Montclair Village [Oakland, CA]

Description

A fun pictorial map of the Montclair neighborhood of Oakland, CA, designed to promote local businesses. Montclair is located along the western slope of the Oakland Hills, and this view gives the impression of a quaint forested hillside village. Everyone is smiling, and the overall atmosphere is sunny and optimistic.

Several elements on the map allude to the area’s history. Near the intersection of La Salle and Mountain Blvd, we see a classic black and white ‘x’-shaped railroad crossing sign. In the first half of the 20th century, the main line of the Sacramento Northern Railroad ran through Montclair. The tracks ran southward from Lake Temescal and crossed into Montclair over a trestle at Moraga Ave. and Thornhill Dr.

An inset in the lower left corner shows the 1928 Montclair firehouse, designed in a Hansel and Gretel style by Eldred E. Edwards of the Oakland Public Works Department. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Oakland Fire Department built a new station house on Shepherd Canyon Road and, upon completion, vacated the earlier structure.

Finally, just above the firehouse, we see the English cottage-style Montclair branch of the Oakland Public Library, which opened in 1930. It is still in use today.