4751 Telegraph c1912

Description:
Felix Soldati, owner (second from right), is joined by family members in front of the Central Oakland Shoe Store, 4751 Telegraph Avenue (looking west), Temescal district, Oakland, Calif.

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Date of Document:
circa 1912

Document Author:
Unknown

Geographic Location:
4751 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.