Shattuck Avenue
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Shattuck Avenue is a major city street running north–south through
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, and
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 ...
. At its southern end, the street branches from
Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California, Berkeley cam ...
in Oakland's Temescal district, then ends at
Indian Rock Park Indian Rock Park is a public park at 950 Indian Rock Avenue in the city of Berkeley, California, on the slope of the Berkeley Hills. It is located in the northeast part of the city, about two blocks north of the Arlington/Marin Circle, and stra ...
in the
Berkeley Hills The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges that overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la ...
to the north. Shattuck Avenue is the main street of Berkeley, forming the spine of that city's downtown, and the site of the Gourmet Ghetto in North Berkeley. The street was named for
Francis Kittredge Shattuck Francis Kittredge Shattuck (March 6, 1824 – September 9, 1898) was the most prominent civic leader in the early history of Berkeley, California, and played an important role in the creation and government of Alameda County as well. He also ...
, an early landowner and booster who later served as Mayor of Oakland. Shattuck was largely responsible for the original construction of the road as well as for a railroad built along its route.


History

During the Mexican era, a trail or road ran between the homes of the Peralta brothers, Domingo and Vicente. Domingo made his home along
Codornices Creek Codornices Creek (sometimes spelled and/or pronounced "Cordonices"), long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 is one of the principal creeks which runs out o ...
near what is today the intersection of Sacramento and Hopkins Streets in Berkeley. Vicente's home was situated along Temescal Creek near what is today the intersection of 55th Street and
Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California, Berkeley cam ...
in North Oakland. The route of this early predecessor road, which came to be called the "Temescal Road", is depicted on the first official plat map of the area, Kellersberger's Map. A trace of it survives today as Racine Avenue in North Oakland. During the 1850s, Francis Shattuck and three others laid claim to four adjoining strips of land in what is now downtown Berkeley. The dividing line between the parcels claimed by Shattuck and his brother-in-law George Blake became the alignment of a new county road whose construction the Board of Supervisors assigned to Francis Shattuck, a member of the board. The new road was laid out from where Strawberry Creek intersected the old Temescal Road, thence along the new alignment, extending southward to a gore point intersection with the Telegraph Road (today's Telegraph Avenue). The road became known as "Shattuck's Road". Francis Shattuck built his new home above the north bank of Strawberry Creek at the northern terminus of the county road, which was also the northern bound of Shattuck's claim, along the alignment of what is now Addison Street. The creek and Shattuck's home were situated along what is now Allston Way. In 1866, the College Homestead Association, an organization established to raise funds for the new site of the
College of California The College of California was a private college in Oakland, California. It is a predecessor of the public University of California system. It was established in 1853 as the Contra Costa Academy. In 1868, it merged with the nascent Agricultural, ...
, filed a plat map with the object of selling parcels of land near the site of the present
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
. This map proposed names for several streets in a grid pattern, incorporating the alignment of Shattuck's Road, but designating it "Guyot Street". The name never stuck. By the time of the incorporation of the Town of Berkeley in 1878, Shattuck's Road had become Shattuck Avenue. By that time also, it had been extended northward to Rose Street. Additionally, the Central Pacific, at Shattuck's urging, had constructed its Berkeley Branch Railroad which merged into Shattuck at Adeline Avenue. In later years, this line was assigned to the
Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
and eventually electrified and extended. Streetcars and transbay trains of the competing
Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that 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 fr ...
also ran on Shattuck in Berkeley.


Overview

In North Berkeley, Shattuck Avenue is the location of the Gourmet Ghetto, an unofficial district known for its density of restaurants. From there the street leads south to
Downtown Berkeley Downtown Berkeley is the central business district of the city of Berkeley, California, United States, around the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, and extending north to Hearst Avenue, south to Dwight Way, west to Martin Luther Ki ...
. Shattuck is an important north–south arterial roadway for northern Alameda County connecting the downtowns of Berkeley and
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. In the early 20th century the road included commuter train and streetcar tracks.Downtown Berkeley Association – About Downtown Berkeley
/ref> Today
BART Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
carries commuters on the system's second-most popular line underneath the pavement. This includes the
Ashby Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publi ...
and
Downtown Berkeley Downtown Berkeley is the central business district of the city of Berkeley, California, United States, around the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, and extending north to Hearst Avenue, south to Dwight Way, west to Martin Luther Ki ...
stations. The Downtown Berkeley is one of BART's most frequented stations and a transit hub for
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 ...
and
Bear Transit Bear Transit is the bus service operated by the Department of Parking and Transportation of the University of California, Berkeley. Its fleet includes a combination of shuttle vans and passenger buses (small and regular-sized), with all of its pa ...
buses. The street is used to access the major employers and educational institutions located along it including the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
,
Berkeley City College Berkeley City College (BCC, formerly Vista Community College) is a public community college in Berkeley, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Peralta Community College District. Berkeley City College is accre ...
, Berkeley High School, CALPIRG, the
PowerBar PowerBar is an American brand of energy bars and other related products including sports drinks, gels, and the ''Pria'' bars targeted at women. The former company had been established in 1986, being then acquired by Nestlé. History The PowerBa ...
headquarters and other downtown office towers. The downtown length is home to many anchor and small retailers in addition to being a bustling restaurant district. The street is a major gathering place for protestors, as it is effectively the city's Main Street and connects with other major arterials including
Ashby Avenue Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and public ...
,
University Avenue A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, and
Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California, Berkeley cam ...
. It was also the site of the Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center protests and features a pink-colored curb reserved for protesting parking. Further south the street is the home to
La Peña Cultural Center La Peña Cultural Center or La Peña for short, is a multicultural center in the United States. It was founded in 1975 by Latin American and Californian allies in Berkeley, California in response to the 1973 coup d'état in Chile, or '' golpe de e ...
, the nation's
Chilean American Chilean Americans ( es, chileno-americanos, ''chileno-estadounidenses'', or ) are Americans who have full or partial origin from Chile. The Chilean population from the U.S. census was 126,810. In the United States, Chileans are the fourth sma ...
cultural capitol.La Peña Turns Thirty with a Street Fair
Patrick Hodge, ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'', 11-06-2005, 05-01-2012.


See also


References


External links

{{Commons category-inline, Shattuck Avenue (California) Streets in Berkeley, California Streets in Oakland, California Articles with WikiMiniAtlas displaying incorrectly; WMA not showing route