Source: Letters from SF Dwellers 1913
Starting about 2906, the Schenley Farms Company began developing/builting/selling homes in the Schenley Farms neighborhood, a residential component of the City Beautiful movement which was transforming Oakland. The first homes were at the lower end of Lytton, starting about 1906.
Between 1913- 1915, homeowners were apparently asked to write a letter to a SF Company representative, Mr. E. C. Brainert. By reading their responses, it is apparent homeowners were asked to comment on several aspects of the new neighborhood: location, cleanliness, restrictions (e.g. coding requirements, underground utilities, 13 inch exterior walls, etc), and they were asked to comment if they were satisfied with their new home purchases.
The street running parallel to Fifth Avenue was then called Grant Avenue, later renamed Bigelow Blvd like its extension up the small hill to Schenley High School which was build in 1916. There were homes on both sides of Grant/Bigelow, but homes on one side were demolished in the mid-1960’s to make room for an expanding University of Pittsburgh campus.
These letters were compiled and ‘published’ in a book called “Letters from Schenley Farms Dwellers”. A copy of this book was scanned by long-time resident Mary McDonough (born and raised at 217 Tennyson). These images can be found until the individual home addresses.
Original Owners (1914):
BIGELOW BLVD
4040 Hamerschlag
4107 Hoatetter
4114 Kier
4131 Robeson
4136 Stengel
4154 Dowling
4205 Evans
4211 McLain
4214 Follansbee (demolished)
4215 McFeely, C
4301 Ehrhard
4301 Keefer (demolished)
4303 Powers
4307 Myler
LYTTON AVENUE
203 David
205 Hamilton
207 Allen
211 Cordes
213 Smitley
215 Smitley
217 Stieren
221 Rose
204 Campbell (now 222)
TENNYSON AVENUE
200 Ferree
201 Ewing
203 Grant
204 Felix
210 Burchfield
213 Rae
214 Siebert
215 Brown
217 McSwigan
218 Spuhler
219 Hardman
223 Breitweiser
PARKMAN AVENUE
4255 McFeely, J
4303 Kingsley
4323 Murphy
FAIRFIELD/PARKMAN
Sutphen
Franklin
Edward
Minette
