Historical Outline for the Acheson Block, Berkeley, CA...William J. Acheson, George E. Acheson, Albert A. Acheson. A paint and wallpaper company leased 2135 University and used the

Historical Outline for the Acheson Block, Berkeley, CA

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from Oakland to downtown Berkeley. In 1884, Acheson moved the original hotel structure away from the street and constructed a new and considerably larger hotel around it. With its completion the name was changed from the Terminus to the Acheson because downtown Berkeley was not longer the terminus of the railroad line. Despite arousing public controversy during a period when Acheson provocatively and courageously defied a local ordinance governing the sale of alcohol, the hotel maintained a good reputation.

Building Histories The building at 2129 University, known as the Acheson Physicians’ Building, was constructed in 1908. In 1911, the building at 2111 University was constructed. The corner building at 2145 University followed in 1915. The existing block was rounded out with 1987 Shattuck and 2145 University, both of which were built in 1925. All these buildings were owned by the Acheson family, including the Craftsman dwellings at 1922 and 1930 Walnut, which were built in 1905.

John A. Acheson and his wife both emigrated from Ireland. Acheson died in 1891 at age 41. The oldest of three sons, William J. Acheson administered the estate, which was collectively owned by William, his mother Leticia, and two brothers – George E., a stationary engineer, and Albert A., a corporate lawyer. Together, the family owned the entire north side of University Avenue between Shattuck Avenue and Oxford Street.

Figure 1 – Detail of map of Berkeley, Berkeley: Carnall and Eyre, 1880. Circled area shows original Villa Lots designation. Map courtesy of David Rumsey Collection.


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Figure 3 - City of Berkeley, Assessor’s map of subject block. Color bordered areas show scope of work discussed in this overview.

Figure 2 – Detail of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Berkeley, 1929, Volume 1, sheet 73 showing subject block.


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Figure 4 - View looking northeast from the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and University Avenue. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.

1987 Shattuck Avenue, MacFarlane BuildingAlso known as 1970-1987 Shattuck and 2101-2109 University Avenue APN 57-2046-11 City of Berkeley Designation: Landmark No. 110, listed in 1983 CA Listing: Structure of Merit, listed 1986, CHRIS Built: 1925 Description: 1-story, commercial, flat roof Architect: Earle B. BertzAssociated Firms or Persons: United Stores Realty Corporation, unknown date; “Awful Fresh MacFarlane, the Scotch Candymaker”-1937-19481

This building was constructed on the former site of the Terminus Hotel, later renamed the Acheson Hotel. The hotel was demolished in 1925 and the current building constructed.

Architect Earle B. Bertz Earle B. Bertz was born in San Francisco on September 7, 1885 to Jacob Bertz and his wife Caroline Baldwin Bertz. Earle was raised in their Pacific Heights home along with four older siblings. Earle attended Pacific Heights Elementary and Lick High School. After graduating, he apprenticed as a draftsman with architect Albert Farr. One of the projects he worked on was Jack London’s Wolf’s Lair in Glen Ellen, Sonoma County. Bertz took his state-administered architectural licensing examination in August 1914 and began his career as an architect operating under License B817. In September 1914, he married Hazel Congdon. Four years later, he opened his own office in the Foxcroft Building, at 68 Post Street in San Francisco. Initially Bertz worked with a developer named John Brickell, but soon began collaborating with realtor Harry B. Allen. Allen, who later served as president of the San Francisco Real Estate Board from 1923-24 and the California Real Estate Association in 1927, was also an active property

1 Any of the dates listed with Associated Firms or Persons (lessors or lessees) are derived from

mentions in publications of that date and do not cover the term of their involvement with the property.


