r II E 
 
 KAILR(3AI) SYSTEM 
 
 (» \- 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 STAI r: LTNIA ERSirV, ICK 
 
 J. 11. CARMA^V M CO., I'RINTF.Us 
 
 I » i lU.AN)) MoNTIlI.V " ruiNTINi, H(X'SKi 4O9 W^WHINCS'I • 
 
 1871, 
 
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 Book .0_^_fk 
 
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 nSt. 
 

 lorii|>ili'<ll'iiMii ihi'T S LmiLvCoasl Surveys. Ihi' snvral 
 
 Mililai-N S.iTOl.rii Miail H,K.il Kxplondi'ons.lhi. Stale 
 
 A Courily lloimil.uy Siii-vrys inaili' undci-lhcOnlnoi' 
 
 llii'Siirvnin(Vn.T.il .ilC^ilifiifiiim Pnvair SiinT)s 
 
 WITH AOniTIONS 
 SHOWINC THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CAIIFORNIA 
 
 (•iin.ii.cionnAiiii. t i:. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ^_.::! ...^^L 
 
THE 
 
 RAILROAD SYSTEM 
 
 OF 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 STATE UNIVERSITY, ETC. 
 
 ■;s' ■/ 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO : 
 I. H. Carmany & Co., "Overland Monthly" Printing House, 409 Washington St. 
 
 1871. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Information respecting Oakland and its environs will be interesting to many, 
 not only in California, but abroad. The terminus of a great S3'stem of railroads, 
 in rapid course of construction, must command the attention of all who are now, 
 or prospectively, interested in the commerce, or in the securities, of the tributary 
 roads ; and this, being the seat of numerous educational establishments, including 
 the State University, parents whose children are here, and those looking forward 
 to sending their children here, will feel interested in acquiring information con- 
 cerning the place and its surroundings. Thus, the calculating merchant, the 
 shrewd operator, and thousands of thoughtful parents, will be gratified alike in 
 perusing the following pages. 
 
 John B. Felton, Alexander Campbell, J. West Martin, 
 
 Benjamin Haynes, Hiram Tubes, Geo. C. Potter, 
 
 James B. La Rue, J. B. Scotchler, J. S. Emery. 
 
 Publicatio7i Committee. 
 Oakland, October, 1S71. 
 
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 We publish, herewith, a reh'able and interesting map of the railroad system of 
 California which is concentrating at Oakland ; also, a map of Oakland and its en- 
 virons. In the following pages the reader will find a full explanation of both. 
 
 THE TWO GREAT COMPANIES. 
 
 The Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific now own, or control, all the rail- 
 roads and railroad routes which are shown on the map, except the Stockton and 
 Copperopolis, and the projected line from San Diego to Fort Mohave. Although 
 distinct organizations, the affairs of the two companies are controlled by the same 
 men. The concentration of the railroad system at Oakland may be regarded as a 
 fixed fact. 
 
 NATURE HAS ORDAINED IT. 
 
 The trunk lines in California which have been subsidized by Government, were 
 projected with more feference to subsidies than to the economy of railroad com- 
 merce. Of this, the Western and the Southern Pacific are notable instances. 
 The Mt. Diablo range, extending south until it joins the Coast range, near San 
 Luis ObisjTO, is the great obstacle to direct communication, by rail, between San 
 Francisco and the interior, south of the 38th parallel. 
 • « 
 
 THE LIVERMORE AND THE PANOCHE PASSES 
 
 Are, respectively, the routes of the Western Pacific and the Southern Pacific- 
 The altitude of the former is 686 feet; that of the latter is 2,200 feet; and these 
 are the most available passes in the range. Every 20 feet rise in a railroad grade 
 is equivalent to an additional mile of level track ; and every 360 degrees curvature 
 is equivalent to a loss of half a mile.* Hence, the distance from Bantaf to NilesJ 
 
 * Equating for Grades. — The result of experiments, carefully conducted, gives as the resistance to 
 motion of one ton, moving on a well-built level railroad, about 8}4 pounds, or the weight which, hanging 
 freely over a pulley, will overcome the friction of one ton. This resistance to motion is a constant fraction of 
 the weight moved, and is its i - 264th part. This is the friction of the load. If, now, the plane be elevated 
 fi-om a level to a rise of i - 264th its length, according to well - known mechanical laws, one pound will, on this 
 plane, sustain 264 pounds, or 8 J^ pounds will sustain one ton ; and the fraction, i - 264, representing a rise of 20 
 feet in a mile, it follows that on this grade the effect of gravity is equal to that of friction, and in order to 
 produce motion up this grade, twice the power must be applied that would be required were it on a level ; and 
 as it is a well-known mechanical law that the same amount of power is expended in raising a weight through 
 a given height, whatever may be the angle of the plane upon which the motion is effected, it follows that for 
 
4 THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 (see map and table of distances) being 44 miles, we must add 34 miles to arrive at 
 its equivalent in level track, which would be 78 miles. We leave the loss by curv- 
 atures out of the question at present. After experiencing the enormous expense of 
 running this part of the road, and keeping it in repair, the Company is about con- 
 structing a branch from Banta, to run around the mountains, via Antioch and 
 Martinez, to Oakland. By this route trains can be brought 
 
 FROM THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY TO OAKLAND ON A LEVEL ROAD. 
 
 The distance from Banta to Antioch, over a level plain, is 30 miles ; from 
 Antioch tolVIartinez, via the shore, 18 miles ; from Martinez to Oakland, viashore 
 and valley, 31 miles — making, in all, 79 miles, with no curvatures of consequence. 
 Now, considering the loss by curvatures and grades, on the mountain roads ; the 
 expense of keeping extra engines constantly on duty ; the excessive wear and tear, 
 etc., etc. — the reader can understand what he would not suspect from merely ex- 
 amining the map, to wit: that passengers and freight from the San Joaquin Valley, 
 and from all the country east of Banta, tributary to the Western Pacific, will be 
 transported from Banta to Oakland, via Martinez, much quicker, and very much 
 cheaper, than it is possible to transport them from Banta to Niles — a point 22 
 miles south from Oakland, and 40 miles from Mission Bay, San Francisco, even 
 by the much talked of route via Ravenswood and the "shore line." 
 
 The obstacles to be encountered on the proposed line of the Southern Pacific 
 in crossing the Mt. Diablo Range, via Panoche Pass, are much more serious than 
 those in the Livermore crossing. In the fifty miles breadth of mountains between 
 Hollister and the. San Joaquin Valley, the sinuosities of the road will be unprece- 
 dented, and the elevation to be overcome (2,200 feet) will add an equivalent of no 
 miles, as compared with a level road. It is practically nearer from the Junction 
 (north of Tulare Lake), via the valley route, to Banta, than from the Junction to the 
 summit of the Panoche Pass; and the Southern Pacific trams, starting from the 
 Junction, will reach Oakland, via the valley route, Banta, and Martinez, sooner 
 than it will be possible for them to reach Gilroy, via the moAitain road. 
 
 every 20 feet in height that we ascend on a railroad, we expend an amount of power equivalent to the trans- 
 port of that weight over one mile of level ; and this holds true whatever the grade may be. Equating for 
 grades with a view to a comparison of lines, then, consists in adding to the measured distance one mile/or 
 each and every twenty /ect 0/ ascent on the respective routes. — Appleton's Encyclopedia of Mechanics. 
 Equating for Curves. — Direct mdtions on levels or inclines are affecfed less by disturbing causes than 
 motion in curves ; for, in addition to the irregularities growing out of the imperfections of the curved track 
 and the varying elements of the curved motion in practice, are to be added all the disturbing causes which 
 exist in the first case. This has, as yet, prevented that rigorous solution of the latter problem, which is to be 
 desired, and which is essential to a true comparison, a priori, of the cost of movement on curved roads. It 
 is, as yet, entirely an empirical formula deduced from a few experiments, but has been used for the purpose of 
 comparison of routes by distinguished engineers, and is the best we can offer with our present knowledge of 
 the subject. We find by the experiments referred to above, that a curve of 400 feet radius doubles the resist- 
 ance. In propelling a train, then, through an entire circumference of such a curve, we expend twice the 
 power that would be consumed in traveling an equal distance in a right line. Taking, then, the analogy 
 afforded by motion on ascents as compared with levels as a guide, and we conclude that the same power 
 would be expended in turnmg through an entire circle, whatever jnay be its radius, (this, of course, must be 
 understood as confined to certain limits) ; hence, for every circle of 360 degrees, we must add for the expen- 
 diture of power on a right line of the same length, the circumference of a circle described with the radius of 
 double resistance, found by experiment as above to be 400 feet ; this will be half a mile. Equating for curves 
 consists, then, in addmg to the measured distance one-half mile for each and every three hundred and 
 sixty degrees of curvature on the respective routes. — Appleton's Encyclopedia of Mechanics. 
 
 t Banta is on the line of the Western Pacific, three miles west of the San Joaquin River. 
 
 ± Niles is on the Alameda Plain, opposite to the gap where the railroad enters the hills. 
 
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 5 
 
 According to General Palmer's report, grades will be encountered in the 
 Panoche Pass where it will require four or five extra engines to perform what one 
 engine will accomplish on the valley road. Thus, in railroading, it is true that a 
 pot- handle is longer standing up than lying down ; and that the longest way round 
 is often the shortest way home. 
 
 Enough has been said to demonstrate that the great passenger and freight 
 route to Oakland and San Francisco will 
 
 APPROACH OAKLAND FROiM THE NORTH. 
 
 The road from Martinez to Oakland will also constitute the connecting link of the 
 "air-line road" between San Francisco and the Central Pacific overland road, via 
 Sacramento ; between San Francisco and the road to Puget's Sound, traversing a 
 continuous line of productive valleys in Cahfornia, Oregon, and Washington; it will 
 connect with the projected road which will tap the Sacramento Valley west of the 
 river, and extend to Red Bluff; it will unite with the system of roads which are 
 tapping Napa, Sonoma, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and the Russian River Valleys. 
 
 THE LINE APPROACHING US FROM THE SOUTH, 
 
 Even though it can not successfully tap the San Joaquin Valley, is yet of much 
 importance. The Santa Clara Valley, alone, embraces a vast area of highly product- 
 ive land, and is capable of supporting a larger pojaulation than some of the New 
 England States. Extending southerly to Santa Barbara is a succession of smaller 
 valleys, to which we will hereafter refer. That section of the Southern Pacific 
 road west of the Panoche Pass, in connection with the projected Coast Line, will, 
 therefore, do a large business, both in passengers and freight. San Jose — the 
 point of divergence of the roads running north — is ten miles nearer Oakland than 
 San Francisco. The Oakland road is level, and the San Francisco road has 
 severe grades. Supposing, however, the places were equidistant, and the roads 
 equally level, the export products would seek Oakland, where the economy of 
 shipping exceeds the possibilities at San Francisco. 
 
 TERMINAL FACILITIES. 
 
 Tlie Central Pacific Railroad Company has secured, in and about Oakland, 
 facilities for the conjunction of railroad and water traffic unequaled in the world, 
 and unattainable elsewhere on the Pacific Coast. It owns, in fee simple forever, 
 an area of seventy acres fronting on the Bay, in the western part of the city, which 
 it purchased as a site for machine-shops, etc. It also owns an area of three hun- 
 dred and fifty acres on the water front, extending from the former tract toward 
 Goat Island, with a frontage of nearly half a mile on ship channel. It also owns 
 extensive reservations on the southern bank of the estuary of San Antonio, and 
 it has secured the right of way for tracks leading to them from the main trunk. 
 It also owns, in proximity to Oakland, ninety acres of land suitable for a car-yard 
 and other uses ; and a large tract of hilly ground whence it can obtain, ad libttiim, 
 earth and gravel for filling purposes. 
 
 The improvements at ship channel are described elsewhere in an article taken 
 from the A /hi; but instead of being completed, as the Alta presumed, they con- 
 stitute a small part of a grand design. The Company is exempt from the opera- 
 tion of State and municipal laws respecting wharfage, dockage, and tolls ; and it 
 imposes no charges upon vessels receiving or delivering freight. 
 
6 THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Infinite credit is due Messrs. Stanford & Co. for having thus earlj? secured the 
 estate and franchises which will afford such invaluable and unbounded terminal 
 facilities ; and it is a subject for congratulation to the people of the coast at large 
 that, while the railroad system is developing industrial resources with unexampled 
 rapidity, means are assured for the most economical handling of exports and 
 imports. The reflection that the most productive farming, pasture, vineyard, and 
 orchard lands of California and Oregon are being placed in direct communication 
 with ships floating in the waters of the Pacific, and with the entire railroad system 
 of the United States, is suggestive of an export commerce that will soon turn the 
 balance of trade in our favor, and keep more of our gold at home. 
 
 THE CENTRAL PACIFIC 
 
 Track commences on' the Oakland water front at 26 J/^ feet of water, (at low tide), 
 where Goat Island makes a lee in "north-westers," and the Alameda Encinal 
 breaks the force of "south-easters." The main trunk runs thence, southerly, to 
 Vallejo's Mill (see map), from which point it runs eastwardly through Livermore 
 Pass, traversing the Sunol, Amador, Livermore, San Joaquin, and Sacramento 
 Valleys, to the Sierra Nevada, passing through Stockton and Sacramento on the 
 route across the continent. A branch is in operation southerly from Vallejo's 
 Mill to San Jose, connecting with the line of the Southern Pacific which is now 
 built to Gilroy, and is being extended southerly toward the Panoche Pass. We 
 will omit descriptive details of the road and route, inasmuch as the public are 
 familiarized with both. 
 
 THE CENTRAL PACIFIC SAN JOAQUIN BRANCH 
 
 Is one of the most important feeders of the Central Pacific main trunk. It inter- 
 sects the main trunk eight miles westerly from Stockton, and runs southerly forty 
 miles, through a portion of the great San Joaquin Valley, surnamed "Paradise" — 
 one of the most thickly settled agricultural districts in California. In proportion 
 to its length, it is, perhaps, the most valuable "feeder" which the Company could 
 have constructed. It is now being extended to meet the agricultural develojoments 
 of the San Joaquin Valley, and will eventually intersect the trunk line of the South- 
 ern Pacific, in the neighborhood of Tulare Lake. Thus, the empire valley of the 
 Pacific Coast is destined to be traversed by two great roads ; and the time will 
 come when both will require numerous branches, to accommodate the vast breadth 
 of arable country which the valley embraces. 
 
 THE BRANCH FROM BANTA, VIA ANTIOCH AND MARTINEZ, TO OAKLAND, 
 
 Has already been described, but it is destined to work so important a part in our 
 railroad system, that we recur to it, under a special heading. It is the solution of 
 a State problem. Our most extensive wheat -districts, and our coal-mines, will 
 have a level road to tJie sea. 
 
 ■ THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON. . 
 
 This road, which is to concentrate the trade of the nort^i and bring it to the 
 Bay of San Francisco, is being constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany. A valuable land grant is stimulating the work. It is now completed from 
 Sacramento to Tehama — 123 miles. While a full force is being employed in its 
 nortlnvard extension, the Company is preparing to make -the connection between 
 Sacramento and Oakland by the shortest possible route. The engineers have 
 
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 7 
 
 found a route of eighty-three miles, on which no grade will be encountered exceed- 
 ing ten feet to the mile. It crosses the straits in the neighborhood of Martinez, 
 where it will intersect the road from Banta to Oakland. 
 
 It is remarkable that neither the press nor the people of San Francisco have 
 manifested the slightest solicitude for the railroad ^trade from the north, even 
 when there was danger of losing it, while they have been subject to intermittent 
 fever concerning that from the south, of which they have always been assui'ed, but 
 which is neither now, nor prospectively, half as important as the former. 
 
 THE CALIFORNIA PACIFIC, AND THE N. S. F. AND HUMBOLDT 
 
 Comprise the road extending from Vallejo to Marysville, with a branch to Sacra- 
 mento ; the road from Calistoga to Napa ; and the system of roads, and projected 
 roads in Sonoma, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and Russian River Valleys. Prior to 
 the purchase of these lines by the Central Pacific, Vallejo promised to be an im- 
 portant terminus, and Donohue had no small pretensions. Both places are likely 
 to remain important points for local trade; but when the California and Oregon 
 Road makes its connection with Oakland, the concentrating tendency of commerce 
 will be illustrated for the ten-thousandth time. 
 
 THE WOODLAND AND RED BLUFF BRANCH 
 
 Which will traverse the richest part of the Sacramento Valley, west of the river, 
 for a hundred miles, is a projected road, much needed, and one that will assuredly 
 be constructed in a few years. There is no valley in the State that would yield 
 quicker or richer returns to a railroad, • 
 
 THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC. 
 
 The original franchise of this Company extended "from the waters of the Bay 
 of San Francisco to a point on the Colorado River, at or near Fort Mohave,", 
 where it meets that of the Atlantic and Pacific. It has since obtained from Con- 
 gress a land-grant for a branch from the Tehachepa Pass, via Los Angeles, to Fort 
 Yuma where it will intersect the line of the Memphis and El Paso. The topog- 
 raphy of the country does not admit of a more direct route. 
 
 The tardiness in the prosecution of the work is attributable to the great diffi- 
 culties encountered in crossing the Mt. Diablo Range. The Livermore Pass hav- 
 ing been secured by t'he Western Pacific, the Southern Pacific was given the op- 
 tion of taking any one of four passes farther south, to wit: the Pacheco, Panoche, 
 San Benito, or Cholame.* Much time, and immense labor, have been expended 
 in seeking the most available route. 
 
 The report of General Wilham Palmer on surveys across the continent, on the 
 35th parallel of latitude, published in 1868, throws light on this interesting subject. 
 
 The surveys werg begun at Fort Wallace, in western Kansas, in July, 1867, by 
 three well -organized parties of engineers, under General W. W. Wright. Two 
 additional parties, under Colonel William H. Greenwood, were subsequently sent 
 out, increasing the corps to five parties comprising about one hundred men, be- 
 sides the military escorts, teamsters, etc. The work was thorough and exhaust- 
 ive. It extended over the mountainous regions and arid plains, and the contin- 
 gencies of climate and seasons were investigated. 
 
