History of Oakland, California facts for kids

The history of Oakland, a city in Alameda County, California, began with a settlement founded by Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon in the 1800s. People have lived in the area now known as Oakland for thousands of years. But the city really started to grow during the Industrial Revolution. Oakland officially became a town in 1852.

Early People: The Ohlone Tribe

The first people known to live here were the Huchiun tribe. They lived in this area for thousands of years. The Huchiun were part of a larger group called the Ohlone people. The word "Ohlone" means "western people" in the Miwok language. In Oakland, these tribes mostly lived near Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek. This creek flows into the San Francisco Bay near Emeryville.

Oakland's Beginnings

Spanish explorers from New Spain claimed Oakland and other Ohlone lands for Spain in 1772. Later, in the early 1800s, the Spanish king gave this land to Luis María Peralta. It became part of his huge Rancho San Antonio. When Mexico became independent from Spain, they confirmed Peralta's ownership. After Peralta died in 1842, his land was divided among his four sons. Most of what is now Oakland went to Antonio Maria and Vicente.

The Peralta ranch had many oak trees. These trees stretched from what is now downtown Oakland to the nearby area of Alameda. The Peraltas called this area encinal, which is Spanish for "oak grove." This name later became "Oakland." Horace Carpentier, Oakland's first mayor, explained that the city was named after the "magnificent grove of evergreen oaks" that covered the area.

After the Mexican–American War, Mexico gave a huge amount of land, including California, to the United States in 1848. The treaty promised to protect the land of Mexican citizens. However, many people, especially during the Gold Rush, started settling on the Peralta Ranch without permission.

Before the government set up a way to handle land claims, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—started a small settlement on Peralta land. They called it "Contra Costa," meaning "opposite shore." This was in the area that is now downtown Oakland. Carpentier became a state lawmaker and helped Oakland become an official town on May 4, 1852.

On March 25, 1854, Oakland became an official city. Horace Carpentier was elected the first mayor. But he didn't last long. He was removed in 1855 because people found out he had secretly taken control of the waterfront. Charles Campbell then became mayor.

Growing with Railroads and Transportation

Oakland grew quickly with the arrival of railroads in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad built the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, where the Port of Oakland is today. This wharf was the end point for the Transcontinental Railroad and local trains. The Central Pacific also built large train yards in West Oakland, which provided many jobs.

The main train station was the 16th Street Station. It is now being restored. In 1871, Mills College moved to its current location in Oakland. In 1872, the town of Brooklyn became part of Oakland.

In the late 1800s, many horsecar and cable car lines were built in Oakland. The first electric streetcar started running from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891. All these streetcar companies were eventually bought by Francis Marion Smith, known as "Borax" Smith. He combined them into what became the Key System.

The Key System also ran commuter trains to its own pier and ferry boats to San Francisco. After the Bay Bridge was built, both the Key System and Southern Pacific ran their trains on the bridge's lower deck directly to San Francisco. The Key System also helped sell land and built two large hotels, including the Claremont Resort. They even had a big amusement park called Idora Park from 1904 to 1929.

Oakland in the Early 1900s

Oakland's original size was south of where San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street meet today. The city slowly added farmlands and settlements to the east and north. As Oakland grew into an industrial city and needed a seaport, a shipping channel was dug in 1902. This turned the nearby town of Alameda into an island.

In 1906, Oakland's population doubled. This was because many people became homeless after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Around this time, Mayor Frank Kanning Mott led a "City Beautiful" movement. This helped create and protect parks and monuments in Oakland, like improvements to Lake Merritt and the building of the Oakland Civic Auditorium. The Auditorium cost $1 million in 1914. It was even used as a hospital during the 1918 flu pandemic, which sadly killed over 1,400 people in Oakland.

By 1920, Oakland was a hub for many factories. They made metals, canned goods, baked goods, engines, cars, and ships.

The Roaring Twenties in Oakland

The 1920s were a time of great economic growth in the United States, especially in California. This was helped by the end of World War I and the rise of cars. In 1916, General Motors opened a big Chevrolet car factory in East Oakland. They made cars and trucks there until 1963. Also in 1916, the Fageol Motor Company started making farming tractors in East Oakland. They later made popular "Safety Buses." Durant Motors also had a plant in Oakland from 1921 to 1930, making different types of cars. By 1929, when Chrysler opened a new plant, Oakland was known as the "Detroit of the West" because of all its car factories.

Oakland grew a lot in the 1920s to house all the new factory workers. About 13,000 homes were built between 1921 and 1924. Many of the large buildings, apartments, and houses you see in Oakland today were built during this time.

