H69.38.1712

The Huntington Tract is bounded on the west by 7th Ave. and on the east by 9th Ave. East 10th St. is the northern boundary street and the Central Pacific Railroad tracks are the southern boundary. East 9th St. bisects the subdivision from north to south; the north-south streets, in addition to the boundary streets are: Park Way, 8th Ave., and Hampton Way. The "Tract List" compiled by Quentin dates the tract at 18--. M.J. Laymance & Co. are the real estate agents. (D. Cooper, 8/96) T. W. Badger is probably Thomas W. Badger, who in 1861, settled on an estate in Brooklyn (now a part of Oakland) and created Badger's Grand Central Park which opened to a crowd of 4,000 paying customers on April 14, 1872. A restaurant served East Bay oysters, beef, wine, and steam beer. Theater and opera productions filled a 3,000 seat pavillion. Exotic plants and animals thrived in a botanical garden and menagerie. Baseball games and trotting races brought the "cranks"--as sports fans were called--into the grandstands. But demands for expansion of the booming transportation industry soon required tht Badger give up his land. By 1885, the scenic park was transformed to a tangle of railroad tracks and busy inner-harbor piers. From Steven Lavoie for the "Walk Along the Water" exhibition.

Used: William F. Boardman