 *0n the map file! with the Secretary of the Interior, the route takes the San Benito ; but an Act of Con- 
 gress allows the Company to cross the mountains within thirty miles on either side, " or as near as may be." 
 
S THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 The line recommended for reaching the Tulare Valley from the east, crosses 
 the Colorado River about twenty-five miles below Fort Mohave, and traverses the 
 Mohave Plains to the eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada. The Tehachepa Pass, 
 about forty miles east and north of Tejon, was found to be the best at which to 
 cross that great range. The elevation of the summit is 4,008* feet above tide, 
 while at the Donner Lake Pass, where the Central Pacific Railroad crosses the 
 same range, the altitude exceeds 7,000 feet. 
 
 Descending from the Tehachepa into the Tulare and San Joaquin Valleys, 
 General Palmer sought a route through the Mt. Diablo Range by one of the four 
 passes before-mentioned. Of these, the Panoche was the only pass instrumentally 
 examined, the elevation of which was found to be about 2,200 feet above tide. The 
 grades in 38 miles, from Tulare Plain across the Coast range, are as follows : 7 
 miles, of 106 feet per mile, ascending westward; 6 miles, of 116 feet per mile, de- 
 scending westward ; and the remaining 25 miles ranging from 50 to 85 feet. (Gen- 
 eral Palmer's Report, p. 71.) 
 
 The elevations of the three other passes, as ascertained by the barometer, are 
 as follow: Pacheco, 1,470 feet; San Benito, 2,750 feet; Cholame, 2,000 feet. 
 The lowest, Pacheco, is described by General Palmer as being the most difficult 
 of all. A peculiarity of the whole range, is the abruptness of the slopes from the 
 Summit to the San Joaquin and Tulare Valleys. All the passes are easily ap- 
 proached from the westward ; but steep, and in some cases impracticable, grades 
 are required to make the descent into the valley. The sand formation of the 
 country is also exceedingly unfavorable for the construction and maintenance of 
 railroads. 
 
 The vast amount of subsequent surveying has failed to develop a more favora- 
 ble route for reaching San Francisco from the south, than the one recommended 
 by General Palmer. 
 
 While the subsidy amply justifies the building of the road through Panoche 
 Pass, 
 
 THE VALLEY ROUTE 
 
 Which will traverse the level plain (the average gradient being less than two feet 
 to the mile) on an air line from the Junction to Banta, connecting with the branch 
 road from Banta, via Martinez, to Oakland, will be — as elsewhere explained — 
 much the quicker and che^rper approach to San Francisco from the Tehachepa 
 Pass, and from every part of the Tulare and San Joaquin Valleys. 
 
 The country tributary to the mountain route is comparatively unproductive, 
 while that tributary to the valley route is remarkable for its immense agricultural 
 resources. 
 
 THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC COAST ROUTE, 
 
 As shown on the map — extending from Gilroy to Los Angeles — was projected by 
 General Rosecrans, and originally designee! to connect with flie Memphis and El 
 Paso Road, at Fort Yuma. As its name indicates, it now belongs to the Southern 
 Pacific Railroad Company. The route traverses a chain bf valleys from Gijroy to 
 Santa Barbara which, though not comparable in extent to the valleys farther in- 
 land, are remarkable for salubrity of climate and fertility of soil. From Santa Bar- 
 bara to Los Angeles, the country is rough and broken, presenting serious engineer- 
 ing difficulties. The building of the Memphis and El Paso Road would stimulate 
 
 * The great breadth of the 'ange renders the grades comparatively easy. 
 
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 9 
 
 the building of this projected coast road, and cause its extension beyond Los An- 
 geles to Fort Yuma, thus making the connection with Oakland and San Francisco. 
 The old proverb, "All roads lead to Rome," has a significant application to our 
 railroad system — terminal expenses and transshipping facilities rendering it an 
 economical necessity. 
 
 THE MEMPHIS AND EL PASO. 
 
 This enterprisa was one of the first of the Pacific Railroad projects presented 
 to the public, and it has been prosecuted with varying fortunes for sixteen years. 
 The Company was organized in 1854, and received a valuable land grant from the 
 State of Texas. Work was soon after commenced, and about two hundred and 
 fifty miles of the road have been graded and put in operation. The late civil war 
 caused a suspension of the work, and the exhaustion of the South has, until quite 
 recently, prevented its resumption. Last winter, a bill passed Congress granting 
 a subsidy to encourage the building of the road. 
 
 THE STOCKTON AND GOPPEROPOLIS 
 
 Is a local road, designed to connect Stockton and Copperopolis. Fifteen miles of 
 it has been constructed, and the road is in operation that far, easterly from 
 Stockton. 
 
 [From the San Francisco Alta California.] 
 
 WHAT THE C. P. R. R. CO. HAS BEEN DOCNG. 
 
 A wharf, r 1,000 feet long, running out to a depth of 26j4 feet at low tide, and 
 33}i feet at high tide, in a bay like that of San Francisco, having twelve railroad 
 tracks upon its last one thousand feet, a wide carriage way, a spacious passenger 
 depot and railroad offices, warehouses and outside storage for 40,000 tons of grain 
 or other merchandise, three large docks, one of which affords ample space for five 
 of the largest steamers or clippers afloat, is not often seen, even in this age of rail- 
 road and engineering wonders. Such a structure has, however, recently been com- 
 pleted by the Central Pacific Railroad Company on the Oakland or easterly side of 
 the Bay of San Francisco. The extreme end of the main wharf is only three miles 
 from the foot of Second Street, where freight is landed in this city, and is less than 
 two and a half miles from the foot of Pacific Street, where passengers are set down 
 on this (San Francisco) side. 
 
 It would be much more difficult to build such a long wharf with safety on our 
 side of the bay, because the bottom here is a yielding mud ; but on the Oakland 
 side there is a hard clay bottom. Another point in favor of Oakland is that the 
 destructive marine wood -eating worm, the teredo, is not found there at all. In 
 these facts lie two of the greatest elements of strength and ability to bear great 
 burdens of the new railway wharves across the bay, but only two of them. Noth- 
 ing Mrs been neglected in the quality of material used, and workmanship employed. 
 
lo THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 to make the wharves the very best ever built in the United States. Experts in the 
 construction of such work, and army and other engineers who are familiar with 
 like structures in Europe and America, all agree in saying that for engineering 
 skill, mechanical execution, and solidity and excellence of all the material employ- 
 ed, tha work is not surpassed by any they ever examined. To make this plain, a 
 few descriptive figures must be given. The piles used, where the water deepens, 
 are 65 feet long, and are 42 to 54 inches in circumference, or as heavy as the main- 
 mast of the largest clipper. They are all of the very best pine, which for lasting 
 qualities under water is one of the very best kinds of wood. The main wharf— for 
 a thousand feet east of the latter there are two wharves, on^for Oakland local 
 trains, and one for the regular freight and passenger cars of the through overland 
 road — is 800 feet wide at the extreme or western end, and on it are pens for 500 
 cattle, two immense warehouses (one 50x500, another 62x600), with the passenger 
 depot, 75x305 in size. The piles were driven into the bottom to a depth of 18 feet. 
 They are set 10 feet apart, parallel with the course of the wharf, and 6 and 7 feet 
 ajjart across it. In the docks, or slips, there is a double row of spring or fend -off 
 piles, and the regularity and neatness with which they are laid is especially worthy 
 of attention and admiration. Those who will examine.the old slips into which the 
 steamers used to run, or who remember those used at the Brooklyn {New York) 
 ferries, will be able to appreciate the superiority of the Central Pacific slips. The 
 upright piles on the last one thousand feet of the main wharf, are braced with im- 
 mense cross piles and iron anchors. Trains of heavily loaded freight cars pass 
 over this gigantic structure witli as little jar as over solid ground. 
 
 The massive new freiglit ferry-boat of the Central Pacific Company has been 
 completed, and is now running from the Company's extensive wharves, at the foot 
 of Second Street, in this city, to the Company's wharves and docks above describ- 
 ed, on the Oakland side of the bay. The boat carries 16 loaded cars on each trip, 
 and has, in addition, pens for 300 cattle. She can carry from 1,000 to 1,280 tons 
 each way per day, making the trip across the bay (3 miles) in forty minutes, when 
 loaded. A railroad now connects the Pacific Mail Company's dock and the Cen- 
 tral Pacific wharf on this side, by means of which the cargoes of the China steam- 
 ers can be immediately discharged into the Central Pacific freight cars, and thus 
 the utmost dispatch will be attained in the shipment of teas, silks, and other fast 
 freight intended for the Atlantic States and Europe. 
 
 The Central Pacific Company owns all of the Oakland water-front on which its 
 vast wharves are built. It has its own docks there, capable, as we have shown, of 
 accommodating five of the largest clippers or steamers at a time. In future, all 
 grain, ores, wool, wine, and other merchandise that are to be shipped to Europe or 
 elsewhere, by water, will be discharged directly on shipboard from the cars at the 
 end of the Company's wharf, while all steamers or other craft which come into this 
 port with Oriental cargoes for the Atlantic States, will go direct to the Company's 
 docks and unload into the cars. In this way, heavy wharfage, tolls, loss of time, 
 double handling and its onerous attendant costs, will be avoided. 
 
 In addition to the main overland line, the Central Pacific Company owns the 
 California and Oregon Railroad, which is now completed to Tehama, 123 miles 
 above Sacramento, toward Oregon ; the San Joaquin Valley Road, which is com- 
 pleted to the Tuolumne River ; the San Josd branch, from Niles' Station, and the 
 Alameda and Oakland Railroad. The two first -named branches of the Central 
 Pacific line run through our two great valleys — the Sacramento and San Joagjuin. 
 
THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA. ii 
 
 No country on earth offers a more princely traffic to railroads than do these two 
 vast empire valleys. 
 
 In the building of these deep-water wharves and warehouses, the Central 
 Pacific Company has omitted nothing which would tend to facilitate business and 
 reduce expenses on the Company's railroads. Mr. S. S. Montague, the Chief 
 Engineer of the Central Pacific Road, and Mr. Arthur Brown, who built all the 
 Howe truss -bridges on the road, planned and built the great wharves and ware- 
 houses which we have described, and the whole work stands as a fresh monument 
 of the engineering talent of the one, and the mechanical skill and ability of the 
 other.* 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Railroad companies conserve their own interests best, when they promote the 
 interests of the public. The Central, and the Southern Pacific, in seeking the 
 patronage and sympathetic cooperation of the populations for whose necessities 
 they intend to provide, will operate with the greatest possible ecogomy to the 
 public, and to themselves. To do this, they must seek the nearest point at deep 
 water, convenient to the sea, by such routes as are, equivalently, the shortest and 
 cheapest. Oakland is that point. The Mt. Diablo Range must be removed, or 
 split asunder, before the figures we have quoted, in equating for grades and curves, 
 can be controverted. And what do they demonstrate ? 
 
 Firsts that even if the Bay were bridged at Ravenswood, and a shore -line road 
 extended, thence, to Mission Bay, trains leaving Banta for Oakland, via Martinez, 
 would reach Oakland before similar trains leaving Banta, at the same time, for 
 San Francisco, via Livermore Pass and Ravenswood, could get v^'i'Odwi forty miles 
 of San Francisco. 
 
 Second, that the Southern Pacific trains, starting from a given point in the 
 Tulare Valley, will reach Oakland, by the valley route, before said trains could get 
 within eighty miles of San Francisco, via the mountain road. 9 
 
 Third, that a bridge at Ravenswood would be, to San Francisco, a bridge of 
 size. 
 
 DiSTANGES. 
 
 In columns A, B, and E, of the following table, the measured distances are 
 given, except in cases wherein they have not been made public. In these cases 
 they have been computed by engineers who are familiar with the general topog- 
 raphy of the country. In columns C, and D, the respective elevations of the 
 Livermore and Panoche Passes have been taken into account ; and in conformity 
 with the established rules in equating for grades, (see note, page 3), 34 miles have 
 been added to the measured distance through the former pass, and 1 10 miles to the 
 computed distance through the latter, to compensate for grades. 
 
 This gives the reader an intelligent idea of the equivalent, or practical, distances, 
 via the several routes, relative to the power required for transportation by rail, in 
 
 ♦While according infinite praise to Messrs. Montague and Brown for their genius in designing, no less 
 praise is due to Mr. A. R. Guppy, the accomplished and indefatigable engineer who directed and superin- 
 tended the work. We will add that the work done is only a small part of that which is projected. 
 
12 THE RAILROAD SYSTEM OF CALIFORiY/A. 
 
 ascending grades. It does not, however, impart what should be understood 
 respecting the ii/ne consumed on steep grades, as compared with level road. To 
 prevent the "iron horse" from running away with the train, in descending such 
 grades, it is necessary to "down brakes," and "go slow." Thus, generally, the 
 descent requires as much time as the ascent, and the rules in equating for speed 
 tell heavily against mountain roads. Nor, has the loss by curvature been esti- 
 mated, either in the foregoing remarks, or in the following table — the loss by 
 grades being amply sufficient to sustain all that is claimed in the text. 
 
 It is apparent that the level road to the sea, which will run a^'ound the mount- 
 ains, and approach Oakland from the north, must become the great trunk line of 
 both the Central, and Southern Pacific. • 
 
 The distance from Oakland to Martinez is computed, as will be observed, at . 
 31 miles. There is reason for believing that the railroad company has located a 
 line between the two places that will not exceed 26 miles in length ; but the former 
 figures are adopted in the table, as the maximum. 
 
 • 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 < 
 p' 
 
 tdn 
 
 • 5 
 
 
 C 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 FROM OAKLAND TO 
 
 
 < 
 < 
 
 E. 
 0' 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 i 
 
 < 
 
 
 K 
 
 < 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 Niles (near Vallejo's Mill). 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 Martinez 
 
 37 
 
 31 
 
 79 
 95 
 
 
 
 Banta . 
 
 100 
 116 
 
 164 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sacramento. 
 
 91 
 31 
 
 47 
 74 
 55 
 79 
 93 
 
 119 
 210 
 
 704 
 
 
 83 
 
 Vallejo 
 
 26 
 
 Napa , . . ...» 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 CalisSga. . . 
 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 50 
 
 74 
 
 Sonoma . . . 
 
 
 
 
 Santa Rosa 
 
 
 
 
 Healdsburg 
 
 
 
 
 88 
 
 Woodland 
 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 Mcu'ysville 
 
 279 
 739 
 
 192 
 3C0 
 760 
 
 
 108 
 
 R^ Bluff 
 
 210 
 
 Portland (Oregon). . . ; 
 
 
 San Jose < . . 
 
 40 
 70 
 
 83 
 310 
 410 
 
 
 Gilroy 
 
 
 
 
 
 liollister 
 
 
 
 
 
 T unction (north of Tulare Lake) 
 
 
 227 
 327 
 
 248 
 
 
 Tehachepa Pass 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The distance from Niles in a direct line across the Bay to Ravenswood is 13 
 miles; thence to Mission Bay, San Francisco, via "shore line," 27 miles — total 
 distance from Niles to San Francisco, 40 miles, as against 22 miles from Niles to 
 Oakland. San Josd is 50 miles from San Francisco, and but 40 miles from Oak- 
 land. 
 
OAKLAND AND VlCfflTY. 
 
 THE CITY GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Mayor, N. W. Spaulding, 
 
 City Council — E. H. Pardee, President; J. V. B. Goodrich, T. J.«Murphy, A. 
 L. Warner, C. D. Haven, W. J. Gurnett, W. S. Snook. 
 
 Board of Education — L. Hamilton, President; E. W. Playter, G. W. Armes, 
 R. E. Cole, Jacob Bacon, W. Van Dyke, J. W. Thurman. 
 
 City Clerk and Treasurer, H. Hillebrand. 
 
 City Marshal and Tax Collector, Perry Johnson. 
 
 Police Judge, A. H. Jayne. 
 
 Police Commissioners — N. W. Spaulding, E. H. Pardee, and Perry Johnson. 
 
 City Assessor, Joseph M. Dillon. 
 
 Justices of the Peace, .... James Lentell and G. H. Fogg. 
 
 Superintendent Of Public Schools, . . . . F. M. Campbell. 
 
 Appointed Officers — T. J. Arnold, City Engineer; H. H. Havens, City At- 
 torney; George Taylor, Pound Master; Miles Doody, Chief Engineer of Fire 
 Department. 
 
 Police Department — F. B. Tarbett, Captain of Police; D. H. Rand and E. 
 
 H. Woolsey, Detectives; W. P. Brandt, G. H. Moore, W. H. Summers, John 
 
 A. Moore, Spencer Pool, H. C. Emmons, George H. Carlton, C. P. McKay, 
 
 • Regular Officers ; A. Shorey, A. Wilson, G. F. Blake, G. H. Tilly, Special 
 
 Officers. 
 
 [From the Oakland Transcript.] 
 
 THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF OAKLAND. 
 
 The centralization of society, the development of industries, and the current of 
 trade, being subjects of general interest, the following synoptic review and brief 
 deductions concerning the locality of Oakland are appropriate at the present time. 
 
 Before Oakland existed, San Francisco had become the great centre of popu- 
 lation and trade on the North Pacific Coast. Admirably situated for deep-sea and 
 inland water traffic, wealth was attracted to her lap. This stimulated the enter- 
 prise of her people, and made her what she is. Sacramento, Stockton, San Josd, 
 Benicia, Vallejo, Sonoma, Petaluma, (to say nothing of numerous mountain towns. 
 