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developer. Although he began building houses before World War I, it was not until the 1920s that his business took off as the Outer Richmond and Seacliff neighborhoods began to develop.2

From 1920 to 1925, Earle Bertz designed dozens of houses for Harry B. Allen. Many were located along Lake Street and intersecting streets of the Richmond District. The bulk of Bertz’s work after 1922 was in Seacliff, including 2900 Lake Street and 2910 Lake Street, although he designed individual residences in other upscale 1920s subdivisions, including St. Francis Wood, Russian Hill, and Forest Hill. Bertz was a competent designer well-versed in Period Revival styles like Spanish Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival, English Gothic and Tudor Revival, French Provincial, and Italian Renaissance Revival. In 1927, Bertz formed a partnership with two of his draftsmen: Albert H. Winter and Charles F. Maury. The firm lasted until 1935, designing residences for developers in upscale residential subdivisions throughout San Francisco, in particular Sea Cliff. After the partnership ended, Bertz continued working on many residential projects, in particular for real estate developer Martin Stelling. During World War II, Bertz worked on federal projects in the East Bay. After the war, he reopened his office but became ill in 1947 and died the following year.3

2 David Parry, Architects’ Profiles: “Earle B. Bertz.” San Francisco: McGuire Real Estate Website:

http://www.classicsfproperties.com/Architecture/earlebertz.htm; Accessed April 26, 2007. 3 Ibid.

Figure 5 – View looking north, date circa 1976. Image courtesy of Historic Resources Inventory form, circa 1978.


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Figure 6 - View looking north. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.

2111 University Avenue Also known as 2111-2113 University AvenueAPN 57-2046-10 City of Berkeley Designation: Structure of Merit4

Built: 1911 Description: 1 story, commercial, flat roof Architect: William Boldt Associated Firms or Persons: Tony Napolitano, butcher 1936; Varsity Market, 1940-1958; C. C. Cantando

Architect William Boldt Little is known about the other works of Boldt and his office. Per the U.S. Census he was born in Wisconsin in 1867. He was married to Lora A. Boldt and they had three sons. The 1900 Census shows him as a carpenter while the 1910 Census notes him to then be a contractor who is a house builder.

4 Downtown Berkeley Design Guidelines, Appendix, List of Landmark and Significant Buildings,

1994.

Figure 7 – Image courtesy of Berkeley Daily Gazette, May 5, 1922.


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Figure 8 - View looking northeast. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.

2125 University Avenue APN 57-2046-8-3 Built: 1921 Description: 1 story, commercial, flat roof Architect: James W. Plachek Associated Firms or Persons: Gilbert’s Cigar Store, 1921; Diamond’s Barber Shop, 1921; Ray Silliman, 1923; Foster’s Bakeries, 1938-1944

Architect James W. PlachekBorn on September 6, 1885 in Illinois of Checkoslovakian parents, Plachek was apprenticed to Chicago architect J. E. O. Pridmore at the age of 15 and then studied engineering. In 1906, he was sent as part of a group of architects to San Francisco by the Mayor of Chicago to study the effects of the Earthquake and Fire. He worked with the architectural firm of William Weeks, the State Department of Architecture in Sacramento, and the City Architects’ Office in San Francisco. He received his certificate to practice architecture in 1912 and set up his practice in Berkeley. He was active in Berkeley lodges and clubs including the Chamber of Commerce, Planning Commission, and library building committee – which landed him several Berkeley library commissions. His stylistically wide-ranging work included commercial, buildings, homes and warehouses in the Bay Area. He died in 1948.

Plachek’s work in Berkeley is prolific and many buildings are local Landmarks or Structures of Merit. They include the following commercial structures: 1907/1917, 2119 Addison Street, Heywood Apartments, Berkeley Structure of Merit 16 1910, 1900-08 University Avenue, Heywood Building, Berkeley Structure of Merit1914, 3332 Adeline Street, Lorin Theater/Phillips Temple Church 1915, John Muir School, 2955 Claremont Avenue 1916, 2036 University Avenue, U.C, Theater, Berkeley Structure of Merit1916, 2018-30 University Avenue, Stark Hotel 1917, 2014 Shattuck Avenue, Plachek Building, Berkeley Landmark1917, 2008-12 Shattuck Avenue, California Hotel, Berkeley Structure of Merit


