4793-97-99 Telegraph 1989

Description:
Fiorio Hardware, 4799 Telegraph Avenue, Temescal district, Oakland, Calif. Fiorio Hardware was established in 1922 by Joseph A. Fiorio. The store was past on to his son, and then to two grandsons, who were running the store when it closed in December 1989. Photo taken a few days before it closed." [Ray Raineri note]

NowThen:
Click Here

Date of Document:
December, 1989

Document Author:
Don Hausler

Geographic Location:
4799 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, Calif.

Context:
Immigrants from northern Italy had begun to settle in Temescal well before the turn of the 20th century. However, it was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire that brought a significant influx of Italian Americans to Temescal, eventually transforming it into the East Bay s Little Italy. So many came many fleeing San Francisco s North Beach neighborhood that by the 1930s, most Temescal s stores, markets, banks, restaurants, and bars along Telegraph Avenue were Italian American owned. It was said that Temescal s commercial district so diverse was its businesses provided everything one might need.