Oakland Underfoot

From Frank C. Merritt’s History of Alameda County (1928):

“Cement has taken its rightful place high in the list of the leading building materials and is now practically indispensable in the construction of modern business blocks and residences. One of the leading cement contracting firms in the East Bay district is that of Riechel & Bredhoff. The senior member, Olaf Riechel [1877-1946], was born in Chicago, Illinois, February 21, 1878 [sic], and received his early education in the schools of that city. When twelve years of age he accompanied his parents on their removal to Alameda, California, and in the public schools of this city completed his studies. When seventeen years of age he went to work for Powell Brothers, with whom he learned the trade of cement working. He was promoted to the position of foreman and eventually became superintendent of construction, having in charge the erection of the Orpheum Theater building and other, important business structures, as well as large apartment houses and fine residences. He remained with that firm for twenty years and in 1918, formed a partnership with H[arold]. G[eorge]. Bredhoff, under the firm name of Riechel & Bredhoff, and engaged in the cement contracting business. They are doing a large business in their line, particularly as subcontractors, besides which they have laid many miles of cement walks and curbs in the East Bay cities. They did the cement work on the Heald Business College building, the Lynn building and the Barber block, as well as apartment houses and homes, and also erected the cement walls around the Pacific Gas and Electric plant on Thirty-first street, Oakland. They have likewise been very successful in building and selling homes.

“H. G. Bredhoff [1888-1975] was born in San Francisco, California, on the 8th of March, 1888, and received his educational training in the public schools of Alameda and Oakland. On leaving school he learned the trade of cement worker and was employed on the construction of the old Realty Syndicate building in Oakland. He was with Powell Brothers for sixteen years, leaving the employ of that firm to enter into business with Mr. Riechel. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.”

Riechel was the son of German and Danish immigrants, and Bredhoff had German grandparents.

The firm operated out of 2509 Clement Avenue, Alameda.

Riechel & Bredhoff stamps appear on Oakland sidewalks with dates from 1921 to 1951. They have two forms that I call the high and low arch. The low arch is much less common, but both stamps have comparable age ranges. I didn’t differentiate them at first, so there’s still more research to do.

Ferdinand Charles Stolte (1889-1983), the son of German immigrants, was raised in Oakland and became a successful builder of high-end homes, apartments and commercial buildings in the area. He’s interred in the Mountain View Cemetery mausoleum with his wife, the former Elizabeth Moran of Crow’s Landing, and their son F. Charles Jr.

Merritt’s 1928 history of Alameda County reported, “He is painstaking in the fulfillment of his contracts, employs none but expert workmen and the work done by him has been uniformly satisfactory to those who have employed him.”

I have recorded a few dated Stolte marks ranging from 1931 to 1951.

Berkeley Cement originated in 1947 according to its website; however, I have documented three examples of a Berkeley Cement stamp from 1946 with a horseshoe design. At first it was a partnership between Alfred Marian Fadelli (1911-1985) and Frank Massaro, of Triberti & Massaro fame, that was dissolved in 1958.

Alfred’s sons, the late Andrew A. Fadelli and Ronald Fadelli, joined the firm soon after. Why “A. Fadelli Sons” is on their stamp is unclear; the name was never used formally that I can tell, and Alfred was alive and listed with the sons in the 1967 directory. Perhaps the sons specialized in sidewalks in their early years.

The firm, still owned and run by the Fadelli family, offers a wide range of construction services with union labor.

Most examples of the A. Fadelli Sons stamp are undated. I have found only a few dated 1962, and all examples, dated or not, appear to be around that age.

The O. C. Jones & Sons company just turned 100 and is going strong from its Berkeley headquarters near Jones Street.

Founder Olin Clement Jones (1890-1954) was born and raised in northwestern Iowa. He married there and started a family, then all of a sudden moved to Berkeley in 1923 or 1924, where he started a concrete business. I have documented stamps by his firm from 1929, 1937, 1938 and 1939 in Oakland. His two sons Harold Rex (1916-2003) and Robert Carlson (1920-2007) joined the firm during World War II and its name changed. It earned its general contractor’s licence in 1947 and its general engineering contractor’s licence in 1954. Apparently by that time it no longer stamped sidewalks. Under Harold’s guidance, O.C. Jones & Sons prospered, and today its trucks can be seen wherever contractors work in middle California.

A notable local project of theirs is the roundabouts at Gilman and I-80. I expect to find more O. C. Jones stamps in Berkeley and Albany.

1717 Fairview Street, Berkeley

This handsome stamp on a concrete wall is the best mark left by August “Gus” Peterson. His sidewalk stamps are rare and poorly preserved; only one has a date (1914) in all of Oakland. It looks like there ought to be more in Berkeley.

Peterson was born in Sweden in 1880 and came to the US in 1903. The 1905 directory lists him at 3132 King Street, and in 1909-10 he was listed at 3130 King.

The 1910 census had him and his wife Signe, another Swedish immigrant, and their infant daughter Ruby living at 3132 King. The 1920 census found them and Ruby at 993 56th Street along with son Robert, Gus’s brother John and two Swedish lodgers. The 1922-24 directories list him living at 5979 Telegraph Avenue. At the time of his death, in 1926, he lived at 5205 Genoa Street.

He’s hard to trace in the newspapers because his name was a common one. In the listings I cite here, he was identified as a cement worker and/or married to Signe.

Five years ago, a commenter identified himself as Peterson’s grandson. Apparently Gus’s son Robert died without issue, so the line must go through Ruby.