Our Oakland logo carries the California grizzly and the lone star above "California Republic — Est. 1850," the shared retro emblem of our California towns; the bear and star are the state's own, and 1850 marks the year California joined the Union — the state's birthday, not the town's, which came two years later in 1852. Rendered in worn black-and-white, like a WPA poster or a crate label, it ties Oakland to every other California town we make. What makes this one Oakland is the story behind it — the oak groves, the Necklace of Lights, and the western end of the railroad.
Even before the railroad, Oakland had a role to play. During the Gold Rush it was the mainland staging point, where passengers and freight crossed between the bay and the Sierra foothills. The transcontinental terminus turned that trickle into a flood. The Central Pacific built the Long Wharf out into the estuary, and within a generation Oakland's population leapt more than twenty-fold. Hotels, warehouses, and rail yards crowded the waterfront; the harbor deepened into one of the great ports of the West. The town that the oaks had named became the place where the country's first railroad met the sea.
Why People Visit Oakland
Visitors come to Oakland for a Bay Area city with its own strong character: a wild lake at its center, Art Deco theaters and a historic waterfront, redwood hikes in the hills, and one of the most celebrated food scenes in California. The museums and Jack London Square sit minutes from the lake, and San Francisco is a quick trip across the bay. Equal parts oak-grove heritage and creative energy, Oakland rewards anyone drawn to the heart of the East Bay.
