Castle Park Way is a little loop hidden off of Castle Drive, at the southern end of the Piedmont Pines neighborhood. All the concrete work was done by John R. Kemble, who did very good work all over Oakland from the mid-1920s until roughly 1941. When I surveyed this street I was struck by its unity, in which the homes and landscaping take part as well as the paving. And all this time later, it still has great integrity.
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Oakland has lots of streets that are special for one reason or another. As I threaded its labyrinth I wished I could show them to you, but didn’t want to interrupt the parade. Now I’m getting around to them.
The Work Projects Administration or WPA gave millions of skilled and unskilled people jobs during the Great Depression. Their work added a great deal to Oakland’s cityscape, not least in its sidewalks. Lawlor Avenue seems to have been entirely paved by WPA workers in 1941 — curbs, sidewalks and driveways. It has an unusual unity of appearance for that reason, and the work is almost unmarred even 75 years after the last trowel was washed dry. In that respect, it’s a heritage street.
PG&E’s high-voltage vaults are covered by round lids with a grill, and they have dates. This one is on 20th Street near Broadway.
Oakland Underfoot 