Oakland Heritage Alliance

Home
United States
Oakland, CA
Oakland Heritage Alliance

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving the architectural, cultural, and natural resources of Oakland, California.

Be a part of Oakland’s future and join our email list, attend an event, volunteer, or become a paid member. Oakland Heritage Alliance is Oakland's over 40-year-old preservation organization, and has participated in preserving some of Oakland's most iconic buildings and settings, such as City Hall, the Oakland Fox Theatre, Flora, the Broadway Building, the 16th St. Train Station, Lake Merritt, Lake

side Park, and many others, as well as celebrating cultural institutions from Black Cowboys to Fairyland and from individual homeowners to large development companies. We present walking tours all around town, lectures, presentations, talks, and building tours, as well as special events. Our advocacy promotes a healthy appreciation of the past alongside an optimistic view of the future.

08/21/2026

Step inside the grandest railroad station ever built in the Bay Area on September 5th. Register now for a spot!

Saturday, September 5 · 10 AM to 4 PM · 1601 Wood Street, West Oakland

OHA is opening the 1912 16th Street Station for Doors Open California. Tours run 30 minutes and leave every half hour, first at 10AM, last at 3:30PM.

Inside, a Beaux-Arts main hall and the story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black union in the U.S. Also on site: an oral history booth where you can share your own connection to the station, community partner booths, a map to mark your family's path to Oakland, and Javi's Empanadas.

Free, but timed registration is required. One slot per person. Link in bio.

Image credit: Sophia Elle

08/19/2026

A poet who planted a forest, and a survey of elaborate art deco tile. Both are on the calendar this weekend!

Join us Saturday for Historic Sites in Joaquin Miller Park, where Dale Risden walks us through The Hights, the 75 acre estate where the poet spent his last decades and planted some 75,000 trees. We'll visit the Abbey, the Follies, and the Woodminster Theatre and Cascades that his daughter Juanita envisioned as a tribute to California writers. A hilly walk.

Then come back Sunday for Tiles & Terra Cotta Part 2: Focus on Art Deco, where Riley Doty traces the brief wave of colorful ceramic buildings that swept the city between 1928 and 1931 and shows us how the survivors in Uptown are being damaged and restored. A level walk.

Find information about tickets and full descriptions about all of our walking tours on our website (link in bio!)

Want to join a future tour for FREE? Many of our most-anticipated tours this season still have volunteer spots open. Send us a DM for more info!

08/16/2026

Step inside the grandest railroad station ever built in the Bay Area!

Saturday, September 5 · 10 AM to 4 PM · 1601 Wood Street, West Oakland

OHA is opening the 1912 16th Street Station for Doors Open California. Tours run 30 minutes and leave every half hour, first at 10AM, last at 3:30PM.

Inside, a Beaux-Arts main hall and the story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black union in the U.S. Also on site: an oral history booth where you can share your own connection to the station, community partner booths, a map to mark your family's path to Oakland, and Javi's Empanadas.

Free, but timed registration is required. One slot per person. Link in bio.

08/12/2026

From factory floors to fairytale cottages, this weekend explores two different sides of Oakland!

Join us Saturday for Inland Jingletown, where Pamela Magnuson Peddle and Kathleen DiGiovanni trace Fruitvale's cotton mills and canneries, the Portuguese community that grew around Mary Help of Christians Church, and the freeway that cut the neighborhood in two.

Then come back Sunday for the Picardy Drive Centennial, where Andy Carpentier and Kara Nielsen take us inside Hillen & Dixon's Modest Mansions on the block once called Normandy Gardens, better known today as Oakland's Christmas Tree Lane.

Find information about tickets and full descriptions about all of our walking tours on our website (link in bio!)

Want to join a future tour for FREE? Many of our most-anticipated tours this season still have volunteer spots open. Send us a DM for more info!

08/05/2026

This Saturday, Oakland Heritage board and members Naomi Schiff and Linda Taylor will bring us on a historic path to a new location on our new tour, Glen Echo to Mosswood. The tour will show off, among other things, the J. Mora Moss House, a historic stairway, and the new Mosswood Recreation Center.

And on Sunday, Dennis Evanosky will showcase the Laurel district, guiding us through the history of the once-farmland and its amazing collection of 1920s brick and tile commercial buildings. Consider visiting the district on Saturday as well for its Streetfair World Music Festival!

Image credit:
Laurel: Cherries, Dairies, and Bungalows image, Laurel Art Garden

07/30/2026

On Saturday, join the Lake Merritt Conservancy and Oakland Heritage Alliance as we join forces to talk about early Oakland as we walk along Lakeside Park. Learn about the Frickstad Viaduct, the Henry J. Kaiser Center, the Camron Stanford House, and many more!

And on Sunday, join us in Haddon Hill in Cleveland Heights as we tour the streets of what was once a single development, where notable Oakland historic homes such as the Kaiser House can still be found.

Image credit: John Klein, Valerie Garry

07/22/2026

Join us this week for the first half of one of our most-loved tours! In the Beaux Arts installment of Tiles and Terra Cotta, tile historian Riley Doty will take us through the world of imitative tile ceramics, the beautiful illusions where tiled building facades imitated cut stone. The tour’s historic facades will also provide case studies for damage and restoration.

On Saturday, former Oakland librarian and longtime OHA tour leader Kathleen DiGiovanni will walk us through the vibrant community of Montclair Village. We’re excited to showcase the history of its distinctive Hansel and Gretel (or “storybook”) style buildings, from the library to the firehouse, to the new Village ventures.

Find information about tickets and full descriptions about all of our walking tours on our website (link in bio!)

Want to join the tours for FREE? Both tours still have volunteer spots available, and we're looking for volunteers for many of our tours this season. Send us a DM for more info!

tags: .village (first tour image), (second tour image)

07/15/2026

Calling all east bay hikers and transportation history buffs! Come with us this weekend as we travel from the coastline edge of Jingletown, a confluence in the history of East Bay trains, highways, and canals to, the very next day, hike up into the towering canopies of Oakland’s redwoods as we learn their history as navigational landmarks and visit the world’s tallest tree!

Find information about tickets and full descriptions about all of our walking tours on our website (link in bio!)

Want to join a future tour for FREE? Many of our most-anticipated tours this season still have volunteer spots open. Send us a DM for more info!

Image credits:
- George Russell Photo, Courtesy California State Lands Commission.jpg
- Beechey map, David Rumsey Collection

07/08/2026

Our first round of walking tours begins this week! We still have a handful of tickets available for both tours, but they are running out.

Find information about tickets and full descriptions about all of our walking tours on our website (link in bio!)

Want to join the tours for FREE? Both tours still have volunteer spots available, and we're looking for volunteers for many of our tours this season. Send us a DM for more info!

Image credits: Oakland History Center and Bob Giles

Address

446 17th Street, Ste 301
Oakland, CA
94612

Telephone

+15107639218

Website

http://www.oaklandheritage.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Oakland Heritage Alliance posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Oakland Heritage Alliance:

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Oakland?