OAKLAND  , a

city and the county-seat of Alameda county, California, U.S.A., situated opposite and about 6 m. distant from San Francisco, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay . Pop . (189o) 48,682; (1900) 66,96o, of whom 17,256 were foreign-born, 3197 being Irish, 2742 German, 2026 English, 1544 English-Canadians, 1020 Portuguese and 994 Swedish; (1910 census) 150,174 . It is the terminus of the Ogden branch of the Southern (formerly Central) Pacific, of the Coast Line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and of the Western Pacific railways . Passengers and freight from the East to San Francisco are transferred by ferry from Oakland . A branch of the bay (called Oakland Harbour) divides Oakland from Alameda, and the rail-way piers of Oakland run directly out into the bay for more than 2 M. toward San Francisco, thus shortening the ferry connexions . Lake Merritt, in the heart of the city, a favourite pleasure resort, is the centre of the city's park system . Oakland is the seat of California College (co-educational, Baptist, opened in 1870), and of St Mary's College (Roman Catholic, 1863) for men; and in the suburban village of Mills College, west of the city, is Mills College (non-sectarian, 1871) for women, an institution of high rank . Electric power for the city is derived from Colgate, on the Yuba river, 219 M. distant . Oakland has important manufacturing interests, the total value of its factory products in 1905 being $9,072,539, 69% more than in 1900 . The site of the present city (as well as that of Alameda and Berkeley) lay originally within the limits of a great private Mexican grant which was confirmed by the United States authorities . A settlement was begun—at first by " squatters " in defiance of the private claim—in 185o; in May 1852 this was incorporated as a town (the name being derived from a wood of oaks in the midst of which the first settlement was made), and in March 1854 it was chartered as a city .

In 1869 it was selected as the western terminus of the Central Pacific, a choice which greatly promoted Oakland's commercial importance . The

water front was recklessly given away in 1852, and the resulting disputes and litigation lasted for more than thirty years; in 1908 the water front reverted to the city . The population increased more than sixfold from 186o to 1870, and doubled in 1900-1910 . It became the county-seat in 1874 . In December 1910 a commission form of government was adopted .