Comments on: Oakland Paving

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:38:22 +0000

By the way I should mention that I've started a new blog specifically for Oakland sidewalk stamps at oaklandsidewalks.wordpress.com.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:36:40 +0000

Thanks for that info--I assume you mean Blake in the first sentence, not Anson. Here's a page from an 1896 state mineralogist's report with some details, including mention of Blake crushers. Another discussion of old Oakland quarries begins here in the 1893 report.

By: Bill D.

Bill D. — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:34:36 +0000

Oakland paving was the Anson Family. Not sure of the fathers first name. His son Anson Blake took over as president about 1910? Anson’s house is now the house where the University of Califonia president lives in Kensington. the gardens are open to the public weekdays910 acres). I believe the house is cast concrete but it is ironic that the driveway is gravel and not paved. There is a Blake street in El Cerrito named after them.
The Family ran the Blake quarry in Richmond. A cousin Eli Whitney Blake(yes some relation) invented something to do with rock crushing. Their cousin was William Howard Taft.
Bill D.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:56:01 +0000

Allan, I wouldn’t rule out a spring, especially on the downhill side of the street. If you look at the topography there (Google Maps has a handy tab for that) you’ll see several well-formed gullies leading into the Rockridge branch of Temescal Creek (which runs along Broadway Terrace). That area has a fair amount of moisture, and plenty of trees and runoff to keep the water table high. And the slope is so steep up there that someone on the downhill side of the road could have property 80 feet or so below the ridge top in their back corner.

But I wouldn’t rule out a leak either. If your neighbors can’t seem to reduce their water usage, it might be a leak from their line. A leak from above their meter wouldn’t register, though, so EBMUD might have to investigate.

By: Allan

Allan — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:38:18 +0000

Question – I live in Rockridge Terrace -on Contra Costa Rd. We are near the top of the ridge that drops off to Lake Temescal. Some neighbors report a natural spring on their property. Is it possible that a spring exits so close to the top of the ridge – or is it more likely that a EBMUD pipe is leaking?

Thanks

By: Darby

Darby — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:47:52 +0000

The Albany Concrete Co. poured sidewalks on the side of my house in the Brooklyn neighborhood in Oakland in 1939 according to the mark.

By: thanks

thanks — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:54:13 +0000

I just found this blog, and it seems fantastic! Very interesting twist, too, by the way…

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:58:18 +0000

Hello,

I have many of the original ledgers (1900′s-1920′s) and am beginning basic research on the history of the Co. please contact me. Thank you.-Ron

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:36:28 +0000

Thanks for finding that. The reporter is a little confused about cement/concrete manufacture, but apparently the plant started out making cement, then switched to making aggregate and the cement additive pozzolan.

By: SW

SW — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:15:20 +0000

Here’s a history of the AmCan cement plant from the local paper:

http://www.americancanyoneagle.com/articles/2005/04/26/features/community/story-781.txt

It says they quarried the limestone at Napa Junction.

The ruins are quite impressive if you get a chance to take a look.