A trip to Berkeley, Cal. / - Public domain portrait print

Shot from a moving streetcar, this film shows portions of north Berkeley and the adjacent University of California campus, circa 1906. The Oakland and Berkeley Rapid Transit Company began operating in 1891 and was a major factor in the development of Berkeley. The streetcar route shown is most of the final portion of the #4 line, built in 1901, originating in downtown Oakland. The #3 Oxford Street line, seen at the start of the film, also originated in Oakland. In 1906 the Berkeley streetcar system had become part of Oakland Traction Co., which was taken over by the Key Route system in 1923. The Key Route system linked east bay transit lines to its Oakland-San Francisco ferries.The following is a scene-by-scene description of the film: [Frame: 0101] The camera looks north near Berkeley Way along tree-lined Oxford Street, the western border of the university campus. Two "broom stick train" streetcars, so-called for their new electric trolley poles are visible. A streetcar that passes and turns back onto the track. [0636] The change of tracks allows a #3 car to pass. [0700] A pipe-smoking track sweeper adjusts the track switch with his broom handle so the streetcar can turn right on Hearst Avenue. [1270] Looking east, up Hearst, the athletic/drilling fields of the campus are on the right. Behind the trees at right center is University House (1902), the chancellor's official residence. Note the rustic gate leading into the campus, just before Hearst Avenue turns past a row of trees to follow a more northerly route. Most of the hills seen in the background are part of the campus. [2046] At the diagonal intersection of Hearst and LeConte Avenues (left) there are large, rambling Victorian homes typical of the area, some owned by university professors. [3291] An incident takes place at the steps (now gone) opposite Scenic Avenue. A pedestrian ignores the streetcar and refuses to get off the tracks. The streetcar driver and conductor attempt to remove him, as an irate woman and a man come running to his aid, while a group of women watch. The smirk of the streetcar driver suggests that this may be staged to enliven an otherwise uneventful film. An iceplant in full flower on the retaining wall between the two levels of Hearst Avenue suggests a springtime setting. [4941] Before turning left onto Euclid Avenue, the homes up the unfinished slope of Hearst Avenue come into view. Pylons at right mark North Gate, a major campus entrance. A small orchard is seen as the streetcar turns into Euclid Avenue. [5517] In 1906, the streetcar line ended on Euclid at Hilgard Avenue, four blocks north.
H79820 U.S. Copyright Office
Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 23Jun1906; H79820.
Duration: 3:05 at 15 fps.
Camera, Otis M. Gove.
Biograph production no. 3205.
Paper print shelf number (LC 2225) was changed when the paper prints were re-housed.
Additional holdings for this title may be available. Contact reference librarian.
Photographed: May 24, 1906. Location: Berkeley, California.
Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as digital files.
Sources used: Niver, K. Early motion pictures, p. 336-337; Biograph production logs, v. 2, p. 78-79; AFI catalog. A. Film beginnings, 1893-1910, v. 1, p. 1099; Oakland Wiki WWW site, Key System page, viewed March 23, 2015; American street railway investments, 1910 edition, p. 17, viewed March 23, 2015 via Google books.
Early motion pictures : the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress / by Kemp R. Niver. Library of Congress. 1985.