Address Renumbering - Oakland

1-5-1912 SF CallAs Oakland has grown through the years, the City has been forced to renumber addresses throughout the City to avoid confusion. For example, check out this set of ordinances adopted between 1872 and 1905 regarding street addresses. In the late 1800s, the City had an official City Numberer. An 1896 article noted that Gerald L. Abell had been appointed to succeed his father, I. L. Abell, in this role, and also noted that the City Numberer was "paid 50 cents for each and every house numbered by him."¹ The largest renumbering was in 1912.

Telegraph Avenue

In 1894, Ordinance #1623 specified the addresses on Telegraph Ave. as follows: ²

Street (west)	Start Address	Street (east)	Start Address	Modern Addresses
16th	1	Broadway	2	1600
17th	101	17th or Birnie	100	1700
18th	201	-	-	1800
19th or Frederick	301	19th or Durant	300	1900
Williams	351	-	-	1951
20th or Delger	401	20th or Delger	400	2000
21st or Hobart	501	21st or Hobart	500	2100
Jones	551	-	-	2151
22nd or Charter	601	22nd or Walnut	600	2200
23rd or Simpson	701	23rd or Locust	700	2300
24th or Elm	801	24th or Elm	800	2400
25th or Laurel	901	25th or Laurel	900	2500
Sycamore (26th)	1001	26th or Bay	1000	2600
Knox (27th)	1101	-	-	2700
Albion	1201	Merrimac	1200	2800
Caledonia	1301	Prospect	1300	2900
30th	1401	Orchard	1400	3000
31st	1501	Hawthorne	1500	3100
32nd	1601	-	-	3200
33rd	1701	-	-	3300
34th	1801	Plymouth	1800	3400
35th	1901	Edwards	1900	3500

The Great 1912 Renumbering

In 1912, the city did a widespread renumbering to make things more consistent. ³ Fortunately the 1912 Sanborn maps usually show the pre-1912 and new addresses.

Creation of West Grand

Before 1949, West Grand Avenue didn't exist. Grand Avenue went east, but west of Broadway had been the Key Route Inn. Various numbered streets changed names, resulting in address changes along Broadway [ and probably Telegraph ]. The address changes don't show up until the 1954 Sanborn maps.