Vander Naillen's School of Engineering - Oakland

from prospectus ⁸

Vander Naillen's School of Engineering was founded by Albert Vander Naillen back east in 1864 then moved to San Francisco. His son, Albert Vander Naillen, Jr. taught there. In 1913, the Oakland campus was run by his other son, Edmund L. Vander Naillen (president) and Gertrude Vander Naillen (secretary). The school closed in 1917.

A mention in an 1899 Pacific Rural Press article gives the address as 933 Market St. in San Francisco ² but an 1899 directory listing gives the same 51st and Telegraph Avenue, Oakland address as the 1913 listing. ³ Some references say the school moved to Oakland after the 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco ⁵, but perhaps that was when the San Francisco branch campus was closed. The school was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ⁸ then moved to Chicago three years later. The school was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the Vander Naillens moved to San Francisco. ⁶

The school was closed in 1917 "until after the war" and in 1918, Vander Naillen turned over the equipment and books to the government for training soldiers. ⁵

A Knave column from 1970 describes it as having been "a huge frame structure, built like a barn, but inside were auto and aircraft engines on stands, the latest electrical apparatus, and other equipment. Mechanical, mechanical and electrical training were featured." The school also maintained a baseball field off Cavour, between Lawton and Manila. ⁷

1911 letter, courtesy David DeRosafrom 1912 article ⁶Albert Vander Naillen, Sr. ⁸sample diploma ⁸