There have been some interesting ways to cross the Bay (the helicopter service in the 1960s and the short-lived hovercraft service come to mind), but hopping into a 1910s open cockpit plane that takes off and lands on the water would certainly be...invigorating.

There were at least 3 different services of the ""the world's shortest air line" over the years, though the Airy Ferry service never really took off😏

The plane used for the c.1929 service also took off and landed on the water, but the larger cabin was enclosed, and airplane technology had improved a lot.

But accidents still happen...at least one of them resulted in serious injuries.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Air_Ferry

#OaklandHistory #OaklandWiki

@DavidGallagher Echoes of the Posey Tube sections leaving Hunters Point nearly 40 years before that

https://archive.org/details/0780_Gould_can_5113_2_14_37_22_00

#OaklandHistory @internetarchive

The recent toot by @DavidGallagher reminded me of Andrew Alden's https://oaklandunderfoot.com site, which reminded me of my entry into local history -- #Oakland signs

Many of them are gone now, including the one that first really sparked my interest, New Lucky's
http://blog.ouroakland.net/2011/05/signs-new-luckys.html

That interest grew into an obsession, so now there's the #OaklandWiki as a repository for my dives into #OaklandHistory as well as those by others
https://oaklandwiki.org/New_Lucky%27s

And I can't forget to mention the ghost signs project by @ihazrabies with signs in SF and Oakland

#TodayInOaklandHistory May 30, 1995, Glenn Burke died. He was the first openly gay player in MLB.

He drew the wrath of LA Dodgers coach Tommy Lasorda for befriending Lasorda's estranged gay son. His welcome at the Oakland A's wasn't much better, with coach Billy Martin introducing him with a slur

To their credit, some of his former A's teammates came to his assistance when they found out he was suffering from AIDS

On a lighter note, Burke and then teammate Dusty Baker are credited with the first "high five" after Baker hit a game-tying home run

https://oaklandwiki.org/Glenn_Burke

#OaklandHistory #LGBTQ

My #oakmtg #OaklandHistory buffs: On June 6, @alden will start an online discussion of his new book, "Deep Oakland," about how the geology of the city helped shape its history and its present appearance. We'll be talking in the Inkwell, the public conference of one of the oldest online communities in the U.S. For more information and a live link:
https://www.well.com/

For #FensterFreitag, one of the stained glass windows at First Presbyterian Church of #Oakland

#OaklandWiki #OaklandHistory
https://oaklandwiki.org/First_Presbyterian_Church_of_Oakland

The church itself was one of the first in Oakland, dating back to 1853. The current building at Broadway and 27th was completed in 1914.

@InfrastructureWeak We used to have that, the Merritt Queen
https://oaklandwiki.org/Merritt_Queen

Even further back, a boat between Fairyland and Peralta Playland, the Viking Launch. I haven't found much about that one, though

#OaklandHistory #OaklandWiki

@colburn Thanks. As you know, those experiences can leave you rattled for a bit

Fortunately I had a #BlackHistory tour with https://www.blwt.org to focus on, so I concentrated on re-centering myself before the participants arrived

#OaklandHistory

@jef And remember, if you don't like the submarines, go out and make some of your own
https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-james-bolar-and-his-home/78198029/ #OaklandHistory

#TodayInOaklandHistory April 9, 1882, Rev. Laurentine Hamilton died while preaching on Easter.

Hamilton had been pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, but was charged with heresy(!) and forced to leave. He founded a new church, which eventually became the First Unitarian Church of Oakland.

Besides his untimely exit, Hamilton is best remembered as the namesake of Mount Hamilton near San Jose.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Laurentine_Hamilton

#OaklandHistory #OaklandWiki

Any #OaklandHistory experts here? The other day we went to #Homeroom (the Mac&Cheese place, which happens to be exactly on the site of the #SacramentoNorthern electric railway's long-ago terminal), and I was browsing around the neighborhood later via GMaps satellite view, and I noticed this curve that seems to show that homes were built over some former road, or railway, or maybe filled-in creek? But I can't find any record of such a thing. Here's a link to a USGS historical topo map viewer: https://arcg.is/WXran ; As reminiscent as this is of covered-over RR right-of-ways elsewhere (like the old line through the Mission & Noe Valley in SF) there's no sign that this was every a railway as far back as a map from 1899. Maybe it's just the route of a really, really old country road? #OaklandCA #Oakland

Remembering Bertha Wright (1876-1971), one of the founders of the Baby Hospital in #Oakland which later became Children's Hospital. She and Miss Mabel Weed saw the need for a hospital focused on the unique medical needs of children, and made it happen.

(Odd coincidence: her uncle, John T. Wright, and his family were the last residents of what is now known as Camron-Stanford House.)

https://oaklandwiki.org/Bertha_Wright

#OaklandHistory #WomensHistoryMonth

Some very cool #Oakland then-and-now photos on Oaklandside

https://oaklandside.org/2023/03/20/photos-oakland-history-then-and-now/

#OaklandHistory

Remembering Dr. Ruth Love (1932-2022), who served as the superintendent of the #Oakland Unified School District beginning in 1975 (after the assassination of Dr. Marcus Foster in 1973). In 1981 she became the first Black woman to serve as superintendent of Chicago schools.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Ruth_Love

#OaklandHistory #WomensHistoryMonth #BlackHistory

@stewf
I wish @theoaklandside would use the Mastodon account they have.
Think they were prepared to jump from twitter, but didn't follow through

#theoaklandside #oakland #architecture #OaklandHistory #urbanism

In honor of #PiDay, give a listen to the East Bay Yesterday podcast episode on Sugar Pie DeSanto https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/the-queen-of-the-west-coast-blues/

She performed at Slim Jenkins' and Esther's Orbit Room in #Oakland, as well as the Apollo in Harlem

#OaklandHistory #BluesHistory

Remembering Dr. Aurelia Henry Reinhardt (1877-1948). She was president of Mills for more than 25 years, and was the first female moderator of the American Unitarian Association.

She was also an advocate for the creation of the East Bay Regional Park District, and served on the board following the creation of the district.

In 2019, EBRPD renamed the Redwood to Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in her honor.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Aurelia_Reinhardt

#OaklandHistory #WomensHistoryMonth

#TodayInOaklandHistory March 10, 1841, Ina Coolbrith was born. She was the first librarian of the #Oakland Free Library, and the first poet laureate of California.

Her family came to California, led over the Sierra Nevada by Black mountain man Jim Beckwourth

She and her mother used her mother's maiden name Coolbrith to distance themselves from their relative, Mormon founder Joseph Smith

https://oaklandwiki.org/Ina_Coolbrith

#OaklandWiki #OaklandHistory

Sad to hear of the passing of Dwight Garner, one of the Cal players involved in "The Play", as well as a Skyline HS grad.
https://oaklandside.org/2023/03/07/remembering-dwight-garner-cal-football-family-obituary-oakland/

#OaklandHistory #CalFootball

Cc: @GaryTyrrell

Remembering Elizabeth Thorn Scott Flood. She and her husband Isaac Flood worked to desegregate schools in Brooklyn and #Oakland in the 1870s. California schools weren't desegregated until 1880.

The Floods also helped found the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Elizabeth_Flood

#OaklandHistory #BlackHistory #WomensHistoryMonth