In 1926, Dr. William M. Watts opened a hospital for African-American citizens of Oakland. Other hospitals at the time did not welcome them. This hospital also trained African-American nurses.

The famous Rocky Road ice cream was created in Oakland in 1929!

Oakland's Aviation History

Oakland played a big role in early aviation. In 1916, Russell Clifford Durant, who ran Durant Motors, opened Durant Field. The first experimental flight to carry mail across the country landed here on August 9, 1920. Famous pilots like Eddie Rickenbacker and Bert Acosta were involved.

On September 17, 1927, Charles Lindbergh helped open the new Oakland International Airport. A month before, pilots in a dangerous air race to Hawaii took off from Oakland. Sadly, many were lost.

On May 31, 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew left Oakland in their plane, the Southern Cross. They successfully flew across the Pacific Ocean to Australia. In 1928, aviator Louise Thaden set women's altitude, endurance, and speed records from Oakland.

On January 11, 1935, Amelia Earhart made history. She was the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California. On March 17, 1937, Earhart started her attempt to fly around the world from Oakland. This first try ended in Hawaii when her plane was damaged. Later that year, she began her second, ill-fated attempt from Oakland to Miami, Florida.

Oakland During World War II

During World War II, the East Bay Area had many industries that supported the war effort. The Kaiser Shipyards in nearby Richmond were very important. The healthcare system created for shipyard workers later became the large Kaiser Permanente medical group. Oakland's Moore Dry Dock Company also built over 100 ships.

In 1943, Oakland's canning industry was worth $100 million. It was the city's second most important contribution to the war after shipbuilding. Because Oakland was a major train and sea port, it was a perfect place for food processing plants. These plants provided preserved food for people at home, abroad, and for the military.

Before World War II, about 3% of Oakland's population was Black. There were no official laws like Jim Crow laws that forced people to be separate based on race. People of different races generally got along well.

The war brought tens of thousands of workers from all over the country. Many were poor white and Black people from Southern states. They came to work in the shipyards. These new arrivals brought their own ideas about race. The good race relations in Oakland started to change. Many Black people who had lived in Oakland for a long time felt that the new arrivals caused problems. As Black workers from the South learned about their equal rights in California, they began to stand up for themselves.

Many Latinos, especially Mexican Americans from states like New Mexico and Texas, also came to Oakland for war jobs. Many Mexican workers came through the Bracero Program. A lot of them worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad in West Oakland. While some lived near the rail yard, most of the Mexican community lived in the Fruitvale District, as they had for a long time.

The Mai Tai cocktail was first made in Oakland in 1944 at Trader Vic's restaurant. It became very popular. Trader Vic's was so successful that a newspaper columnist once wrote, "the best restaurant in San Francisco is in Oakland." The U.S. State Department even chose Trader Vic's as the official place to entertain foreign leaders during United Nations meetings in San Francisco.

After World War II (1940s and 1950s)

In 1946, a company called National City Lines bought most of the Key System. Over the next few years, they worked to get rid of Oakland's electric streetcar system. They replaced the electric streetcars with diesel buses and removed the tracks from Oakland's streets. The lower deck of the Bay Bridge was changed to carry cars instead of trains. This reduced how many people the bridge could carry. New freeways were built, which divided neighborhoods.

Soon after the war, jobs became scarce as Oakland's shipbuilding and car industries declined. Many poor Black people who had come to the city from the South decided to stay. Some long-time Black residents felt that the new arrivals caused problems. The attitudes about segregation that some Southern migrants brought with them changed the good race relations Oakland had before the war. Many wealthier residents, both Black and white, moved out of Oakland to nearby towns. This was part of a national trend called "white flight."

By the end of World War II, about 12% of Oakland's population was Black. This percentage grew in the years after the war, and racial tensions increased. Starting in the late 1940s, the Oakland Police Department began hiring white officers from the South. Many of these officers were openly racist, and their harsh police actions made racial tensions worse.

Oakland was the center of a general strike in December 1946. This was one of the largest strikes in American history. Workers wanted to make sure that companies didn't try to break up unions like they did after World War I. Oakland, which had been peaceful and wealthy before the war, became poorer and more divided by the late 1950s.

Starting in the mid-1950s, much of West Oakland was changed. Highway 17 (now I-880) was built, destroying many homes and businesses. This "urban renewal" continued into the 1960s with the building of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and the Main Post Office. Many families, mostly African-American and Latino, were forced to move from West Oakland. Many African Americans moved to East Oakland.

