Oakland Underfoot

9221 D Street

By this late in his career, J. Widell’s hand-drawn script was looking old-fashioned.

9430 D Street

Duffin marks are more common than L. B. Duffin marks, but fewer of them are dated.

1116 Elmhurst Avenue

Luckily, this mark was not totally hidden by a driveway gate. Unluckily, I didn’t get a chance to sweep it clean before photographing it.

9282 D Street

Dated marks from J. S. Mattos are very rare.

Elmhurst Avenue at C Street

Silvio Giuntoli lived at 1159 Elmhurst Avenue and was responsible for the pavement on Elmhurst and the adjoining streets, largely in 1927. There are many excellent marks in this neighborhood, and the work has held up well for nearly 90 years. I chose this mark to feature because it includes the day and month as well as the year.

The 1927 Alameda County phone book lists three Giuntolis, all in Oakland: Norma, a stenographer at the Oakland Fish Company; Pasquino, a plasterer; and Silvio.

115 Catron Drive

Back in 1997, we used to talk about “bitrot,” and here’s an object lesson in why you don’t put URLs in concrete. I wonder where Lilith is now.

11009 Acalanes Drive

I was happy to find anything at all in Sobrante Park.