A century ago this week, Thanksgiving was “celebrated in thousands of Berkeley homes,” the Berkeley Gazette reported Nov. 29, 1924.
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“Religious services in many of the churches of this city and an impressive service in the Berkeley hills preceded the family dinners and gatherings … .”
Some 200 foreign students at UC Berkeley had a celebratory dinner the night before at the University YMCA. Several dinners and present-givings were also held by local churches and civic organizations for Berkeley’s poor.
Thanksgiving mishaps included a fight at a home on Mabel Street over who should carve the turkey; it ended in the turkey being thrown out of a window. On Regent Street in Oakland, just over the Berkeley border, “a crackling fire above which a turkey was being roasted” generated sparks that set fire to three houses.
Underground streetcars: The idea of undergrounding streetcar tracks along Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley took another step forward Dec. 2, 1924, when the City Council met with a committee of downtown merchants.
An engineer hired by the city had submitted a report estimating costs and issues. He concluded that the cost would be close to $1.4 million dollars to build an underground system from University Avenue south to Ward Street.
Berkeley’s city manager, John Edy, noted that the project could not be undertaken unilaterally by the city but would require the voluntary cooperation of the Key System and Southern Pacific railroads.
Shattuck Avenue and Center Street are depicted in an early 20th century postcard. In 1924 businesses were proposing to put the Shattuck streetcar tracks underground. (image courtesy of Steven Finacom for Bay Area News Group)
Tunnel Road: A century ago Berkeley business clubs endorsed an idea to build a big, arched sign over Tunnel Road welcoming people to Berkeley. A similar sign had just been installed at San Pablo and University avenues.
At a meeting of the Affiliated Commercial Associations, it was stated that the sign would be for “the purpose of attracting travelers to this city who would otherwise be inclined to proceed into Oakland.”
Rose Walk: Many in Berkeley are familiar with Rose Walk, the idyllic pathway and staircase designed by Bernard Maybeck above Euclid Avenue.
On Dec. 2, 1924, a “protest of several prominent citizens against the proposed changing of the name … resulted in the City Council this morning refusing to make the change. A letter of protest was received signed by Chester H. Rowell, Warren Gregory and R.L. Underhill, who asserts that the name ‘Rose Walk’ expresses its limitations and usefulness.”
“They declared that the walk was built by private subscription 15 years ago and that at that time the subscribers met and named it. Dr. Gray, in petitioning for the change in name (to Norwood Place), said that it was often mistaken for Rose Street or Rose Terrace and the name had no connection with adjoining streets.”
New research: Construction started the morning of Dec. 1, 1924, for11 greenhouses on the UC Berkeley campus to provide additional research space for the College of Agriculture.
These were to be built on an open field at the northwest corner of the campus, adjacent to the intersection of Oxford Street and Hearst Avenue. Each 30-by-80-foot greenhouse would be built of wood and glass.
Traffic accidents: One child died and a man was injured in traffic accidents on Nov. 29, 1924. Wellesley Runcie, 7, the “son of J. W. Runcie, grocer of 2311 Rose Street,” ran from between parked cars on Spruce in front of a delivery truck for Ennor’s bakery. The truck hit and ran over him, and he was dead at the scene.
At Shattuck and Addison, John E. Hardwell tried to jump on board a moving Key System train, fell and was nearly run over. He survived with “severe bruises.”
Bay Area native and Berkeley community historian Steven Finacom holds this column’s copyright.