Election Section

Whenever I travel the first thing I search out is a guided walking tour. It’s my favorite way to get up close and notice the details that lend character and uniqueness to a business district or neighborhood. When the visual is supplemented with interesting stories and pieces of history, the experience is magnified. 

From now through October, you can revisit or discover anew eight distinct areas around downtown Oakland: Old Oakland, City Center, Uptown to Lake Merritt, Preservation Park, Chinatown, Jack London Waterfront, Churches and Temples and New Era/New Politics. Sponsored by the Oakland Tours program, trained guides lead you on a 90-minute free walking tour. It’s a great opportunity to look into Oakland’s past, get acquainted with her present, and enjoy the contrast of an evolving skyline above historic landmarks and churches. 

To sample the program I selected two tours. I went to Preservation Park, an area I never knew existed, and revisited an old friend, the Jack London waterfront. 

Preservation Park is located on 13th Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Way, just one block from the looming Ronald Dellums Federal Building. One block and a hundred years separate these two distinctive elements of Oakland’s downtown. A recent Saturday found me outside cast stone pillars and a wrought iron gate bracketed by white roses, the entrance to Preservation Park. Here I joined tour guide Renata Combs for a fascinating walk and oral history back to a time when Oakland was the second largest waterfront city in California. 

Saved from the wrecking ball of the 980 freeway, Preservation Park now provides business space for nonprofits and small businesses. This lovely setting is definitely the place to go to work. 

Though smaller in scale, the tree-lined streets, curved, flower bedecked walkways and lush lawns mirror the landscapes of early neighborhoods. Low walls topped with iron and sturdy picket fences set the park’s boundaries. Inside there are five restored buildings in their original locations. The remaining eleven were relocated from the path of the freeway. In all they represent a 40-year window, 1870 to 1911, on Oakland’s architectural history from early Victorian and colonial revival to arts and craft. 

RCoombs is an experienced guide, evident from her storehouse of knowledge and her ease and enjoyment in her subject. She led the group around the park, discussing not only the buildings before us but also the families who lived there, their history and that of the times in which they lived.  

Inside the front gates, the Remillard home, built in 1887, is typical of the Queen Anne style, with its rounded shape, turrets and fish-scale shingles. As lovely as these Victorians may seem, Coombs pointed out that their construction was responsible for the destruction of most first growth redwood forests. Even knowing this, it was difficult not to admire the attractive tri-color scheme of pilgrim blue, slate gray and deep maroon. I also learned that the decorative trim of Victorians was added after purchase, being mass-produced in the United States—sort of like adding buttons and ribbons to a favorite dress. 

One focal point at the center of Preservation Park is the lovely Latham-Ducell fountain. Brought over from France, this cast iron edifice with the goddess Diana above spouting lion heads was in full operation on my visit. We walked around the corner to the First Unitarian Church, a state historic landmark. When built in 1861, in the masonry Romanesque style, it was the largest building in Oakland.  

Our final stop was the African-American Museum and Library, housed in one of the original public library buildings. It now houses an enormous reference library and archives on black history. In fact, this library is the meeting point for another Oakland tour, “New Era/New Politics.” 

Later I walked around “Old Oakland.” The themes of Preservation Park are repeated here in the cobbled sidewalks, tree-lined streets, vintage designed lamp-posts and brick buildings. The same vivid contrast also exists: the towering buildings of new Oakland dominate the skyline, but, surprisingly, do not deter from the charm of the past. Apparently there is room for both. 

In 1852, a wharf was needed to transport goods and lumber during the Gold Rush. Oakland filled that need. Today Jack London Square attracts residents and visitors alike to popular restaurants, shops and concerts. One recent weekday, missed connections with the tour guide resulted in my solo tour of the area and I counted myself lucky to be strolling under the sun, enjoying the crisp breeze and the attractive landscaping. 

I began my tour at the foot of Broadway and headed toward the bronze statue of a peripatetic Jack London, appearing ready to stroll down the wharf. The farmers’ market was in session so I enjoyed the colorful sights, appealing smells and sweet taste of spring cherries and apricots, while listening to the classical guitar of a street musician. 

More tributes to the wharf’s namesake center around Heinhold’s First and Last Chance Saloon, where the next stop for an overimbiber could be China. London’s White Fang and an attractive fountain modeled after a cascading mountain stream are next to the cabin from his Gold Rush experiences in the Yukon. I tried to pick out the original logs from the replicates in this semi-original structure. I couldn’t tell which were which. 

A holiday feeling prevailed as I passed restaurants with outdoor seating, tree-lined pathways, large concrete planters, thick green lawns and cobbled walkways. A large group awaited the arrival of the ferry while others seemed content to drift along just enjoying the day.  

I was sorry to have missed the historic narrative of the tour, but that was quickly remedied when I reached the U.S.S. Potomac, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “floating White House.” Inside the visitor center, I was fortunate to encounter Jerry Silsdorf, senior docent, who took me on a dockside tour and regaled me with stories of life aboard this famous yacht. There’s no stopping a history buff, and Jerry, like Coombs, could talk for much longer than the normal 45-minute tour. 

FDR had good cause to fear fire, so his 165-foot ship, built in 1934, is all steel. During the hot, sultry days of a Washington summer, he’d leave the actual White House behind, and conduct business aboard ship, among statesmen and even King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. 

We passed through the Main Salon, furnished elegantly but modestly with dining table and Oriental carpet. Historic photos lined the walls into the president’s stateroom and bath. All was designed to allow wheelchair access. A single photo of Eleanor, Roosevelt’s “eyes and ears,” adorned a chest.  

My favorite area was the afterdeck, furnished like a spacious outdoor veranda with built-in wide-cushioned seating that accommodated FDR. A rattan chest held supplies needed for cocktails and the president’s favored pastime—poker.  

The simplicity throughout was in contrast to what one would expect of a president’s residence, and I admired that most of all, as I did the smokestack converted into an elevator, where FDR used his strong upper body, along with pulleys, to travel between decks. Between the careful restoration and Jerry’s narrative, it wasn’t difficult to imagine the spirit of President Roosevelt out on the deck overlooking the water. 

As part of an excellent walking tour or on your own, Oakland has a lot to offer. The interesting combination of a revived past and a vibrant present is worth one or several visits to this close neighbor. Although I’ve lived in the East Bay for many years, I’m still surprised by the variety of places and information I have yet to uncover. And that’s a good thing. ?