women of the Roman Catholic Church or adherents of that communion. It has three institutes in Ala- meda County.
THE FRATERNAL SOCIETIES.
Free and Accepted Masons-Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows-Knights of Pythias-Ancient Order of United Work- men-Knights of Honor-American Legion of Honor- Chosen Friends-Woodmen of the World, etc.
In the early days of the Pioneers the fraternal so- cieties of the older civilization followed to California,
40
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
and the Masonic and Odd Fellows' lodges were or- ganized in every mining camp of any prominence. Many of these old lodges still exist in the mining towns, and scores of members still belong who annu- ally send their dues, but who have drifted away into other towns and business, and have not been in their lodge room for many years. All the fraternal socie- ties of prominence known in the Eastern States have lodges, councils, or camps in California.
MASONIC .-. There is a lodge of F. and A. M. in nearly all the cities and towns of Alameda County. The total number of lodges in the county is nine, with an aggregate membership of one thousand and fifty.
There are three chapters of Royal Arch Masons, with three hundred and fifty members.
There is one commandery of Knights Templar, with a membership of one hundred and seventy-five.
There are a lodge, chapter and council of the Ac- cepted and Ancient Scottish Rite, with one hundred members.
There is a Council of Royal and selected Masters, of one hundred members.
There are four chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star in the county, with a membership of five hundred and fifty.
ODD FELLOWS .- In Alameda County there are eight- een subordinate lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and two thousand members.
There are three encampments of the Patriarchal branch, with two hundred and twenty-five members.
There is one canton of Patriarchs Militant, with a membership of sixty.
There are eight Rebekah Degree lodges, and a membership of seven hundred.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS .- This order, founded on the legendary friendship of Damon and Pythias, spread to the Pacific Coast shortly after its organization in the East, and its lodges in Alameda County were among the earliest in California. There are now seven lodges, with a membership of one thousand. There is a division of the Uniform Rank, and several circles of Pythian Sisters in the county.
RED MEN .- The Independent Order of Red Men had several flourishing tribes in Alameda County prior to ten years ago, but some, if not all, surren- dered their charters owing to local troubles. There are now four tribes, with a membership of two hun- dred and fifty.
FORESTERS .- There are in Alameda County seven courts of the Ancient Order of Foresters, with nine hundred members. There are also five circles
of the Companions of the Forest, with a membership of two hundred.
The Independent Order of Foresters have five courts and about one hundred members.
UNITED WORKMEN .- Nearly all the death benefit or bequeathment societies in the Union have lodges, councils, etc., in Alameda County, foremost among them being the Ancient Order of United Workmen, which organized the first three lodges on the Pacific Coast in Oakland in 1876, and from this nucleus spread across the bay to San Francisco and over the State and coast, there being now about eighteen thousand in the State. The first meeting of the Grand Lodge was held in Oakland. There are now twenty-two lodges in Alameda County, with a total membership of two thousand three hundred.
KNIGHTS OF HONOR .- The Knights of Honor came to the Pacific Coast in 1879. They have in Ala- meda County five lodges and a total membership of three hundred.
CHOSEN FRIENDS .-- The Order of Chosen Friends, prior to the division and seceding of the so-called Inde- pendent Order of Chosen Friends, of the Pacific Coast, had upward of one thousand members in Alameda County. It now has seven councils and four hundred and fifty members in the county.
WOODMEN OF THE WORLD-The Woodmen of the World were organized in Alameda County by members from Colorado in 1892, and now have six camps in the county, with a membership of four hundred.
NATIVE SONS AND DAUGHTERS .- The Native Sons of the Golden West is an organization composed of young men-natives of California. They have nine parlors in Alameda County, with eight hundred men- bers.
The Native Daughters of the Golden West have two parlors in Alameda County. This organization is similar to that of the Native Sons.
GRAND ARMY .- There are in Alameda County about one thousand five hundred survivors of the Union Army and Navy of the late Civil War. Of these about four hundred only are in the Grand Army of the Republic. These are in five posts in various parts of the county.
