Nackerud

1301 Oxford in Context

A History

by Jon Nackerud

"What makes the Byrne property at 1301 Oxford in Berkeley so special?" The following attempts a reply.

The East Bay has a 10,000-year human and natural legacy. To quote a flyer for a "Beneath our Feet," a presentation on this subject:

"People have been living along the shores and streams of the East Bay for nearly 10,000 years. This deep history is still with us. It is recorded in shellmounds, rock art, scattered stone and shell tools, motor holes, quarry sites, and burials found throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties."

The first thing that makes 1301 Oxford special is that it is part of that ancient legacy. The 20,000 year-old creek that runs through it was essential to the existence and survival of the Native Americans that first populated this area. Think of what 1301 Oxford[1] must have been like when only the Ohlones, Bay Miwoks and Yokuts were the human inhabitants. It was part of trail up to the area now called Tilden Park. At the bottom of the trail were shellmounds. The creek greenbelt allowed the Native Americans to hunt and gather as they followed the creek up to the areas where they gathered and ground acorns. Grizzlies roamed the neighborhood and steelhead lived and spawned in the creek. The grinding bowls are still visible in the rocks on the edge of the north branch of the creek (e.g., Mortar Rock Park). In all likelihood Native Americans camped at 1301 Oxford. It was a very sensible spot to stay. The water probably ran fresh all year. There was shade, food sources, and 1301 Oxford was the last level spot before the falls on the upper reaches.

We tend to think of this site's history as starting in 1860, when the Byrnes put down their roots, but we must member that in terms of "European" history, the 1301 Oxford site was first part of Rancho San Antonio, the original 48,000-acre ranch owned by Luis Maria Peralta. The Rancho was divided among Luis Maria's sons and the part containing 1301 Oxford ended up in the hands of Jose Domingo Peralta. Jose Domingo is credited with naming the creek that flows through 1301 Oxford, "Codornices," Spanish for the quail that were found in great numbers along its banks. Jose Domingo spent his last years living on that strangely shaped property on Codornices Creek now called Peralta Park, the current site of St. Mary's School. There was a Rancho road or trail that paralleled the east side of the 1301 property that later became a county road and then Spruce Street.

In 1859 the Byrne family traveled by covered wagon from Missouri to what would become known as Berkeley. The entourage included Napoleon Byrne and his wife Mary; their four young children (Peter, James, Maria and Edna); his wife's mother and sister; two blacks (freed slaves) Hanah and Pete Endow; and possessions including some furniture and livestock. They acquired 827 acres of land for a stock farm, one of the East Bay's first and largest, and picked a spot (1301 Oxford) on the south bank of Codornices Creek to build their home. The home site is a prime location, referred to at the time as "a jewel in the East Bay hills." Picking a spot to live was a very important decision for early settlers. They had to have year-round running water and some place to raise food, including livestock. If you messed up, you died (e.g., from cholera) or you had to leave and resettle.

The farm stretched from what is now called Live Oak Park up to Grizzly Peak, including well-known areas such as Codornices Park and The Berkeley Rose Garden. Napoleon's purchase was probably influenced by his wife's love for the place. She wrote a friend about it saying:

"I should regret immediately to lose this place, as I believe it the prettiest situation in the valley; indeed I have difficulty in believing there is prettier in the state. We have a beautiful view of it crossing the bay; even from the city we can see our little house distinctly. We can see it from Oakland to great advantage and from any part of the valley this always looks to me as the fairest spot. I mean, of course, its natural situation, as there are no improvements whatsoever."

Mary Tanner Byrne, letter of March 26, 1860

It is very important to note that the big house that burned was built eight years after this letter was written. It was the location Mrs. Byrne was praising and it is the location that makes this site so very significant. This site was located in a flat bulge in the greenbelt. Land beyond the immediate greenbelt was treeless and dry. They did not pick this spot because of a house, and the house only plays a part in the significance of this location and its history.

