The idea of what would become Grizzly Peak Boulevard took tangible form a century ago when a court approved condemnation proceedings against the East Bay Water Co. so that a strip 3 miles long and 70 feet wide could be acquired by Berkeley and Oakland and developed with a public “skyline boulevard.”

County Supervisor Redmond Staats said Alameda County could find $200,000 to build the road. It would provide “one of the finest motor drives in California. It will also act as a wonderful fire break along the ridge,” the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported Nov. 18, 1925, the day of the court ruling.

Open house: That telephone company open house that I mentioned in last week’s column was a popular destination in November 1925. On the first day, 600 residents visited and 1,100 on the second day cam

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