Built in 1873 and purchased in 1874 by Louis Leimert, a candy manufacturer, the Leimert Building held the offices of William Dingee, real estate tycoon, and the head of the Oakland Water Company. With Oakland’s rapid growth, it wasn’t long before backyard wells weren’t enough to supply the water needs of the population. Today the …
Tag Archives: historical building
Dunn Block
The Dunn Block dates back to 1876. Currently it’s home to the Bookmark Bookstore, a small bookstore run by Friends of the Oakland Public Library, which gives its proceeds to the libraries.
Central Pacific Station
Constructed in 1873, the Central Pacific Railroad Depot represented the end of the first transcontinental railroad. In 1912 the Southern Pacific Railroad built a larger station in West Oakland and all but local train traffic moved there. In 1941, the building became Mi Rancho Market, one of the anchors of the burgeoning Latino neighborhood. 1875-1941A …
Fong Wan Herb Co.
Fong Wan was an herbalist in the early and mid 1900s. Fong’s business was investigated by state and federal officials for his advertising claims for his herbs, but he was never convicted. Satisfied customers testified on his behalf in a 1932 trial. Some of his later advertisements would detail attacks by the federal government on …
Pardee Home
The Pardee Home was built in 1868-1869 for Dr. Enoch Pardee and his family. Pardee would later serve as mayor of Oakland. His son, Dr. George Pardee later lived here with his family, and served as mayor of Oakland, and as governor of California. Notable during Pardee’s time as governor was the 1906 earthquake, which …
Saint Mary’s Church
Saint Mary’s Church is now home to the New Birth Oakland church, but the building dates back to 1872 and the parish was a major part of neighborhood life for over a century. The area was once home to immigrants from Italy, Portugal and later Mexico, but large swaths of buildings were taken out to …
Cathedral Building
The Cathedral Building is…
City Hall (architecture)
Nicknamed “Mott’s Wedding Cake” by reporters at the time, Oakland’s city hall building was completed in 1914.
Clay Building
Diagonally across the intersection is the Clay Building. Like many things in Oakland and the Bay Area, the building has ties with earthquakes. But this one has ties with two. Following the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, tens of thousands of people fled the city, and many ended up in Oakland—the population of Oakland almost …
Washington Inn
The Washington Inn is relatively new, but the building dates back to 1913. For many years it was the Hotel Ray, which like many other hotels in at the time, was a both a regular hotel and a residential hotel where people lived for longer periods of time. If the lobby is open, head inside …