The Bushrod neighborhood in North Oakland,

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

is an area surrounding its namesake park, and bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Way to the west, Claremont Avenue to the east, Highway 24 to the south, and the Berkeley border to the north. It borders the neighborhoods of Santa Fe to the west, Fairview Park to the east, and Temescal and Shafter to the south and southeast, respectively. Notable landmarks include the Bushrod Park ballfields and the former Bushrod Washington Elementary School, which share adjoining land on a large greenbelt and open space in the heart of the neighborhood. In 2017, the real estate firm

Redfin Redfin Corporation, based in Seattle, operates a residential real estate brokerage in 95 markets in the United States and Canada and in other markets via partner/referral agents. Its business model includes charging home sellers below-average f ...

name Bushrod the hottest neighborhood market in the United States based on traffic to its website by potential home buyers.

Neighborhood Demographics

The Bushrod neighborhood is 32.95%

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

, 52%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 9.7%

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

, and 3.62% Asianbr>

Parks

Bushrod Park

At , Bushrod is one of the largest parks in the North Oakland, Oakland, California, North Oakland section of

. It is located between

Shattuck Avenue Shattuck Avenue is a major city street running north–south through Berkeley, California, and Oakland, California. At its southern end, the street branches from Telegraph Avenue in Oakland's Temescal district, then ends at Indian Rock Park ...

and Racine Street to the east and west, and between 61st Street and 59th Street to the north and south. The park was established in 1903 through the donation of seven and a half acres of land by Dr. Bushrod Washington James, a resident of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. In the 1910s it was used as a school playground. It has had a long association with local baseball; baseball players

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both ...

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

, and

Vada Pinson Vada Edward Pinson Jr. (August 11, 1938 – October 21, 1995) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball for 18 years (1958–1975), most notably for the Cincinnati Reds, for who ...

played at Bushrod in their youth. In the 1960s, the park was used as a practice field by the Oakland Raiders. The tennis courts are named for

Don Budge John Donald Budge (June 13, 1915 – January 26, 2000) was an American tennis player. He is most famous as the first tennis player — male or female, and still the only American male — to win the Grand Slam, and to win all four Grand Slam e ...

who played here as a youth. On April 8, 2006, a block of ice fell from the sky and landed in the park, leaving a crater that was several feet wide.

Dover St Edible Park

Dover St Park is located at 5707 Dover St between 57th and 58th St. This park is home to a community garden that produces fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs. It includes a greenhouse, pollinator garden and over 100 fruit trees.

Colby Park

At only , Colby Park is one of the smallest parks in North Oakland. It is situated at 61st & Colby Street, and features a sand pit and playground equipment.

Schools

Sankofa Academy

The Sankofa Academy is a public school that occupies the building previously used by the Bushrod Washington Elementary School, adjacent to Bushrod Park at 61st Street and Shattuck Avenue. The school was founded in 2005 and is a member of the Oakland Small Schools Foundation.

Peralta Elementary School

Peralta Elementary School
is a designated arts anchor school in the Oakland Unified School District. It was established in 1880 as a one-room schoolhouse, and today has over 250 students. It is also one of the top ranked Elementary schools in the Oakland and Berkeley neighborhoods.

American International Montessori School

American International Montessori School is a dual-immersion

Montessori The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

school on the border of Oakland and Berkeley. It has programs for students from 18 months to sixth grade. It was founded in 2009 by Ernest Mahr who previously directed two other immersion Montessori schools in the nearby area.

References

Images

{{Oakland, California neighborhoods Neighborhoods in Oakland, California High school baseball venues in the United States Bushrod Park, Colby Park