14 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 which dot the map of California), all acquired considerable importance before Oak- 
 land was heard of. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1851, the site of Oakland was known only as a part of 
 the Peralta Rancho. Wild cattle roamed where now, surrounded by all that per- 
 tains to modern civilization, more than eleven thousand people are living. The 
 sound of church - organs and college -bells now reverberates where, then, nothing 
 but the bellowing of animals interrupted the stillness of nature. In the place of 
 the old cattle -trails are railroads and macadamized streets ; and where the cattle 
 lazily roamed, we now witness thirty-two daily passenger trains, to say nothing of 
 freight trains, rushing to and fro, propelled by the mighty power of steam. Even 
 the wild flowers, that once bedecked the surface of the earth, exist only by suffer- 
 ance, and a cultivated flora has usurped their place. 
 
 Considering that Oakland was but a second thotight in C;\ilifornia ; considering 
 the long litigation concerning land titles — now happily settled; considering that 
 one-fourth the area of the city has been held in check for the want of public thor- 
 oughfares — the circumstance of her extraordinary development, the statistics of 
 which we publish elsewhere, affords a useful lesson for economists. 
 
 Our sp^e is inadequate to a full exposition of the subject, but we will dwell 
 upon it sufficiently to explain "the milk in the cocoanut;" and to show that more 
 extraordinary results will inevitably succeed those which it has been our privilege 
 to witness. 
 
 For several years after the acquisition of California by the United States, men 
 "planted their stakes" on the exclusive basis of the gold and silver crop, and the 
 trade which mining would develop. Moreover, in their calculations concerning 
 prospective developments, ships, steamboats, and mule-teams were relied upon as 
 the only means of transportation. In short, a single branch of industry was the 
 incentive to action, and the Locomotive was not even i?.r/^^/^^ within the time pop- 
 ularly allotted for making "a pile." 
 
 The Locomotive has not only revolutionized the carrying trade, but, while add- 
 ing importance to mining industry, it has stimulated agriculture to the front rank, 
 and opened many fields for diversified labor. The gold and silver crop can be 
 "packed" from the mountains to the sea on the backs of mules, and requires not 
 much tonnage to transport it from continent to continent ; but the wheat, wine, 
 wool, and fruit crops will annually require hundreds of vessels and thousands of 
 railroad trains. ' ^ 
 
 The statistics, and our remarks elsewhere, will show what the Locomotive has 
 thus far done for Oakland, in connection with educational establishments, and nat- 
 ural advantages of climate, soil, and topography. Respecting the present, we will 
 only say, here, that there is no other city, in or out of California, the population of 
 which includes so large a proportion of the well-educated class. 
 
 Referring to the changes produced, and being produced, by railroads, the un- 
 biased reader need only examine the map to see that there can be no great termi- 
 nus at ship -channel in the Bay of San Francisco, except at Oakland. An "air- 
 line road," so called, will soon be made from Sacramento to Oakland, and engineers 
 are in the field to determine the shortest route. 
 
 Plans are almost completed for dredging the bar at the mouth of San Antonio 
 Estuary, and making the estuary available for commercial purposes. An impor- 
 tant consideration, in connection with the vast amount of piling already done, and 
 the vaster amount in contemplation, is the "absence of the teredo, or "pile -worm." 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 IS 
 
 Scientific men attribute this to the fact that the flood-tide through Raccoon Straits 
 throws the fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin, far over to the east 
 side of the Bay; and the pressure of the flood, south of Angel Island, crowds 
 it sufficiently to cause a portion of it to pass between Oakland and Goat Island, at 
 every ebb. The absence of the feredo from the estuary has never been accounted 
 for satisfactorily, but the fact of its non-existence is established. 
 
 We have written enough to show that Oakland must eventually become the 
 base of the greater part of the commerce concentrating at the Bay of San Fran- 
 cisco. The situation of Oakland toward San Francisco, is often compared with 
 the situation of Brooklyn toward New York, and comparative deductions are made 
 corresponding with the history of those Eastern cities. Had New York been lo- 
 cated at the end of a peninsula, jutting from the main-land into the Atlantic Ocean; 
 and had Brooklyn been located on the main-land opposite, and enjoyed a climate 
 as much more genial as that of Oakland, compared with the chmate of San Fran- 
 cisco, we opine the result, there, would have been different. 
 
 In writing thus about Oakland, it must not be supposed we are predicting the 
 downfall of San Francisco. On the contrary, we believe that San Francisco will 
 prosper and increase. We are looking to the time when the commerce concen- 
 trating at the Bay of San Francisco will be fivefold greater than at present. And 
 without expecting Oakland to depopulate her great neighbor, we judge, from the 
 forces which are operating, that our next annual statistics will make a more won- 
 derful showing than those of the past year. 
 
 THE WATER FRONT. 
 
 What is known here as " The Water Front of Oakland," consists of the tide- 
 lands embraced within the charter line of the city, as shown on the map published 
 herewith. This does not refer to the marsh-lands — they being above ordinary, or 
 average, high tide. Some characteristics of this water front are remarkable. The 
 bed of the San Antonio Estuary, and of its main current to ship-channel, is soft, 
 and offers a great reward, in commercial value, for engineering skill. The flat, 
 from the shore of the bay to ship-channel, dips from high -water mark, westerly, 
 on a regular incline. It is "hard-pan," and presents an admirable foundation for 
 wharves and other structures. 
 
 By the Act incorporating the town of Oakland, passed 1852, the State ceded 
 the water front to the town. By a subsequent Act, the town became a city, and 
 the old charter line was confirmed. In 1852, the Trustees of the town conveyed 
 the entire water front to an individual, for a consideration — siich as it was. The 
 city authorities repudiated the action of the Town Trustees, and sought to recover 
 the water front. A prolonged litigation ensued, the merits of which belong to the 
 past. However much the development of the city was retarded, some of the re- 
 sults have been interesting. One, was the preservation of the water front in its 
 integrity, as a whole ; and when the transcontinental railroad sought its natural 
 terminus at the Bay of San Francisco, the Genius of Commerce was invoked, and 
 she extended an open hand. The city sought, and obtained from the Legislature 
 an "enabling Act," under the provisions of which the htigation was concluded, 
 and her claims to the water front were exchanged for guarantees of metropolitan 
 
1(5 OAKLAND AND VICINITY, 
 
 portensions. Master minds were employed ; grand conceptions were developed ; 
 great things have been accomplished : and greater things are in progress. 
 
 The water front, excepting the portion of it owned by the railroad company, and 
 a small reservation belonging to the city, is the property of an incorporated com- 
 pany, known as The Oakland Water Front Company, in which the directors of 
 the railroad company are largely interested. An elaborate survey of the entire 
 property has been completed, and the contemplated improvements, (an outline of 
 which we publish), as shown on the Company's map, develops, one of the greatest 
 enterprises of this or any other age. 
 
 THE ESTUARY OF SAN ANTOf^IO. 
 
 An examination of the maps published in this pamphlet will convey a better 
 general idea of the location of the Estuary, with reference to the Bay, the city of 
 San Francisco, Oakland, the railroad system of the Pacific Coast, and the com- 
 merce of the ocean, than \^& could convey in words. 
 
 On the map of Oakland will be found the outlines of the reservations and rights 
 of way, on the south side of the Estuary, belonging to the Railroad Company ; 
 also, the outlines of the improvements projected by the Water Front Company, 
 which harmonize with those of the former. ; 
 
 The reader will observe the soundings marked on the map, from four and a 
 half fathoms water in the Bay, to the head of the Estuary; and the scale will, 
 enable him to judge of (he area of this most invaluable, land-locked, sheet of 
 water. 
 
 Our article upon the Water Front of Oakland explains the situation of the 
 Estuary, in the relation of ownership; and the proposed line of crib -work, as 
 shown on the map — extending from ship-channel, in the Bay, to the head of the 
 Estuary — is the line established by the engineers employed by the Water Front 
 Company, and has been copied, by permission, from an elaborate map which the 
 Company has prepared. 
 
 As we have stated, elsewhere, the plans of the Company develop one of the 
 grandest conceptions of this, or any other age. Recognizing the immutability of 
 the law of economy, it has comprehended the era of railroad commerce, and its 
 relationship to the commerce of the ocean. It has formed a partnership with 
 Nature where Nature furnishes nine-tenths of the capital. 
 
 The improvement of a portion of the river Clyde which is now contributary to 
 one of the greatest centres of industry in the world, cost several millions of 
 dollars ; but the Estuary of San Antonio, with a capacity for thirteen miles of 
 land-locked wharfing, and a basin to float a fleet of the largest vessels ; which is 
 " in close alliance with the terminus of a continental railroad system ; and on the 
 banks of which, locomotives from New York, Thiladelphia, and Boston; from 
 Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis; from New Orleans, Mobile, and Charleston; 
 can stand in waiting to whistle greeting to steamers from Panama, Sydney, and 
 Honolulu; from Astoria, Yokohama, and Japan — this Estuary can be made 
 immensely contributary to the commerce of the world, at an expense of a few 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 17 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 Information respecting climate being already widely disseminated, the reader 
 will be more interested in general comparative remarks than in meteorological 
 details. 
 
 Often, the thermometer is a poor index to the comfortable temperature in Cali- 
 fornia. A degree of heat or cold that is not distressing in one locality, is almost 
 insupportable in another. In the dry atmosphere of the mountains, ice forms in 
 the shade, when nobody feels uncomfortably cold ; and in the humid atmosphere 
 of the sea-coast, ice melts in a blanket, when every body is chilled to the bone. 
 When the mercury indicates a temperature of 80 degrees, people swelter in a 
 humid atmosphere, and refrigerate in a dry one. Therefore, taking it for granted 
 that information about bodily comfort will be more interesting than minutes con- 
 cerning the range of the mercury, we shall devote more attention to the former 
 than to the latter. 
 
 Taking the climate of San Francisco as a basis for comparison, the mean 
 annual temperature for seventeen years, as determined by Dr. H. Gibbons, Sr., of 
 that city, was 56^ 4' — the mean temperature of spring having been 56° 5'; summer, 
 60°; autumn, 59°; and winter, 50°. There were but six days when the mercury 
 reached as high as 90°, and but one day when it fell as low as 25°. During the 
 wet season, the climate of the country surrounding the Bay varies little from that 
 of San Francisco ; but during the dry season the variations are remarkable. 
 
 The rarefaction of the air, produced by the action of the sun's rays upon the 
 vast surface of the interior country, is the cause of our prevailing summer coast- 
 winds. The air is drawn from the ocean to re-establish the equilibrium (inland) 
 which is destroyed by the heat. The force of the wind depends on the degree of 
 rarefaction that has been produced, and its direction is influenced by intervening 
 obstacles presented by the topographical features of the country. 
 
 At some places, the wind and fogs from the ocean sweep over the surface ; 
 some places are protected from the force of the wind and the humidity of fogs by 
 the configuration of the mountains, but are often deprived of the sun's rays by the 
 fogs passing overhead; others are protected entirely from the wind, and enjoy an 
 unclouded atmosphere which permits the accumulation of heat; and, again, the 
 gravitating tendency of a cold current from the ocean often causes it to sweep 
 down the lee slope of the hills, or to dip to the surface of the plain, between two 
 ranges. Hence, the difference in the sensation of heat and cold experienced at 
 places only a few miles apart. The necessity of substituting cloth wrappings for 
 lawns or linen, within a transit of thirty minutes by boat or rail, seems wonderful, 
 even when we know the cause. 
 
 The summer climate of Oakland and vicinity, is a matter of curiosity to many. 
 Immediately back of Oakland, the mountains are high, but there are depressions 
 in the range, both north and south of us, at a distance of several miles. The 
 strongest wind-currents are, of course, drawn through these depressions. We see 
 the fog banks which enter the Golden Gate take a northerly direction, and the fog 
 banks which come through the "Mission Pass," in the southerly part of San 
 Francisco, take a southerly direction, across the Bay. The high hills between the 
 central part of San Francisco and the ocean often protect that portion of the city 
 from a low fog bank; but, even when the fog bank is high, and envelops San 
 Francisco in its humid embrace. Oakland almost invariably escapes it. When the 
 
l<8 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 log bank is so dense and heavy that the depressions in the mountain range, north 
 and south of us, do not accommodate it, and the fog from either direction meets 
 overhead, it is generally absorbed, before reaching the earth, by the accumulation 
 of dry, heated air; or lifted from the surface, before reaching Oakland, by the 
 upward tendency of the draught which must pass over the high mountains behind 
 us.. Thus, the most important difference between the climate of San Francisco 
 and Oakland, is attributable to the configuration of the neighboring mountains. 
 The movement of the fog indicates the force and direction of the wind, and every 
 boy who has ever sat on the windward side of a board fence, and enjoyed being 
 out of the wind, will understand the foregoing explanation. 
 
 The diiference in temperature between Oakland and San Francisco, as 
 indicated by the thermometer, is not so great as many persons suppose ; but the 
 difference in the velocity of the wind and in the humidity of the atmosphere, is the 
 chief cause of the contrast in comfort and health between the two places. 
 
 During the prevaiUng summer winds, our climate is a mean between that of 
 San Francisco and San Josd. Winds from the north or north-west, which come 
 in a direction nearly parallel with the Coast Range, are more violent at Oakland 
 than at San Francisco ; but they are of rare occurrence. 
 
 SOBL AND PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 The soil of Oakland is a sandy loam, varying from three to four feet deep. 
 Beyond Oakland, toward the foot-hills, it partakes more of the pure loam, or 
 adobe. In the northern part of the city (the part toward the foot-hills) it is less 
 sandy than in other places. The apple, pear, plum, cherry, and apricot, are pro- 
 duced in great perfection wheresoever planted. The almond also thrives, and 
 bears plentifully. All kinds of garden vegetables, except the egg-plant and okra, 
 can be produced at will, and in great abundance. Raspberries, strawberries, and 
 currants, thrive and bear marvelously. Shade and ornamental trees make rapid 
 o-rowth, as the gardens on every side attest. So much has been written about our 
 productions that we were inclined to omit the subject. Indeed, the cultivation of 
 fruits and vegetables has almost ceased in Oakland. Ornamental trees, shrubs, 
 and flowers, are preferred. The nursery gardens in the vicinity afford an evidence 
 of the public taste for the beautiful in Nature. For example, in the " Belle View 
 Nursery" are found forty-two varieties of the acacia, thirty-three of eucalyptus, 
 ten known varieties of California oak, and more than one hundred varieties of 
 coniferae, to say nothing of thousands of shrubs and tens of thousands of flowers. 
 
 As a rule, we can gather beautiful bouquets from plants in the open air every 
 month in the year. In sheltered situations, the fuchsia, oleander, geranium, and 
 even the heliotrope, withstand our severest winters. 
 
 THE NATURAL SUPPLY OF WATER. 
 
 In every part of Oakland water can be obtained from wells ranging in depth 
 from 14 feet to 35 feet. Taking the neighborhood of Eighth and Center streets 
 as the mean, we find two wells, eight feet eight inches in diameter, and twenty-five 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. iq 
 
 feet deep, which yield, when the water is lowest, all that can be pumped by a 
 single-horse-povver, working ten liours per day. The proprietor of one, informs 
 us that, at times, his well has been taxed at the rate of 10,000 gallons per day. 
 Each of these wells has preserved the verdure of extensive lawns during the 
 past summer, (the driest we have experienced), and the water in both is soft and 
 pure. A corresponding supply of water is obtainable in every part of Oakland, 
 from wells of the same diameter; but the requisite depth of wells depends on the 
 profile of the ground, and varies as before mentioned. 
 
 The force of the wind, although not so uniform, nor so great, in this neighbor- 
 hood as at San Francisco, is amply sufficient to supply the requirements for both 
 household and garden purposes, if the diameter of the wells and the size of the 
 water-tanks are made to provide against the contingency of an occasional period of 
 calm. Experience has demonstrated that a well of ten feet diameter, witli a good 
 wind-mill and pump, and a tank of 12,000 gallons capacity, will, with judicious man- 
 agement, afford water enough for an acre of lawn, besides what is needed for do- 
 mestic purposes. As a consequence, wind-mills are quite a feature of Oakland. 
 
 The quality of ordinary well-water is not uniform. Some of it is hard, but, with 
 rare exceptions, it is all pleasant to drink. Judging from the uniformity of the sub- 
 stratum of indurated sand and clay which underlies the site of Oakland, we are in- 
 clined to believe that soft water can be obtained in all parts of the city, if wells are 
 sunk to the proper depth, and the curbing cemented so as to keep out surface 
 water. 
 
 The stratum of indurated sand and clay, above mentioned, is impenetrable to 
 surface water, and makes an admirable filter for water percolating through it. 
 Hence, if the curbing of wells be cemented to a proper depth, and packed with 
 clay on the outside, on a level with the "hard pan," even the proximity of cess-pools 
 cannot impair the purity of wells. 
 
 All efforts, in Oakland, to obtain overflowing artesian wells, have failed, but 
 they have resulted in the next best thing, to. wit: inexhaustible wells of soft, pure 
 water which comes within a few feet of the surface. We know of four such wells 
 in as many different parts of the city. 
 
 The result of experimentation in artesian well-boring indicates the existence of 
 a stratum of pebbles and red gravel, at a depth of less than one hundred feet, 
 through which water percolates freely, under a sufficient pressure to bring it near 
 the surface ; and it is money thrown away to sink an artesian well below the stra- 
 tum of gravel. The water obtained from the latter source is soft and pure. 
 
 THE CONTRA COSTA WATER COMPANY 
 
 Furnishes the following statement respecting the water now being supplied from 
 the mountain range back of Oakland : 
 
 "The water is collected at a point five miles from the city, near the head of 
 Temescal Creek, where two streams flow constantly into a reservoir. The water- 
 shed supplying the streams, above the reservoir, embraces an area of three thou- 
 sand acres, too precipitous for cultivation. It is estimated that a rain-fall of twelve 
 inches upon this water-shed will furnish more than one thousand millions of gal- 
 lons. The reservoir capacity is now small, but is being increased to about two 
 hundred millions of gallons, and can be further increased as occasion requires." 
 
