California Cotton Mills
In 1883, the south shore of Brooklyn Basin became the land of cotton. But here the crop was not hand-picked by impoverished sharecroppers--it was hauled in by rail to the California Cotton Mills. There, two Scottish immigrants--John Yule Millar and William Rutherford--helped establish a textile industry on the West Coast and a market for California-grown cotton.
The mill's largely Portuguese-American work force was paid its daily wages in coin. The sound of the earnings tinkling in the pockets of those workers--who settled in a company town beside the mill--gave the neighborhood the nickname "Jingletown."
A new state-of-the-art facility replaced the original mill in 1917. Much of the factory was demolished by the construction of the Nimitz Freeway in 1954. Only a portion of the plant remains, a brick and glass relic of Oakland's industrial heyday.
California Cotton Mills Oakland (Fruitvale) California 1920
Cheverolet Plant 1915 Oakland, California
In 1916, General Motors (GM) opened a major Chevrolet automobile factory in Oakland at 73rd Avenue and Foothill, producing cars and trucks there until 1963. Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William Durant in 1911, Chevrolet was acquired by GM in 1917. Other motor companies, Fageol and Durant, opened nearby within the next few years, and by 1929 when Chrysler expanded there with a new plant, Oakland had become known as “Detroit of the West”.
Fedele Difiore and Maria Pipitone at work in his grocery store Hillside Grocery.
Early days 1910 est.
Later 1920 est
7717 Hillside Grocery today
