Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
City History
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection Summary
Collection Title: City of Berkeley Records,
Date (inclusive): 1878-1954
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-A 200
Creator:
Berkeley (Calif.)
Berkeley (Calif.) City Clerk
Berkeley (Calif.) Planning Commission
Berkeley (Calif.) City Council
Extent:
11 Cartons, 46 Volumes, 4 Oversize folders
(18.5 linear feet)
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: The City of Berkeley California records (1878-1954) consist of records from the city clerk's office. The collection includes
records relating to the business of city government, such as the city charter, reports, town attorney opinions, city council
minutes, planning commission information, correspondence, tax sale rolls, indices, financial records, agreements, leases,
bids, ordinances, and petitions. It also contains police and fire department reports, information on public utilities including
natural gas, water, electric power, lighting, and discussion of municipally owned utilities. Additional documentation including
street infrastructure, street railways of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Key System Transit Company, the wharf and
harbor, school construction, Civil Works Administration projects, and clippings are included in the collection. The contents
are somewhat inconsistent over sporadic periods of time, however, a range of documentation on late nineteenth and early twentieth
century Berkeley is available.
Physical Location: Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must
be submitted in writing to the appropriate curator or the Head of Public Services for forwarding. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], City of Berkeley Records, BANC MSS C-A 200, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Related Collections
Berkeley, (Calif.) Assessment records, 1871-1966. BANC MSS C-A 400. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley (Calif.). City Manager. Proposed budget / as submitted to the Mayor and City Council by City Manager. F869.B5 B32.
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley (Calif.). Charter of the city of Berkeley, California. \x\ F869.B5 C47.1957. The Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley.
Berkeley (Calif.). Berkeley Charter. F869.B5 B545 \x\. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.
The story of Berkeley: Berkeley, California, a city of homes by the Golden Gate, 1908. F869.B5 B544 \x\. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Pettitt George A.,
A History of Berkeley. Berkeley, Calif. Alameda County Historical Society, 1976.
Pettitt George A.,
Berkeley: the Town and Gown of it. Berkeley, Calif. Howell-North Books 1973.
Separated Material
Early license plates added to the Historical object miscellany (BANC PIC 19xx.031:002--OBJ).
City Publications cataloged separately.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Public documents--California--Berkeley.
City planning--California--Berkeley.
Community development, Urban--California--Berkeley.
Street-railroads--California--San Francisco Bay Area. (Calif.)--History.
Berkeley (Calif.)--Planning.
Key System Transit Lines (Calif.).
Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
Berkeley (Calif.). City Planning Commission.
Berkeley (Calif.). City Council.
Berkeley (Calif.). City Clerk.
Administrative Information
Provenance
The City of Berkeley California records were given to The Bancroft Library by the Berkeley City Clerk in 1953. Additions were
made in 1988.
City History
The City of Berkeley, California was incorporated on April 1, 1878 from two distinct settlements. Much of the area surrounding
Berkeley was given the Peralta family as a land grant from the Spanish king in 1820. After the gold rush and California statehood
in 1850, the large ranchero should have stayed in the Peralta hands. However, the large ranchero's unoccupied land quickly
filled with Americans, using "squatter's rights" or a right to occupy empty land. Confusion over rights to the lands was finally
settled in 1877, but by that time the land was already settled and the Peralta family sold their remaining land.
James Jacob first anchored in the area where Strawberry Creek flows into the bay in 1853. In 1854, Captain William J. Bowen
established an inn on Contra Costa Road (today's San Pablo Avenue) that became a successful stage stop. The small community
known as Ocean View encouraged industry to settle in the region, beginning with the Pioneer Starch and Grist Mill in 1855.
The industrial area steadily grew, with Z.B. Heywood's lumberyard in 1866, the Hofburg Brewery in 1869, the California Watch
Company and Standard Soap Company factories in 1875, Griffin Glove Company in 1877, and a number of chemical plants in the
1880's. In 1877 the Southern Pacific Railroad located its transcontinental mainline along the Berkeley shore, giving West
Berkeley businesses direct access to the national rail network for the first time. Ocean View (West Berkeley) thus developed
into a lively working class and agricultural community.
