|
|
OAKLAND
=================================================================================
This form is for use in requesting the City of
1.
IDENTIFICATION
A.
Historic Name: ____Samm (Jacob) –
B.
and/or Common Name: __Samm/Dalton/
2.
ADDRESS/LOCATION
Street and number: _1454
3.
CLASSIFICATION
A.
Category D. Present Use (P) and Historic Use (H)
____District ____Agriculture ____Museum
_X__Building(s) P, H Commercial ____Park
____Structure ____Educational P, H Private Residence
____Site ____Entertainment ____Religious
____Object ____Government ____Scientific
____Industrial ____Transportation
B. Status ____Military _P,H_Other (specify): Rooming House
_X_Occupied
____Unoccupied
____Work in progress E. Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Non-contributing
C. Accessible __2_ ____buildings
___ Yes: restricted ____ ____sites
_X_Yes: unrestricted ____ ____structures
____No ____ ____objects
__2_ ____Total
4.
OWNER OF
PROPERTY
Name: _Freddie Lee Cooper__________________________
Street and Number: ___4055 East 18th Street_________________________________
City: ______Oakland___________
Assessor’s Parcel Number: _____004
-0081-008-00__________________________
5. EXISTING FEDERAL/STATE
DESIGNATIONS
A. Federal
____National Historic Landmark
____Included in National Register of Historic Places
_X_ Determined eligible for inclusion in National Register of Historic Places
(as contributor to Oakland Point District)
B. State
____California Historical Landmark
____California Point of Historic Interest
__X State Historic Resources Inventory (as contributor to Oakland Point District - 1990)
6. REPRESENTATION IN
EXISTING SURVEYS
Name of Survey Survey Date Repository
Rating (if applicable)
Photos:
Alameda County Illustrated, 1898 – “Representative Oakland Residences”
Location Map:
7.
DESCRIPTION
A. Condition: B. Alterations: C. Site
(Check
one) (Check
one)
____Excellent ____Deteriorated
____Good ____Ruins
__X_Fair ____Unexposed ____Unaltered _X__Original Site
_X__Altered ____ Moved (Date________)
D. Style/Type: house: Italianate town house remodeled as Queen Anne
store: mid 20th century vernacular/utilitarian
E.
Describe the
present and original (if known) physical appearance:
1450-54 8th Street is a large 19th century house, Italianate with Queen Anne additions, plus a 20th century storefront. It is located at the northwest corner of 8th and Center Streets in West Oakland. It is two stories plus attic and basement, with a nested hip roof, prominent Queen Anne gables over the two-story bays on the right front and side, and added dormers at the front and west side. A columned porch is to the left of the front bay. Exterior walls are rustic siding. Windows are tall, narrow, double hung wood, with segmental arched tops and elaborate molded hoods on the upper story, and curved surrounds on the lower story.
The original 1870s house was distinguished by its Italianate front portico, large elaborately carved double doors with glazed windows, an arched glass transom, angled bay windows on front and sides, and arched round-cornered windows. In the 1890s elaborate Queen Anne details were added to the exterior: Queen Anne gables over the bays with fish-scale shingles, pendants, and other “gingerbread.” The Dalton house appears in a photo spread of “Representative Oakland Residences” published in 1898 in its modernized current Italianate-Queen Anne form.
After exploring the house inside and out,
The house appears today, in 2003, roughly in its turn-of-the-century form. Most of its beautiful Italianate and Queen Anne details remain. The only major non-contributing alteration is a mid 20th century fire escape which obscures the front façade, and an attic dormer and door added for egress to the fire escape. The portico balcony balustrade and the curving grand front stairs are missing but can be rebuilt following the design shown in the early photo.
The corner store was added to the
property in 1948, at the right front of the house. A plain low-gabled
rustic-sided building about 12 by 18 feet, it is now in somewhat dilapidated
condition yet speaks eloquently to a later colorful period of Oakland Point
history.
8.
SIGNIFICANCE
A. Period: B. Areas of significance--check and justify
below:
____Prehistoric ____Archeology-prehistoric ____Landscape architecture
____Pre-1869 ____Archeology-historic ____Law
_X _1869-1906 ____Agriculture ____Literature
_X _1906-1945 _X__Architecture ____Military
_X _Post-1945 ____Art ____Music
_X__Commerce ____Philosophy
____Communications _X_ Politics/government
____Community Planning ____Religion
____Conservation ____Science
____Economics ____Sculpture
____Education ____Social/humanitarian
____Engineering ____Theater
_X__Exploration/settlement ____Transportation
_X__Industry ____Other (specify)
____Invention
C. Period of Significance: 1877-1948 D. Significant dates: 1877-78, 1895-96, 1948
E.
