Timeline of Oakland, California

19th century

• 1852 – Town of Oakland incorporated.
• 1854 – Horace Carpentier elected mayor.
• 1855 – Lyceum founded.
• 1860 – Population: 1,543.
• 1863 – Heald's Business College established.
• 1864 – Vander Naillen School of Practical Engineering established.
• 1866 – Police Court established.
• 1868
• * Oakland Evening Transcript newspaper begins publication.
• * University of California and Oakland Library Association established.
• * Oakland Long Wharf bought by Central Pacific Railroad.
• 1869
• * Railway begins operating.
• * Lake Merritt Wild-Fowl Sanctuary and Oakland Fire Department established.
• * Oakland Long Wharf becomes the western terminus of the First transcontinental railroad.
• 1871 – Mills Seminary relocates to Oakland.
• 1872
• * Brooklyn becomes part of Oakland.
• * Theosophical Society Library founded.
• 1873 – University of California relocates to Berkeley.
• 1875 – Oakland Daily Evening Tribune newspaper in publication.
• 1878 – Oakland Free Library opens.
• 1880 – Population: 34,456.
• 1884 – Horton School established.
• 1899 – Oakland Conservatory of Music established.
• 1900 – Population: 66,960.

20th century

• 1904 – Pacific Technical College established.
• 1906
• * April 18: San Francisco earthquake; refugees flee to Oakland.
• * August 6: Newman´s College, one of the first sportsbars, was registered as a corporation in Oakland.
• 1907 – California School of Arts and Crafts founded.
• 1909
• * Samuel Merritt College founded.
• * Moore & Scott Iron Works in business.
• 1910
• * Oakland Public Museum and YMCA open.
• * Population: 150,174.
• 1912 – Oakland School Women's Club and Children's Hospital founded.
• 1913 – Oakland Yacht Club established.
• 1914
• * Oakland Technical High School established.
• * Oakland City Hall and Civic Auditorium built.
• 1917 – Joaquin Miller Park established.
• 1920 – Population: 216,261.
• 1922 – Snow Museum of Natural History opens.
• 1923 – Tribune Tower completed.
• 1924 – Granada Theater opens.
• 1927
• * Oakland Airport begins operating.
• * Port of Oakland opens.
• 1928
• * Clorox Chemical Company in business.
• * Posey Tube built.
• 1931 – Paramount Theatre built.
• 1933 – Oakland Symphony active.
• 1936
• * San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens.
• * Alameda County Courthouse built.
• * Alameda County Botanical and Zoological Society established.
• 1937 – Caldecott Tunnel opens.
• 1940 – Population: 302,163.
• 1944 – Oakland Army Base active.
• 1946 – 1946 Oakland General Strike begins on December 3 and ends on December 5.
• 1954 – Oakland Junior College established.
• 1961 – Coliseum Drive-In opens.
• 1966
• * October: Black Panther Party established.
• * Oakland Coliseum opens.
• 1968 – Athletics baseball team relocates to Oakland.
• 1969 – Oakland Museum opens.
• 1970 – Regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission established.
• 1971 – Your Black Muslim Bakery in business.
• 1972 – 12th Street Oakland City Center station, 19th Street Oakland station, and MacArthur station open.
• 1973 – Rockridge station opens.
• 1974 – West Oakland station opens.
• 1977 – Lionel Wilson becomes mayor.
• 1985 – Alameda County Community Food Bank established.
• 1988 – Oakland East Bay Symphony established.
• 1989 – October 17: 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
• 1990 – Population: 372,242.
• 1991 – October 20: Oakland firestorm of 1991.
• 1998 – City website online.
• 1999 – Jerry Brown becomes mayor.
• 2000 – Allen v. City of Oakland lawsuit filed.

21st century

• 2002 – Taoist Center opens.
• 2003
• * April 7: Anti-war protest.
• * Women of Color Resource Center headquartered in Oakland.
• * Urban Habitat headquartered in Oakland.
• 2004 – Middle Harbor Shoreline Park landscaped.
• 2007
• * East Bay Meditation Center opens.
• * Ron Dellums becomes mayor.
• 2008 – Cathedral of Christ the Light dedicated.
• 2009
• * January 1: BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant.
• * March 21: 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers.
• * Oakland Local begins publication.
• 2010
• * Ace Monster Toys founded.
• * Population: city 390,724; metro 4,335,391.
• 2011
• * October 10: Occupy Oakland begins.
• * Jean Quan becomes mayor.
• * Sudoroom established.
• 2012
• * April 2: 2012 Oikos University shooting.
• * Oakland Wiki begins publication.
• 2014
• * Oakland Police Beat begins publication.
• * Libby Schaaf becomes mayor.
• 2016 - 2016 Oakland warehouse fire.
• 2020
• * George Floyd protests in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• * COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• 2022 - Sheng Thao becomes mayor.
• 2024 - Thao is recalled in an election.
• 2025 - Barbara Lee becomes mayor.

Published in the 19th century

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Published in the 20th century

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