1892 Dingee City Plan Map (1 results)

Good. Dissected and mounted on linen in twenty-four (24) panels. Soiling. Size 27 x 34.25 Inches. This is a c. 1892 William J. Dingee city plan or map of Oakland, California, and the surrounding East Bay area. Published just before Oakland experienced a decades-long boom following the Panic of 1893 in which the city became in industrial center, streets are illustrated and labeled throughout Oakland, Berkeley, Albany (incorporated in 1908), Emeryville (incorporated in 1896), Piedmont, Alameda, and Brooklyn Township. A Chronicle of Land Ownership City blocks are numbered throughout the region. Tracts and grants previously owned by private citizens throughout Oakland, Berkeley, and the other communities are superimposed over this street grid. However, the street grid had not yet reached areas farther from downtown Oakland or Berkeley. For example, large tracts of land in what is today Albany, are owned by the Pacific Improvement Company, an affiliate of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Alameda Water Company and the Contra Costa Water Company owned land east of the city as well. This map's publisher, William J. Dingee, also owned large parts of Oakland and Brooklyn Townships. Part of Berkeley is reserved for the 'State University' (which we know today as the University of California, Berkeley). The Mountain View Cemetery, designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, appears as well. A City on the Rise Dingee published this map when Oakland was about to become one of the most important industrial cities in the western United States. Between 1900 and 1930, Oakland was one of the three fastest growing cities in the United States, growing from 67,000 residents to 284,000. This rise was driven by Oakland's history as a railroad hub and the penultimate stop for travelers from the East Coast along with the arrival of new railroads in the Santa Fe and the Western Pacific. Oakland's already robust railroad and streetcar network is illustrated here by dashed black and white lines. Among these are routes operated by the California and Nevada Railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad, and the Highland Park and Fruitvale Railroad. The region's burgeoning industrial might is not highlighted here, but its many churches, schools, and government buildings are noted. Publication History and Census This map was published by William J. Dingee and lithographed by the H.S. Crocker Company c. 1892. We note a single cataloged example, which is part of the collection at the Huntington Library. References: Huntington Library Call Number 151606.…