Builder/Architect/Designer:
unknown
F.
Significant
persons: Jacob Samm, Henry P. Dalton
G.
Statement of
Significance (include summary statement of significance as first paragraph):
The
Samm-Dalton mansion and Cooper Brothers store are significant architecturally
and historically, both individually and as contributors to the Oakland Point Historic
District which has been determined eligible for inclusion in the National
Register of Historic Places. The building is visibly prominent from the West
Oakland BART station and passing trains, and anchors the southeast corner of
the Oakland Point District opposite the new development on the Westwood Gardens
site. Historically, the building is emblematic of upper-middle class lifestyle
in the Bay Area during the mid to late 19th century and also embodies the 20th
century evolution of the neighborhood.
The Samm-Dalton mansion was built in
1877-78 by Jacob Samm, the proprietor of the Bay City Roller Flouring
Mills. The two-story house was built in
the then-current and popular Italianate Town House style of the 1870’s. The large house was appropriate for a
successful
Oakland Point
The
Oakland Point District, a neighborhood of over 800 homes extending roughly from
8th to 16th Streets and from Pine Street to Mandela Parkway, is Oakland’s
oldest and most intact Victorian residential neighborhood. Important themes in
Oakland Point’s history include its settlement as an 1860s suburb, its intimate
association with the railroad which promoted its growth in the 1870s, and its ethnic
heritage. The Central Pacific (later Southern Pacific) Railroad arrived in
Oakland in 1869, establishing the western terminus of the transcontinental
railroad at the Point. The railroad yards and shops were established in the
early 1870s, and by 1878 the neighborhood was largely built up. The Point was
almost a “company town,” in that a high percentage of its residents worked for
the railroad or in related industries, at all economic levels from laborers to
executives. Seventh Street along the main rail line became a renowned business
and entertainment district. Oakland Point is remembered as a melting pot of
many ethnic groups over the years - first Yankee and Irish and Northern
European, then Italian and Slavic, Asian, and African-American.
African-Americans have a long and prominent history in the neighborhood, beginning
with the Pullman Porters who settled at the terminus in the earliest days of
the railroad. They became a majority in the area during and after World War II,
and established many thriving businesses and churches in Oakland Point.
Jacob Samm
Jacob
Samm was the proprietor of the Bay City Roller Flouring Mills, usually known as
Samm’s Mills, situated at First and Clay Streets. Vivid descriptions of the
mills appeared in the Oakland Tribune
annual special edition of 1887 and the 1898 Alameda
County Illustrated. Samm’s Mills were
described as an impressive set of buildings that were an imposing feature among
the many factories of Oakland. Railroad
cars constantly delivered grain, and the hum of the machinery was the
“merriest” buzzing in the neighborhood. Mr. Samm erected the mills in 1875, at
an expense of $20,000. The mills had the latest equipment, very heavy iron
machinery, and a very high capacity, turning out everything from the finest
grades of flour to split peas, oatmeal, graham flour, coarse and fine hominy,
cornmeal, bran, barley and farina. The products and the mills ranked among the
highest of quality in the market. Employing over 40 men, the firm did a half
million dollars of business annually, and was a great benefit and credit to the
thriving city of Oakland.
Henry P. Dalton
Henry
P. Dalton, the second owner, was very important in Oakland and early California
history. He was the son of Henry N.
Dalton, a successful ‘49er gold miner and industrialist who owned a foundry at
the west end of Oakland Point. Henry P. Dalton was the assessor of Alameda
County and a friend and political colleague of Governor Pardee. His biography
appears in many of the “Who’s Who” type publications of the day: the following
is condensed from Guinn’s History of
California ... Coast Counties, 1904 (p. 1240).
“His
work as an assessor was unique and unprecedented. He worked more closely with
people than any other public official, to honestly and justly apportion the
financial burdens of government, and to correct the habitual injustices of
property assessment. His ideas and plan
of procedure were discussed in every newspaper in California. He worked to lower assessments on residential
property, and assess corporate property according to the income produced by it.
“Henry
Dalton was a native Californian, born in Tuolumne County, and lived in Oakland
for 30 years. He began his career
working with his father for the Henry Dalton and Sons Company, manufacturers of
agricultural machinery. After a few
years of business experience, he took an active interest in public
affairs. In 1893 he was widely known and
was elected a member of the city council.
In the following year, he ran as an independent candidate for county
assessor and was elected by an overwhelming majority. His aggressive and unrelenting stand against
every form of municipal wrong and his loyalty to the best public interests, had
distinguished him as a leader, and his success continued.
