Temescal, Oakland, California
Encyclopedia
Temescal is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Oakland, California
. It is located in North Oakland, centered on Telegraph Avenue
, and bordered by Broadway and State Route 24 to the east and west. MacArthur Boulevard is to the south. Temescal includes the area of Telegraph Avenue that runs from the Macarthur BART station northward to the intersection of 55th Street.
Temescal is primarily a residential neighborhood. Most of the houses in Temescal are early twentieth century bungalows along tree-lined streets. There are also many multi-family homes and mid-size apartment complexes interspersed throughout the neighborhood.
Temescal was an Italian neighborhood until the late 1960s. Temescal saw many changes in demographics in the past 10 years as new developments and upscale shopping and restaurants entered the neighborhood. Large numbers of young couples with children moved to Temescal as the real estate prices in nearby Rockridge grew too expensive for middle-class families. People of different racial and economic backgrounds live side-by-side in the neighborhood. Temescal is a diverse neighborhood with concentrations of Ethiopian
and Eritrean
immigrants.
The commercial heart of Temescal is Telegraph Avenue, between the MacArthur BART Station and 51st Street. This area is known locally as the home to popular restaurants, such as:
Tara's Organic Ice Cream,
Doña Tomás,
Lanesplitters,
Pizzaiolo,
Aunt Mary's,
Bakesale Betty,
Burma Superstar, and
Barlata.
Other commercial zones include 40th Street and Broadway between 40th Street and Pleasant Valley Road.
There are many Ethiopian restaurants here, especially on Telegraph north of 51st St.. There are also many Korean establishments along Telegraph Ave. Temescal Farmers' Market, begun in 2006, is held on Sundays in the parking lot of the Department of Motor Vehicles facility on Claremont Ave.http://www.kqed.org/weblog/food/2006/08/temescal-farmers-market-oakland.jsp SadieDey's Cafe is a play park for kids and neighborhood community cafe. Mama's Royal Cafe, locally famous for breakfast, is located on Broadway, near the border of Temescal and the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood.
Studio One, located on 45th Street, is home to art classes and workshops. Temescal Pool, located next door, is open to the public. The neighborhood is also home to several public and private schools, including Park Day School and the architectural landmark Oakland Technical High School on Broadway.
The word temescal derives from the word temescalli, which means "sweat house" in the Nahuatl
language of the Mexica
("Aztec") people of Mexico
. It is surmised that the Peraltas or perhaps one of their ranch hands (vaquero
s) had seen local indigenous (Ohlone
) structures along the creek similar to those in other parts of New Spain
which were called temescalli.
Temescal has long been an important junction of several principal thoroughfares: Telegraph, Claremont, and Shattuck Avenues, and 51st Street.
The earliest telegraph wire from Oakland to Sacramento went through the area, up Claremont Avenue and over the hills at Claremont Canyon. Temescal was the site of agriculture, cattle grazing and greenhouses when, in the 1890s, an opera house was built in parkland north of the creek crossing at 51st street. The area grew and was developed into Idora Park
, the earliest "trolley park" in the East Bay. In the late 1920s the amusement park was razed and, after a plan to build mid-rise apartment blocks called the Midtown District fell through, a tract of storybook houses
was built on the site between 1929 and 1934. It is reported to be the first development in the American west with underground utilities.
Until the early 20th century, a wide wooden bridge spanned Temescal Creek, carrying both road (Telegraph Avenue) and railroad tracks.
The horsecar
line to the University of California
along today's Telegraph Avenue (then called Humboldt Avenue in Oakland and Choate in Berkeley) operated out of a horse barn at 51st and Telegraph. When the horsecar was replaced by electric streetcars, the horse barn was replaced by a carbarn. The carbarn became the Western Carhouse of the Key System
's streetcar division, the East Bay Street Railways. When the streetcars ceased operation in 1948, the carbarn was razed and Vern's,a grocery store constructed on the site. This, in turn, was razed in the 1980s and replaced by a Walgreens store.
also has a tool-lending library at their nearby South Branch.) The Temescal branch of the Oakland Public Library
operates this facility, which lends tools, free of charge, to library patrons for repairs and home-improvement projects. The Tool Lending Library also has instructional materials (books, videos, etc.) and gives "how-to" workshops.
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. It is located in North Oakland, centered on Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, USA, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California campus in Berkeley, California...
, and bordered by Broadway and State Route 24 to the east and west. MacArthur Boulevard is to the south. Temescal includes the area of Telegraph Avenue that runs from the Macarthur BART station northward to the intersection of 55th Street.
Temescal is primarily a residential neighborhood. Most of the houses in Temescal are early twentieth century bungalows along tree-lined streets. There are also many multi-family homes and mid-size apartment complexes interspersed throughout the neighborhood.
Temescal was an Italian neighborhood until the late 1960s. Temescal saw many changes in demographics in the past 10 years as new developments and upscale shopping and restaurants entered the neighborhood. Large numbers of young couples with children moved to Temescal as the real estate prices in nearby Rockridge grew too expensive for middle-class families. People of different racial and economic backgrounds live side-by-side in the neighborhood. Temescal is a diverse neighborhood with concentrations of Ethiopian
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Eritrean
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
immigrants.
The commercial heart of Temescal is Telegraph Avenue, between the MacArthur BART Station and 51st Street. This area is known locally as the home to popular restaurants, such as:
Tara's Organic Ice Cream,
Doña Tomás,
Lanesplitters,
Pizzaiolo,
Aunt Mary's,
Bakesale Betty,
Burma Superstar, and
Barlata.
Other commercial zones include 40th Street and Broadway between 40th Street and Pleasant Valley Road.
