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The Industrial Home for the Adult Blind (sometimes the Industrial Home of Mechanical Trades for the Adult Blind) was established in 1885 at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Thirty-sixth Street, on the eastern half of the former Peter Thomson estate later owned by Benjamin W. Regan. The Home went through a number of changes, and then became the State-operated Orientation Center for the Blind (OCB) in 1951. In 1964, in part due to the need to acquire a portion of the property to allow the construction of the interchange between the Grove Shafter Freeway and the MacArthur Freeway, the OCB moved to its current location in Albany. Sometime thereafter, the Oakland office for the California Highway Patrol and the Caltrans Telegraph Maintenance Station were constructed on the remaining portion of the OCB site north and east of the freeway interchange.

In 1887 T. O. Crawford was the superintendent of the Home. Directors of the Home included Nathan Spaulding.  Residents at the Home were called "inmates," according to Annual Reports issued by the Home. 1 In 1895, John R. Glascock, T. C. Coogan, and N. T. James were appointed trustees by the governor. 2

Photos

Men's Dormitory
Industrial Home for the Adult Blind 1Broom Factory
Industrial Home for the Adult Blind 1Superintendent's Cottage
Industrial Home for the Adult Blind 1Administration Building
Industrial Home for the Adult Blind 1Garden Statue and Men's Dormitory
Industrial Home for the Adult Blind 1

1902 Sanborn excerpt

Links and References

  1. Thirty-Fourth and Thirty-Fifth Annual Reports of the Industrial Home for the Adult Blind of the State of California; 1918-1919, 1919-1920 Annual_Report_of_the_Industrial_Home_for.pdf
  2. Named by Governor San Francisco Call November 12, 1895
  3. The Home for the Blind Oakland Tribune April 11, 1888
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