 The energy exhibited by the Company is highly commendable. It has already 
 laid about thirty miles of pipe, ranging in size from three to fourteen inches. The 
 
20 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 estimate of the water supply obtainable from this source, is three millions of gal- 
 lons per day. 
 
 The drought of the present year (1871) has demonstrated the uncertainty of the 
 Company's calculations ; and it has been obliged to resort to artesian wells, and 
 steam power, to furnish its patrons with water. The charges, for domestic pur- 
 poses, are the same as at San Francisco. 
 
 WATER RESOURCES. 
 
 In Amador Valley, thirty miles from Oakland, there is an abundance of soft, 
 pure water, sufficient to supply a population exceeding half a million. The water- 
 basin is the receptacle of six hundred square miles of adjacent country, with its 
 tributary streams. 
 
 The water exists in a Tule Lake, partly subterranean, five hundred feet above 
 tide level, surrounded by hundreds of natural wells, which are full to the brim in 
 the driest seasons. During ordinary wet seasons, these wells overflow and inun- 
 date a large surface. The sources that supply the lake are constant — the most 
 important of which are the Los Positas, in the Livermore plain ; the Arroyo 
 Mocho, and the Arroyo del Valle, on the east and south ; the Arroyo el Alamo, 
 Arroyo de la Tasajera, the Los Alamos, and San Cayetao from the north. Most of 
 these are living streams flowing into the lake. There is but one outlet to this water 
 — at the south-west end of the lake — debouching from which, the water forms the 
 Laguna Creek that flows southerly, parallel with the Central Pacific Railroad, six 
 miles to Sunol Valley. There, it forms a junction with the Alameda Creek. The 
 water from the two sources forms a large and beautiful stream which meanders, 
 side by side with the railroad, through the Alameda Canon to Vallejo's Mill, 
 (See map.) Thence, it flows south-westerly, by the town of Alvarado, to the Bay 
 of San Francisco. 
 
 By diverting the water at the junction of the streams, and conveying it along 
 the mountain -sides, through the canon, five miles to Vallejo's Mill; thence, west- 
 erly, along the foot-hills to Hayward*s ; the San Lorenzo Creek, a large and rapid 
 stream, could be made tributary. Four miles nearer Oakland, is the San Leandro 
 Creek, likewise available as a tributary, and which, alone, would furnish a supply 
 of water for a population of fifty thousand. 
 
 The water from these sources would not only aflford Oakland an ample supply, 
 for many generations, but the places on and near the line of approach, including 
 Niles' Station, Decoto, Alvarado, Hayward's, San Leandro, Alameda, and Brook- 
 lyn, could reap a similar benefit. 
 
 The foot-hills present the convenience for conveying the water from the above- 
 mentioned sources to a grand reservoir back of Oakland, one hundred feet above 
 the level of the highest part of the city. 
 
 North-west of the city, there are also sources whence supplies are obtainable, 
 the most important of which are the San Pablo Creek, fifteen miles distant, and 
 the Wildcat Creek, near the State University grounds. The water from both could 
 be brought to the grand reservoir. 
 
 We are not prepared with estimates of the cost of obtaining this great water 
 supply; but from information given us by skillful engineers who have examined 
 the ground, we can safely say that it would be trifling, in comoarison with its im- 
 portance. 
 
 The subject is already attracting the attention of enterprising men, and is 
 worthy that of our city authorities. 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 21 
 
 STREETS. 
 
 The aggregate length of all the streets in Oakland, is, in round numbers, one 
 hundred and live miles, of which fourteen miles have been macadamized and other- 
 wise improved. The streets are generally eighty feet wide, and in most cases cross 
 each other at right angles. Broacfway, the principal thoroughfare, is one hundred 
 and ten feet in width, the sidewalks being twenty feet wide. The streets are mac- 
 adamized with a hard, blue trap rock, of a very superior quality, which is found in 
 great abundance in the immediate vicinity of the city. 
 
 The following are streets, and portions of streets, that were graded, macadam- 
 ized, and curbed, during 1871*: 
 
 Oak Street, from Seventh to Twelfth 1,320 feet. 
 
 Julia Street, from Eighth to Ninth 200 
 
 Alice Street, from. Eighth to Fourteenth 1,520 
 
 Washington Street, from Eighth to Fourteenth i)5SO 
 
 Clay Street, from Eighth to Tenth 480 
 
 Brush Street, from First to Twelfth 2,760 
 
 Market Street, from Seventh to Forty-second 4,420 
 
 Sixth Street, from Castro to Franklin 2,040 
 
 Seventh Street, from Broadway to Franklin 300 
 
 Ninth Street, from Clay to Oak 3,020 
 
 Tenth Street, from Broadway to Alice 1,360 
 
 Fourteenth Street, from Broadway to Washington 300 
 
 Total 19,240 feet. 
 
 The average cost of macadamizing is estimated at 6]^ cents per square foot. 
 
 Nineteen thousand two hundred and forty lineal feet of roadway and crossings, 
 
 converted into square feet, gives : 
 
 926,840 feet, at b)^ cents §57,927 50 
 
 35,199 feet curbing, at 12^ cents 4,233 88 
 
 Engineering, advertising, and culverts 3,OQO 00 
 
 Total cost $65,161 38 
 
 GRADES. 
 
 The city of Oakland is situated on a peninsula extending about one and one- 
 half miles from north to south, and two and one -half miles from east to west. It 
 is bounded on the south and east by San Antonio Creek, on the west by the Bay 
 of San Francisco, and on the north by the charter line, established by Act of the 
 Legislature, in May, 1852. The highest ground in the city is found about midway 
 between the northerly and southerly boundaries, and is thirty-eight feet above the 
 level of high tide. From this water-shed the ground slopes with remarkable uni- 
 formity, southerly and easterly, to the estuary, and northerly, to a depression near 
 the charter line, and to the salt marsh along the shore of the bay. Sufficient fall 
 is everywhere obtained for surface drainage, and no serious difficulty is encounter- 
 ed in estabhshing surface grades. 
 
 Something over a year ago, the Common Council appointed a Board of Engi- 
 neers, "to examine the plans and profiles of the city of Oakland, to suggest changes, 
 
:s2 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 if any they may deem necessary, and to report a plan of street grades, lines, and a 
 system of sewerage for the whole city." The Board was composed of George F. 
 Allardt, Chief Engineer of State Tide Lands ; Prof George Davidson, Assistant 
 U. S. Coast Survey ; George E. Gray, Consulting Engineer Central Pacific Rail- 
 road Company; Milo Hoadley, President of the late Board of Engineers of San 
 Francisco, and William F. Boardman, late City*Engineer of Oakland. 
 
 It has seldom been the fortune of any city to obtain the combined services of 
 thp same number of engineers so eminent in their profession and so well qualified 
 in every respect to deal with the important problegns submitted to this Board. 
 
 In due time they presented an elaborate report, and all street improvements 
 and other pubhc works are now executed in accordance with their recommenda- 
 tions. On the uplands, the grades adopted by the Board conform to the natural 
 surface of the ground, so far as is consistent with an efficient system of drainage 
 and sewage. On the salt marshes and tide lands along the water-front, while 
 due regard is given to the future commercial requirements of the city, the grade is 
 not placed so high as to be onerous or oppressive to the property-owners. 
 
 SEWERS. 
 
 It is proposed to construct two main sewers of sufficient capacity to receive the 
 surface and sewer drainage of the entire peninsula. One, along or near San 
 Antonio Estuary, and the other through the depression near the charter line on 
 the north. The aggregate length of the two sewers will be about five miles. The 
 tidal waters retained in Lake Peralta, at the eastern terminus of San Antonio 
 Creek, will be used for the purpose of flushing the main sewers at stated intervals. 
 The bottom of the upper end, or inlet, of either sewer will be placed one foot below 
 high tide; the bottom of the outlet at the Bay, one foot below low tide — giving a 
 fall of six and a half feet, which is sufficient to keep the sewers free from all deposits. 
 
 Surface water, and house sewage, will be conveyed to the main sewer by means 
 of smaller lateral sewers of cement pipes, twelve inches in diameter. Gradients 
 of one in one hundred and fifty can be obtained in the most unfavorable locaHties. 
 The projected system of sewage is admirable, and its cost will be unusually small. 
 
 STONE QUARRIES. 
 
 There are inexhaustible supplies of basaltic trap rock found in the foothills, 
 within a distance of from two to three miles north-easterly from Oakland. There 
 are now two macadamizing companies engaged in paving the streets of Oakland 
 and Brooklyn, with rock obtained from the above-mentioned source, and they 
 employ about one hundred men. Both companies have machines for crushing the 
 material and graduating its size. The crushing capacity of each is from seven to 
 ten tons per hour. The character of our paving far excels the old fashioned mac- 
 adamizing, and the quality of the material, for paving purposes, is not surpassed 
 elsewhere in the world. The cost of paving is mentioned on another page. 
 
 Ledges of excellent sandstone are also found in the hills, at a short distance 
 beyond where the material for macadamizing is obtained, and the stone is being 
 used for building purposes. 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
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24 
 
 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 SANITARY AND MORTUARY. 
 
 From a sanitary point of view, Oakland stands unrivaled among the cities of 
 the Pacific slope. This is a bold assertion ; nevertheless, it is confirmed by official 
 records. 
 
 We shall not enumerate the causes which render Oakland so eminently desirable 
 as a place for family residences, but we shall proceed to prove that not another of 
 the principal cities in the State can claim such exemption from sickness and death. 
 
 We quote the recent census reports respecting the population of the several 
 cities ; and the mortuary statistics are summarized from the reports of Dr. Logan, 
 President of the State Board of Health, published in the San Francisco Medical 
 Journal. 
 
 NUMBER OF DEATHS DURING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1871. 
 
 
 1870. 
 
 1871. 
 
 
 
 
 
 CITIES. 
 
 •— 1 
 
 c 
 
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 •d 
 
 
 
 
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 5" 
 0' 
 
 3 
 
 San Francisco 
 
 ^nS 
 
 281 
 
 10 
 14 
 14 
 
 264 
 
 29 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 21 
 
 309 
 50 
 13 
 17 
 16 
 
 10 
 
 266 
 
 33 
 12 
 18 
 24 
 
 298 
 28 
 12 
 22 
 19 
 
 245 
 24 
 13 
 
 18 
 
 227 
 31 
 
 7 
 9 
 9 
 
 232 
 24 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 *9 
 
 226 
 
 39 
 
 ID 
 12 
 
 *9 
 
 221 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 14 
 
 3.214 
 
 392 
 
 180 
 179 
 
 150,361 
 
 16,298 
 
 11,104 
 
 10,033 
 
 9,091 
 
 Sacramento 
 
 31 
 
 7 
 
 23 
 
 16 
 
 Oakland 
 
 Stockton 
 
 San Jose 
 
 
 * The deaths at San Jos4 during April and May, 1871, do not appear in Dr. Logan's Reports ; and to avoid 
 injustice, as between Oakland and San Jos6, we have inserted figures corresponding with the minimum 
 reports of other months. 
 
 Discarding the decimals, the above exhibit shows, during the twelve months, 
 one death in San Francisco to about every 46 inhabitants ; in Sacramento, one to 
 42 ; in Oakland, one to 95 ; in Stockton, one to 56; and in San ]os6, one to 51. 
 
 It is bul fair to deduct from the deaths set down to San Francisco, the number 
 which resulted from suicides and casualties ; and it should be borne in mind that 
 many persons aflSicted with disease contracted elsewhere, visit San Francisco for 
 medical treatment ; and the proportion of these who die, should also be deducted 
 from her mortuary reports, when we are comparing sanitary conditions. Deducting 
 143 deaths from her 12 months' report to cover the former, and \i per cent, from 
 the remaining 2,702, to compensate the latter, the result will show nearly double 
 the number of deaths in San Francisco, in proportion to the population, as have 
 occurred in Oakland. 
 
 The comparison between Oakland and the other cities, is no less wonderful; 
 and, considering that Oakland is a favorite resort for persons sutfering from disease, 
 the above exhibit will astonish the people of Oakland little less than persons abroad. 
 
 DURATION OF SICKNESS. 
 
 Before concluding, we will refer to a collateral fact, alike unprecedented in 
 sanitary annals, yet, supported by incontestable evidence. For the purpose of get- 
 ting information concerning the average duration of sickness in Oakland and 
 vicinity, we have examined, by permission, the books of two of our most prominent 
 physicians. We took the aggregate of the visits made by tlie two physicians for 
 six months, and divided the sum by the total number of patients visited. The 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 25 
 
 result was an average oi four and one-third visits to each case. By leaving out 
 of the calculation several desperate cases, the average would be considerably less. 
 The books of the aforesaid physicians will be cheerfully submitted to the inspec- 
 tion of any respectable practitioner who may think we have committed an error. 
 
 Is there another city in the United States whose population enjoy such exemp- 
 tion from sickness and death.'' If there be one, sign -boards should be erected 
 on every highway and lane approaching it, warning physicians and undertakers of 
 the danger from starvation attending a residence within. 
 
 At the request of the Publication Committee, we have investigated the data of the foregoing article, 
 and found it to be correct. Clinton Gushing, M.D., Prest. Alameda Co. Medical Association. 
 
 John C. Van Wyck, M.D., Librarian. 
 Oakland, Oct. i, 1871. 
 
 DRIVES AND SCENERY. 
 
 There are few places upon earth which are more inviting to those fond of out- 
 door exercise, than Oakland and its vicinity. If it be true — as it unquestionably 
 is — that the Bay of .San Francisco is the finest and most picturesque in the world, 
 not even excepting the Bay of Naples, and the magnificent harbor of Rio Janeiro, 
 it is no less ti-ue that the site of Oakland affords the most beautiful view of that 
 Bay, and the most delightful of the valleys by which it is environed. Here, "the 
 Coast Range, generally so abrupt and rocky, recedes gradually into a vale miles in 
 width, and slopes with a gentle declivity to the waters of the Bay that bathe its 
 borders with the health -inspiring ripples of the Ocean, just visible through the 
 opening of the Golden Gate. Eastward, the summit of Mount Diablo presents 
 one of the loftiest peaks from San Diego to Shasta Butte. Westward, gleams the 
 broad bosom of the Bay, bordered in the distance by the triple hills of San Fran- 
 cisco, the blue summits of the San Bruno Range, and the slumbering valleys of 
 San Mateo. Northward, stretch the fruitful orchards of San Pablo, the green hills 
 of Carquinez, and the fairy islets of Golden Rock and The Sisters ; while south- 
 ward, the old Mission of San Josd looms up in the distance like a glimpse of Eden; 
 and the most fertile of hills, and dales, and plains, commingle in the view, assuring 
 the spectator that no land on the globe unites in itself blessings more varied, or 
 landscapes more enchanting, than those which greet the eye from the flower-enam- 
 eled plain of Alameda. 
 
 Here, are no toll -roads, to check adventure and tax the pleasure -seeker with 
 their oppressive exactions. There are no craggy precipices to climb, or soft mo- 
 rasses to cross; but the country is intersected with highways attesting the genius 
 of MacAdam, and leveled hke the thoroughfares of Holland. Are you weary of 
 city life, and require the mountain air to invigorate your frame ? Scale the summit 
 of Mount Diablo ! Are you ill, and need the waters of old Ponce de Leon to re- 
 animate you with the vigor of perpetual youth 1 Go and bathe in the fountains of 
 the old Mission San Jose ! Are you fond of sport ? Shoulder your gun and gath- 
 er quail from the foothills, or rig your fishing-tackle and bait for smelt or silver-fins, 
 for trout or perch, ofF the ends of our piers, or in the shady nooks of the San Le- 
 andro ! Are you a lover of Nature? Mount your horse, and thread the grounds 
 of the State University ! Visit the gems of the foot-hill farms ! CHmb the gentle 
 acclivities of the Coast Range ! And, turning suddenly in the saddle, cast your 
 
26 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 eyes on the slumbering landscape at your feet ! Where upon the broad earth can 
 your gazeMneet with so enchanting a spectacle? Vineyard, orchard, and garden ; 
 fountain, bay, and ocean ; plain, meadow, and mountain, blend in a unison so per- 
 fect, that you feel there can be no spot where Nature presents greater inducements 
 for homes, than the gorgeous queen of the valleys, the beautiful bride of the Bay, 
 the flourishing city of Oakland. 
 
 WHAT NATURE HAS DONE. 
 
 She has given us a climate unsurpassed in the world — preserving the health of 
 those who are not afflicted, and imparting health to those who are. 
 
 She has given us a soil, in harmony with the climate, which affords sustenance 
 to nearly every description of plants and trees. 
 
 She has given us a site for a city which, comparatively speaking, is already 
 graded ; she has ornamented it with a profusion of majestic oaks, and sent larks 
 and linnets to perch upon the boughs and delight us with their warbling. 
 
 She has given us a never -failing supply of pure water within a few feet of the 
 surface, and she guards it from contamination by a formation of sand and clay, 
 impervious to surface water. 
 
 She has placed, within a convenient distance, inexhaustible supplies of pure 
 water which may be conducted, by gravitation alone, to the tops of our highest 
 buildings. 
 
 She has placed, close at hand, ledges of stone admirably a'dapted to building 
 and macadamizing. 
 
 She has surrounded us with scenery which delights the eye, expands the mind, 
 and animates the spirits. 
 
 She has given us, in common with San Francisco, one of the finest harbors in 
 the world ; and she has banished the teredo from our shores. 
 
 She has given us a solid foundation for buildings and wharves, from high-water 
 mark to ship-channel ; and she deposits her mud elsewhere. 
 
 She has made depressions in the mountain ranges which lead the locomotive 
 to our wharves to meet the commerce of the ocean ; and has ordained Oakland as 
 the great terminus of the railroad system of the Pacific Coast. 
 
 STREET RAILROADS. 
 