The other settlement, a mile east of the Ocean View, surrounded land chosen by the College of California. After the original
site in Oakland and proved too urban for the founder's ideal for the College, the trustees bought land located five miles
north of Oakland near Strawberry Creek with a spectacular western view of the Golden Gate. Ground was broken for the new college
in 1860. The community was named after George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, Ireland, a strong supporter of higher education
in the new world. What particularly attracted the trustees was a line in one of Berkeley's poems: "Westward the course of
empire takes its way," a fitting tribute to a new educational community on the western frontier. The state legislature voted
to establish a state university in 1867, and the College of California combined with the proposed land grant university, becoming
the University of California in 1868. In 1869 the state School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind was moved from San Francisco to
a new facility under construction a few blocks south of the university campus. The surrounding community grew to service the
University population, though most students and faculty came to the university by means of stage coach or rail line from living
quarters in Oakland.
An animosity between the two areas sprung up for several specific reasons, along with general social and economic differences.
When the university dammed Strawberry Creek for a water supply, Ocean View residents claimed this substantially lowered the
water level in their wells, and argued that waste from the campus area was polluting the stream. A law prohibiting the sale
of alcoholic beverages within two miles of campus would have closed down taverns in Ocean View, a matter of concern to the
hardworking community. The limit was reduced to one mile, but caused other problems as new bars opened in Ocean View catering
to students. Yet along with conflict, economic ties to the two communities grew, as the campus community used Ocean View's
shops and labor.
By the late 1870's, residents from Ocean View and Berkeley were dissatisfied with the level of services from the county government
that had jurisdiction over unincorporated areas. Moreover, Oakland seemed to be making plans to extend its borders north to
include both areas. The two sides united, incorporating on April 1, 1878. Additional annexations of territory in 1891, 1906,
1908, 1920, and 1958 brought the town to its current size.
Due to the fact that the communities were polarized, many simple things were issues. The location of the town hall was settled
by the creation of a steam rail line on Shattuck Avenue, the most convenient route to Oakland and the Southern Pacific ferry
to San Francisco for both East and West Berkeley. In 1899, the town hall was put on wheels and moved from University Avenue
and Sacramento Street to a site on Grove Street between Allston Way and Center Street, just two blocks west of Shattuck.
From 13,214 residents in 1900, Berkeley's population increased to 40,434 in 1910 and to 56,036 in 1920 due to increase in
the availability of transportation to Oakland and San Francisco. The community continued to grow, with populations reaching
82,000 in 1930 and 115,000 by 1940, fueled by a boom in defense spending, both in research at the University and in the Richmond
area shipyards. Since the 1940's, the population of Berkeley has remained relatively stable at just over 100,000 due to space
constraints and the growth of surrounding suburban communities.
The availability of transportation options such as street rail and ferries from 1900 to the 1920's promoted Berkeley's development
and growth as a suburban area. The red Southern Pacific electric streetcars were in competition with the orange San Francisco-Oakland
Terminal Railways or Key Transit System streetcars. Francis Marion "Borax" Smith established the Key Transit System routes
in 1903 to help with real estate development. The Key System street rail to a propeller driven ferry transport promised a
35-minute trip from Berkeley to San Francisco. By 1923 Golden Gate Ferry established a ferry option for those with automobiles.
Ferries could not compete after the Bay Bridge opened in 1936. More cost-effective buses over took all street rail routes
by 1948. The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District was formed to publicly operate a local bus system in 1960.
The new community also had to face significant challenges in utilities. The water supply through Strawberry Creek and shallow
wells that first encouraged settlement proved insufficient for the growing population. Due to lack of water storage, Berkeley
residents had restricted watering for gardens as early as 1883. A series of private water companies failed, were bought out,
restructured, and failed again in a cycle from 1877 to the 1920's. Seeing a need for reliable water supply and larger water
storage, there was a move to implement municipally owned water companies and public utilities as early as 1911. The proposal
for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) was voted on in 1923, winning in part due to lack of water supply to quell
a wildfire that burned a great deal of North Berkeley in October 1923. EBMUD turned down San Francisco's offer to share water
supply from the Hetch Hechy reservoir, creating the San Pablo reservoir from Mokelumne River water by 1929.