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1921, 2048 Bancroft Way/2300-2350 Shattuck Avenue, Corder Building/Shattuck Apartments, Berkeley Landmark1922, 2128 Center Street, Ennor’s Restaurant 1922, 2721 Shattuck Avenue, Student’s Express 1923, 2128-30 Center Street, Act 1 and 2 Theaters 1924, 2940 Benvenue Avenue, Claremont Branch Library 1925, 1835 Allston Street, City Hall Annex 1925, 2015 6th Street, Welfare Society 1926, 2177-2199 Bancroft Way/2280-2288 Fulton Street, Odd Fellows Temple, Berkeley Landmark1926, 1839 Woolsey Street, South Berkeley Library 1930, 2090 Kittredge Street, Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley Landmark 1938, 2180 Milvia Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Building, Berkeley Landmark1939, Hall of Justice, 2171 McKinley Avenue 1946, 1947 Center Street, State Farm Building, Berkeley Structure of Merit


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2129 and 2135 1/2 University Avenue, Acheson Physicians’ Building and shed Also known as 2127-2135 University AvenueAPN 57-2046-8-3 City of Berkeley Designation: Landmark No. 68, listed 1983 CA Listing: CHRIS Built: 1908, shed (2135 ½) date unknown Description: Commercial building, four stories, brick, flat roof. Shed clad in pressed sheet metal to look like brick Architect: George Lewis Mohr; shed architect unknown Associated Firms or Persons: Board of Trade Headquarters, 1912 (2127 University); Los Angeles Steamship Company, 1921 (2127 University), Office of Dr. Robert Hector – one of three founders of the City of Berkeley Public Health Clinic, 1917 (2131 University); florist shop, Edward C. Akins-estate rep, 1920 (2133 University),1927 (2127 University); Weed Control Company, 1929 (2131 University); Mueller’s Pharmacy (Fred A. Mueller)1919-1961 (2129 University); Montgomery Ward Company, 1936 (2131 University) ; Joseph Lund-beauty shop, 1937 (2131 University); Frisbie & Hoogs lawyers, 1950 (2131 University); Veteran Volunteer Fireman’s Headquarters, 1944 (2131 University); Don Luce-bookkeeping, 1950 (2131 University); Berkeley Commercial Service, 1953 (2131 University); Elgo Sabatini-employment agency (2131 University); Cantando Agency, 1959-1961 (2131 University), John A. Acheson, Leticia Acheson, William J. Acheson, George E. Acheson, Albert A. Acheson. A paint and wallpaper company leased 2135 University and used the shed, 2135 ½ University, to the rear of the building for storage.

Architect George L. Mohr Mohr was born in 1872 in New York state. He was listed in the 1910 Federal Census as a house builder. Beyond designing the Acheson Building, Mohr’s other commercial Berkeley works include: 1901, Manual Training Building for the Berkeley Public Schools

Figure 9 - View looking northeast. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.

Figure 10 - View looking west with shed at right. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.


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1905, 1940-44 University Avenue, Bonita Apartments, University Walk Building, Berkeley Landmark1906, 2171-79 Alston Way/2140-50 Oxford Street, William Such Building/Oxford Hall, Berkeley Landmark1909, 1921 Walnut Street, Heywood Apartment Building, Berkeley Structure of MeritCampanile Hotel University Hotel

Figure 11 – View looking west on University Avenue with Acheson Physicians Building to the right, 1978. Image courtesy of Berkeley Public Library, photo by Betty Marvin.

Figure 12 – Historic view postcard view from Shattuck Avenue looking northeast with Acheson Physicians’ Building on the left.


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Figure 13 - View looking northwest. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.

2145 University Avenue Also known as 2139 University Avenue Incorporates former site of 1932 Walnut Street – demolished for parking APN 57-2046-8-2 and 57-2046-6 City of Berkeley Designation: Landmark Built: 1915 Description: Commercial building, one-story over basement, brick exterior, low sloped gable roof with parapet Architect: James W. PlachekAssociated Firms or Persons: William J. Acheson; 1917, S. J. Sill Company-groceries and hardware; 1926, Appleton’s Grocery; 1939, Trustees sale of Appleton Grocery; 1940, Montgomery Ward; 1960s, Berkeley Hardware

Lessee Stephen J. Sill5

Stephen Sill was president of S.J. Sill Co., the largest retail grocery concern in the East Bay in the early 20th Century. Both he and his wife were born in the Sacramento Delta and grew up in Woodland, Yolo County. Their fathers were farm owners active in civic affairs. Stephen’s father sometimes doubled as public administrator, while Victorine Sill’s father, the conservative Democrat Joseph H. Harlan, was elected to the State Senate in 1879. In “Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California” (1891), Harlan was described as owning 2,820 acres in Yolo County and 1,800 acres in Fresno County, “a practical farmer, a wide-awake citizen and a generous neighbor. He has given employment to many deserving men.”

