25 Interesting Facts About Oakland

Facts About Oakland

Facts About Oakland

  • Oakland is the only city in the world to have a natural saltwater lake within its city limits.
  • Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California.
  • There are over 80 parks in Oakland where you can reconvene with your inner wilderness explorer.
  • Oakland’s territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub.
  • An act to incorporate the city was passed on May 4, 1852, and incorporation was later approved on March 25, 1854.
  • Dreyer’s ice cream was developed in Oakland in the 1920s.
  • The container shipping industry began in Oakland. The first container cranes were erected in the 1960s to supply the US war effort in Vietnam.
  • Oakland is a charter city.
  • The United States Census Bureau says the city’s total area is 78.0 square miles, including 55.8 square miles of land and 22.2 square miles of water.
  • Canned black olives were invented by a German widow named Freda Ehmann in Oakland in the 1890s.
  • Oakland has a Mediterranean climate with an average of 260 sunny days per year.
  • Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country, with 125 different dialects and languages are spoken.
  • The slang word “hella” originated in Oakland. Linguists believe that its use began in the late 1970s and spread widely through Northern California.
  • Oakland is a Gnome Home, There are over 2,300 little painted gnomes throughout the city.
  • Rocky Road ice cream was invented in Oakland by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy in 1929.
  • The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun natives, who lived there for thousands of years.
  • There are over 600 churches and temples representing all faiths and 300 or more restaurants serving a variety of cuisines.
  • Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the United States, more than 125 languages and dialects are spoken.
  • Oakland has its own Bonsai Garden. It’s located near Lake Merritt’s Lakeside Park. It opened back in 1999.
  • Oakland’s highest point is near Grizzly Peak Blvd, east of Berkeley, just over 1,760 feet (540 m) above sea level
  • Oakland is twinned with the following sister cities: Fukuoka, Japan; Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana; Nakhodka, Russia; Dalian, China; Funchal, Portugal; Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; Da Nang, Vietnam; Benin City, Nigeria; Port-de-Paix, Haiti; Oakleigh, Australia; Foshan, China; Bauchi, Nigeria & Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
  • Walt Disney took inspiration for Disneyland from Oakland’s own Children’s Fairyland.
  • The Popsicle was invented in Oakland in 1905 by 11-year-old Frank Epperson.
  • Oakland has more than 50 distinct neighbourhoods.
  • Oakland has 18 friendship cities: Agadir, Morocco; Bahir Dar, Ethiopia; Changping District, Beijing, China; Chengdu, Sichuan, China; Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Haikou, Hainan, China; Jing’an District, Shanghai, China; Jinzhou, Liaoning, China; Jurong, Jiangsu, China; Maoming, Guangdong, China; Mianyang, Sichuan, China; Nanning, Guangxi, China; Pudong, Shanghai, China; Qingdao, Shandong, China; Tanggu District, Tianjin, China; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia & Weifang, Shandong, China.

 

Facts About Oakland
Facts About Oakland