 The contour of Oakland and the surrounding country, being almost level, or 
 gently undulating, is peculiarly well adapted to horse-railroad enterprises. There 
 is one already in successful operation, extending from the foot of Broadway to 
 Telegraph Avenue, and thence to Temescal Bridge. Its franchise extends to the 
 State University grounds. Its present track is three miles in length, and the cars 
 and horses used by the road company compare favorably with those used in San 
 Francisco. The success of the enterprise has stimulated the projection of other 
 horse -railroads, among the most important of which is one designed to connect 
 Fruit Vale and Brooklyn with the University grounds, and one to connect the San 
 Francisco and Oakland Road with the University grounds, via Peralta street. The 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 27 
 
 latter will be built and owned by the C. P. R. R. Company. TRe Oakland and 
 San Pablo Avenue Company, and the San Pablo, Webster Street, and Alameda 
 Company, have also located routes of great importance ; and the roads already 
 projected will form, when completed, a cordon of iron rails which will afford the 
 people of Oakland, and the neighboring towns, cheap and constant facilities of 
 communication with each other, and with the State University. 
 
 OAKLAND GAS-LIGHT COMPANY. 
 
 This Company has fourteen miles of "mains" already laid in Oakland, besides 
 extensions to and about the town of Brooklyn. The present cajDacity of the works 
 is one hundred thousand feet per day, and the quality of the gas is not surpassed 
 by that of any other company in California. There are few, if any, cities in the 
 United States of an equal number of inhabitants, wherein such an extent of gas- 
 mains has been laid. The quantity of gas consumed is not commensurate with 
 the extent of the mains ; but that militates against the Company, and in favor of 
 property-owners, and of those who desire to build houses and to enjoy the luxury 
 of gas-light. 
 
 A Pneumatic Gas Company has obtained a franchise for laying pipe in Oak- 
 land ; but whether or not its pipe will be lighted, remains to be seen. 
 
 LAND TITLES. 
 
 The stability of the title to real estate in Oakland and Brooklyn townships, rec- 
 ommends it strongly for investment and homestead purposes. It is a fundamental 
 principle in English and Spanish law, derived from the maxims of the feudal tenures, 
 that the King was the original proprietor of all land in the Kingdom, and of all 
 territories acquired (like California) by discovery and colonization, and that he was 
 the only and true source of title. In the United States, the same principle has 
 been adopted. All valid individual titles to land in California are, therefore, de- 
 rived from the Government of the United States, and the State of California 
 — from the latter subordinately, and only for land covered by tide-water ; or, from 
 the Spanish Crown, prior to the 28th of September, 1821 — the day recognized in 
 law as the date of the independence of the Mexican nation ; or, from the Govern- 
 ment of Mexico up to the 7th of July, 1846, when the United States took posses- 
 sion of this State which was subsequently ceded to them by the Treaty of Guada- 
 lupe Hidalgo, February 2d, 1848 — by which treaty all governmental grants, pre- 
 viously made, were confirmed. 
 
 Thus, was the title to the lands in the city of Oakland, and the town of Brook- 
 lyn, together with that of the surrounding country, comprising about twenty -five 
 thousand acres, derived from the Mexican Government, through a grant made in 
 1820 to Don Luis Peralta, in recognition of his meritorious services in the con- 
 quest of California. 
 
 Peralta divided his rancho, first, by actual partition in 1846, and afterward (in 
 1S51) by will, between his four sons, Josd Domingo, Vicente, Antonio, and Ignacio, 
 
28 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 whose titles have since been recognized and confirmed by the United States Courts. 
 Efforts were made to assail and cloud fractional parts of the title of these brothers, 
 but the Courts have rejected, and declared invalid, all adverse claims. 
 
 No real estate can be held under a better title than that which is derived from 
 the brothers Peralta, 
 
 THE PRICE OF HOMESTEAD SITES. 
 
 In all places where people most do congregate, the active competition for the 
 possession of land, causes the value of real estate to rise with the increase of in- 
 habitants. Thus, has property in San Francisco become very valuable, mostly in 
 the eastern portion of the city, specially devoted to business in its various branch- 
 es ; thence, southerly, over flat lands ; and westerly, over hills and through dales, 
 in all inhabitable directions, where year by year dwellings multiply. 
 
 But this increase in value is not confined to the limits of the metropolis. It 
 spreads for miles over neighboring localities which are attractive for family resi- 
 dences, as they are brought nearer by means of increasing facilities for travel. 
 
 It is so with the surroundings of New York, and all large cities ; and the his- 
 tory of the last few years plainly indicates that the same causes are producing like 
 results here. The attention of those whose interests or preferences have called 
 them to San Francisco, has, of late years, been more and more directed, for cli- 
 matic and other reasons, toward suburban retreats, chiefly in the direction of Oak- 
 land and vicinity. Values have consequently increased, but, apparently, not in pro- 
 portion to the progress in population and improvements, nor to the prospective 
 importance of the locality. 
 
 The object of this article is to invite attention to the very considerable differ- 
 ence which still exists in the value of residence property in San Francisco, as com- 
 pared with that in Oakland and Brooklyn. Various considerations may lead peo- 
 ple to prefer a residence outside of the great city to one within, and not the least 
 among these is the larger quantity of ground obtainable for the same amount of 
 money. 
 
 For this purpose it will be useful to compare the value of residence property in 
 the places named, for lots of different depths, on streets of different widths — items 
 which enter largely into calculations of value. 
 
 It is evident that no very precise comparison of one locality with another can 
 be made, as no two localities can be said to offer exactly the same advantages ; 
 nor, owing to the diversity of individual appreciation, are they susceptible of being 
 judged by the same standard. 
 
 The information, herewith submitted, has been obtained from reliable sources. 
 Opinions on values will always differ, more or less, but the valuations have been 
 carefully made, though necessarily in a general way, and are intended to represent 
 prices which can be realized when opportunities for sales occur. All quotations 
 are stated per foot frontage for inside lots — corner lots being worth from ten to 
 thirty per cent. more. 
 
 In San Francisco, on streets 82j< feet wide, like Mission, Howard, and Folsom 
 Streets, property ranges, for lots 80 to 90 feet deep, from Fourth to Seventh, at 
 $125 to $20c per foot frontage; and lots beyond Seventh, to Fourteenth, at $75 to 
 $100; farther southerly, to Twentieth Street, $60 to $75, and on Valencia, $80 to 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 29 
 
 $90; on Van Ness Avenue, $120 to $150; on the other streets, in the Hayes and 
 Beideman tracts, about 69 feet wide, lots 120 feet deep are worth $60 to $100 per 
 front foot. 
 
 In Oakland, east from Market Street, lots 100 feet deep on all the 80 feet streets 
 north of Railroad Avenue or Seventh Street, sell for $27.50 to $50 per foot front- 
 age ; and south of Seventh Street, at $22.50 to $30. On Adehne and Market 
 Streets, both 80 feet wide, lots 125 and 130 feet deep, between Seventh and Twen- 
 ty-second Streets, bring $27.50 to $45 per front foot. 
 
 Again, in San Francisco, on Stevenson, Jessie, Minna, Natoma, and similar 
 streets, only 35 fact wide, lots 70 to 80 feet deep, between Fourth and Seventh 
 Streets, bring readily $50 to $60 per foot frontage, and from Seventh to Tenth, 
 about $40. 
 
 Oakland and Brooklyn have no streets of such limited width — the narrowest 
 measuring 60 feet. On the 60 feet streets in Oakland, property sells as follows : 
 North of Seventh, to Fourteenth, between Market and Adeline, $30 per foot front- 
 age, 125 feet deep; from Fomteenth to Eighteenth, between Market and Adeline, 
 125 feet deep, $16 to $22.50; between Kirkham and Peralta, north of Four- 
 teenth Street, 104 feet deep, $12 to $20; between Peralta, Pine, Eighth, and 
 Twelfth Streets, near the Point, lots 135 feet deep, $22.50 to $25 ; between Ade- 
 line and Peralta, Seventh and Fourteenth, lots 125 feet deep, $20 to $22.50; at 
 the Point, both north and south of Seventh Street, lots 100 feet deep, $22.50 to 
 $30; north of Twenty- second Street and west of the San Pablo Road, lots 
 125 feet deep, $10; east of the said road, lots no feet deep, $15 to $20 per foot 
 frontage. 
 
 In Brooklyn, property on 60 feet streets is worth: West of Walker, and south 
 of Humbert Streets, lots 150 feet deep, $10 to $15 per foot frontage ; north of Hep- 
 burn Street, lots 140 to 150 feet deep, $5 to $10. 
 
 The reader will bear in mind that reference has been made solely to residence 
 property, and our allusions to San Francisco values do not refer to certain favored 
 localities where even residence property is held as high as $300 per front foot. 
 Respecting business property, those who desire to purchase, may seek information 
 for themselves. It is hardly necessary to say that business property is far more 
 valuable in San Francisco than in Oakland. 
 
 BUeLDENG EMPROVEMENIS IN OAKLAND. 
 
 On January 2d, the Oakland Daily Transcript published a table showing the 
 location and value of the buildings erected in this city during tlie year 1870, from 
 which it appears that 615 houses were built, at a total cost of $1,405,150. Since 
 the first of January, 1871, a very large number of buildings have been commenced, 
 and the improvements for 1871 are very likely to exceed in value those made in 
 1870, by at least half a million dollars. 
 
 COST OF BUILDING. 
 
 The cost of building in Oakland is somewhat less than in San Francisco. The 
 lumber-yards, and the planing-mills, are conveniently located, and the ground 
 which they occupy is much less valuable than that occupied by similar establish- 
 
30 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 ments in San Francisco. Bricks and stone are obtainable cheaper here than at 
 San Francisco ; castings are supplied by the local foundry ; and, generally speak- 
 ing, no grading or filling is required. 
 
 MANUFACTURING PROSPECTS. 
 
 The map of Oakland shows the outHnes of the contemplated improvements of 
 the Water Front Company. The most important features of tbe project are the 
 dredging of the Bar at the mouth of the San Antonio Estuary, the cribbing of both 
 banks, from ship -channel to the head of the southerly arm, a distance of over five 
 miles, and the widening and deepening of the channel where necessary. 
 
 There will be a continuous wharf between the water and the first tier of blocks 
 on the north bank of the channel, from its mouth to Broadway Street. A wide 
 street is provided for, in the rear of the tier of blocks, to accommodate as many 
 rail tracks as may be needed. These tracks will lead to the main trunk of the C. 
 P. R. R. Thus, a manufacturing establishment situated upon any of the aforesaid 
 blocks will be able to receive or deliver freight at "ship's tackles," at the front 
 doors, and to load or unload cars at the back doors. If desirable, "turn-outs" can 
 be laid from the street, passing through the building to the water ; and it requires 
 no gift of prophecy to predict that, as the projected improvements are made, the 
 heavy manufacturing business of the Bay counties will concentrate where such fa- 
 cilities for economizing are provided : and there is not another place about the Bay 
 where it is possible to provide them. The perusal of our remarks under the head 
 of " The Estuary of San Antonio," will give the reader additional light concerning 
 the vast prospective importance of the manufacturing interests of Oakland. 
 
 BRIDGING THE BAY. 
 
 Some of our San Francisco neighbors seem much alarmed about commercial 
 prospects at Oakland, and are indulging extraordinary vagaries respecting things 
 which they deem necessary to save their city from decay. 
 
 The fact is, San Francisco is more interested than Oakland, in commerce at 
 Oakland. That is to say, 150,000 people are more interested than 11,000 people, 
 in reducing the cost of handling exports and imports. For example, unless we 
 can compete with other countries, in shipping grain to distant markets, the culti- 
 vation of grain in California, except for home consumption, will cease, and every 
 branch of industry and trade in San Francisco would suffer. On the contrary, if, 
 by means of machinery, and the economical handling of the grain crops, farmers 
 have the assurance of realizing a profit, they will seed more land, and every branch 
 of industry and trade in San Francisco will be stimulated by the success of the 
 farmers. 
 
 This proposition is as simple as "rolling off a log;" yet, a portion of the press 
 and of the people of San Francisco are exercised at the economical arrangements 
 at Oakland, for handling our export products ; and are proposing to tax the com- 
 munity for the'purpose of supplying other, and far less economical, arrangements 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 31 
 
 elsewhere. They are even advocating the vandalism of destroying half the value 
 of a great harbor which belongs to the Commerce of the World, in the vain hope 
 of forcing business into an unnatural channel. 
 
 They are horrified at the laying of a "gas-main" across Mission Creek, where 
 hogs wallow at low tide ; but are in ecstasies at the thought of cutting off more 
 than iiinety-tivo square 7niles of the navigable waters of the Bay of San Francisco, 
 from free commerce with the ocean, by constructing a bridge from Alameda, or 
 Oakland, to San Francisco. 
 
 Nor is this all: The conductors of the San Francisco press are well aware 
 that solemn warnings have been uttered by the highest hydrographical authorities 
 in the United States, against obstructing the currents of the Bay, in any way that 
 might decrease, to a great extent, its tidal area ; for, upon the tidal area, depends 
 the volume and scouring eflfect of the tidal flow over the Bar, at the entrance of 
 the harbor, and the depth of water upon it. 
 
 In view of this warning, and considering that it is impossible for engineering 
 skill to predetermine the effect of placing fifty, or more, immense piers, in a line 
 across the channel of the Bay, it seems extraordinary, to say the least, that re- 
 spectable journals in San Francisco should advocate such a project. 
 
 San Francisco cannot afford the experiment. New York and Boston cannot 
 afford it. The merchant marine of CaUfornia, and the farmers of California, pro- 
 test against it. 
 
 We shall now proceed to enlighten the reader respecting the pecuniary benefits, 
 and the commercial advantages, which San Francisco might reasonably expect from 
 the construction of a bridge ; and we challenge any engineer to discover a material 
 error in the following estimates, by Geo. F. Allardt, C. E., who furnished them by 
 request. Mr. Allardt is recognized by Engineers as one of the foremost men in 
 the Profession: 
 
 Estimated Cost of Bridging the Bay from San Francisco to the Alameda Shore — Distance, 
 five miles ^26,400 feet), of which three miles (1^,840 feefj will extend across ship- 
 channel; (from 18 to 60 feet in depth at low-tide) ; and two miles fio,^6ofeet) across 
 shoal water on the Alameda shore. 
 
 First, a wooden bridge throughout : two miles of pile trestling in shoal water, and three 
 miles of Howe truss in deep water, supported on pile-piers, with spans of 200 feet each, 
 including three turn-table spans, or "draws." Bottom of trusses to be ten feet above high- 
 waf.er, in the clear, 
 
 10,560 lineal feet of pile-trestling, @ $20 $21 1,200 
 
 79 pile-piers in deep water, @ $4,000 316,000 
 
 15,840 lineal feet of Howe truss, @ $60 950,400 
 
 E.Ktra expense on three turn-table spans 25,000 
 
 $1,502,600 
 Add 10 per cent, for superintendence and contingencies 150,260 
 
 Total cost $1,652,860 
 
 Or $62.63 psr lineal foot. 
 
 Second, the same, except with stone-piers, across the deep water, in place of pile-piers. 
 
32 
 
 OAKLAND AND VICINITY 
 
 10,560 lineal feet of pile-trestling, @ $20' §211,200 
 
 15,840 lineal feet of Howe truss, @ $60 950,400 
 
 80,400 cubic yards of masonry in 79 piers, @ $40 3,216,000 
 
 Extra expense on turn-table spans and piers 50,000 
 
 $4,427,600 
 Add 10 per cent, for superintendence and contingencies, $442,760 
 
 Total cost ^. _ , . $4,870,360 
 
 Or $184.48 per lineal foot. 
 
 Third, pile-trestling for two miles, as before ; stone-piers for three miles, across deep 
 water, and iron trusses, in place of the Howe truss. Spans 200 feet. 
 
 10,560 lineal feet of pile-trestling, @ §20 $211,200 
 
 15,840 lineal feet of iron truss, @ $200 3, 168,000 
 
 80,400 cubic yards of masonry in 79 piers, @, $40, „ 3,216,000 
 
 Extra expense on turn-table spans and piers 50,000 
 
 $6,645,200 
 Add 10 per cent, for superintendence and contingencies 664,520 
 
 Total cost , $7,309,720 
 
 Or $276 . 88 per lineal foot. 
 
 Fourth, a first-class high bridge, with stone-piers and iron superstructure throughout, 
 placed 100 feet, in the clear, above high-tide in ship-channel, and with ascending gradients 
 of 50 feet to the mile, across the shoal water on the Alameda shore, and in Mission Bay at 
 San Francisco. Spans 300 feet each 
 
 160,900 cubic yards of masonry in 53 piers in deep water (3 miles) 
 
 © S30 $4,827,000 
 
 32,600 cubic yards in 35 piers on the gradient on the Alameda 
 
 shore (2 miles) @ $30 978,000 
 
 32,600 cubic yards in 35 piers on the gradient on the San Fran- 
 cisco shore, @ $30 978,000 
 
 36,960 lineal feet (7 miles) of iron superstructure for double track, 
 
 wagon-road, and foot-passengers, @ $225 8,316,000 
 
 $15,099,000 
 Add 10 per cent, for superintendence and contingencies 1,509,900 
 
 Total cost $16,608,900 
 
 Or $449.38 per lineal foot. 
 
 For the purpose of comparison, we quote, below, the cost of several long 
 bridges, the average of which is over $750 per lineal foot : 
 
 Britannia 
 
 Niagara (suspension) 
 
 St. Charles 
 
 East River 
 
 Louisville 
 
 Menai Straits 
 
 Niagara Falls 
 
 Missouri River 
 
 New Yorl» to Brooklyn . 
 Ohio River 
 
 ffi 
 
 fT 
 
 <r5:2. 
 
