Alameda Island

You don’t have to kick around Alameda Island for very long, before you fall in love. It’s a beautiful gem of the East Bay. Architecture, history, culture and coastline, there are so many special and lovely features about the place. Alameda is Spanish for tree lined path, it was voted in as the official name of the city in 1853. It’s got a population of right around 79,000 people and is 22.98 square miles total. Although it’s built up a lot more hustle and bustle over the past decade, Alameda maintains a quiet and intimate feeling that’s unique to the densely populated Bay Area. 

The city officially came to be, after the Mexican American war in 1848. On June 6, 1853, it became legit, followed by its first post office in 54, it first school in 55 and very importantly, it’s first train station in 64. 

The San Francisco and Alameda railroad opened Encinal station in Alameda’s original downtown. This became site where in 1869, the first Transcontinental train reached the San Francisco Bay. The first time a train had made it from east to west coast in North America. At first, Alameda was a peninsula of Oakland. The need for shipping facilities led to the dredging of the tidal canal in the marshland there next to Oakland. That project was completed in 1902, which is when Alameda became an island. 

The island these days has two shopping district kind of main streets, Park st and Webster. They’re both charming, good food, fun shopping, record stores, bowling, pinball arcades and so on. On the corner of the Webster and Central Avenue is the Croll building. From 1883, to 1914 this was a training spot for some of Americas greatest boxers of their time. Jack Johnson was just one of multiple champions who trained there. Alameda’s Crab Cove, used to be Neptune Beach, it was very popular in the 1930s and 40s. The popsicle and snow cone were first sold during that time period. 

Both before, and during World War 2 the Alameda Works Shipyard was hoppin, offering a plethora of high paying jobs. Immigrants came from all over to be part of the biggest, baddest shipyard in the country. Later the Port of Oakland across the estuary became the big player in the industrial facilities industry, and Alameda Shipyard began functioning more in service of that Port. The Port of Oakland has become one of the largest in the country, and in 2006, Alameda was designated a Coast Guard City. 

In the 1940s, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Naval operations and hangar construction started going down on Alameda piers, the USS Hornet loaded on those docks in 1942 and in 1944, Nixon established the Naval Airforce station of Alameda. A large portion of the island adjacent to those piers where the Hornet sits today is called the Base, it was an important Naval training through World War 2 and Vietnam. Its presence is still very relevant to the culture and uniquely Americana vibe of Alameda Island.

Let’s talk Victorians, holy moly Alameda has some bangers. Upwards of 4000 Victorian eta homes grace the streets of Alameda neighborhoods. The 1940s-60s saw some of the original homes say Hasta la vista in lieu of newer construction, but the number of Victorians still breaks down to 1 for every 19 island residents. It’s speculated to be the dentist population of Victorian era homes in any city in America.

Experts from the Alameda Museum state that because Alameda has no highway, there is no urban renewal, which had allowed housing to stay relatively unbothered. Through the many eras of railroad boom and earthquake natural disaster, population growth, and recessions, if these walls could talk. Alamedas early 1900s Victorians would have some dope tales to tell. These days the city has passed measures protecting homes from that era from demolition. Most of the owners of Victorian homes in Alameda are upper middle class, and many have been beautifully restored. 

If you’ve never been to Alameda, let us recommend you go in October, when the trees are gorgeous, the air is crisp and the Victorians are spooky.