First, there was nothing. Now there's Starbuck's. Here's what happened in between...
The first known inhabitants of Alameda were the Ohlone Indians. Park Street's history, however, begins in the mid-1800's with the arrival of the first "modern" commercial entrepreneurs.
Prior to 1864, Alameda was home to a few small farmhouses clustered around boat landings and the few roads that link the Alameda peninsula (we weren't an island yet) to the mainland.
In that year, however, it all changed when a rail and ferry system was introduced.
With improved transportation, ( "Wait," you say, "isn't that what we're still waiting for?") Alameda became a residential suburb, and hubs of commerce sprang up along these rail and ferry routes. The primary local stop for the San Francisco & Alameda Railroad was "Alameda Station", located near what is now the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Park Street.
From that point, businesses spread out in a linear fashion along a road that divided two large tracts of land. That road ultimately became "Park Street". Between 1877 and 1880, more than thirty new commercial buildings were erected. And these weren't the simple wood structures that preceded them; these were buildings of substance. Large, some of brick, and more ornate than their predecessors. Only one building from that era still remains today: the "Tucker Building" or "Block", at the Southeast corner of the intersection of Santa Clara Avenue and Park Street. (Hint: the current occupant has a killer deal on margaritas during their happy hour).
In 1896, the City Hall building was completed, validating the District's title of Alameda's true commercial and civic hub. By 1905, over 150 structures lined Park Street and the surrounding roads. While roughly thirty of those buildings are still standing, only the old "Masonic Temple" survives with its original architecture largely in tact.
Then came The Earthquake, The War, and a bunch of other stuff. Between the two World Wars, we had a few building booms, and – in their infinite wisdom – a bunch of people decided that the old Victorian landmark buildings weren't that cool, so they either tore them down, or converted them into something else. That included the "Tucker Building" (now serving tacos), the "Post Office Block" (now serving coffee), and the "Odd Fellows Hall" (now selling drugs). What replaced them and/or what they became are still hip buildings, but lesson learned. We hope.
Another monumental change for the street was the opening of the Park Street Bridge, in 1935. The trend was now a destiny: Hello four lanes of automobiles, goodbye horses and electric streetcars.
Along the way, sole proprietorships lost some ground to regional and national chains, South Shore Center re-focused the Island's retail attention for a time being, and eventually we had another World War to fight. By that point, from an architectural standpoint, Park Street was much as we see it today.
So when someone asks "what's new", tell them, "not much". And smile.