“In
his fraternal relations, Mr. Dalton was one of the most prominent men in
Alameda County. He was made a Mason in
Live Oak Lodge of Oakland, and later served as the master of the lodge. He was also a member of the Alameda Chapter, the
Oakland Commandery, the Oakland Consistory, the Islam Temple, the Harbor Lodge,
the Oakland Lodge, the Oakland Camp, the Oakland Aerie of the Eagles, the
Oakland Parlor, the Athenian Club, the Nile Club, and the Reliance Club. He was recognized as one of the most valued
native-born citizens of California.”
Early 20th Century Owners and Residents
By
1925 the house belonged to Marie Weber, not further identified. The 1936 WPA
housing survey shows the house as 7 units, with 1923 as the estimated date of
conversion to apartments. The resident owner was Mrs. Addie Bradley. Four of
the residents worked for the WPA – three as laborers and one as a typist. One
head of household was described as a housewife (a single mother with two children)
and one unit was vacant. Two households were described as white and four as
Negro. Numbers on the doors suggest that in the World War II era the house held
as many as 18 units, reflecting the intense demand for housing for shipyard and
other war workers. In the West Oakland building boom that followed the war the
storefront was built in 1948 for $750. The owner, Walter LaRue, had lived in
the house as early as 1943. Later the house appears in a reverse directory as
the Starwood Hotel.
Freddie Cooper
Fred
Cooper followed his sister west from Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1955, right out of
high school. He was drafted into the
army a few years later, serving stateside in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Fort
Hood, Texas. He came right back to
Oakland when he was discharged in 1960.
The Cooper brothers bought the house and the store in 1962. They have since kept the store open, and
survived the era of big-box supermarkets, crime, and an exodus of residents and
businesses to the suburbs. The store is
now one of a handful of neighborhood businesses in West Oakland that is still
owned by African Americans.
9.
MAJOR
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Oakland City Planning Department, Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey, “Oakland Point District” inventory form, 1989-90; research file on 1450-54 8th Street.
Caltrans, Historic Property Survey Report & Finding of Effect for I-880 Reconstruction, 1990-1; Crossroads, A Story of West Oakland (documentary video), 1993;
Sights
and Sounds: Essays in Celebration of West Oakland, 1997.
10.
GEOGRAPHICAL
DATA
A. Land area of property (square feet or acres): 63 ft by 110 ft = 6,930 sq ft +-____________
B. UTM References:
USGS Quadrangle Name: ___Oakland West____________ USGS Quadrangle Scale __1:24,000_____
A _10__ __562210___ ___4184415_____ B _____ ___________ __________
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
C _____ ___________ ________________ D _____ ___________ _________
C. Verbal
boundary description:
Assessor’s
Parcel No: 004-0081-008
The
North-West corner of 8th St and Center. Beginning at a point of intersection of
the western line of Center Street, with the northern line of 8th Street running
thence westerly along said line of 8th Street 63 feet, 3 inches more
or less, to the eastern boundary line of the land described in the Deed from
John Ziegenbein to E.W. Hulford, dated July 15, 1878 and recorded in the book
162 of Deeds, page 345, Alameda County Records; Thence northerly and along said
last mentioned line, 110 feet, more or less to the southern boundary line of
the land described in the Deed from John Ziegenbein to W.E. Strauss, dated
September 17, 1877 and recorded in Book 147 of Deeds, page 175, Alameda County
Records, thence easterly and along said last mentioned line, 62 feet, 6 inches,
more or less, to said line of Center Street, thence southerly and along said
last mentioned line, 110 feet to the point of beginning.
Being
Lot 1 and portion of Lots 2 and 14, as said lots are shown on the Map of
“Survey No. 1007, for John Ziegenbein”, filed February 13, 1877, in Book 1 of
Maps, Page 11 in the Office of the County Recorder of Alameda County.
11. FORM PREPARED BY
Rodney
Karr Freddie
Cooper
Telephone: (415) 931-1934
Executive
Director of
(510) 333-9175
Date: Nov. 13, 2003
DEPARTMENTAL USE ONLY
A. Accepted by: _______________________________________ Date: _______________________
B. Action by Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board
_____Recommended _____Not recommended for Landmark/S-7 designation
Date: ___________________________________ Resolution number: ______________________
C. Action by City Planning Commission
_____Recommended _____Not recommended for Landmark/S-7 designation
Date: ____________________________________
D. Action by City Council
_____Designated _____Not Designated
Date: _____________________________ Ordinance No: _________________________