 3 
 
 
 M 
 
 ." =r^ 
 
 =r 
 
 : ^ t> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • ^ a 
 102 
 
 
 1,841 
 
 24=; 
 
 1,290 
 
 80 
 
 6,570 
 
 103 
 
 5,625 
 
 5^ 
 
 5,280 
 
 $3,009,325 
 
 400,000 
 1,815,000 
 7,000,000'' 
 1,600,000 
 
 n 
 
 $1,635 
 310 
 
 276 
 
 1,244 
 
 * Estimated. 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 33 
 
 Even if it were permissible to place a line of piers across ship -channel in the 
 Bay, nothing less than a permanent first-class structure, one hundred feet above 
 high tide, over ship-channel, would be allowed ; and the gradients of the approaches 
 should not exceed fifty feet to the mile, if designed for freight trains. The distance 
 from the Alameda shore to ship-channel (two miles) would accommodate the eastern 
 approach ; but, if the western approach started on the same level as the eastern, 
 the westerly end of the bridge would be two miles distant from the San Francisco 
 water front. To compensate for the height of the bridge, five miles must be added 
 to its length, to make it equivalent to a level way, for railroad purposes. (See 
 note, page 3, "Equating for Grades"). If the reader will figure the result, he will 
 find that, for all practical purposes in railroading, the distance from Alameda, or 
 Oakland point, via such a bridge, to the water front of San Francisco, would be 
 fmtrteen miles. Thus, San Francisco, by the expenditure of over sixteen milhons, 
 could double the distance and time between herself and Oakland. 
 
 But it is not designed to build a first-class, high bridge — it would not pay. 
 Indeed, our introductory remarks are based upon the assumption that a low bridge 
 is contemplated. We refer the reader to the foregoing estimates, if he desires to 
 fix in his imagination the cost of the undertaking, and we shall proceed to estimate 
 the benefits that might accrue from it, leaving out of the question the damages 
 that would result from destroying free navigation in the Bay, and the peril of 
 shoaling the Bar at the entrance of the harbor : 
 
 First — Building lots, and homestead sites, in Alameda County, would increase 
 largely in value, in anticipation of an exodus of famihes from San Francisco who 
 object to steamboat travel. 
 
 Second — Considering that the freight and passenger trains of the Central, and 
 the Southern Pacific, will soon approach Oakland from the north ; if the bridge 
 started from Oakland Point, passengers and freight might be carried thence to 
 San Francisco, by rail, five minutes quicker than by rail and boat — providing no 
 "draws" were open, as frequently there would be. But Oakland would never 
 consent to obstructing the Estuary of San Antonio from free commerce with the 
 ocean. Hence, the easterly end of the bridge, if constructed, would be at Alameda, 
 or at a point farther south. 
 
 Third — Assuming that it would be at Alameda point : the distance from Oakland 
 point (where the Oakland and Banta Branch will terminate) to Alameda point, via 
 the most available crossing of the Estuary, is five miles. It follows that passen- 
 gers might reach the San Francisco shore at Mission Bay— supposing the brid^-e 
 should terminate there,.and no "open draws" were encountered — cxlmost ^s soon 
 as they could reach the hotels by the Oakland Ferry. But the existence of the 
 bridge would not control, in the slightest degree, the movement of our export 
 products. The great freight route must intersect the Oakland wharf, as the map 
 shows ; and it is as reasonable to expect that grain, for export, would be trans- 
 ported from San Francisco to Oakland, via the proposed bridge, as to expect it to 
 be moved in the opposite direction. Mr. Friedlander, and San Francisco exporters 
 generally, having grain arriving at the Oakland wharf, would decline to incur the 
 needless risk and expense of transporting it from the Oakland docks to the San 
 Francisco docks, to gratify a sentiment. It may be added that the proposed bridge 
 could never be used for passenger travel, excepft for that between San Francisco 
 and Alameda counties. The liability of detention by "open draws " would render 
 3 
 
34 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 It impossible for the railroad companies to run "through trains," by that route, 
 "on time." 
 
 If the hotels, churches, stores, and theatres of San Francisco, were removed 
 south of the bridge, it would compensate, in a measure, for some delays ; but, in 
 that event, it would become necessary to remove the Golden Gate to a point south 
 of the bridge — otherwise, the rapid increase of commerce on the water front of the 
 Potrero, and South San Francisco, would cause a "draw" to be kept open contin- 
 ually. One of the San Francisco papers has suggested the expedient of removing 
 "the heart of San Francisco" as far south as the RoUing Mill point, so that trains 
 might be run into it ; but it is doubtful if the heart of San Francisco beats 
 responsive to the suggestion. Seriously, the whole scheme smacks so strongly of 
 outside property that it is impossible to disguise it. 
 
 Nobody doubts that San Francisco must continue to be the metropolis of the 
 Pacific coast; and the shallow efforts of a few speculators to frighten San Francis- 
 cans into committing an outrage against themselves, and their posterity, is highly 
 reprehensible. Already, more than one-fourth the population of the State is con- 
 gregated at San Francisco ; and considering her established advantages, and the 
 more luxurious habits of city folk, as compared with those of country folk, her 
 "city trade" may be estimated at nearly one -half of the trade of the State, 
 exclusive of the export trade. Of the California domestic trade, outside of the city, 
 she commands, and must ever command, the lion's share. The export trade be- 
 longs, and will always belong, exclusively to San Francisco, for she supplies money 
 for the movement of crops, and has a deeper interest than Oakland will ever have 
 in the economical handling of our export products. If machine shops are built at 
 Oakland, San Francisco men, with San Francisco capital, will build them ; and the 
 profits of such enterprises will return to the fountain-head. 
 
 In short, Oakland is an invaluable adjunct to the cdmmerce of San Francisco; 
 and far-seeing San Franciscans are proud, not jealous, of Oakland. 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIAr 
 
 The University of California was created with the view of carrying the public 
 educational system of the State up to its highest expression, in an institution 
 which should realize the broadest, freest, most hberal, and most advanced ideas of 
 University education. It receives its support from the extensive land -grants 
 made by the General Government to the State of California, for the establishment 
 of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts Colleges — a foundation which has been enlarged 
 by a liberal appropriation from the State Legislature. The University, accord- 
 ingly, is a State institution, and, ayS such, must be of equal interest to the people of 
 every section of California. Yet, the sphere of its activity is not bounded by the 
 lines of our own State, for its register shows that it already draws from every State 
 and Territory of the Pacific Coast, from Mexico, from South America, and from 
 the islands of the sea — a fact which strikingly illustrates the scope of the benefits 
 diffused by our young but progressive University. 
 
 The Act creating the University of California was passed by the State Legis- 
 lature at the session of 1867-8. It placed the supreme control of the institution 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 35 
 
 in a Board of Regents which is, at present, comiDosed of the following gentlemen 
 of well-known culture, public ^irit, and business ability: 
 
 EX -OFFICIO REGENTS. 
 
 His Excellency Henry H. Haight, Governor. 
 
 His Honor William Holden, Lieutenant-Governor. 
 
 Hon. George H. Rogers, Speaker of the Assembly. 
 
 Hon. O. P. Fitzgerald, D.D., State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
 
 Hon. Charles F. Reed, President of the State Agricultural Society. 
 
 A. S. Hallidie, Esq., President of the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco. 
 
 APPOINTED REGENTS. 
 
 John T. Doyle, Esq., Hon. Lawrence Archer, 
 
 Hon. Richard P. Hammond, Hon. William Watt, 
 
 Hon. John W. Dwinelle, Hon. Samuel B. McKee, 
 
 Rev. Horatio Stebbins, p.D., Hon. Samuel Merritt, M.D. 
 
 HONORARY REGENTS.» 
 
 • 
 
 Hon. Edward Tompkins, A. J. Bowie, M.D., 
 
 J. Mora Moss, Esq., William C. Ralston, Esq., 
 
 S. F. Butterworth, Esq., Hon. John B. Felton, 
 
 Hon. John S. Hager, Louis Sachs, Esq. ' 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 
 His Excellency H. H. Haight, President. 
 Andrew J. Moulder, Esq., Secretary. 
 William C. Ralston, Esq., Treasurer. 
 
 The University went into operation September 23d, 1869, with Professors 
 John and Joseph LeConte, Fisher, Swinton, Carr, Kellogg, Welcker, Pioda, Santi, 
 and Ogilby, as the faculty. Professor John LeConte was appointed Acting- 
 President by the Regents, and he continued in this position till the close of the 
 scholastic year ending with July, 1870. The second year of the University beo-an 
 September 23d, 1870. In the intervening vacation, the Board of Regents had 
 elected to the presidency. Professor Henry Durant. The Register gives the 
 following names, as composing the Faculty and Officers of the University : 
 
 Henry Durant, A.M., President, and Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy. 
 Stephen J. Field, LL.D., Non-resident Professor of Law. 
 
 John LeConte, M.D., Professor of Physics, Industrial Mechanics, and Physioloo-y. 
 Joseph LeConte, M.D., Professor of Geology, Natural History, and Botany. 
 Martin Kellogg, A.M., Professor of Ancient Languages. 
 General W. T. Welcker, Professor of Mathematics. 
 Paul Pioda, Professor of Modern Languages. 
 
 Ezra S. Carr, M.D., Professor of Agriculture, Chemistry, Agricultural and 
 Applied Chemistry, and Horticulture. 
 
 *The term "Honorary," applied to these Regents, indicates only the mode of their election, which is 
 made by the E.x-officio and Appointed Regents. Every Regent, however appointed, is a voting, legislative, 
 and executive member of the Board. 
 
36 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 William Swinton, A.M., Professor of the English Language and Literature, 
 Rhetoric, Logic, and History. 
 
 Thomas Bennett, M.D., Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine. 
 
 James Blake, M.D., Professor of Midwifery. 
 
 J. C. Shorb, M.D., Professor of Chnical Medicine. 
 
 J. D. B. Stillmax, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica. 
 
 C. F. Buckley, M.D., Professor of Anatomy. 
 
 George Davidson, A.M., (Assistant U. S. Coast Survey), Non-resident Profes- 
 sor of Astronomy and Geodesy. 
 
 Colonel Frank Soule, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. 
 
 Robert E. Ogilby, Instructor in Drawing. 
 
 George Tait, A.M., Assistant Professor of Ancient Languages. 
 
 Professor William Swinton, Librarian. 
 
 It is believed that the history of education in the United States presents a no 
 more signal success, in the founding of a high institution of learning, than that 
 which has attended the University of Califoraia. Opening with about forty 
 students at the beginning of the first year, it has now on its catalogue the names 
 of seven hundred and ninety members of the several Colleges and of the Prepara- 
 tory Department. 
 
 The University consists of five distinct and independent Colleges, viz. : four 
 Colleges of Arts, and one College of Letters, as follows : 
 
 1. A State College of Agriculture, T 
 
 2. A State College of Mechanic Arts, I ^^^^ ^^ ^^,^^^ 
 
 3. A State College of Mines, | ^ •' 
 
 4. A State College of Civil Engineering. J 
 
 5. A State College of Letters. 
 
 The full course of instruction in each College embraces all appropriate studies, 
 and continues for at least four years. Each College confers a proper degree, at 
 the end of the course, upon such students as are found, upon examination, to be 
 proficient therein. 
 
 Partial courses are organized in each of the Colleges for students "who may 
 not desire to pursue a full course therein." 
 
 Besides the students jjursuing the regular courses, any resident of California, 
 of approved moral character, has the right to enter himself in the University as a 
 student at large, and receive tuition in any branch or branches bf instruction, at 
 the time when the same are given in the regular course, provided his preparatory 
 studies have been such as to qualify him to pursue the selected branches ; and 
 provided, further, he selects a sufficient number of branches — the number being 
 designated by the Faculty. 
 
 Measures have been taken to carry out the provisions of the Act creating the 
 University, in respect to military instruction and discipline. Acting under direc- 
 tions from the Board of Regents, Professor Welcker and Assistant Professor 
 Soule', graduates of the West Point Academy, have organized the battahon of the 
 University Cadets. All able-bodied male students of the University are required 
 to attend the military exercises. The utility of such instruction and discipline is 
 generally conceded. 
 
 The University already possesses excellent apparatus, recently procured from 
 Europe, and valued at over 1:30,000, for the use of the Physical, Chemical, and 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. yj 
 
 o.her Scientific Departments. There is also a Cabinet, rich in specimens collected 
 from various parts of the State, and the Legislature has specially provided that the 
 ample collections of the State Geological Survey shall be devoted to the uses of 
 the University. 
 
 By an Act of the Legislature, passed at its last session, five Scholarships were 
 established, each of the value of three hundred dollars a year, for four years, to be 
 competed for by candidates for the Fourth Class. It is expected and hoped that 
 the number of scholarships will be increased by private liberality. 
 
 From the foregoing statements which we compile from the "Register," it 
 will be seen that the University of California, in the second year of its existence, 
 already offers ample facilities for a thorough education. It has a large and com- 
 petent faculty of instruction, and costly and complete apparatus. It opens its 
 doors, without charge, to all of both sexes who are qualified to profit by its 
 advantages. The enlightened founders of the University of California laid its 
 basis upon live and modern ideas of education. It is wholly free from ancient 
 scholastic precedents and routine. It recognizes the equal dignity and worth of all 
 knowledges and arts, and hospitably affords opportunities to students desirous of 
 pursuing any specialty. Those who are enrolled as "students at large" can select 
 their own studies, and attend the exercises of a'ny of the classes. There are still 
 shorter courses for those who can stay but a single term, or attend but a single 
 course of lectures. If any one wishes to study some practical branch of learning 
 — for example, metallurgy or agricultural chemistry — he will find here every 
 facility for its prosecution. In fine, it is a Univejsity in the full scope and mean- 
 ing of the term. 
 
 The University, while awaiting the erection of college edifices upon its exten- 
 sive and beautiful domain at Berkeley, (near Oakland), is occupying the old College 
 of California building, in this city, where it is probable the institution will remain 
 for a considerable time to come. The striking exhibit elsewhere made of the 
 healthfulness of Oakland, shows that in this respect it could not have been more 
 fortunately located. 
 
 PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 Our sketch of the University would be far from complete, did we fail to notice 
 the recently created training-school, or " Preparatory Department." 
 
 The necessity of some training-school which should serve as a link between 
 the public-school system and the University, was felt soon after the latter v;ent 
 into operation. It was at first sought to supply this link by the organization of a 
 Fifth Class. This was begun at the beginning of the last scholastic year, in 
 September, 1870. The experiment was a complete success — very large numbers of 
 pupils of both sexes having joined the "Fifth Class." Indeed, so unexpected was 
 the increase of the class, that it was found necessary to purchase the Brayton 
 school property, in order to afford accommodations for the students presenting 
 themselves. In January, 1871, this class, while still retaining its distinctive name, 
 was greatly enlarged in its scope by dividing it into various grades : thus establish- 
 ing a real training-school or preparatory department. This department of the 
 institution was put under the direction of Mr. George Tait, aided by an adequate 
 corps of excellent teachers. We believe the department now numbers (day-schol- 
 ars and boarders) upward of two hundred. It shows all the signs of enlarging and 
 lasting: usefulness. 
 
38 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Pacific Theological Seminary. — The seminary is under tlie auspices of 
 the Congregational Church. It has recently purchased the property of the Female 
 College of the Pacific, on Academy Hill, and the regular exercises were commenced 
 in June, 1871. Revs. George Mooar, D.D., and J. A. Benton, D.D., are Profess- 
 ors. There is a primary department, termed the Golden Gate Academy, and the 
 number of students in both is about twenty-five. 
 
 Mills Seminary. — Located near Fruit Vale, about four miles from Oakland. 
 The Mills Seminary enjoys a quiet seclusion, and is yet in almost hourly commu- 
 nication with the metropolis. Rev. C. T. Mills is Principal, and Rev. Eli Corwin 
 is his associate. There are two hundred young lady-students, and in all its depart- 
 ments the seminary is complete, and to it is conceded the position of the leading 
 institution for the education of girls on the Pacific coast, and is by many deemed 
 superior to any institution in the Eastern States. 
 
 Oakland Seminary and Female College of the Pacific. — This in- 
 stitution has been formed by the consohdation of the Female College of the Pacific, 
 and Mrs. Blake's Oakland Seminary; and the seminary buildings, in Oakland, 
 on Washington Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, are occupied. The 
 Rev. E. B. Walsworth is Principal, and he has called to his assistance an efficient 
 corps of teachers. There are one hundred scholars. 
 
 Oakland Military Academy. — This military institution, opened January 
 gth, 1865, is the first of the kind that has been established on this coast. Rev. D. 
 McClure is the proprietor and Principal. The academic staff is composed of nine 
 experienced teachers. The buildings are situated on a rise of ground, known as 
 Academy Hill, about a mile from the Broadway Station, and may be reached by 
 the Telegraph Avenue cars. In the academic department, well-defined and exten- 
 sive courses of study are pursued in the English branches, ancient and modern 
 lano-uages, natural science, mathematics, and commercial knowledge, such as will 
 prepare students for college or business. The institution is also organized as a 
 military post, and it is obligatory upon every student to attend the daily military 
 drill, and perform the duties of a cadet, which do not interfere with hours of Study. 
 
 Linden Lane Boarding School. — This school is located on Linden Lane, 
 near Telegraph Avenue, about two miles from Broadway Station. The number of 
 scholars is limited to sixteen, and the course of study is designed to fit boys to 
 enter the university or any college. D. C. Stone, A.M., is proprietor and Princi- 
 pal of the school. 
 
 Convent of our Lady of the Sacred Heart.— This is a girls' day and 
 boarding-school, and is located on Webster Street, at the head of Lake Merritt. 
 It was dedicated in the summer of 1868. The classes are taught by "Sisters of 
 the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary," who came from Canada. The school con- 
 tains sixty-one boarding-scholars and fifty-two day-scholars, and is in charge of St. 
 Mary's Catholic Church, having been built through the efforts of Rev. Father 
 King. 
 
 Madame Boullet's School. — Among the private schools of Oakland is a 
 modest little establishment, at the corner of Franklin and Fifth Streets, which has 
 been conducted for many yc.irs by Madame and Mademoiselle BouUet — Parisian 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 39 
 
 ladies. The boarders are limited to ten or twelve little girls, and the number of 
 day-scholars is also limited. Notwithstanding the unpretending character of the 
 school, it has long been justly celebrated for the i^arental care exercised over the 
 pupils, and the remarkable proficiency they acquire in the French language. 
 