The 1960s and 1970s

In 1960, Kaiser Corporation built its headquarters in Oakland. It was the largest skyscraper in Oakland at the time. During this period, the oldest part of Oakland, Jack London Square, was redeveloped into a hotel and shopping area.

In the 1960s, Oakland had a lively funk music scene. Famous bands like Sly and the Family Stone, Tower of Power, and Graham Central Station came from Oakland. Larry Graham, the bass player for Sly and the Family Stone, created the "slap and pop" bass sound that is still used today.

By 1966, only 16 of Oakland's 661 police officers were Black. There was a lot of tension between the Black community and the mostly white police force. The Black Panther Party was founded by students Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale at Merritt College.

Also in the 1960s, the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club grew into a powerful group. Their clubhouse is still on Foothill Boulevard in Oakland.

The 1980s and 1990s

From the late 1960s into the early 1980s, the number of Latinos, mostly from Mexico, grew in Oakland. This was especially true in the Fruitvale district. This area has always had many Latino residents, businesses, and organizations. More immigration has continued to increase their numbers in Fruitvale and throughout East Oakland.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Black people made up about 47% of Oakland's population. Oakland was the home of several rap artists, including M.C. Hammer, Digital Underground, Hieroglyphics, The Luniz, Tupac Shakur, and Too Short. Other famous artists like the Pointer Sisters, En Vogue, Tony! Toni! Tone!, and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day also came from Oakland.

On October 20, 1991, a huge firestorm swept down from the Berkeley Hills. Twenty-five people died, and 150 were injured. Nearly 4,000 homes were destroyed. The damage was estimated at $1.5 billion. This was the worst urban firestorm in American history. Many of the destroyed homes were rebuilt much larger.

In the mid-1990s, Oakland's economy improved. New buildings were constructed downtown, including a state government center and a city office building. The Port of Oakland and Oakland International Airport also started big expansion plans to keep up with other ports and airports.

The Loma Prieta Earthquake

The Loma Prieta earthquake happened on October 17, 1989. It was a strong earthquake that affected the entire San Francisco Bay Area. Many buildings in Oakland were badly damaged. A part of Interstate 880, a double-decker freeway, collapsed. The eastern part of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge was also damaged and closed for a month.

Oakland in the 2000s

After becoming mayor in 1999, Jerry Brown continued to support building new homes downtown. His goal was to add 10,000 residents to downtown Oakland. This led to new projects in the Jack London District and near Lake Merritt. These projects also affected the historic Old Oakland district, Chinatown, and the Uptown district.

These development plans caused some debate. People worried about rising rents and gentrification, which could force lower-income residents out of downtown. Economic problems in the early 2000s and the recession of 2008 also slowed down these projects.

The Oakland Athletics baseball team has been looking for a new stadium for a long time. A plan to build a new park in Fremont in 2006 was stopped because of local opposition. Fans and politicians in Oakland want the team to stay. The city of San Jose has also shown interest in becoming the team's new home.

The Oakland Ballet, which has performed in the city since 1965, temporarily closed in 2006 due to money problems. But the next year, it was brought back under a new director and continues to perform.

In February 2009, the Fox Oakland Theatre reopened. This historic theater had been closed for most of the previous 42 years. After a lot of restoration work, it started drawing visitors from all over the Bay Area.

Oakland in the 2010s

Throughout the 2010s, Oakland's Oakland Medical Center, the first Kaiser Permanente hospital, underwent a $2 billion renovation. This included many new buildings.

On December 2, 2016, a fire at a warehouse in the Fruitvale District killed at least 36 people during a music event. It was the deadliest fire in Oakland's history.

Images for kids

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  A drawing of Ohlone People

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  A map of Rancho San Antonio from the Spanish and Mexican periods

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  The Peralta Family at their home in Oakland

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  A map showing the Oakland area in 1917

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  Many 1917 Chevrolet cars made in one day at their West Coast factory in Oakland

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  Nurses from the American Red Cross helping people with the 1918 flu pandemic in Oakland

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  The Tribune Tower in Oakland, completed in 1924

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  Dr. William M. Watts in the mid-1920s

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  The first experimental transcontinental airmail flight landing in Oakland in 1920

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  Young people at a Benny Goodman Band concert in Oakland, April 1940

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  A view of Lake Merritt looking southwest

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  A night view of Oakland's downtown skyline and Lakeside Apartments District

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  The Fox Oakland Theatre in August 2002