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
There are five lodges of Good Templars in Alameda County, with a membership of three hundred.
The Sons and Daughters of Temperance have one division in Alameda County.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has a membership of about five hundred in Alameda County, with branches in the various towns.
PLATE 18
144414
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 12 TH & CLAY STS., OAKLAND.
41
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
The Non-Partisan Woman's Christian Temperance Union has a branch society in Oakland.
The Young Woman's Christian Temperance Union has an organization in the county.
There is a Francis Murphy Temperance Society with rooms in Oakland, kept up by contributions, hav- ing reading rooms, parlors, etc.
MISCELLANEOUS FRATERNAL SOCIETIES.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians have one lodge. There is one lodge of the Knights and Lacies of Honor.
The Sons of Veterans have one camp.
The Benevolent Protective Order of Elks have a strong lodge.
There is one grove of the United Ancient Order of Druids.
The Equitable Aid Union has one lodge in the county.
An Assembly of the National Union was recently formed in Oakland.
The Knights of the Golden Eagle have recently or- ganized a castle.
The Sons of St. George and Daughters of St. George have each a strong society.
The Patriotic Sons of America have one camp.
The Order of Scottish Clans have one clan.
There is one lodge of the Order of Herman's Sons. There is a branch of the St. Andrew's Society.
There is a branch of the British Benevolent Society and also an organization known as the British Ameri- can Association in Alameda.
The Woman's Relief Corps, auxiliary to the Grand Army, have four corps in Alameda County, each of which raises funds and dispenses relief to the destitute old soldiers or sailors and their families.
There is also one circle of the Ladies of the Grand Army organized for the same purpose.
CLUBS.
There are in Alameda County about twenty-five clubs of various kinds. There are in Oakland twelve social clubs, most prominent among them the Athenian and Deutscher. There are two athletic clubs,-the Reliance and Acme. There are three boat clubs,- the Oakland Canoe, the Alameda, and the Encinal of Alameda. The two former have boathouses on the estuary of San Antonio, or Oakland Creek, and the
latter on a cove in the Bay of San Francisco at the foot of Grand Street, Alameda.
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
There are a number of charitable institutions in the county for the purpose of dispensing relief to the needy and destitute. Among the most prominent of these is the Associated Charities of Oakland, composed of del- egates from the various religious denominations and fraternal societies. This society investigates cases of needy poor and destitute, and in conjunction with the Oakland Benevolent Society, dispenses aid. These two societies work together.
The Catholic Ladies' Aid Society was originated by Mrs. Mary Lohse, an Alameda County lady, some years ago, and is now a State society, i. e., has branches in various counties. It raises funds and dispenses aid to deserving poor.
The Daughters of Israel is a society formed of He- brew ladies, but their charity is not confined exclu- sively to the needy of their denomination.
The German Ladies' Aid Society is another society that disburses considerable sums annually to worthy poor.
The Oakland Ladies' Relief Society was organized many years ago. It maintains an Old Ladies' Home at Temescal, a suburb of Oakland.
HOME FOR ORPHANS .- In 1887 a society was organ- ized in East Oakland by a few philanthropic ladies to aid children of destitute families in a small way. They met occasionally for the purpose of sewing for and supplying them with garments. They picked up from time to time about a dozen waifs and cared for - them until it was deemed expedient to remove to West Oakland. Here a small cottage was rented and the children placed in charge of a matron. The work of the society finally awakened public interest and it grew and prospered so that it was found necessary to re- move to more commodious quarters. These were found at the corner of Taylor and Campbell Streets, West Oakland. This property was purchased by the society, which had incorporated under the name of the West Oakland Home for the Care and Training of Orphans, Half Orphans and Destitute Children, for $8,000. The late Charles Crocker gave $1,000 and the remaining $7,000 was contributed by citizens, in smaller amounts, giving the home to the association free from debt. In 1890 the home was found inade- quate on account of the large increase in the number of children to care for, and an annex was erected at a cost of $8,500 additional.
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