West Berkeley, Berkeley, California
Encyclopedia
West Berkeley is generally the area of Berkeley, California
which lies west of San Pablo Avenue, abutting San Francisco Bay
. It includes the area which was once the unincorporated town of Ocean View, as well as the filled-in areas along the shoreline west of I-80 (the Eastshore Freeway) including, mainly, the Berkeley Marina
. It lies at an elevation of 23 feet (7 m).
Ocean View began as the name given to a stagecoach stop established by former sea captain William J. Bowen along the Contra Costa Road (today's San Pablo Avenue) in the early 1850s. The name was applied thereafter to the settlement which began growing up between the stop and a wharf built at the foot of what is now Delaware Street. Ocean View was included in the incorporation of Berkeley in 1878 and thereafter was known as West Berkeley. Ocean View was also, briefly (1908-9), the name of what is now Albany, California
, just north of Berkeley. Ocean View was primarily an industrial, working class community. The name derived from the fact that the Pacific Ocean
is visible through the Golden Gate
across San Francisco Bay
from the site.
The main east-west thoroughfare in Ocean View was Delaware Street. In later years, it was eclipsed by University Avenue. The main north-south thoroughfare was San Pablo Road (initially called the Contra Costa Road), today's San Pablo Avenue. One of the earliest buildings in Berkeley was an inn at the stagecoach stop called "Bowen's Inn", located at what is now the northwest corner of San Pablo Avenue and Delaware Street. The wharf at the foot of Delaware Street began as "Jacobs Landing", named for its builder and proprietor, James H. Jacobs. The wharf was improved and enlarged with the help of Zimri Heywood, the proprietor of a lumberyard at the wharf, which was then renamed "Jacobs and Heywood Wharf". Lumber, soap, hay and many other goods were transhipped from here. Ferry
service was established between the wharf and San Francisco in 1874. In 1876, the Central Pacific Railroad
constructed its new main line, part of the transcontinental overland route
, along the shoreline. A passenger and freight depot was built at Delaware Street. This was replaced in 1911 by a new depot at 3rd Street and University Avenue which still exists, although it is no longer in use as a depot. However, Amtrak
's Berkeley Station
is now located adjacent to this former depot and provides daily train service.
The earliest school in what is now Berkeley was the Ocean View School located on the southeast corner of Virginia Street and San Pablo Avenue, established in 1856. The creek that flowed adjacent to the school was dubbed "Schoolhouse Creek
". The school was subsequently renamed The San Pablo Avenue School, and again later as the Franklin Elementary School. Nothing of the original Ocean View School building remains. In June 2002, Franklin was closed and a year later, transformed into the new site of the Berkeley Adult School which opened on September 7, 2004.
The first mayor (technically, the President of the Board of Trustees) of the newly incorporated Town of Berkeley was elected from Ocean View, Abel Whitton of the Workingman's Party
. He served from 1878 to 1881.
Just east of I-80 between Ashby and University Avenues is Aquatic Park
created in the 1930s by the WPA. Its centerpiece is an artificial mile-long lagoon.
West Berkeley was one of the Bay Area's principal industrial zones up until about the 1960s after which it began to decline.
Several well-known companies such as Colgate-Palmolive
, Heinz
, Canada Dry
and Cutter Labs
had plants in West Berkeley. Some industry remains. Pacific Steel Casting (opened 1934) was the third-largest steel foundry in the United States as of 2007. The film company and former music production company Fantasy Studios
is located here as well.
The drug manufacturer Bayer
, who bought Cutter Labs, has a large manufacturing facility in West Berkeley and is the city's largest private-sector employer. The future of the Bayer Berkeley campus is in doubt, though, as the company is considering moving the facility to reduce costs. The neighboring cities of Oakland and Emeryville, along with Berkeley, are considering asking for tax incentives to induce Bayer to stay in the city.
of the surrounding residential area. Businesses located there include Anthropologie
, Crate and Barrel Outlet
, Restoration Hardware
, Builder's Booksource (an architectural bookstore), Aveda
, Bare Escentuals and Peet's Coffee and Tea.
Local public transportation in the West Berkeley area are provided by the West Berkeley Shuttle.
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
which lies west of San Pablo Avenue, abutting San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. It includes the area which was once the unincorporated town of Ocean View, as well as the filled-in areas along the shoreline west of I-80 (the Eastshore Freeway) including, mainly, the Berkeley Marina
Berkeley Marina
The Berkeley Marina is the westernmost portion of the city of Berkeley, California, located west of the Eastshore Freeway at the foot of University Avenue on San Francisco Bay...
. It lies at an elevation of 23 feet (7 m).
Ocean View began as the name given to a stagecoach stop established by former sea captain William J. Bowen along the Contra Costa Road (today's San Pablo Avenue) in the early 1850s. The name was applied thereafter to the settlement which began growing up between the stop and a wharf built at the foot of what is now Delaware Street. Ocean View was included in the incorporation of Berkeley in 1878 and thereafter was known as West Berkeley. Ocean View was also, briefly (1908-9), the name of what is now Albany, California
Albany, California
Albany is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. The population was 18,539 at the 2010 census.-History:In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of Berkeley garbage in their community...
, just north of Berkeley. Ocean View was primarily an industrial, working class community. The name derived from the fact that the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
is visible through the Golden Gate
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is the North American strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge...
across San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
from the site.
