The collection

It started with the Walking on Wednesdays group in Piedmont, California (open to all, no need to be a Piedmont resident). After each walk around the city, the organizer sends out an email with a summary of everything that was seen and heard. At the bottom of one walk was a small line mentioning a historical collection of Oakland and Piedmont history.

After connecting with Alex who was holding the 20+ boxes of 1800s and 1900s Oakland history from Albert E Norman, I offered to help organize it. Alex had photographed most of the collection and I started indexing, captioning and physically organizing the pictures, maps and documents that came in the collection. Over 1,000 photos, hundreds of documents and maps later I am starting this website to help share the items.

In the beginning there will not be any logistical order to the blog, just what I have started with and eventually where it ends up. I will try to organize things as much as possible.

If you have any extra information you would like to add to the items posted please leave a comment or contact me through the form.

Enjoy!