Sanford Building - Oakland

The Sanford Building on the northwest corner of Broadway and 8th Street is one of the oldest remaining masonry buildings in Oakland. It was built in 1865 by Edmund P. Sanford, a local pharmacist.

This building was one of seven located north of 7th Street following the construction of the 7th Street railroad in 1863. “These stores were larger and more citified than the old ones (south of 7th Street) having show windows, carved fixtures, etc. They also required their clerks to wear white shirts and to shave frequently…” ¹

In 1866, Sanford sold the building to Alexander Martin for $10,000. Martin in turn resold the building to San Francisco high school teacher Ellis Holmes for $11,000. The building was damaged in the 1868 earthquake.

The City of Paris was a dry goods store in the building, owned by Hesse, Winterton & Company. The store is listed in the 1869 and 1872 directories. (Ernest Hesse was on a return visit to Europe in 1873, and died when the Ville du Havre sank.)

Dr. Alfred Lefevre, a popular Oakland dentist who had his office in the Sanford Building, was murdered there in 1880.

The 1896 Illustrated Directory shows an office for George Babcock upstairs, and the Pearl Oyster and Chop House in the middle space downstairs. In 1899 the Oakland Water Company was replaced by the Contra Costa Water Company. ²

During the 1970s and 1980s the Sanford Building was part of Oakland's Victorian Row restoration project.

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