Auditorium Village Housing Project - Oakland

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Auditorium Village, Oakland History Room via Laney.edu ¹
Photo taken by William A High. director of audio-visual education at Oakland Unified School District. ³

Auditorium Village Housing Project was a temporary housing project built by the federal government during WWII to house some of the many workers who came to the Bay Area. It was on the land where Laney College now sits, behind the Kaiser Auditorium. It was in use from c.1943 to at least 1957, though some of structures were around until 1962.

It had its own school, Auditorium Village School, in temporary buildings, of course. The project housed as many as 436 families at a time, though by 1957 the number was down to 320. ⁴ It appears to have had at least one church, Auditorium Village Community Church, led by Rev. Spurgeon J. Mayfield. ⁵ The chapel was taken and converted into a tool shed in 1957 ⁸, and the church met in the community center.

It was generally not a great place to live since it was built to be temporary, and supplies were short during and after the war. ⁶ Streets included Auditorium Circle, Victory Court, and Defense Court. Mostly addresses were referred to by building number and apartment, e.g., Apt. 30A, Building 11C.

Part of the project was demolished in 1962 to build Frank Youell Field. Using a surplus WWII Sherman tank, no less. ^{2, 7}