Fire was a constant threat in early Berkeley, due to lack of water supply, wood construction, and a dependence on wood stoves
and kerosene lamps. The first volunteer fire department was established in 1882, continuing until paid fire positions were
established in 1904 in as many as 10 firehouses. Fire continues to be a hazard in Berkeley, as seasonal drought, hot weather,
and large wildfires destroy homes. Particularly destructive fires occurred in October of 1923 and 1991.
The police department began as the town marshal and constables, elected positions. In 1905, August Vollmer, a veteran of the
Spanish American war, was elected marshal. When the 1909 charter established a professional police department, Vollmer was
appointed police chief. Chief Vollmer demanded honesty and efficiency from his force, requiring staff to know the laws they
were enforcing and wear standard uniforms while on duty. Vollmer was among the first to implement scientific investigation,
a record keeping system, and instituted codes of ethics including a ban on gratuities and drinking in uniform. During Vollmer's
40 years on the force, Berkeley grew into one of the most highly respected police forces in the country, a reputation that
continues through today.
After World War II, Berkeley faced a migration to the surrounding suburbs. The University's student population doubled from
1945 to 1948, for a total of 25,000. The University's prestige increased, in part because of participation in the Manhattan
project building the atom bomb. During the 1950's, the Regents required all university personnel to take an anti-Communist
loyalty oath. However, much of the University's faculty felt the loyalty oath was a violation of First Amendment rights and
a threat to academic freedom and tenure. Faculty that refused to take the oath were fired, and promptly sued. The California
Supreme Court ruled that the university could not impose a loyalty oath different than that required of all other state employees.
Controversies such as the loyalty oath demonstrate the liberal nature of Berkeley citizens. By 1961, the city government had
liberal majorities. The city council worked on the issues of racial justice, including housing discrimination and school desegregation.
Students at the University were also active participants in the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960's.
Berkeley activists participated in demonstrations against a San Francisco meeting of the House Committee on Un-American Activities
in 1960, employment discrimination all over the Bay area, and organized political activity on the edges of Campus. In September
of 1964, students were told that political activity would be banned from the campus edge's Bancroft Way sidewalk. Student
groups decided to use direct action and civil disobedience to oppose the administrative restrictions. The activists transformed
the structure of the protest from a "united front" of organizations to the Free Speech Movement (FSM), a separate group with
its own identity and highly informal governing process. FSM activists put their campus conflict into a broad context, beginning
an era of activism in many arenas.
Liberal politicians had long urged campus and city radicals to pursue their goals through electoral politics rather than direct
action. Berkeley's on-going legacy of the sixties has promoted laudable popular involvement in community affairs and a willingness
to defend important values and promote useful social experimentation.
Sources: City of Berkeley Home Page.
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us (accessed 11/10/2003)
Wollenburg, Chris.,
Berkeley: A City in History.
http://www.infopeople.org/bpl/system/historytext.html (accessed 11/10/2003)
Pettitt George A.,
A History of Berkeley. Berkeley, Calif. Alameda County Historical Society, 1976.
Pettitt George A.,
Berkeley: the Town and Gown of it. Berkeley, Calif. Howell-North Books 1973.
Scope and Content of Collection
The City of Berkeley California records (1878-1954) consist of records from the city clerk's office. The collection includes
records relating to the business of city government, such as the city charter, reports, town attorney opinions, city council
minutes, planning commission information, correspondence, tax sale rolls, indices, financial records, agreements, leases,
bids, ordinances, and petitions. It also contains police and fire department reports, information on public utilities including
natural gas, water, electric power, lighting, and discussion of municipally owned utilities. Additional documentation including
street infrastructure, street railways of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Key System Transit Company, the wharf and
harbor, school construction, Civil Works Administration projects, and clippings are included in the collection. The contents
are somewhat inconsistent over sporadic periods of time, however, a range of documentation on late nineteenth and early twentieth
century Berkeley is available.
Highlights of the collection include: documentation on the early town of Berkeley, including the charter, 1899 census documents,
tax sale rolls and indices, planning commission and street information, documentation on the street railway systems, and early
police department records.