Montgomery Ward & Company - 1920s 1
The Montgomery Ward & Company building that was formerly located at 2825 E. 14th Street (now International Boulevard) was Oakland's largest industrial building. It housed a retail department store on the two lower floors,and also housed the company's West Coast mail order warehouse. Designed by Montgomery Ward in-house architect W. H. McCaully and built in 1923, the nine story concrete building stood on a 10 acre site in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, California. It was technically five separate structures, but operated as a single building.
On June 15, 1999, the historic Montgomery Ward & Company building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places #99000691. However, this designation was too late to save the building.
After standing empty for 11 years, and despite significant opposition from the preservation community in Oakland, including a lawsuit filed by a group known as the League for Protection of Oakland's Architectural and Historic Resources, the building was demolished in 2000. The site is now home to the César E. Chávez Education Center, which was completed in 2003.
Montgomery Wards Building in the mid 1980s
Location
2825 East 14th Street, Oakland, California
Links and References
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National Register of Historic Places in Alameda County, California NoeHill Travels in California
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A Lesson In Politics For Oakland / Montgomery Ward site sparked pitched battle SFGate
- Montgomery Ward and Company, Oakland Go Historic
- National Register Nomination Form
- Appellate opinion: League for Protection of Oakland's Architectural and Historic Resources v. City of Oakland (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 896
