Broadway

Broadway is a major thoroughfare in Oakland, which originates in Jack London Square and runs northeast until Highway 24, and then turns east and runs essentially parallel to Highway 24 until ending near the entrance to the Caldecott Tunnel.

Broadway looking south from the intersection with Telegraph Ave. (by mk30)

Note About Naming "Broadway"

Broadway's official name is not "Broadway Ave." or "Broadway St."; it's just "Broadway."  When the town of Oakland was incorporated in 1852, Broadway was known as Main Street -- but when Oakland was re-incorporated as a city just two years later in 1854, the name had been changed to Broadway.¹

History

• The Oakland City Council voted on April 24, 1864 to pave Broadway from the Wharf to 14th Street.
• Oakland Gas Light Company lines Broadway with gas lamps in 1867.
• Roanoke Road across the Berkeley/Oakland border off of Chabot Road was originally identified as Broadway or New Broadway. ²

Links & References

1. City of Oakland v. Oakland Water-Front Co. (1897) 118 Cal. 160, 50 P. 277, 280

2. Gives Land to City For Extension of Broadway, San Francisco Call, February 20, 1910