Jack London Square 

What is now Jack London Square was in the early 1850s two wharves jutting out into an inland waterway separating Oakland from Alameda. The waterway was then known as San Antonio Creek. Wharves, docks and warehouses were built along the channel which is known today as the Oakland Inner Harbor. In the late 1940s the Board of Port Commissioners conceived of a restaurant and entertainment center surrounding Heinolds Saloon. Decrepit buildings were razed, ground was leveled, graded and landscaped, and the new district was dedicated on May 1, 1951, ninety-nine years after the founding of Oakland. Within four years the square was attracting a million visitors annually.

In 1960, a 300-berth marina was unveiled, and in 1964 a waterfront "boatel" opened, now the site of the Waterfront Plaza Hotel. In the early 1980s, redevelopment began and the square evolved to its present state.

Annalee Allen

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

Update: Jack London Square is now undergoing a significant period of commercial growth and development.  In 2001, the Port of Oakland sold four of the buildings in the square and the right to develop a waterfront complex of offices, restaurants and shops to a private developer.  Under a 15-year development agreement with the City of Oakland, the developer has constructed new buildings and renovated others.  Bill Threlfall, Waterfront Action, 2009

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Jack London Square - Waterfront Action

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