 St. Joseph's Academy. — This school is for boys, and is conducted by the 
 Christian Brothers. It is located at the corner of Jackson and Fifth Streets. 
 Brother Gustavus is Principal, and the assistants are Brothers Alexander, Baptiste, 
 and Thomas. It was opened July 5th, 1870, with forty -five pupils, and at the 
 close of the December term, 1870, had eighty-five scholars in attendance. ' 
 
 J. C. Hyde's Day and Boarding-School. — This school is located on the 
 corner of Harrison and Sixth Streets, and has an attendance of about twenty schol- 
 ars, all boys. ' 
 
 The Sisters' School. — This school is located on Eighth Street, between 
 Grove and Jefferson, and is taught by Sisters Mary Augustine and Mary Pres- 
 celle, and has an attendance of about seventy-five day-scholars, all of them girls. 
 
 Mrs. Brown's and Miss Daniels' DAY-ScfiooL. — This school is located 
 on Eleventh Street, between Alice and Harrison Streets. 
 
 French and English School. — Madame D'Hierry's French and English 
 day-school is on Seventh Street, between Grove and Castro. 
 
 Alameda Academy. — This institution was opened January 2d, 1871. Prof. 
 J. T. Doyen is Principal. 
 
 Miss Barnes' School. — Miss Mary Barnes has a private day-school, on the 
 corner of Sixth and Clay Streets, with an attendance of fifty pupils. 
 
 Mrs. Fogg's School. — Mrs. George H. Fogg's day-school, corner of Frank- 
 lin and Second Streets, has an attendance of twelve scholars. 
 
 Brooklyn Private School. — Mrs. True has a flourishing private school in 
 Brooklyn, with an attendance of twenty-six girls and six boys. 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 There are 5,436 children in Alameda County between the ages of five and fif- 
 teen years, 3,269 of whom are enrolled as attendants at the public schools. There 
 are 1,268 pupils in the public scliools of Oakland. There are in the county, out- 
 side of Oakland, 66 schools, giving employment to 51 teachers. In Oakland, 
 there are six public school buildings, giving employment to 31 regular and four 
 special teachers. The total value of public school property in the city is $129,000. 
 The schools now open are as follows : 
 
 High School. — Corner of Market and West Twelfth Streets. Cost of prem- 
 ises, $37,376 22. Principal, J. B. McChesney. Number of teachers, 3; number 
 of scholars, 65. 
 
 Lafayette Grammar School. — Location in High School building. Prin- 
 cipal, J. B. McChesney. Number of teaclrers, 8; number of scholars, 321. 
 
 Prescott Grammar School. — Second Street (West Oakland). Cost of 
 building, $10,000. Principal, A. W. Brodt. Number of teachers, 3; number of 
 scholars, 55. 
 
40 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 Lafayette Primary. — Corner of Twelfth and Jefferson Streets. Cost of 
 building, $17,000. Principal, Mrs. M. W. Phelps. Number of teachers, 8 ; num- 
 ber of scholars, 340. 
 
 Primary No. 2. — Corner of Alice and Sixth Streets. Cost of building, 
 $1,200. Principal, Miss F. Brigham. Number of teachers, 3; number of schol- 
 ars, 125. 
 
 Primary No. 3. — Corner of Grove and Fourth Streets. Cost of building, 
 ,$1,200. Principal, Miss Aldrich. Number of teachers, 4; number of scholars, 
 201. 
 
 In addition to these, there is an evening school, taught by F. M. Campbell, 
 City Superintendent of Public Schools, a French and a German class, which would 
 swell the number of pupils to 1,409, and the number of teachers to 35. 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 First Congregational. — Broadway, east side, between Tenth and Eleventh 
 Streets. Organized December 9th, i860. Temporary Pastor — George Mooar, 
 D.D. Deacons — T. B. Bigelow, E. P. Fhnt, R. E. Cole, and T. L. Walker. 
 Trustees — R. E. Cole, E. P. Flint, E. P. Sanford, Israel W. Knox, Wm. K. Row- 
 ell, and H. A. Palmer. 
 
 Second Congregational. — Oakland Point. Organized May 31st, 1868. 
 Pastor — Rev. S. D. Gray. Trustees — Jas. A. Folger, H. G. McLean, H. C. Em- 
 mons, E. E. Walcott, and L. P. Collins. 
 
 First Presbyterian. — South-east corner of Broadway and Thirteenth Streets. 
 Organized in 1852. Pastor — D. W. Poor, D.D. Elders — Samuel Percy, Elijah 
 Bigelow, J. J. Gardiner, Wm. C. Dodge, and G. W. Amies. Trustees — E. C. 
 Sessions, Wm. C. Dodge, Wm. H. Miller, J. J. Gardiner, Elijah Bigelow, J. M. 
 Selfridge, and J. Shanklin. 
 
 Independent Presbyterian. — South-east corner of Jefferson and Twelfth 
 Streets. Organized February 28th, 1869. Pastor — Rev. L. Hamilton. Trustees 
 — George C. Potter (Chairman), Henry Durant, David McClure, Charles Webb 
 Howard, J. P. Moore, John R. Glascock, J. S. Emery, N. W. Spaulding, and Hi- 
 ram Tubbs. Elders — Henry Durant and David McClure. Treasurer — William 
 B. Hardy. 
 
 Mission Congregational. — Second Street, between Broadway and Wash- 
 ington. Organized in the summer of 1868, under the control of the First Congre- 
 gational Church. 
 
 First Baptist. — Corner of Brush and Fourteenth Streets. Organized in 1854. 
 No permanent Pastor, at present. Deacons — William Watts and G. W. Dam. 
 Trustees — A. L. Warner, G. W. Dam, J. F. Havens, William Watts, and A. W. 
 Brodt. Church Clerk, A. W. Brodt; Treasurer, B. F. Pendleton. 
 
 St. John's Episcopal. — Corner of Grove and Seventh Streets. Organized 
 June, 1852. Rector — Rev. Benjamin Akerly. Vestrymen — Rev. Benjamin Aker- 
 ly (President), Gen. R. W. Kirkham (Senior Warden), Samuel Brockhurst (Junior 
 Warden), Charles D. Haven (Secretary and Treasurer), James De Fremery, J. N. 
 Olney, and R. H. Bennett. 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 41 
 
 St. Paul's Episcopal. — South-west corner of Webster and Twelfth Streets. 
 Organized 1871. Rector — Rev. C. W. Turner. Vestrymen — John A. Stanley, 
 A. I. Gladding, W. C. Parker, T. J. Hyde, Watson Webb, J. B. Harmon, R. C. 
 Alden, Dr. Babcock. Senior Warden — A. I. Gladding. Junior Warden — Wat- 
 son Webb. 
 
 St. Mary's Roman Catholic. — Seventh Street, between Grove and Jeffer- 
 son. Pastor — Rev. Michael King. Assistants — Fathers Byrne and Starra. 
 
 Methodist Episcopal. — South-west corner of Washington and Ninth Streets. 
 Pastor — Rev. T. S. Dunn. Trustees — M. T. Holcomb, J. Stratton, J. W. Carrick, 
 James C. Stratton, and C. H. Bradley. 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN VIEW CEMETERY. 
 
 Several years ago, leading citizens of Oakland, Brooklyn, and Alameda Town- 
 ships, secured a suitable location as a burial place for the dead. It comprises 
 about two hundred acres of undulating ground at the foot-hills, about two miles 
 eastwardly from Oakland. The Mountain View Cemetery Association was organ- 
 ized, and, under the operation of the State law, the ground has been dedicated 
 forever to the sacred purposes for which it was obtained. Mr. Fred. Law 01m- 
 stead, who laid out Central Park, in New York City, was employed to survey the 
 ground and lay out a plan for the cemetery. The plan presented by him was 
 adopted. Improvements of a high order have already been made ; and the officers 
 of the Association comprise gentlemen whose reputation affords a guarantee that 
 its affairs will be attended to with a view of making the cemetery all that could be 
 desired. 
 
 INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB, AND BLIND. 
 
 The State Asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb, and the blind, is 
 located about four miles north of Oakland, on grounds adjoining those of the Uni- 
 versity. It is one of the most beneficent of our State institutions, and is exceed- 
 ingly interesting to visitors who care to see how novel and ingenibus modes of 
 instruction, and patient endeavors, are made to overcome the greatest obstacles to 
 mental development. The building, a massive stone edifice, is considered by many 
 to be the finest piece of architecture in the State, and is supplied witli all modern 
 improvements for the comfort and convenience of its inmates, and with all the pe- 
 culiar apparatus necessary for their instruction. The total cost of buildings, 
 grounds, etc., has been about $200,000 — an expenditure which indicates the lib- 
 erality and thoughtfulness of our people. 
 
 The present number of pupils is eighty -five. Fifty -nine are deaf and dumb, 
 and twenty -six are blind. The course of study embraces most of the branches 
 usually taught in our higher academies. Facilities are also afforded for the learning 
 of trades. The benefits of the institution, including board, tuition, and medical at- 
 tendance, are free to all deaf and dumb or blind persons, between the ages of six 
 and twenty-one years, who may be residents of the State. 
 
 The Board of Directors consists of J. Mora Moss, President ; Chas, J. Bren- 
 ham, Col. John C. Hayes, I. E. Nicholson, M.D., and Col. Harry Linden. The 
 
42 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 corps of instructors in the deaf-mute department comprises Amasa Pratt, H. B. 
 Crandall, and Henry Frank. In the blind department, C. T. Wilkinson and M. 
 B. Clark. The Principal is Warring Wilkinson, to whom all letters of inquiry, 
 etc., should be addressed. 
 
 SOCSETEES AND ASSOCIAIBOfyS. 
 
 MASONIC. 
 
 Live-Oak Lodge No. 6i, F. and A. M. — Instituted May 4th, 1855. Officers — 
 T. P. Wales, W. M. ; Wm. H. Irwin, S. W. ; Henry F. Evers, J. W. ; A. J. Ba- 
 ber, S. D. ; George E. Carleton, J. D.; Rev. Benjamin Akerly, Chaplain; J. E. 
 Whitcher, Treasurer; James Lentell, Secretary; F. Chappellet and Franklin War- 
 ner, Stewards ; S. Hirshberg, Tyler. 
 
 Oakland Lodge No. 188, F. and A. M. — Instituted November 4th, 1868. 
 Officers— E. H. Pardee, W. M. ; W. J. Gurnett; S. W. ; W. S. Snook, J. W. ; T. 
 W. Bailey, Secretary ; Myron T. Dusenbury, Treasurer. 
 
 Oakland Chapter No. 26, R. A. M. — Instituted May 5th, i860. Officers — 
 Benjamin Akerly, H. P. ; George M. Blake, K. ; T. P. Wales, S. ; J. M. Miner, 
 C. H.; S. Nolan, P. S. ; Henry F. Evers, R. A. C. ; Wm. H. Irwin, M. 3d V.; 
 Ernst Janssen, M. 2d V.; Wm. D. Harwood, M. ist V.; J. E. Whitcher, Treas- 
 urer; S. Hirshberg, Secretary; H. E. Hitchcock, Guardian. 
 
 Alameda Chapter No. 36, R. A. M. — Instituted November nth, 1868. 
 Officers— N. W. Spaulding, H. P. ; Walter Van Dyke, K. ; E. H. Pardee, S. ; C. 
 C. Knowles, C. H. ; W. J. Gurnett, P. S. 
 
 INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS. 
 
 Oakland Lodge No. 118. — Instituted July 3d, 1865. Officers — S. P. Knight, 
 N. G. ; R. Dalziel, V. G. ; John Demott, R. S. ; A. B. Brower, P. S. ; Chas. Bar- 
 low, T. ; Wm. L. McKay, Peter Baker, and S. K. Hassinger, Trustees. 
 
 University Lodge No. 144. — Instituted June 20th, 1868. Officers — M. S. 
 Hurd, N. G. ; T. A. Bell, V. G. ; C. J. Robinson, R. S. ; George E. Farwell, P. S.; 
 J. V. B. Goodrich, T. 
 
 Alameda Degree Lodge No. 5. — Instituted February 13th, 1869. Offi- 
 cers— W. J. Gurnett, N. G.; J. Barnett, V. G. ; S. H. Goddard, Secretary; Geo. 
 H. Fogg, Treasurer. 
 
 Golden Rule Encampment No. 34. — Officers — J. Ingols, C. P.; S. K. 
 Hassinger, H. P.; R. Dalziel, S. W. ; B. Van Vrankin, J. W. ; C. H. Townsend, 
 Secretary; A. B. Brower, Treasurer; J. E. Marchand, J. Lufkin, and B. C. 
 Austin, Trustees. 
 
 Odd Fellows' Hall Association. — Incorporated June, 1869. Location 
 of building, north-west corner of Franklin and Eleventh Streets. Capital stock, 
 $16,000. Directors— J. E. Marchand, President; T. J. Murphy, Vice-President; 
 W. J. Gurnett, Secretary; J. L. Browne, Treasurer; W. L. McKay, Peter Baker, 
 and O. H. Burnham. 
 
 Odd Fellows' Library Association. — Organized August 12th, 1867. 
 Number of volumes, 2,500, free to members of contributing Lodges, of wliich 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 43 
 
 there are two — Oakland Lodge No. 118, and University Lodge No. 144. Trus- 
 tees — From Oakland Lodge, S. K. Hassinger and W. Clayton; from University 
 Lodge, F. L. Taylor, C. J. Robinson, and B. C. Austin. Officers— C. J. Robin- 
 son, President; S. K. Hassinger, Vice-President; B. C. Austin, Recording Sec- 
 retary; F. L. Taylor, Corresponding Secretary; W. Clayton, Treasurer; A. B. 
 Brower, Librarian. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Alameda Stamm No. 113, L O. R. M. — Organized 1867. Officers — W. 
 Jordan, O. Ch. ; Henry Kornahrens, U. Ch.; P. Ferman, R. S.; A. Koop, Treas- 
 urer; A. Eisenbach, F. Secretary. 
 
 Cherokee Tribe No. 127, Improved Order of Red Men. — Organized 
 1869. Officers— H. Nagle, S. ; A. T. Potter, S. S. ; Wm. Ballantyne, G. S. ; W. 
 T. Myles, K. of V. ; J. C. Plunket, C. of R. 
 
 Athens Lodge, L O. G. T.— Organized 1867. Officers— G. M. Blake, W. 
 C. T.; S. Campbell, P. W. C. T. ; Miss Irwin, W. V. T.; T. Bell, W. S.; A. B. 
 Brower, W. F. S. 
 
 Turn Verein. — Organized 1866. Officers — D.Vogt, President; Wm. Hum- 
 meltenberg, Vice-President; Henry Sohst, First Secretary; George Bundat, 
 Second Secretary; H. Heyer, Treasurer; Wm. Koch, Librarian; G. Kraft, First 
 Leader; J. Nitman, Second Leader. 
 
 Oakland Benevolent Societv. — Organized 1869. Officers — Dr. R. E. 
 Cole, President; F. S. Page, Secretary; Dr. B. F. Pendleton, Treasurer; I. W. 
 Knox, Rev. J. E. Benton, and G. W. Armes, Trustees. 
 
 Knights of Pythias. — Organized 1870. Officers — R. Swarbrick, V. P.; 
 Charles A. Perkins, W. C. ; D. B. Bankhead, V. C. ; Wm. Parish, G. ; Samuel 
 Bailey, R. S. ; Charles Parry, F. S. ; F. W. Butler, B. ; Wm. Myles, I. G. ; E. G. 
 Jones, O. G. 
 
 Oakland Hebrew Benevolent Society. — Organized 1862. Officers — 
 Jacob Letter, President; Henry Ash, Vice-President; S. Beal, Treasurer; S. 
 Hirshberg, Secretary; N. Rosenberg, J. Alexander, L. Greenbaum, Trustees. 
 
 St. Joseph's Benevolent Society. — Organized 1867. Officers — John 
 Kearney, President; P. R. Sheehan, Vice-President; John Carry, Secretary; 
 Patrick Scully, Treasurer; Thomas Dagnan, Clerk; Dr. S. Belden, Physician. 
 
 Ancient Sons of Hibernia. — Organized July 7th, 1870. Officers — James 
 McGuire, President; J. O'Connell, Vice-President; S. D. Cronin, Corresponding 
 Secretary; John Teague, Financial Secretary; E. Fitzgerald, Treasurer. The 
 Society numbers one hundred members. 
 
 ALAMEDA COUNTY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Organized October 25, 1869. Incorporated January 9, 1871. List of members 
 — Clinton Cushing, M.D., President; E. Trenor, M.D., Vice-President; N. E. 
 Sherman, M.D., Treasurer; John C. Van Wyck, M.D., Librarian; H. P. Bab- 
 cock, M.D., Secretary; T. H. Pinkerton, M.D., Stillman Holmes, M.D., Joseph 
 Leconte, M.D., John Leconte, M.D., Ezra S. Carr, M.D., R. Beverly Cole, M.D., 
 Thomas C. Hanson, M.D., Wm. Bamford, M.D., Wm. Bolton, M.D., John Van 
 Zandt, M.D., W. R. Fox, M.D., C. S. Coleman, M.D. 
 
44 OAKLAND AND VICINITY, 
 
 MILITARY COMPANIES. 
 
 Oakland Guard. — Org'anized in 1861. Officers — Alfred W. Burrell, Cap- 
 tain; John C. Orr, First Lieutenant; E. R. Turner, Second Lieutenant; H. Ma- 
 loon, Orderly Sergeant. 
 
 Live -Oak Zouaves. — Organized in 1870. Officers — E. J. Kelley, Captain; 
 Thomas Treanor, First Lieutenant; John F. Teague, Second Lieutenant; James 
 Marchand, Orderly Sergeant. 
 
