Alameda

By Stephen Rowland and Greta Dutcher

Book Overview

Alameda was once a peninsula of grassy fields and sandy beaches, separated from Oakland by a snaking estuary. A tidal canal made Alameda an island in 1902 and its waterfront became a major shipping port. Park Street's bay-windowed commercial buildings looked out on a prosperous city of streetcars and comfortable homes. Between the two world wars, Alameda's Neptune Beach resort and amusement park became the "Coney Island of the West," eventually boasting a Moorish entrance tower on Webster Street, a stadium, two swimming pools, a high dive, and a roller coaster called the "Whoopie." Alameda's strategic location made its "airdrome" the busiest in the world in the 1930s and eventually attracted a U.S. Coast Guard base, known as Government Island, and the Alameda Naval Air Station.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738530395
• ISBN13: 9780738530390
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A 'must' for any San Francisco Bay Area library and any cataloging California regional history

Unique among publishers of American history materials is Arcadia Publishing's 'Postcard History' series which photomechanically reproduces postcards of local American communities and through them provides a kind of visual history of that village, town or city. Such is the case with "Alameda" in which co-authors Greta Dutcher (a vintage post card collector) and Stephen Rowland celebrate the history of Alameda, California. This is a community that was a major waterfront shipping port, evolved into a resort destination, was home to major military stations, and experienced the kind of growth and evolution common to many other California communities throughout the 20th century. Each black-and-white postcard image is captioned, providing the reading with background information identifying and placing into context the image displayed. "Alameda" is very highly recommended for vintage post card enthusiasts in general, and anyone with an interest in the history of Alameda in particular. Vintage post card collectors and students of regional American history would be well advised to visit the Arcadia Publishing website at [...] for a complete title listing of their extensive 'Postcard History' series.

What Fun

This book holds a lot of pictures of old postcards. A friend has the originals and we were able to compare. How great was that.

Alameda (postcards) by Greta Dutcher

I loved this book. It was chock full of Alameda history and photos. Having lived there, it was great to read. I'd recommend this book to others. I've ordered several of the Images of America collection and find them all full of memories as well as history