Heald's Business College - Oakland

c.1909 - 1911 postcard ⁶

Heald's Business College was the first business college in the Western U.S., and was founded by Edward Payson Heald in San Francisco on August 8, 1863. Later it was known as Heald Colleges.

For many years, Heald was a top business college. A 1938 article reported that 93% of its graduates that year found business jobs. Noted alumni include:

"Trader Vic" Bergeron, famous restaurateur
A.P. Giannini, founder of Bank of America
M.H. de Young, newspaperman and museum founder
Hiram Johnson, former governor of California

Bacon Block - 1906

Before Heald opened a branch in Oakland, numerous residents made the trip to San Francisco to attend Heald. Following the 1906 earthquake, Heald merged with the Dixon College and Dixon's space in the Bacon Block became the Oakland branch of Heald's, referred to as Heald-Dixon College.

16th Street - 1907

Work began on a new building for the Heald-Dixon College in 1906. ⁷ The building at 16th was originally built as a 4 story building. In 1918, 2 stories were added; Heald occupied the top 3 floors. ⁵

From 1907 the address of Heald in Oakland was 518 - 16th Street.

1906 ⁷1909 ad1910 ad1913 ad1918 ad ⁵

17th Street - 1924

In 1922, Heald leased space in the Post-Enquirer Building at 1751 Franklin. They purchased a lot at 19th and Telegraph [ wonder if that was actually 17th and Telegraph? ], but had no immediate building plans.

They constructed another new building at 518 - 17th Street, which opened in January 1924. ⁸

1924 ⁸1928 directory

Broadway - 1944

In 1944, Heald moved to 2090 Broadway which was later renumbered to 2142 Broadway after West Grand Avenue was put through to Broadway.

1950 Sanborn excerpt

1909 ad

Recent History

Over the years, the college evolved from business courses to also include degrees in healthcare, legal and technology fields. In 2000, Heald had 12 campuses in California, Oregon and Hawai'i, and Larry Barton became president. ¹ The 10 California locations were in San Francisco, Concord, Hayward, San Jose/Milpitas, Salinas, Rancho Cordova, Fresno, Stockton, Modesto/Salida, and Roseville.

in 2001 it changed its name to Heald College. In 2007, the colleges were purchased by investors and changed to a for-profit college.

In 2009, Corinthian Colleges, Inc. purchased the colleges, and in 2011, announced plans to change to an all online format, though keep the instructors and staff.

After various investigations and a $30 million fine, ⁴ on April 26, 2015, Corinthian Colleges closed down all their schools including Heald, as well as Everest and WyoTech. Then president and CEO of Heald, Eeva Deshon tried to get the state to allow Heald to be sold and thereby survive, but was unsuccessful. ²