Of further cultural and historic interest, the free African Americans that chose to accompany the Byrnes on that wagon trip in 1859[2] may have been the first free African American settlers in the West. They lived with the Byrnes at this site for many years until they moved into the surrounding community. When this fact is combined with the history and importance of the location and the history and importance of the Byrne family, the historic value of this site is immeasurable.

The Byrne family history is also interesting and of historic and cultural importance. The Byrnes were forced to sell 1301 Oxford in 1873. Mr. Byrne had a series of financial reversals in the farming business and Henry Berryman acquired the entire property. While Berryman lived at 1301 Oxford, he developed the Berkeley Waterworks, the Berryman Reservoir, the North Berkeley Railway Line, and subsequently, the Berryman Tract; a subdivision of the 827-acre Byrne farm. Napoleon should have grown houses. Obviously, Berryman's occupation and use of the 1301 property adds to its historical significance.

In 1880 the Byrnes returned to Berkeley and built another house nearby at 1313 Oxford. Napoleon Byrne tried many ventures, failed at most and was considered Berkeley's most prominent (and perhaps at that time, only) Democrat. He was asked to run for state office but declined (a Democrat had no chance to win in California). After the election of 1884 put a Democrat in the White House, Mr. Byrne became Berkeley's first postmaster.

Byrne descendants still live in the East Bay including a granddaughter that has the bedroom set that was carried on the wagon train. Marguerite Hussey, Napoleon Byrne's granddaughter, was my next-door neighbor. She would regale me with stories of the Byrnes. One anecdote that I particularly liked was that Nappy, as they called him, used Damnrepublicans as one word and it was years before Mrs. Hussey discovered it was two words. Many of the Byrne family letters and other documents are in libraries in the East Bay.

In 1900 Henry Berryman gave the Byrne house and property to his daughter and son-in-law, Mendell Welcher, who named it "The Cedars." When Mrs. Welcher died, she willed 1301 Oxford to her sister, Alice Robinson, who had married into the storied Robinson missionary family of Hawaii.

But we're getting ahead of our story.

As towns in the East Bay started to grow the need for planning became apparent. About 1905, Werner Hegemann introduced his plan for the cities of Berkeley and Oakland. Hegemann's plan was based on the ideas of Frederick Law Olmsted, a noted American landscape architect, city planner, and writer on social issues. Basically, the plan reinforced the idea of a civilized society. It stressed refinement, culture, and the idea of living in harmony with nature. These ideas greatly influenced Berkeley's population and were a driving force behind the formation of Berkeley's Hillside Club. The architects and planners that belonged to the Hillside Club were responsible for many of the interesting houses in Berkeley. Examples of these houses are found on the edge of Codornices' greenbelt. The design model allowed nature to predominate and used the natural features such as creeks to site the structures. Professor Gary Brechin of the University of California's Dept. of Geography has written on this subject (Imperial San Francisco and Farewell Promised Land) and gives a wonderful slide show and talk on the efforts to feature creeks in the urban design of the East Bay. When you see examples of these early plans, you are struck by how they understood the idea of a setback; most of the homes were back from the creek and the creeksides were treated as public places. One of the best examples of this type of planning, called Rose Walk, is just east of 1301 Oxford at the corner of Codornices Road and Euclid Street. It was designed by Hillside Club members Bernard Maybeck and H.H. Gutterson and as its historic landmark plaque states; it is "A Work of Civic Art." Other examples of the Hillside Club style are found both east and west of 1301 Oxford throughout the neighborhood that borders Codornices Creek.

I believe that the Hillside Club ideas influenced the neighborhood surrounding 1301 Oxford and are part of the long record of concern for this property.