Married in 1886, the Sills moved from Woodland to Berkeley in 1900. Mr. Sill established a successful high end grocery store at 2201 Shattuck Avenue that catered to the town’s elite. Within two years, Sill had added a second storefront that housed expanded delicacies and fruit departments. Two years later, the

5

Daniella Thompson, BAHA, “Villa della Rocca, the Sills’ Thousand Oaks

Citadel”, 2007.


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business occupied three storefronts along Shattuck and a fourth on Allston Way. By 1906, another store had been opened at 2447 Telegraph Avenue. The 1908 directory now listed the Shattuck store address as 2201–2209, and the merchandise also included vegetables, household goods, and hardware. Bakery goods followed. Fine teas and coffees were a specialty.

In 1915, the store moved to 2145 University Avenue. The new building was designed by James W. Plachek and constructed especially for Sill by William J. Acheson, who owned so many commercial structures along the north side of University Avenue that the stretch was known as the Acheson Block.

According to Sill’s obituary, “For nearly a quarter of a century the business flourished largely due to the great personality of Stephen Sill.” A large share of the store’s revenues came from home deliveries. Jim Dempsey described this service in the Berkeley Daily Gazette of 26 March 1960:

Regular customers were contacted by a small battery of clerks who made hundreds of phone calls throughout the morning, taking orders. In the afternoon, one or more wagons, loaded with grocery boxes, would move through the south campus and north and central Berkeley area, drawn by a pair of slick horses. The delivery business was so good that Sill purchased one of those “infernal machines”—a shining Autocar delivery truck, which was a strange sight in a quiet little town [that] had just entered the Twentieth Century.

When Sill retired in 1924, he sold the business to the Appleton Grocery Company, which made a point of advertising itself as the successor of Sill’s. The Sill’s building, a designated Berkeley Landmark, has been occupied by Berkeley Hardware, now Ace Berkeley Hardware, since 1964.

Figure 14 – Historic view looking northwest at 2145 University Avenue, date unknown. Image courtesy of BAHA.


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Figure 15 –View looking northwest. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.

1922 Walnut StreetAPN 57-2046-4 City of Berkeley Designation: Noted as a Structure of MeritBuilt: 1905 Description: Residential building, two stories over raised basement with hipped roof, shingled exterior Architect: Unknown Associated Firms or Persons: 1946, John C. Taylor; 1950, William and Albert Acheson; 1950, Gertrude M. Wickard;


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Figure 16 - View looking northwest. Image by Knapp Architects, 2010.

1930 Walnut Street Also known as 1928-1930 Walnut StreetAPN 57-2046-5 City of Berkeley Designation: Structure of MeritBuilt: 1905 Description: Duplex residential building, two stories over raised basement with hipped roofs, shingled exterior Architect: Unknown Associated Persons: 1905, Eliza Moore, Frank E. Jordan, (three Atcheson Brothers); 1944, Margaret P. Smith; 1945, Norma E. Ferguson; 1950, Alga Reeves

Overview History of Walnut Street Buildings6

The short block on which these structures stand runs between University Avenue and Berkeley Way. It is now an isolated southern extension of Walnut Street, but a hundred years ago it was called Home Street. In 1903, Home Street was a block of five homes and four empty lots. Eight years later, the block had filled up with five buildings on the west side and four on the east, including the four-story Home Street Apartments on the northeast corner, constructed in 1909 by George L. Mohr for William B. Heywood. Only the southeastern corner on University Avenue was vacant (it remained so and is now a parking lot).

