The Automobile in Emeryville
The twenties was a decade of industrial expansion, as well as a decade devoted to the motor car. The East Bay emerged as a center of automobile manufacturing. Several Automobile plants, including those of Durant, Chevrolet, and Willys, operated in Oakland at this time, earning the city the nickname, “Detroit of the West.” Numerous automobile dealerships opened on Broadway, which became Oakland’s auto row. Local newspapers added an automotive section that advertised new models and promoted the sport of automobile touring.
The automobile also had a significant impact on Emeryville in the twenties. Because of the popularity of the motor car, a large number of automobile-related businesses opened along San Pablo Avenue as well as along Hollis Street. Automobile traffic greatly increased as the motor car began to compete with the streetcar, electric train, and steam train. By the end of the decade, almost every family in Emeryville owned a car, while the once-common horse and the horse-drawn wagon, vanished from the scene.
Wrecking Yard Row
The rise of the automobile changed the appearance of San Pablo Avenue. At the time the East Bay’s major north-south thoroughfare, the street attracted a large number of businesses involved in the sale, servicing, and repair of automobiles. By 1930, numerous automobile dealers (both new and used), parts stores, tire stores, garages, repair shops, top shops, automobile wreckers, body shops, and service stations lined San Pablo Avenue from 20th Street north to the Berkeley line. The proliferation of service stations and other automobile related businesses displaced many of the old retail stores, which transformed the character of the street.
While auto-related businesses contributed to the local economy, they had drawbacks as well. By 1930, five wrecking yards operated on San Pablo Avenue between 27th Street and 37th Street. These yards, with their unsightly collections of rusty, cannibalized cars and greasy parts, detracted from the neighborhood. The later decline of the San Pablo Avenue commercial strip can be attributed in part to the wrecking yards that disfigured this once viable business district.
The Rise of Service Stations
The increasing number of motor cars resulted in a proliferation of service stations, particularly on San Pablo Avenue. Between 1921 and 1930, the number of service stations in Emeryville increased from one to eight, according to a study of Oakland City Directories for the period. The 1921 Oakland City Directory lists only one service station in Emeryville, a Standard Station at 38th Street and San Pablo Avenue.
The 1923 Oakland City Directory lists the following three service stations:
- Auto Camp Station at 4811 San Pablo Avenue
- Standard Oil Station at 41st Street & San Pablo Avenue
- Union Oil Station at San Pablo Avenue comer of Adeline
Seven years later, the 1930 Polk’s Oakland City Directory lists the following service stations:
- O. M. Adams at 1655 Park Avenue
- H. G. Allen at 3645 San Pablo Avenue
- Bay County Gasoline Station at 4100 San Pablo Avenue
- Van Hatley at 47Q3 San Pablo Avenue
- J. C. Milree at 4302 San Pablo Avenue
- Harold Pritchard at 1200 Park Avenue
- Union Oil at 59th Street and Peladeau
The number of service stations on San Pablo Avenue north and south of Emeryville also increased dramatically from 1921 to 1930.
Automobile Agencies
Two automobile dealerships opened in Emeryville during the twenties. The Starr & Ellis agency, which sold the Star Car, was built in 1923 and was located in a one-story brick building at 3637 San Pablo Avenue. A large sign on the roof, consisting of a five-pointed star over the word “car,” advertised the business. The building survived and later become the office of Machinists Local 1304.
Another car agency, Cozzens-Ball, Inc. Motor Co., was an authorized Ford and Lincoln dealership owned by R. H. Cozzens and C. H. Ball. Located at San Pablo Avenue and 38th Street, this large facility was built in 1925 and had an automobile showroom, garage, and a staff of 45 employees. By 1930 it had become a dealership for Hudson & Essex Motors owned by Taylor & Smith Inc.
Three factories which manufactured and serviced motor cars were built in Emeryville during the twenties. Eagle Body Manufacturing Co. at 4800 San Pablo Avenue manufactured auto bodies. In 1929 the Fisher Body Service Corporation built a $250,000 plant at Park Avenue and Harlan Street which serviced Fisher bodies. It was the third firm, however, that became legendary among auto enthusiasts.
The Doble Steam Car
Abner Doble designed and built “the most sophisticated steam car in America,” and his name will forever be identified with Emeryville. Doble moved his company, Doble Steam Motors Corp. from San Francisco to Emeryville in 1923 and built a new factory on Harlan Street, one block south of Park Avenue. This factory manufactured the Series E Doble, a steam car having a top speed of 93 m.p.h. The car was available in eight body styles by Murphy which sold for $8,800 to $11,200.
Unfortunately, Doble Steam Motors encountered numerous difficulties, and production never reached the expected volume. The company had to defend itself in court against charges of stock manipulation, which undermined confidence in the business. In his pursuit of perfection, Abner Doble used only high-quality parts and costly materials, but as a result the car became so expensive that only the rich could afford it. Lastly, the stock market crash dealt a severe blow to the company, and the Doble Steam Motors Corp. was forced to liquidate in 1931. The Doble plant manufactured only about 44 Dobles. A few of these handsome vehicles have survived, and they are now highly prized by automobile collectors.
The automobile business establishment is no “longer important to the Emeryville economy. The auto parts stores, tire shops, top shops, and wrecking yards have all closed, and Emeryville no longer manufactures automobiles. Most of the service stations on San Pablo Avenue have disappeared as well, and only a handful of automobile-related businesses still thrive on San Pablo Avenue south of the 36th Street Emeryville line.
This story originally published in 1996 for the Emeryville Centennial Celebration and compiled into the ‘Early Emeryville Remembered’ historical essays book.