If you understand this history and the feelings it engendered, then you understand why in the early 1900's the neighbors petitioned the city to keep Berryman a path, even though it was platted as a street (thus its unusual 20-foot wide easement). Berryman path is located on the north side of the 1301 Oxford property. If you understand this history then you understand the neighborhood sentiment that resulted in the creation of Live Oak Park. This history reflects the on-going effort by this neighborhood to create an Olmsted style park along the Codornices Creek corridor from Live Oak Park to Codornices Park.

If you understand this history then you know why, when 1301 Oxford ("The Cedars") came "on the market" in late 1949, there was a determined effort by a wide coalition including residents of the Live Oak Park area to acquire this property. In the spirit of the Hillside Club, the advocates of this acquisition described its potential for "nature study, a playground, meeting place for senior citizens and general all-round use." It was promoted as a natural add-on to Live Oak Park. The culmination of this effort was reported in The Berkeley Daily Gazette in an article titled "Council Rejects `The Cedars' After Lengthy Hearing." (January 11, 1950; page 1) At that time, the property could have been acquired for under $35,000 and would have turned Live Oak Park into the premier natural city park of the East Bay. The arguments against the acquisition can only be described as shortsighted.

Recently Ms. Ruth Hayashi supplied some new facts about 1301 Oxford. Ms. Hayashi lived there as a child. Her father was chauffeur and grounds keeper to Mrs. Welcher. Ms. Hayashi remembers hearing the creek outside her house, which was probably about where the caretaker's house now is. That was when the creek was entirely open on the property. To cut back ivy that grew along the creek her father used a path that started about where the current wall is in the middle of the property. In 1941 the Hayashi family was interned[3] and when they returned in 1945, Mrs. Welcher allowed them to live on the third floor of the "Byrne Mansion." Ms. Hayashi remembers many details of the house. She can sketch the floor plan: big rooms, huge kitchen, foyer, spiral stairs, grand piano. Ms. Hayashi took lessons on the grand piano and is still in contact with her piano teacher who lived next door and is still alive. Ruth Hayashi said that she moved out of the house in 1948 when Mrs. Welcher died. In the 1980s Ms. Hayashi attended a meeting in the Byrne home of people interested in restoring the house. There was an architect there who was trying to determine what the house was like when it was in better condition. Ruth didn't say anything during the meeting, but went up to them at the end and told them she had lived in the house. She got the impression that they did not believe her though Ms. Hayashi remains very willing to talk about her experiences at 1301 Oxford.

Other parties tried to acquire the property including relatives of the Byrnes, but for numerous reasons, the property was deeded over to The People's Church of Berkeley, a member of a large organization of affiliated churches known as The Christian and Missionary Alliance. Due to deed restrictions, the Robinsons and the Christian and Missionary Alliance retained some degree of control over the property. Up until this time, the house had been occupied.

In 1952, when a church member (who was a contractor) attempted without permission to culvert and fill Codornices Creek at 1301 Oxford, pastor Williamson of the Church of the Cedars stopped the fill and expelled the contractor from the church. This heinous act permanently damaged the creek at 1301 Oxford. As a result, the banks are unstable and major slides are a regular occurrence (one major slide in each of the last three years). The resulting sediment flow kills downstream life and seasonally pollutes the creek for about one and one-half miles downstream. Again, if you understand the history, you understand why the habitat damage caused by the condition of the creek has been a neighborhood cause for concern for almost 50 years.

By the late 80's the Byrne House had fallen into disrepair and the Byrne House Neighborhood Association was formed to spearhead attempts to restore the Byrne home and make it available to the community. The local community, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (a planning grant), and the Berkeley City Council (Community Development Block Grant funds) all contributed money to achieve this group's goal, which was described as:

"The overall goal is to preserve the past in a way that will make it useful in the present and future. The restored building and gardens will be available for:" ... a list of activities follows.

When the Byrne house was destroyed by arson in the late 80's, the neighborhood and the Byrne House Neighborhood Association made one more determined effort to acquire the house but were turned down by the grantors of title (specifically Bruce Robinson).

