Letter, February 4, 1871, from attorney James F. Stuart to Rafael Castillo regarding two men who located on Castillo's school lands. Deed of sale, November 1, 1873, between Jose Maria Castillo and Antonio Sanches for 160 acres of land in Alameda County. (OHC MSS CASTILLO) 2 items Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Ely Welding Playter was the 24th Mayor of Oakland, California, and a director at the Oakland Bank of Savings. 1 folder, (.02 linear feet) (OHC MSS PLAYTER) Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Francis Marion Smith, better known as "Borax" Smith, was born in Richmond, Wisconsin, in 1846, and made his fortune mining a large borax deposit he discovered in the Mojave Desert in 1872. His "20 Mule Team Borax" became a household brand and made him a millionaire many times over. In 1881 he and his wife Mary settled in Oakland, California, and soon began work on their large estate, Arbor Villa, and eventually the grand central home "Oak Hall." Smith was a civic leader in Oakland, creating the Realty Syndicate, which developed many of Oakland’s neighborhoods, and the Key System, a streetcar and ferry system providing transportation in the East Bay and across the bay to San Francisco. Through his United Properties Co. of California Smith also led early efforts to consolidate water services in the Oakland area. Smith and his wife were also active philanthropists, funding hospitals, holding charity fundraisers, and founding the Mary R. Smith Trust for orphaned girls in 1901 which cared for girls in cottages built on the estate. Following Mary's death in 1905, Smith eventually remarried in 1907 to Evelyn Ellis and the couple had four children. After losing and regaining his fortune and following several strokes, Smith stepped down from his companies in 1928 and he and Evelyn left Oak Hall and Arbor Villa, moving to a smaller home near Lake Merritt. Francis Marion Smith died at Oakland's Fabiola Hospital in 1931 and is buried in nearby Mountain View Cemetery. (OHC MSS SMITH) 16 folders, .5 linear feet Arranged in three series. Series 1. Corporate records, 1910-1923 -- Series 2. Personal papers, 1888, circa 1900-1931-- Series 3. Mary R. Smith Trust, 1902-1944. Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents. Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Oakland, California, real estate broker Fred Elroy Reed was the first chairman of the Oakland Planning Commission, a founder and first president of the California Real Estate Association, president of the Oakland Real Estate Board, East Bay Regional Plan Association Chairman, three time unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of Oakland in 1923, 1961, and 1965, a driving force behind development in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood and other areas in the Oakland hills, and was recognized state-wide as an authority on city planning. Primarily correspondence, strategy documents, and public communications relating to his unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of Oakland in 1923 and his role in fighting the proposed sale of the Southern Pacific-Golden Gate ferry franchise to the Toll Bridge Authority as means of refinancing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Also includes materials relating to his career in Oakland real estate, unsuccessful campaign for Oakland City Commissioner, and poems by Reed. Correspondence relating to his political campaigns is included in the general correspondence, while the East Bay Regional Plan Association correspondence folder deals solely with the ferry franchise sale. Of note in the collection are: several tract maps for property on Manchester Drive, Redwood Road at Crestmont Drive (tracts 1494, 1896, and 1903), and Joaquin Miller Road at Robinson Drive; and a petition (and related exhibits) of the California Toll Bridge Authority for rehearing and redetermination before the California Railroad Commission (case no. 4204) regarding the ferry franchise sale. (OHC COLL 2012-10) 15 folders in 1 box (.4 linear feet) Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents. Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Letters to and from Berkeley, California, realtor H. M. Martin regarding the sale of lots in the Rock Ridge neighborhood of Oakland, California. Significant correspondents are Oakland, California realtor Fred E. Reed, L. E. Schulz, H. E. Wetzel, and realtors W. G. Wood and F. P. Tatum of Wood & Tatum, Co. Also includes two letters to realtor P. H. Zens. (OHC MSS MARTIN, H.M.) 4 folders (.1 linear feet) Arranged alphabetically by correspondent's name. Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Business and legal documents from Oakland real estate broker and developer Henry Z. Jones. Jones established his real estate business in 1887, with a focus on the Brooklyn Township and Allendale Township (which later became Oakland), where he subdivided land, and bought, sold and rented houses. (OHC COLL 2015-21) 2 cartons (2.17 linear feet) Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents. Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Letters, petitions, city documents and other material regarding the controversy to redevelop the defunct Leona Quarry in Oakland, California. Initial plans for a shopping center were abandoned in favor of a housing development. (OHC COLL 2013-21) 2 folders in 1 box (.2 linear feet) Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents. Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
The photographs in the collection are exterior shots mostly of the 9th Street and Broadway corner of the Delger Block before, during and after its renovation as part of the Old Oakland redevelopment project. (OHC COLL 2020-4) 1 box (0.2 linear feet) Go here for a more detailed list of this collection's contents. Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Brochures and flyers promoting real estate development in Oakland, California, from 1878 to the 1930s. Real estate developers include Breed and Bancroft, Frank K. Mott Company., Herron & Holcomb, and the Realty Syndicate Company. Housing developments include Grand Avenue Heights, Herzog Tract, Joaquin Miller Acres, Linda Vista Terrace, Oak Park Tract, Oak Springs, Pleasant Valley Court, Santa Fe Tracts, and Thornhill Park. Includes one brochure from the Piedmont Building Association promoting housing development in Piedmont, California. (OHC COLL 2012-5) 39 pieces in 1 box (.21 linear feet) Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
Plat maps of Oakland, California, prepared by the Realty Syndicate Company between 1911 and 1919. Organized by date. The Realty Syndicate Company was a real estate development firm headed by Francis Marion Smith and Frank C. Havens. The firm had a major impact on Oakland subdivision development and on urban rail transportation in the East Bay. (OHC COLL 2012-2) 155 maps in 1 box (.2 linear feet) Available at Oakland History Center, Main Library.
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