 Oakland Grenadiers. — Organized in 1S70. Officers — J. Callaghan, Cap- 
 tain; A. Herrin, First Lieutenant; S. Cronin, Second Lieutenant. 
 
 OAKLAND BANK OF SAVINGS. 
 
 Organized August 27, 1867. Capital stock, $150,000. Capital increased March 
 30, 1869, to $300,000; increased May 9, 1871, to $1,000,000. 
 
 Officers — P. S. Wilcox, President; J. L. Browne, Cashier. 
 
 Board of Directors — P. S. Wilcox, E. M. Hall, Samuel Merritt, T. B. 
 Bigelovv, Walter Blair. 
 
 The following is from the report of July i, 1871 : 
 
 Stock and reserve fund $141,974 21 
 
 Due Depositors 246,098 01 
 
 Due Dividend No. 8 22,414 25 
 
 . $4io,48»> 47 
 
 Loans and bonds $340,645 48 
 
 Office Furniture 2,470 78 
 
 Stamps and currency 696 00 
 
 Cash in vault, San Francisco, and New York 66,674 2X 
 
 $410,486 47 
 
 UNION SAVINGS BANK. 
 
 Incorporated July i, 1869, with a capital stock of $300,000, which was increased 
 July I, 1870, to $500,000. 
 
 Officers — A. C. Henry, President; J. West Martin, Vice-President; H. A. 
 Palmer, Cashier and Secretary. 
 
 Board of Directors — A. C. Henry, J. West Martin, John C. Hays, E. 
 Bigelow, E. A. Haines, Samuel Woods, Chas. Webb Howard, Hiram "Tubbs, H. 
 H. Haight, C. T. H. Palmer, S. HulT, W. W. Crane, Jr., R. W. Kirkham, R. S. 
 Farrelly, A. W. Bowman, J. Mora Moss. 
 
 The following is extracted from the report of this bank, October i, 1871 : 
 
 Capital stock paid in $450,000 00 
 
 Deposits 271,484 43 
 
 Profit and loss 10,681 90 
 
 $732,166 33 
 
 Loans, bonds, etc $621,090 07 
 
 Cash on hand 76,279 i r 
 
 Sundries, including expense account, banking house, 
 
 vaults, etc 34>797 15 
 
 ■: $732,166 33 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 45 
 
 NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 There are tliree newspapers published in Oakland, as follows : 
 
 The Oakland Daily Transcript — Issued every morning (Sundays except- 
 ed). John Scott, proprietor. 
 
 The Oakland Daily News — Issued every morning (Sundays excepted). 
 William Gagan, proprietor. 
 
 The Evening Termini — Issued every evening (Sundays excepted). By the 
 Termini Company. 
 
 BROOKLYN. 
 
 Brooklyn is situated eastwardly from Oakland, and is bounded on two sides by 
 the Estuary of San Antonio, as will be seen on the map. Its site is higher than 
 that of Oakland, and is gently undulating. The bridge across the Estuary, con- 
 necting the two places, is eighty feet wide. The town government is organized as 
 follows : 
 
 Town Officers — H. A. Mayhew, President; A. Cannon, H. Tubbs, Charles 
 Newton, H. Tum Suden, Trustees; J. F. Steen, Clerk and Treasurer; E. E. 
 Webster, Assessor; O. Whipple, Marshal. School Trustees — A. W. Swett, C. 
 C. Knowles, F. Buell. 
 
 The main street (Washington) has been graded and macadamized from the 
 Twelfth-street bridge to Park Avenue. Many buildings have been erected during 
 the past year. A large first-class hotel, with accommodations for three hundred 
 persons, is almost completed, and many of the rooms are already engaged. The 
 Contra Costa Water Company have laid their mains from Oakland, for the purpose 
 of supplying the town with water, and hydrants for the use of the Fire Department 
 have been placed at various points. The mains of the Oakland Gas Light Com- 
 pany have alsa been carried into the town. 
 
 The School Department is well organized and conducted. 
 
 The town has four churches — viz : one Presbyterian, Rev. Oliver Hemstreet ; 
 one Baptist, Rev. T. C. Jam.eson ; St. Anthony's Catholic Church, under the 
 supervision of Rev. Father King ; and the Episcopal Church, Rev. Mr. Wilbur, 
 Rector. 
 
 , The absence of oaks in Brooklyn, which add so much to the charms of Oak- 
 land, is compensated, in a measure, by the picturesque scenery on every side. Its 
 water front on the Estuary of San Antonio, with the rail tracks along the bank, 
 gives it great prospective importance as a location for manufactures, and already 
 there are several manufacturing estabhshments in successful operation. 
 
 At several places near the Estuary, overflowing artesian wells have been 
 obtained by sinking one hundred and fifty feet. 
 
 ALAMEDA, AND THE WEBSTER -STREET BRIDGE. 
 
 The beautifully situated and rapidly growing town of Alameda, distant about 
 two miles from Oakland, has been brought into direct communication with this city 
 by the erection of a draw -bridge, spanning San Antonio Creek, from the foot of 
 Webster Street. From the bridge, a macadamised road has been constructed over 
 
46 OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 the marsh land, which is nearly a mile in breadth. The progress of tne town can 
 not fail to be much accelerated by the completion of this important thoroughfare ; 
 and the advantages to be derived therefrom by the people of both places can not 
 be too highly estimated. 
 
 The peninsula upon which the town is located, is about three and a half miles 
 long by one mile wide, comprising an area of about 2,200 acres of remarkably fer- 
 tile soil, ornamented by a profusion of oaks. An abundance of excellent water is 
 obtainable within a few feet of the surface. 
 
 Nature has made the Encinal a charming resort for people of rural tastes ; and 
 during the summer months its groves and parks are visited by thousands from San 
 Francisco and neighboring places. The township contains about five hundred 
 families, most of whom own the property upon which they reside. In Alameda, 
 there are many delightful residences, including that of his Excellency, the Gov- 
 ernor of California. 
 
 THE LOCAL RASLROAD AND FERRY. 
 
 The location of the road and wharf is shown on our map of Oakland, and a 
 description of the wharf and slip may be found in the article quoted from the Alta 
 (page 9). There is a large depot on the southerly side of the slip, for the exclusive 
 accommodation of the local passenger trains, and the facilities for the movement 
 of passengers are excellent. The local track is of heavy "fish-joint" iron, and 
 runs up the wharf between the through-track and the carriage-way, with a safety- 
 rail on each side where, otherwise, there would be a possibility of accident. 
 
 A STEAM FIRE-ENGINE. 
 
 As a guard against fire, an elegant locomotive — the "White Eagle" — with a 
 steam-pump attachment, a tank-car, and coils of hose, is kept constantly in readi- 
 ness, to fly to this point or that, with lightning speed. 
 
 THE FERRY SLIP 
 
 At San Francisco, is near the foot of Pacific street, but the improvements about 
 it are inferior. Provision has been made for the safety of passengers, but the 
 arrangements for their comfort are not suggestive of the civilization of 1S71. We 
 may assume the reason to be that the railroad company does not regard the loca- 
 tion as a permanent one. Public considerations suggest that the Board of State 
 Harbor Commissioners should assign to the company a place near the foot of 
 Market Street, with guarantees of permanency which would justify the construc- 
 tion of creditable improvements for the accommodation, not only of local travelers, 
 but of the thousands who visit us from abroad. We say the foot of Market Street, 
 because the system of streets in San Francisco admits of no other proper locatiqn. 
 From that point, and that alone, the street railroads could be made to radiate to 
 every part of San Francisco, and equalize both convenience to travelers, and the 
 benefits resulting to property. 
 
 RAILROAD AVENUE. 
 
 Returning to Oakland, we must admit that Railroad Avenue, through which 
 the local road runs, is one of the least attractive streets in our city. Nature has 
 done her part, but the railroad company and the property holders have not done 
 theirs. There are six stations between the Bay and the Estuary, with miserable 
 sheds at five, and not a respectable platform at one The street is not macadam- 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 47 
 
 ized ; only a few patches of sidewalk are made ; and travelers from San Francisco, 
 or elsewhere, are not favorably impressed with that portion of our c\\.y. Arrange- 
 ments are in progress, however, to remedy these defects. The city, the railroad 
 company, and the property owners on the avenue, are cooperating in the matter, 
 and the sand}', unattractive, and tiresome street will soon be transformed into a 
 beautiful boulevard. 
 
 THE BOAT AND CAR ACCOMMODATIONS 
 
 Are not surpassed on any similar line of travel. The steamer El Capitan, which 
 performs the ferry service, is about one thousand tons burden, and is a stanch, 
 powerful, and elegantly constructed boat. Moreover, the attention and forethought 
 which insure punctuality and safety, are not wanting. The local Superintendent is 
 accomphshed in his profession, and unremitting in his watchfulness. The foll(fvv- 
 ing statistics of travel and casualties, attest his efficiency, and demonstrate 
 
 THE SAFETY OF TRAVELING. 
 
 During the year 1870, the cars and boat made twelve trips per day, each way. 
 The average number of passengers to each trip was one hundred and eighty, mak- 
 ing four thousand three hundred and twenty passengers per day, or over one mill- 
 ion and a half for the year — more than ten times the population of San Francisco. 
 In this vast movement of passengers, not one fatal accident occurred. Only two 
 persons were injured, and the Company was not accused of responsibility in either 
 case. The Company has recently attached the "atmospheric brake" to its local 
 trains, by means of which the engineer can stop his train almost instantly. 
 
 THE INCREASE OF TRAVEL 
 
 Is perceptible from month to month, and it is understood that the Company will 
 soon multiply the trips. Indeed, it is quite evident that the time is not distant 
 when crossings will be made every ten minutes ; and persons seeking homesteads 
 can safely depend upon realizing this prediction. 
 
 THE ESTUARY ROUTE, 
 
 Or "Creek Route," as it is commonly called, is used by boats and vessels carry- 
 ing passengers and freight to and from Oakland, and Brooklyn. At present, three 
 steamers, and a number of sailing craft, are plying on this route, which is open to 
 competition. The importance of the estuary is alluded to elsewhere. Its improve- 
 ment is a question of not much time; and those who rely upon seeing first-class 
 passenger boats navigating its waters at an early day, will not be disappointed, 
 
 A RECREATIVE TRIP. • 
 
 Thousands of people in San Francisco have never visited this side of the Bay, 
 and are in unblissful ignorance of the attractions which it offers, and of the recrea- 
 tive and invigorating nature of the trips to and from Oakland. The street -car 
 trips, from the business portion of San Francisco to or from any point in that city 
 where residence property costs even double that of residence property in Oakland, 
 consume more time than the trips between San Francisco and Oakland ; and the 
 monotony and discomfort of street-car travel make the former appear twice as long 
 as the latter. 
 
 FARES. 
 
 The fares between Oakland and San Francisco are as follows : Monthly com- 
 mutation tickets, $3 ; transient passengers, fifteen cents for regular line, except 
 Sundays, when tickets for crossing and recrossing are sold for twenty- five cents. 
 The fare by the opposition boat — the Chin-du-Wan — is ten cents. 
 
OAKLAND AND VICINITY. 
 
 ALAMEDA COUNTY STATISTICS. 
 
 The following report of the agricultural products, improvements, and general 
 industries of the county, for 1870, is from the books of the County Assessor, 
 Edwin Hunt: 
 
 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 
 
 Potatoes, acres i)Oi3 
 
 Potatoes, bushels 82,640 
 
 Sweet Potatoes, acres None. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes, bushels None. 
 
 Onions, acres 293 
 
 Onions, bushels 25, 108 
 
 Hay, acres 7i46'5 
 
 Hay, tons 12,475 
 
 Flax, acres 375 
 
 Flax, pounds 68,600 
 
 Hops, acres 5 
 
 Hops, pounds 1,870 
 
 Tobacco, acres None. 
 
 Tobacco, pounds None. 
 
 Beets, tons 1,295 
 
 Turnips, tons 32 
 
 Pumpkins and Squashes, tons 1,280 
 
 Butter, pounds 75, >'i'> 
 
 Cheese, pounds 4,2i8 
 
 Wool, pounds 215,775 
 
 Honey, pounds 4,325 
 
 Land inclosed, acres 91,328 
 
 Land cultivated, acres. 117,763 
 
 Wheat, acres 65,991 
 
 Wheat, bushels 1,017,031 
 
 Barley, acres 36,030 
 
 Barley, bushels 505,670 
 
 Oats, acres 3,240 
 
 Oats, bushels 98,460 
 
 Rye, acres 2,510 
 
 Pye, bushels 137,000 
 
 Corn, acres 562 
 
 Corn, bushels 13,180 
 
 Buckwheat, acres 17 
 
 Buckwheat, bushels 204 
 
 Peas, acres 166 
 
 Peas, bushels 4,038 
 
 Peanuts, acres None. 
 
 Peanuts, pounds None. 
 
 Beans, acres 599 
 
 Beans, bushels 5,975 
 
 Castor Beans, acres None. 
 
 Castor Beans, pounds^ None. 
 
 TREES AND VINES. 
 
 Apple Trees 86,615 
 
 Peach Trees 13, 595 
 
 Pear Trees .' 35,568 
 
 Plum Trees 21,264 
 
 Cherry Trees 28, 788 
 
 Nectarine Trees 962 
 
 Quince Trees .... 1,992 
 
 Apricot Trees 3,566 
 
 Fig Trees 1,015 
 
 Lemon Trees 38 
 
 Orange Trees 2^ 
 
 Olive Trees 
 
 Prune Trees 
 
 Mulberry Trees 
 
 Almond Trees 
 
 Walnut Trees 
 
 Gooseberry Bushes 
 
 Raspberry Bushes 
 
 .Strawberry Vines 5, 
 
 Grape Vmes. .' 
 
 Blackberry Bushes 
 
 251 
 
 4,120 
 120 
 
 9>249 
 
 1,552 
 
 43,739 
 725,882 
 758,860 
 136,148 
 
 32,200 
 
 WINES AND LIQUORS. 
 
 Wines, gallons 3,080 | Brandy, gallons 500 
 
 LIVE STOCK. 
 
 45.276 
 
 Horses 6,525 
 
 ^I"les 733 
 
 Asses ■ II 
 
 Cows 4,063 
 
 Calves 2,462 
 
 Beef Cattle i,SSi 
 
 Oxen 327 
 
 Total No. Cattle, incl'g Stock Cattle . . i6,C02 
 
 Sheep 
 
 Hogs 34,772 
 
 Chickens 57,051 
 
 Turkeys 3,791 
 
 Geese 971 
 
 Ducks 7,042 
 
 Hives of Bees 318 
 
 IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Grist Mills 
 
 Steam Power 
 
 Run of Stone. 
 Water Power 
 
 Run of Stone. 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 Barrels of hlour made 36,470 
 
 Bushels of Corn ground 21,496 
 
 Railroads 4 
 
 Miles in length 90X 
 
 Land cultivated in 1870, acres 112,750 
 
 Acres of Wheat sown in 1S70. 
 Acres of Barley sown in 1870. 
 Assessed value of Real Estate 
 Assessed value of Improvements 
 Assessed value Personal Property 
 Total assessed value Property. 
 Estnnated total population . . . 
 
 Registered voters 
 
 Poll-tax collected 
 
 ..$1 
 .$2 
 $11 
 
 58-750 
 
 41,075 
 ,084,150 
 ,532,560 
 ,164,671 
 ,786,381 
 
 24,000 
 4,200 
 
 $7,403 
 
A D 13 L: N D A . 
 
 Since the railroad articles contained in this pamphlet were written, the Sacra- 
 mento Union has announced that the contract for grading fifty miles of the 
 "Oakland and Banta Branch," has been let to Messrs. Turton & Knox of that 
 city. 
 
 COMPARATIVE INCREASE OF POPULATION IN VARIOUS CITIES. 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 Cincinnati . . . 
 Pittsburg . . . . 
 
 Chicago 
 
 San Francisco 
 Sacramento . . 
 Oakland. . . . 
 Stockton . . . . 
 
 San Jose 
 
 Grass Valley . 
 
 Vallejo 
 
 Los Angeles. . 
 
 212,418 
 161,044 
 
 49>2i7 
 
 109,260 
 
 56,802 
 
 13,785 
 
 1,553 
 3,670 
 
 4,579 
 3,740 
 1,431 
 4,385 
 
 1^3 
 
 13 
 
 oo13 
 
 ■-t "^ 
 
 
 
 •° S" 
 
 
 • 
 
 . r* 
 
 
 
 
 
 312,903 
 
 47 
 
 216,239 
 
 34 
 
 86,235 
 
 75 
 
 298,983 
 
 174 
 
 150,351 
 
 164 
 
 16,298 
 
 18 
 
 11,104 
 
 615 
 
 10,033 
 
 173 
 
 9,091 
 
 99 
 
 7,066 
 
 88 
 
 6,392 
 
 346 
 
 5,514 
 
 26 
 
 Marysville. 
 
 Chico 
 
 Petaluma. . 
 Sonora . . . . 
 San Diego. 
 Columbia . 
 Benicia . . . 
 Alameda . . 
 Monterey. . 
 Red Bluff . 
 Visalia. . . . 
 San Rafael 
 
 Id 
 
 ►13 
 
 00 ■« 
 
 „ 
 00 •« 
 
 
 
 P » 
 
 .° sr 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 • 3 
 
 ; 3 
 
 
 
 4,740 
 
 4,375 
 
 1,482 
 
 3,718 
 
 1,505 
 
 2,868 
 
 1,960 
 
 2,498 
 
 731 
 
 2,400 
 
 2,062 
 
 2,200 
 
 1,470 
 
 1,660 
 
 460 
 
 1,557 
 
 1,653 
 
 1,112 
 
 1,391 
 
 920 
 
 548 
 
 913 
 
 636 
 
 831 
 
 150 
 90 
 
 27 
 228 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 2:58 
 
 66 
 31 
 
 ^l 
 
 V 
 
 V 
 

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