After the fire many interested parties struggled with the repercussions of permitting demolition of the house, but it was allowed. That seemed to lift some restrictions and the building proposals began. In 1992 the East Bay Chinese Alliance Church (of the Christian and Missionary Alliance) attempted to build a much smaller project than the one currently proposed for 1301 Oxford and another struggle ensued. The neighborhood, the Zoning Adjustments Board and the Landmarks Preservation Commission acted in a manner that once again established this site's importance to the neighborhood, to the ideals of the Hillside Club, and to the history of Berkeley. The main concerns expressed at that time were preservation of the natural setting and leaving open the option of restoring Codornices Creek. At that time the parking area was strictly limited and the mitigations, listed for ZAB action on October 26th, 1992, included such restrictions as:

"All light emanating from the site shall be shielded to protect adjacent residences."

Also in the 90's, again following the historical trend, the neighborhood formed Friends of Live Oak Park, a group that was concerned with reversing the slow decline in the condition of Live Oak Park, which is immediately to the west of 1301 Oxford. This group was able to help, an example being their restoration of the great stone fireplace at Picnic Ground #1 in 1994.

Those wonderful community-based organizations and efforts also helped to establish the Byrne site as a landmark, and worked to prevent the degradation of this resource by limiting expansion of on-site church facilities. This is a long-time community activity with goals and values shared by the majority of the neighborhood. This almost 100-year old effort and concern is an important part of our neighborhood's history!

Other local community-based organizations have shown an interest in the property and the creek corridor. Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, Berkeley Design Advocates, the Teachers of Oxford School (use the corridor as a nature study area), the Sierra Club Northern Alameda County Regional Group, The Ecology Center and Friends of Five Creeks have all expressed interest in restoring Codornices Creek and preserving the watershed. Many of these organizations are involved in volunteer restoration projects along the Codornices greenbelt.

There are people that would argue that the most important aspect of this property is its history. 1301 Oxford reflects the history of the land, our neighborhood and many generations of settlers. This is the only parcel of land its size remaining as open or underdeveloped space on the Codornices greenbelt. No other parcel of land in Berkeley meets the "distinctive natural and built environment " description more aptly than this site, and nothing in Berkeley has more community-wide and national significance.

I like to think that three great settlings and their stories occurred at this location. First the Indians, who used this land for hunting, gathering, and as a path to the hills. Then the Spanish. As part of the Peralta Rancho, it again reflects the history of the time. Then the pioneers, the determined settlers of the land. The Byrnes picked this spot for its unique qualities and those qualities remain today. It doesn't matter that the house is gone, that was just one of the stories.

The 1301 Oxford site now faces its greatest challenge. A project proposed by Congregation Beth El for this site is based on the claim that this site is not a historic resource, even though it has been designated and reaffirmed as a historic resource by the City of Berkeley. To be eligible for listing as a historic resource in the California Register (the state level) a resource must be significant at the local, state, or national level under one or more of the following four criteria:

• 1. It is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history, or the cultural heritage of California or the United States; or

  2. It is associated with the lives of persons important to local, California, or national history; or

  3. It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method or construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; or

  4. It has yielded, or has the potential to yield, information important to the prehistory or history of the local area, California, or the nation.

I'm not sure what it takes to qualify locally, but I'm very sure that 1301 Oxford would qualify as a state resource under numbers 1 and 2, above. What do you think?

Footnotes

1. OK, it didn't have that address then. [Back to footnote reference--1301 Oxford]

2. This was before the Emancipation Proclamation. [Back to footnote reference--1859]

3. Yet another piece of history that Berkeley should not dismiss. [Back to footnote reference--interned]

Jon F. Nackerud

2212 Eunice Street

Berkeley, California 94709-1419

(510) 524.2640

(510) 527.6948 voice mail and fax

nackerud @ ix.netcom.com

If you have further information (or corrections) regarding this site and its history, please contact me.

1301 Oxford Timeline. V2 12.28.00