The Land of Cotton 

In 1883, the south shore of Brooklyn Basin became the land of cotton. But here the crop was not hand-picked by impoverished sharecroppers--it was hauled in by rail to the California Cotton Mills. There, two Scottish immigrants--John Yule Millar and William Rutherford--helped establish a textile industry on the West Coast and a market for California-grown cotton.

The mill's largely Portuguese-American work force was paid its daily wages in coin. The sound of the earnings tinkling in the pockets of those workers--who settled in a company town beside the mill--gave the neighborhood the nickname "Jingletown."

A new state-of-the-art facility replaced the original mill in 1917. Much of the factory was demolished by the construction of the Nimitz Freeway in 1954. Only a portion of the plant remains, a brick and glass relic of Oakland's industrial heyday.

Steven Lavoie
Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room

  "Walk Along the Water"
  © Oakland Museum of California, used with permission.

Update: The remaining mill structure has been awarded City of Oakland Landmark status and converted to work/live lofts.  A brick wall can be seen beside Freeway 880 where it cuts through the site of the original mill.  Bill Threlfall, Waterfront Action, 2009

Explore this Topic:

California Cotton Mills Historical Video - Internet Archive

Image of twine works at California Cotton Mill, ca. 1890s - Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Library

 

2009 photograph of remaining mill structure - Waterfront Action

 

2009 photograph of Freeway 880 where it cuts through the site of the original mill - Waterfront Action
 

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