The Golden Gate neighborhood of
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
is located in the northwest corner of the city, east of
Emeryville Emeryville may refer to:
* Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San ...
and south of
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
. It includes the Golden Gate Shopping District, the stretch of
San Pablo Avenue between 53rd Street on the south, and the Oakland-Berkeley border at 67th Street to the north. The neighborhood includes the area from a few blocks west of San Pablo Avenue (the Emeryville border) to
Adeline Street on the east.
The district includes cafes and
arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
establishments.
History
![Oakland Public Library Golden Gate Branch 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Oakland_Public_Library_Golden_Gate_Branch_2009.jpg)
The area was inhabited by the Huchiun band of the
Ohlone people
The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...
, then was part of the
Rancho San Antonio grant, which was split up following the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
.
Charles Alexander Klinkner built 75 homes in the area and called it Klinknerville, established in 1885. A Klinknerville post office was established in 1887. The name was changed to Golden Gate in 1888. The town was annexed to Oakland in 1897.
The Golden Gate branch of the Oakland Library opened in 1918. It was built with funds from a 1914 Carnegie grant. Its design, by Donovan and Dickie, is a good example of early 20th century Georgian Revival Architecture.
In the first half of the 20th century, Golden Gate was an entertainment district, with over 50 bars including the original
Trader Vic's
Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polynesi ...
location at the northeast corner of San Pablo Ave & 65th St where the
Mai Tai
The Mai Tai is a cocktail made of rum, Curaçao liqueur, orgeat syrup, and lime juice. It is one of the characteristic cocktails in Tiki culture.
History
Victor J. Bergeron claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944 at his restaurant, Trader ...
drink was purportedly invented. In the last half of the 20th century the retail district underwent a period of decline and by 1998 was considered blighted by the city of Oakland.
During the 1950s, the area became majority African American.
In 1982, the East Bay Negro Historical Society (EBNHS) was invited into the Golden Gate Branch of the Oakland Public Library, making it the first Oakland city library with a predominantly African American focused collection. The collection was housed in the entire left side of the library where the children's section of the library is now located. The assistance of Mayor Lionel Wilson, Assemblyman Elihu Harris, and others helped the organization establish a solid foundation in their new home. Following the appointment of Dr. Lawrence Crouchett as its executive director in 1988, the organization changed its name to the Northern California Center for Afro-American History & Life (NCCAAHL). In 1994, the City of Oakland and the NCCAAHL merged to create the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO). This unique public/private partnership entered a historic juncture with the opening of AAMLO in February 2002. Located at 659 14th Street, AAMLO is now housed in the former Charles S. Greene library, an historic 1902 Carnegie building.
The Golden Gate Shopping District was the location of
Your Black Muslim Bakery
Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB) was an American chain of bakery, bakeries opened by Yusuf Bey in 1968 in Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, California, and relocated to Oakland, California, Oakland in 1971. A power broker (term), power b ...
, which made national headlines in August 2007 when the bakery was raided by the Oakland police and shut down.
By 2010 the area was undergoing a process of gentrification, including controversially being dubbed "NOBE" by some realtors.
Starting in 2014, the neighborhood has hosted Love Our Neighborhood Day, an open streets festival in which San Pablo Avenue is car free.
Media
Oakland North has covered the neighborhood since 2008 and
Oakland Local
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
since 2009.
Golden Gate coverage at Oakland Local
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External links
History of Golden Gate - Oakland North
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Golden Gate branch of the Oakland Library
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Map of local police beat 10X
Golden Gate page on OaklandWiki
References
{{coord, 37.8447, N, 122.2835, W, display=title
Neighborhoods in Oakland, California
Populated places established in 1885