Forgotten Oakland: Vintage Photos Of Its Industrial Past

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– Posted on August 30, 2025

Recently, I came across a bunch of vintage photos from the Oakland and East Bay area that were rather exciting in a personal way. The images are from a much larger collection (1,656 images) that is housed at Cornell University and is titled “U.S. President’s Railroad Commission Photographs 1960-61”, and it shows the area as the industrial hub I never knew. Pictures of a busy city of assembly lines, shipbuilding yards, canneries, and warehouses. And of course, lots of railroad life –the photos’ main purpose.

No one could have guessed it when these were taken in 1961, but the reality captured in them was to change greatly in the next ten to twenty years. As it is, they’re glimpses of a bygone era.

A great deal of what one can see in these shots was gone by the time I moved to the Bay Area in the mid ’90s. At the time, Oakland and its surroundings were going through troubled times, after industries had left and various urban renewal efforts had failed to pan out. It was in the midst of change then, with new plans and lots of new industries moving in. The results of which I saw in person when I visited again in 2016 and last year. Pleasant visits where I got to see old friends, and explore anew this ever-changing place.

Let’s then begin this tour through time. But first, a special thanks to Eric703, who helped me find approximate current views of several of these locations. As much as possible, that is. Most of what’s shown is basically unrecognizable, so if one of these is off and you have a better guess, do bring it up in the comments section.

The shot above is one of the easiest to locate, since it was taken from the Adeline St. overpass. Current street view is HERE.

Another easy location to figure out, since the Bavarian Village building is still standing, now as part of Honor Kitchen & Cocktails in Emeryville. Looks quite different now, of course.

There’s quite a collection of cars in this shot, from the neat ’58 Fairlane 500 in the foreground, to a white Thunderbird pulling away. A ’59-’60 Studebaker Lark is ready to cross on the left, and a collection of wagons is at the Bavarian Village parking. A ’60 Ford and ’60 Mercury are on the corner, and a ’59 Chevy is against the wall. A rare one is pulling into the road, a Borgward Isabella if I’m not mistaken.

Back to Oakland on this image, current view seen HERE. On this one, a clean looking ’59 Ford is in the foreground. Foreign makes are next to the gas pumps on the right, a Fiat with a soft top and another, whose make I can’t quite identify.

In the distance, by the warehouse on the opposite side of the street, a Step-Down Hudson also calls my attention.

It’s time to check out a freeway ramp, as it looked back when it was somewhat new (Current approximate view, HERE). We got an early ’50s Chrysler on the left, poorly parked by the railroad crossing warning lights. A ’57-’58 Plymouth is on the street near the truck, with an older ’40s car right behind it.

Nice view of parked cars (for the approximate current view, click HERE). That ’52 Cadillac behind the Ford in the foreground is about the most eye-catching in this shot. A car that I would ordinarily think belonged to a manager, but was about a decade old by then… so? Curiously, the Ford F100 pickup next to it looks the shiniest of this group.

Here we have far more conventional cars, with quite a few Chevys and Fords. That ’51 two-tone Chevy in the foreground was fairly old by ’61, but looked well-kept. Well, California weather. Newest in the shot is the ’60 Ford parked by the 15MPH sign.

This image is hard to locate. The 15MPH speed limit sign reads “Government Reservation,” and the road appears to become a causeway, so we’re guessing this is the entrance to the Coast Guard Base Alameda, which is an island in the harbor/basin. Hard to tell, since the causeway looks very different now, and the railroad tracks are gone. But here’s the guessed approximate location. 

As per the Cornell University caption, here’s a view of the Fruitvale Cannery connection. Not a great deal of unusual car action in this image, but many of the buildings in the background are still standing, and a VW Beetle is seen just about to drive below the overpass.

Here’s one that came empty location-wise, but it’s got a mystery foreign car in the parking area of the warehouse/factory on the left. Radiator motif looks Aston-Martinesque, but I believe it’s something else.

Let’s go to pure railroad action with the following shots. First, this one, labelled “looking east at the West Oakland diesel shop”. A Southern Pacific train features prominently in this image, one of the major lines that were behind the East Bay’s growth as an industrial hub in the late 19th century.

Maintenance and other duties are being tended to at the coach yard in West Oakland.

Another view of the coach yard.

To make a nice round trip, we’ll close with our opening shot. Lots of Fords in this image, most notorious the ’57 panel delivery on the street. On the left, pulling away on the side road, a curious foreign make car can be seen. Current street view of this location is approximately HERE.

With that, we close today’s tour. For those who clicked the street view links, I’ll admit some of these locations aren’t very cheery nowadays. But few things are near the freeway system. For a brighter outlook, one needs to go a few blocks away, like the surroundings near Piedmont Ave. Quite a nice place to spend some time in, as I did in 2016 and last December. What will the area look like next time I visit? Impossible to know, but I’m eager to find out.