West Grand Avenue is the continuation of Grand Avenue west of Broadway. The section between Broadway and Telegraph Avenue was created after the Key Route Inn was torn down. The remainder of West Grand Ave. as far west as the Maritime Street / Wake Avenue / West Grand Avenue intersection was previously known as 22nd Street until it was renamed in 1949.
The change had been requested by the Uptown Development Association in 1947, but wasn't passed until 1949. 1
Current 22nd Street between Telegraph and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way was originally Jones Street, then became 21st Street; current 22nd Street between Brush Street and Market Street was previously Lydia [or Lidia] Street. Near Broadway, 21st St. became 22nd St., and Hobart became 21st St. These changes later [ question: when? they don't show up until the 1954 Sanborn maps ] caused some address renumbering, e.g., so that addresses on Broadway above the new 22nd St. would be in the 22xx range.
"East" and "West" Streets
Although Oakland has "East" labeled streets from E. 7th to E. 38th (being east of Lake Merritt), West Grand Avenue is one of two Oakland officially labeled "West," (not counting West Street), the other being West MacArthur Boulevard, the portion of MacArthur Boulevard west of Fairmount Avenue. There are also a few numbered streets in the former Oakland Army that are labeled as "west" on Google Maps and other sources, but those do not seem to be official designations and do not appear on street signs.
Note that older maps like the E.C. Sessions map from c.1870 show "West" labeled numbered streets, e.g., "W. 14th St." to the west of Market Street. East of Market had no prefix.
Pages tagged “West Grand Avenue”
Links and References
- City Commission Studies Change In Street Name Oakland Tribune June 11, 1947
- Plan to Rename Street Advances Oakland Tribune March 4, 1949
