In 1851, three men- Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon-began developing what is now downtown Oakland. However, the Chinese struggled to settle because they were discriminated against by the white community and their living quarters were burned down on several occasions. People in China were struggling financially as a result of the First Opium War, the Second Opium War, and the Taiping Rebellion, so they began migrating to Oakland, many of whom were recruited to work on railroads. The Peraltas had no choice but to abandon the homesite they had occupied for two generations." Development of Chinatown ĭuring the 1850s-just as gold was discovered in California-Oakland started growing and further developing because land was becoming too expensive in San Francisco. The lands became Carpentier's when Peralta refused to repay the loan he believed was fraudulently incurred. Especially insidious were the actions of attorney Horace Carpentier, who tricked Vicente Peralta into signing a 'lease' which turned out to be a mortgage against the 19,000-acre rancho. He writes in Chicanos in California, "They lost everything when squatters cut down their fruit trees, killed their cattle, destroyed their buildings, and even fenced off the roads leading to the rancho. Camarillo claims the family was the victim of targeted racial violence. Īccording to Stanford University historian Albert Camarillo, the Peralta family struggled to keep their land after the incorporation of California into the United States after the Mexican–American War. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called Encinar (misrendered at an early date and carried forward as "encinal") -Spanish for "oak grove"-due to the large oak forest that covered the area, which eventually led to the city's name. Most of Oakland was within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons. The grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio. In 1772, the area that later became Oakland was colonized, along with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. Here the Peralta family is pictured at their hacienda in Oakland, c. Oakland and much of the East Bay was part of Rancho San Antonio, granted to Luís María Peralta in 1820. It continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the population, increasing its housing stock, and improving its infrastructure. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the western terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. The fertile flatland soils helped it become a prolific agricultural region. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 18th century, it became part of a large rancho grant in the colony of New Spain. Oakland's territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. The city was incorporated on May 4, 1852. With a population of 440,646 in 2020, it serves as the Bay Area's trade center and economic engine: the Port of Oakland is the busiest port in Northern California, and the fifth busiest in the United States of America. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay Area and the eighth most populated city in California. Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States.
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