undated photo 1
The Grove Street Hotel was a small hotel at 46th and Grove (now MLK) in the 1890s and early 1900s. According to Albert E. Norman, most of the patrons worked for Oakland's first electric streetcar line. 1 This is consistent with the 1901 Oakland directory, which lists seven residents as being employed by the Oakland Transit Co., which was the current name of what later became the Key System. 2
1900 classified 3
It's unknown exactly what years the hotel was in business as a hotel. Occasional classified ads from 1905 onward imply the building was being operated simply as a boarding or rooming house, and the 1911 Sanborn doesn't label the hotel, only a noodle factory in the storefront with a 4612 Grove address. Also, when the building was advertised for sale in 1914, it was described as a furnished apartment house. 5 The building still exists today, although many of the original features have been removed.
1905 classified ad 4 
1914 classified ad 5
1903 Sanborn excerpt
1911 Sanborn excerpt
CC SA-BY Our Oakland
NB: There was a much later hotel at 16th and MLK Street also called the Grove Street Hotel.
Links and References
- The Knave Oakland Tribune February 10, 1963
- Husted's Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley directory, 1901 on Archive.org
- classified ad Oakland Tribune June 1, 1900
- classified ad Oakland Tribune March 6, 1905
- classified ad Oakland Tribune April 26, 1914
