This 1907 vintage postcard shows Broadway Street in Oakland, California.
It’s a great view of the bustling city of Oakland, California in 1907 with mountains in the background and wide open California skyline above. Even this postcard gives the feeling that Oakland is a very modern city for its time. One can see a man on one of those new-fangled contraptions (as my grandfather would have said) a bicycle! Along with this modern vehicle, one can also see a horse drawn carriage, and either telegraph wires or possibly telephone wires overhead (telephones having been installed in cities by this time). This vintage postcard has captured Oakland, California in days past at a time when it was transitioning from frontier life to modern city.
Founded in 1852, Oakland sits east of San Francisco separated by the San Francisco Bay. It has grown over the years into the eight largest city in the U.S. and is today a major shipping port as well as home to many high-tech California companies. It is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States, with over 150 languages spoken. It is not uncommon to see store signs in languages other than English in Oakland today making it, like San Jose, a very interesting place to visit.