There are many Ethiopian restaurants here, especially on Telegraph north of 51st St.. There are also many Korean establishments along Telegraph Ave. Temescal Farmers' Market, begun in 2006, is held on Sundays in the parking lot of the Department of Motor Vehicles facility on Claremont Ave.http://www.kqed.org/weblog/food/2006/08/temescal-farmers-market-oakland.jsp SadieDey's Cafe is a play park for kids and neighborhood community cafe. Mama's Royal Cafe, locally famous for breakfast, is located on Broadway, near the border of Temescal and the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood.
Studio One, located on 45th Street, is home to art classes and workshops. Temescal Pool, located next door, is open to the public. The neighborhood is also home to several public and private schools, including Park Day School and the architectural landmark Oakland Technical High School on Broadway.
History
The district was named for Temescal Creek which runs through it. Temescal received its name from the Peralta family, who established their Rancho San Antonio in the East Bay. The name was first applied to the major creek that runs through the district. It was subsequently applied also to the estate of one of the Peralta brothers (Vicente), which was established in today's Temescal district adjacent to the creek. Somewhat confusingly, Lake Temescal is not in Temescal at all - when the creek was dammed, the lake formed just outside the neighborhood's border, in nearby Rockridge.The word temescal derives from the word temescalli, which means "sweat house" in the Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
language of the Mexica
Mexica
The Mexica were a pre-Columbian people of central Mexico.Mexica may also refer to:*Mexica , a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling*Mexica , a 2005 novel by Norman Spinrad...
("Aztec") people of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It is surmised that the Peraltas or perhaps one of their ranch hands (vaquero
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
s) had seen local indigenous (Ohlone
Ohlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...
) structures along the creek similar to those in other parts of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
which were called temescalli.
Temescal has long been an important junction of several principal thoroughfares: Telegraph, Claremont, and Shattuck Avenues, and 51st Street.
Idora Park
Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. Idora Park was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement Park Company that ran several eastern pleasure...
, the earliest "trolley park" in the East Bay. In the late 1920s the amusement park was razed and, after a plan to build mid-rise apartment blocks called the Midtown District fell through, a tract of storybook houses
Storybook houses
A Storybook House refers to an architectural style popularized in the 1920s in England and America.The storybook style is a nod toward Hollywood design technically called Provincial Revivalism and more commonly called Fairy Tale or Hansel and Gretel...
was built on the site between 1929 and 1934. It is reported to be the first development in the American west with underground utilities.
Until the early 20th century, a wide wooden bridge spanned Temescal Creek, carrying both road (Telegraph Avenue) and railroad tracks.
The horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
line to the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
along today's Telegraph Avenue (then called Humboldt Avenue in Oakland and Choate in Berkeley) operated out of a horse barn at 51st and Telegraph. When the horsecar was replaced by electric streetcars, the horse barn was replaced by a carbarn. The carbarn became the Western Carhouse of the Key System
Key System
The Key System was a privately owned company which provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when the system was sold to a newly formed public...
's streetcar division, the East Bay Street Railways. When the streetcars ceased operation in 1948, the carbarn was razed and Vern's,a grocery store constructed on the site. This, in turn, was razed in the 1980s and replaced by a Walgreens store.
Temescal Tool Lending Library
Temescal is home to one of the few tool-lending libraries in the Bay Area—indeed, in the U.S. (The Berkeley Public LibraryBerkeley Public Library
The Berkeley Public Library is the public library system for Berkeley, California. It consists of the Central Branch, the North Branch, Claremont Branch, South Branch, and West Branch.-History:...
also has a tool-lending library at their nearby South Branch.) The Temescal branch of the Oakland Public Library
Oakland Public Library
The Oakland Public Library is the public library in Oakland, California. Opened in 1878, the Oakland Public Library currently serves the city of Oakland, along with some neighboring smaller cities including Emeryville and Piedmont. The Oakland Public Library has the largest collection of any...
operates this facility, which lends tools, free of charge, to library patrons for repairs and home-improvement projects. The Tool Lending Library also has instructional materials (books, videos, etc.) and gives "how-to" workshops.
See also
- Bus rapid transitBus rapid transitBus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
- MacArthur (BART)
- Oakland Technical High SchoolOakland Technical High SchoolOakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech, or just simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District.-Background:...
- Oakland International High SchoolOakland International High SchoolOakland International High School opened in August 2007 with the support of The Internationals Network for Public Schools, Oakland Unified School District, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation...
- Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CaliforniaPiedmont Avenue, Oakland, CaliforniaThe Piedmont Avenue neighborhood is a district in North Oakland, California. It is named for Piedmont Avenue, the main commercial street of the district...
- Rockridge, Oakland, CaliforniaRockridge, Oakland, CaliforniaRockridge is a residential neighborhood and commercial district in Oakland, California. Rockridge is generally defined as the area east of Telegraph Avenue, south of the Berkeley city limits, west of the Oakland hills and north of the intersection of Pleasant Valley Avenue/51st Street and...
- Idora ParkIdora ParkIdora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. Idora Park was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement Park Company that ran several eastern pleasure...
- Lake TemescalLake TemescalLake Temescal is a small lake in the northeastern hills section of Oakland, California. It is the centerpiece of Temescal Regional Park...
Publications
- Temescal News & Views ("Published by Temescal Neighbors Together with the support of Temescal merchants"); bimonthly newsletter.
- TNT, c/o 469 Rich St., Oakland, CA 94609; temescal_news@yahoo.com
External links
- Temescal Interactive Neighborhood Map - Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Temescal Merchants Association
- Temescal and Telegraph Avenue Business District
- East Bay Neighborhoods: Oakland's Temescal - The San Francisco Chronicle's guide to the neighborhood.
- Temescal Branch Library
- Friends of the Oakland Public Library: Temescal Branch
- Oakland City Councilmember Jane Brunner, who represents Temescal