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OAKLAND

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 935 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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OAKLAND , a See also:

city and the See also:county-seat of See also:Alameda county, See also:California, U.S.A., situated opposite and about 6 m. distant from See also:San Francisco, on the eastern See also:shore of San Francisco See also:Bay. Pop. (189o) 48,682; (1900) 66,96o, of whom 17,256 were See also:foreign-See also:born, 3197 being Irish, 2742 See also:German, 2026 See also:English, 1544 English-Canadians, 1020 Portuguese and 994 See also:Swedish; (1910 See also:census) 150,174. It is the See also:terminus of the See also:Ogden See also:branch of the See also:Southern (formerly Central) Pacific, of the See also:Coast See also:Line of the See also:Atchison, See also:Topeka & See also:Santa Fe, and of the Western Pacific See also:railways. Passengers and See also:freight from the See also:East to San Francisco are transferred by See also:ferry from Oakland. A branch of the bay (called Oakland See also:Harbour) divides Oakland from Alameda, and the See also:rail-way piers of Oakland run directly out into the bay for more than 2 M. toward San Francisco, thus shortening the ferry connexions. See also:Lake See also:Merritt, in the See also:heart of the city, a favourite See also:pleasure resort, is the centre of the city's See also:park See also:system. Oakland is the seat of California See also:College (co-educational, Baptist, opened in 1870), and of St See also:Mary's College (See also:Roman See also:Catholic, 1863) for men; and in the suburban See also:village of See also:Mills College, See also:west of the city, is Mills College (non-sectarian, 1871) for See also:women, an institution of high See also:rank. Electric See also:power for the city is derived from Colgate, on the Yuba See also:river, 219 M. distant. Oakland has important manufacturing interests, the See also:total value of its factory products in 1905 being $9,072,539, 69% more than in 1900. The site of the See also:present city (as well as that of Alameda and See also:Berkeley) See also:lay originally within the limits of a See also:great private Mexican See also:grant which was confirmed by the See also:United States authorities. A See also:settlement was begun—at first by " squatters " in See also:defiance of the private claim—in 185o; in May 1852 this was incorporated as a See also:town (the name being derived from a See also:wood of oaks in the midst of which the first settlement was made), and in See also:March 1854 it was chartered as a city.

In 1869 it was selected as the western terminus of the Central Pacific, a choice which greatly promoted Oakland's commercial importance. The See also:

water front was recklessly given away in 1852, and the resulting disputes and litigation lasted for more than See also:thirty years; in 1908 the water front reverted to the city. The See also:population increased more than sixfold from 186o to 1870, and doubled in 1900-1910. It became the county-seat in 1874. In See also:December 1910 a See also:commission See also:form of See also:government was adopted.

End of Article: OAKLAND

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