Oakland Underfoot

4250 Fair Avenue

Only the second Wm. Ward mark I’ve found.

1211 104th Avenue

Unlike my previous example from 1945, this uses only the last two digits of the year.

1501 Harrison Street

J. H. Fitzmaurice, founded in 1922 and still going strong as a general contractor, was the first sidewalk maker in Oakland to use the barrel-shaped stamp format, which it introduced in 1926 and used into the 1950s at least. Only a handful of this stamp’s first configuration — with “OAKLAND” placed above the center — have stamped dates inside the mark. So I had to capture this one even though I have another example from the Grand Lake neighborhood.

1452 Lakeshore Avenue

This is a clearer example of the year than the one I had before, which I decided was really from 1938.

4051 Suter Street

The date may be a hallucination, but that’s what I decided when looking at in person. I wouldn’t bother with such a poor mark except that it’s only the second example by Michael Bua, who’s listed in the 1930 directory as a general contractor at 237 Bacon Building.

3070 Champion Street

The date is barely a whisper; at least it’s some time in the 1920s. The 1922 directory lists three Farrers — Robert, Fred and Arthur — as concrete workers, all at 7305 E. 14th Street, so this must be Fred and Robert’s outfit. They’re clearly related in some fashion to Farrer & Sons, attested with a mark from 1926. The evidence is scant.

945 Wildwood Avenue, Piedmont

Most of these aren’t dated. I have marks from just two years now.