To the north of Home Street, the block between Berkeley Way and Hearst Avenue, currently the site of a California Department of Health Services Building, was entirely residential, although not entirely built out. So were the southern two-thirds of the Whitton Tract, a block bounded by Walnut, Hearst, Oxford and Virginia.

6 “East Bay Then and Now: When Berkeley’s Home Street Was a Street of

Homes” The Berkeley Dailey Planet, Daniella Thompson, March 5, 2009.


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The 1923 fire stopped just short of Home Street. In the aftermath, the block directly to the north was divided to allow the passage of Walnut Street through its center. The new buildings erected on the divided block in the 1920s were apartments and automobile-related service structures.

Since there was now direct access from Walnut Street to Home Street, the latter street was renamed Walnut. The block was still largely residential, but only two single-family homes remained on it. Three dwellings had been converted into rooming houses, while the southwest corner had been occupied since 1915 by the S.J. Sill grocery and hardware store (now Berkeley Hardware). The duplex at 1930 Walnut St. was turned into eight apartments.

This brown-shingled duplex was built in 1905 for Eliza Moore, then living in San Francisco. Widow of Sutter County farmer Sanford H. Moore, Eliza brought up two daughters in Marysville. When the Berkeley duplex was built, both daughters – middle-aged and unmarried – were school teachers who lived with their mother.

In those days, only a few months transpired between land acquisition and building completion. Eliza bought her two Home Street lots in early February 1905. By March 24, she had applied for a building permit, and the dwelling was completed two months later. In early July, half of the duplex was rented to the Jordan family, who arrived from Pasadena for the purpose of educating its three children. Harold S. Jordan, who entered UC that year, wrote in his memoir, “Our folks located 1930 Home St. as our new home. It was the south half of a three-story, two-family building. The basement was on the street level; parlor, dining room, kitchen and pantry were on the second floor; and bedrooms on the third floor.”

The Moores did not live on Home Street. In October 1904, Eliza purchased two lots in the Whitton Tract and built her residence at 1748 Oxford St. Twenty years later, her daughter Mary would be named as one of the defendants in the UC Regents’ lawsuit to condemn properties on that block.

Meanwhile, the Jordans quickly integrated themselves into the life of the town. The father, Frank E. Jordan, got a desk at a downtown real estate office, where he sold insurance and gold mine stocks. The daughters, Ethel and Mildred, enrolled at Berkeley High School. Their elder brother Harold wrote, “We soon began to realize the advantages of living in a college town. In early July, at the Greek Theatre on the University campus, there was an address by William Howard Taft, then the Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt. Also present were Congressman Grosvenor of Ohio and Congressman Payne of New York, who was Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. I don’t know why they were there, but I was impressed.”


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The Jordans experienced the 1906 earthquake at 1930 Home St.: “The terrifying sounds that I heard were made by, first our brick chimney, then the brick chimney of the house next door being shaken down. […] The sound of the earthquake was a loud rumble, like a sudden, very heavy hailstorm falling on the roofs, punctuated with collapse of roofs, caving brick walls, and also some human screams.”

By May 1906, life had returned to normal, although aftershocks continued to rattle the town for some time. On May 11, Harold counted the 60th aftershock since April 18. That summer, Ethel Jordan entered the freshman class at UC Berkeley, and Mildred followed her two years later. Harold concluded his memoir in 1907, but his sisters continued making regular appearances in the local newspapers owing to their campus activities.

Mildred graduated in Natural Sciences in 1912, the year her father died. On September 20 of that year, the Oakland Tribune published the notice of her marriage to Leslie Theodore Sharp, a young soil chemist, assistant professor at UC, and a member of the Abracadabra Club. Their two eldest children were born in Berkeley. Eliza Moore died in 1910, her daughters following her in the 1930s. The building at 1930 Walnut St. then passed into the hands of the three Acheson brothers, scions of a pioneer Berkeley family and owners of the Acheson Physicians’ Building at 2131 University Ave.

Documents

Historical Outline for the Acheson Block, Berkeley, CA...William J. Acheson, George E. Acheson, Albert A. Acheson. A paint and wallpaper company leased 2135 University and used the