When British-born Alfred A. Cohen built his railroad through Alameda, he turned to his friend and fellow countryman George Bird to build a hotel to house the men who built the line. Cohen and partner James D. Farwell built a second hotel across town to accommodate a wealthier clientele.

Dennis Evanosky
In 1916 Dr. Chauncey Penwell Pond and his wife, Josephine Kibby Pond, filed a plat map with Alameda County. They had purchased the Hawley tract on the east side of High Street south of Central Avenue.

Dennis Evanosky

Alameda news publishers — going back to the Encinal’s publisher Fred Krauth who piloted the city’s first influential newspaper in the late 1860s — become connoisseurs of local business.

Among the many fascinating lives that played out at least in part here in the Island City was California Pioneer Alonzo Green. Ship captain, hotelier and city trustee (City Councilmember), Green lived a long, notable life in part in Alameda as well as on Bay Farm Island.

The famed playwright William Shakespeare and his wife, Ann, had three children. Their two youngest — Hannet and Judith — were twins.

Alamedans drive past a historic landmark with an Alameda connection whenever they reach Oakland via Doolittle Drive. Aviation history enthusiasts know Oakland Airport played a pivotal role in the development of air travel as we know it today.

Gustave O’Hara Taaffe’s 19th-century Rosebush estate is today’s Lincoln Park

The two photos shown above often come up as topics of conversation on social media. They are seldom shown as a pair, however. These photos were taken minutes apart some time after 1906. The photographer stood on the east side of Park Street and Central Avenue.

The first lived on a small estate name ‘Homebush’

Part one
Vigilante James Farwell, Consul Frederik O’Hara Taaffe and Steamboat Captain Robert R. Thompson and their families once lived on an estate that became Lincoln Park.