Oakland Underfoot

6310 Camden Street

Once upon a time, the mighty Oakland construction company McGuire and Hester laid a lowly sidewalk in front of a gracious home in the Seminary Park neighborhood. I have only one other dated mark from this firm, from 2004.

Bancroft Road at 68th Avenue

This is in the middle of Bancroft, on the median at the crosswalk.

First there was Cal Cragun, starting in the 1930s. Then, starting in 1940, there was Cragun & Cragun, whose marks were simply a double-stamp of Cal’s mark. I’ve found examples up to 1947. Then there is this lovely new custom stamp, sign of a thriving business. So why have I only found a single example in two-thirds of Oakland? I think it must be because they were headquartered farther south somewhere.

The date of this mark is a conundrum. I think the original mark reads 1954, but this must have been emplaced in a later year—I just can’t tell what year.

3238 63rd Avenue

Finally I have a clean example from this year.

6310 Camden Street

6733 Foothill Boulevard

I like this mark a lot—one, because it’s crisp and uses red concrete, and two, because it documents Rodrigues at both addresses (7221 Orral Street and 1619 73rd Avenue) in the same year.

2967 68th Avenue

3231 63rd Avenue

I have the feeling that these were two fun guys.