Architectural Tour of Alameda
For this 4-mile loop through Alameda's architectural history, start at Caroline Street and Santa Clara Avenue. Take Caroline south. At the fourth cross street, San Antonio Avenue, turn left. In five blocks, you arrive at Franklin Park. The houses facing the park are representative of many in Alameda, dating from around 1890, and in the Queen Anne style, with lots of angles and decoration. Turn right on Morton Street, and circle halfway around the park to San Jose Avenue.
After one block on San Jose, turn right on Grand Street and right again at Clinton Avenue. This was Alameda's Gold Coast, home to the rich and famous, with stupendous views across the bay. That is, until 1957, when the Utah Construction Co. dredged and filled to create "new land" and build more houses just offshore, across a new, artificial estuary.
Despite the lost view, the houses are lovely. Turn around on Clinton, walking toward Grand, and continue three blocks to Chestnut Street. Turn left, and then right on San Jose. In another block (at Willow Street), check out the two corner homes at 2103 and 2070 San Jose, both built in the 1890s.
Stay on San Jose for four more blocks, past the Park Street commercial district, until you run into Jackson Park. Turn left into the park toward the octagonal-shaped bandstand. This might be a sweet picnic spot - or travel a few more blocks and stop at a cafe or restaurant along Park Street.
Continue through the park and exit at the eastern end. Cross Encinal Avenue to Park Avenue. (Park Street, which you'll get back to soon, is much bigger than Park Avenue.) In one block, at Central, turn left. In one more block, you reach Park Street - the old, and now revitalized, downtown. Stop for refreshment if you'd like. Be sure to look off to your left, to the old Masonic Temple (1327-33 Park St., completed in the early 1890s), the only remaining massive Victorian building here.
Stay on Central. You won't be able to miss the Alameda Theatre & Cineplex - a recently restored 1932 movie palace designed by Timothy Pflueger. At Oak, turn right for a one-block detour to City Hall. Alameda's population was less than 15,000 when City Hall was completed in 1896 - but the elegance and dignity of this brick and sandstone structure show it was designed with hopes of a bright future. Back track on Oak to Central, then turn right, past the multi-columned Alameda High School.
From here, the most direct route back to your starting point is along Central. Trees shade the sidewalks, and 19th century houses mix with more modern structures. It's about a dozen blocks to Caroline, and then just one short block (turn right) to Santa Clara.