The main east-west thoroughfare in Ocean View was Delaware Street. In later years, it was eclipsed by University Avenue. The main north-south thoroughfare was San Pablo Road (initially called the Contra Costa Road), today's San Pablo Avenue. One of the earliest buildings in Berkeley was an inn at the stagecoach stop called "Bowen's Inn", located at what is now the northwest corner of San Pablo Avenue and Delaware Street. The wharf at the foot of Delaware Street began as "Jacobs Landing", named for its builder and proprietor, James H. Jacobs. The wharf was improved and enlarged with the help of Zimri Heywood, the proprietor of a lumberyard at the wharf, which was then renamed "Jacobs and Heywood Wharf". Lumber, soap, hay and many other goods were transhipped from here. Ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service was established between the wharf and San Francisco in 1874. In 1876, the Central Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
constructed its new main line, part of the transcontinental overland route
Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)
The Overland Route was a train route operated jointly by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad / Southern Pacific Railroad, between Council Bluffs, Iowa / Omaha, Nebraska, and San Francisco, California over the grade of the First Transcontinental Railroad which had been...
, along the shoreline. A passenger and freight depot was built at Delaware Street. This was replaced in 1911 by a new depot at 3rd Street and University Avenue which still exists, although it is no longer in use as a depot. However, Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Berkeley Station
Berkeley (Amtrak station)
Berkeley Station is an Amtrak station in Berkeley, California, served by Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor service. The station is located under the University Avenue overpass just west of 4th Street...
is now located adjacent to this former depot and provides daily train service.
The earliest school in what is now Berkeley was the Ocean View School located on the southeast corner of Virginia Street and San Pablo Avenue, established in 1856. The creek that flowed adjacent to the school was dubbed "Schoolhouse Creek
Schoolhouse Creek
Schoolhouse Creek is the name of a creek which flows through the city of Berkeley, California in the San Francisco Bay Area.-History:The creek acquired its name from a school which was sited adjacent to it, the Ocean View School...
". The school was subsequently renamed The San Pablo Avenue School, and again later as the Franklin Elementary School. Nothing of the original Ocean View School building remains. In June 2002, Franklin was closed and a year later, transformed into the new site of the Berkeley Adult School which opened on September 7, 2004.
The first mayor (technically, the President of the Board of Trustees) of the newly incorporated Town of Berkeley was elected from Ocean View, Abel Whitton of the Workingman's Party
Workingman's Party
The Workingman's Party was a California labor organization led by Denis Kearney in the 1870s. The party took particular aim against Chinese immigrant labor and the Central Pacific Railroad which employed them. Its famous slogan was "The Chinese must go!" They held large Sunday afternoon rallies...
. He served from 1878 to 1881.
Just east of I-80 between Ashby and University Avenues is Aquatic Park
Aquatic Park (Berkeley)
Aquatic Park is a public park in Berkeley, California, United States, located just east of the Eastshore Freeway between Ashby and University Avenues. The park was created in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration, simultaneous with its work on the nearby Berkeley Yacht Harbor...
created in the 1930s by the WPA. Its centerpiece is an artificial mile-long lagoon.
West Berkeley was one of the Bay Area's principal industrial zones up until about the 1960s after which it began to decline.
Several well-known companies such as Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products . Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of...
, Heinz
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...
, Canada Dry
Canada Dry
Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks owned since 2008 by the Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group. For over a century Canada Dry has been known for its ginger ale, though the company also manufactures a number of other soft drinks and mixers...
and Cutter Labs
Cutter Laboratories
Cutter Laboratories was a pharmaceutical company located in Berkeley, California. They were bought by the Bayer pharmaceutical company in the 1970s.-The Cutter incident:...
had plants in West Berkeley. Some industry remains. Pacific Steel Casting (opened 1934) was the third-largest steel foundry in the United States as of 2007. The film company and former music production company Fantasy Studios
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
is located here as well.
The drug manufacturer Bayer
Bayer
Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...
, who bought Cutter Labs, has a large manufacturing facility in West Berkeley and is the city's largest private-sector employer. The future of the Bayer Berkeley campus is in doubt, though, as the company is considering moving the facility to reduce costs. The neighboring cities of Oakland and Emeryville, along with Berkeley, are considering asking for tax incentives to induce Bayer to stay in the city.
4th Street
Beginning in the late 1970s, the development of the retail commercial area along 4th Street led to a gradual gentrificationGentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
of the surrounding residential area. Businesses located there include Anthropologie
Anthropologie
Anthropologie is a chain of retail stores that sells women's apparel and accessories, home furnishings, imitation found objects and an array of gifts and decorative items.Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company is owned by Urban Outfitters, Inc...
, Crate and Barrel Outlet
Crate and Barrel
Crate & Barrel is a 170+ store chain of American retail stores, based in Northbrook, Illinois, specializing in housewares, furniture , and home accessories. Its corporate name is Euromarket Designs, Inc. The company is wholly owned by Otto GmbH.-Founding:Gordon and Carole Segal opened the first...
, Restoration Hardware
Restoration Hardware
Restoration Hardware is an American furniture chain of home furnishings, bath fixtures and bathware, functional and decorative hardware and related merchandise. The company defines its wares as classic and authentic American. Restoration Hardware, Inc. sells its merchandise offering through its...
, Builder's Booksource (an architectural bookstore), Aveda
Aveda
Aveda Corporation is a company headquartered in Blaine, Minnesota, that manufactures skin care, cosmetics, perfume, hair care products, and trains students in cosmetology and esthiology at the Aveda Institutes in Minneapolis, New York City, Washington, DC, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and many other...
, Bare Escentuals and Peet's Coffee and Tea.
Local public transportation in the West Berkeley area are provided by the West Berkeley Shuttle.
External links
- West Berkeley Landmarks, articles about the history of West Berkeley and its notable architecture (Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association)
- WestBerkeley.com, West Berkeley on the Web, a community website (from the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation)