1887 wardsDuring the Legislative session of 1875(?) the subdivision of the Oakland city wards were materially altered into seven wards, with new boundaries established by the passage of the law. The first City Council elected under the ward boundaries took office in 1876.1 In 1887 the Ward Boundaries for the City of Oakland were still divided into seven sections as follows:

  • First Ward — Comprises all that portion of the city lying west of Adeline Street.
  • Second Ward — Comprises all that portion lying north of Twentieth Street, and north of Delger Street, and east of Adeline. (1878 map)
  • Third Ward — Comprises all that portion lying east of Adeline Street, south of Twentieth and Delger Streets, west of Broadway, and north of Tenth Street.
  • Fourth Ward — Comprises all that portion lying west of Broadway, south of Tenth Street, and north of the southerly charter line of the city.
  • Fifth Ward — Comprises all that portion lying east of Broadway, south of Twentieth and Delger Streets, north of Tenth Street, and west of the dividing line between Oakland Township and Brooklyn Township.
  • Sixth Ward — Comprises all that portion lying east of Broadway and south of Tenth Street.
  • Seventh Ward — Comprises all that portion lying in Brooklyn Township, now known and designated as East Oakland.

Delger Street is now 20th Street. In the attached map, the boundaries of the wards follow the coast line as it was in 1887, and the Charter Line. The Charter Line follows some natural features like creeks that are no longer entirely above ground.

The commission-form of city government replaced the ward system of council control in 1911. 2

After many years of city-wide elections, Measure H in 1980 returned Oakland to a system similar to wards with district elections. 3

Links and References

  1. History of Alameda County, California, by M. W. Wood, 1883, p. 720.
  2. Oakland, 1852-1938 : some phases of the social, political and economic history of Oakland, California. Editors, Edgar J. Hinkel, William E. McCann ; published by the Oakland Public Library as a report of official project no. 465-03-3-337, conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, 1939, p.772.
  3. District elections: the surprising history explaining how we vote in Oakland Oaklandside September 29, 2020.
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