The Dimond District () is a neighborhood centered on the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Fruitvale Avenue in

East Oakland East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in the United States. It is located about two miles east of

Lake Merritt Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown Oakland, Downtown. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. It is historically significant as the United States' first official wildlife ...

, north of the Fruitvale District, and west of the

Laurel District Laurel is a district of the Corredores canton, in the Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded t ...

. It lies at an elevation of 213 feet (65 m). Dimond's ZIP code is 94602. It is a multicultural neighborhood where the hills meet the flatlands and is a unique melting pot of cultures and social classes. Dimond Park is located in the district.

History

It is named after Hugh Dimond, who came to California during the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

and purchased the land comprising the district in 1867. In 1897 he built a cottage that used the

adobe brick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also been fi ...

s from the Peralta family's 1827 home. The bricks were used again to build the

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

hut that is still standing in Dimond Park. Oakland's Camp Dimond was located at the head of Dimond Canyon where the present day Montera Middle School is located. Dimond was originally a settlement distinct from Oakland, in an area called Dimond Canyon. The Dimond post office was opened in 1891 and by 1908 had become a branch of the Oakland post office.

Current situation

The district is home to several historic buildings, including the Altenheim, originally a retirement home for

German Americans German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

. The current structure was built in 1909 according to a design by San Francisco architect Oscar Haupt, after the original structure was destroyed by fire. Every October the district celebrates "Oaktoberfest", saluting the area's German heritage with beer, food, and entertainment in a tented beer hall. The Dimond Business District is situated among several of Oakland's neighborhoods including Oakmore, Glenview, and Lincoln Highlands. National (e.g.

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CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...

Peet's Coffee & Tea Peet's Coffee is a San Francisco Bay Area-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer owned by JAB Holding Company via JDE Peet's. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California, Peet's introduced the United States to its darker roasted ...

) and regional retailers (e.g. Farmer Joe's Marketplace, Grand Lake Kitchen) are mingled with locally-owned retail outlets, Dimond Tax Services and

mom-and-pop Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

restaurants including La Farine, a French bakery and Hive, the place to bee, a local coffee shop. Major national banks, a U.S. post office and a branch of the

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 neighboring smaller cities Emeryville and Piedmont. The Oakland Public Library ha ...

are also located in the district. Dimond has excellent freeway access and visibility from Interstate 580. The intersection of Fruitvale Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard is also a major

AC Transit AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...

hub including Transbay lines to San Francisco. Casual carpool service operates opposite a CalTrans park & ride lot on Montana Street.

References

External links

Dimond Improvement Association
- Community organization
CEDA - Community and Economic Development AgencyNeighborhood Crime Prevention Council - beat 22xOakland tourism website
{{Oakland, California neighborhoods Neighborhoods in Oakland, California Streetcar suburbs Populated places established in 1891 1891 establishments in California