Protecting Oakland’s historic and cultural resources.
Oakland Heritage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization which advocates the protection, preservation, and revitalization of Oakland's architectural, historic, cultural and natural resources through publications, education, and direct action.
RECENT EVENT
Building a Home in Oakland: Montgomery Ward Kit Houses
Join us Thursday, April 16 at 7:00pm over Zoom, where Architectural History YouTuber Kendra Gaylord will discuss the history of mail order homes from Sears Modern Homes to Wardway Homes. When Montgomery Ward expanded to Oakland, California it built the city's largest and tallest industrial building. While the rest of the country saw the mail order home program end in 1931, prefabricated Wardway homes continued to be built in Oakland through 1940. In this talk we will learn more about the Montgomery Ward building, along with the homes they built and which remain.
INITIATIVES
Help Save West Oakland’s 16th Street Station
Do you want the Bay Area's most magnificent train station restored? Join Oakland Heritage Alliance in petitioning developer City Ventures to restore this abandoned train station in West Oakland.
City Ventures has purchased the Station and surrounding land in order to build 90 homes. Its plans do not include rehabilitation of the damaged and deteriorating Station and would impair the overall visibility of the Station from the street.
WHAT WE DO
We host events
We host lectures, walking tours, and the Partners in Preservation Awards to continue conversations, engagement, and excitement around historic preservation and Oakland’s history. We record them so you can view them later if you cannot make it.
We ensure buildings are preserved
Our Preservation Committee advocates on behalf of members at City Hall to ensure new projects respect historic and cultural resources. Current projects include the Southern Pacific’s 16th Street Train Station in West Oakland.
“This is our inheritance. What we do with it is our choice.”
— Beth Bagwell
Stay up to date by joining our email list
Join our email list to hear about our latest events and initiatives. We don’t email you more than twice a month and ensure everything we send is relevant to preservation in Oakland.