1859 Plat of the Northern Part of the Rancho San Antonio

I georeferenced this map, from the Oakland History Center of the Oakland Public Library. It's here in 300dpi, zoom-able. (46MB) If you want the qgz and related files for QGIS, I'm happy to share them.

Download and view it in 300 dpi here

Enough of our modern city and county borderlines still match the original demarcation that I was able to georeference using only those points, and the map renders quite nicely. Sadly, there's not a lot of data in it, but the location of the homes of Domingo Peralta, Victor Castro and Vicente Peralta line up nicely with what we know. (The historical marker at El Cerrito Plaza says that the Victor Castro homes were "400 feet west" of the marker, but in fact the map puts it right in the parking lot, where the marker is.) The roads crossing the borders line up with the roads we know; Thornhill Drive, Moraga Avenue, Claremont Avenue, the 12th Street bridge, 'the road from San Pablo to Oakland.' I wonder about the 'Large rock rising in the form of a monument looking to the North,' near Colusa and Visalia Avenues. I think it's referenced here. There is a 'small house referred to in decree' that's about where the Peets is, on Grand Avenue. Perhaps that belonged to Moses Chase? I think this is the decree.

The "Indian Mound" in what's now Emeryville is the famous Emeryville shell mound. "Fleming's House" near what's now Golden Gate Fields was on property bought from Domingo Peralta by John J. Fleming, a San Francisco Butcher, in 1853. Fleming Point is its current name. I have no idea what or who "Frenchman's House" is, near what's now Tilden Park's Canon drive, but it's interesting that the borderline west of it has "Cañon" written above it. "Post on high peak" was on Grizzly Peak. There is a wharf at the foot of what's now Webster street, but I'm not sure which historical wharf it was. I don't know who the Grafenger was, of Grafenger's House. Gibbons' Wharf (AKA Gibbon's Folly) is well-known. The "Starch Factory" at the foot of what's now University Avenue was owned by John Everding, and was known as the Rammelsberg and Everding starch factory.

I've also transcribed some articles about re-establishing the county borders, and they reference the posts described in this map. I would like to have used the same system for geography as in the map itself, but it relies on a fixed starting point for which I don't have the position.

I've also shared it with the email addresses at the Oakland History Center, who showed me the Peralta Family Manuscripts.