Bowen's Inn/Higgins Grocery

Bowen's Inn/Higgins Grocery (HM10EJ)

Location: Berkeley, CA 94710 Alameda County
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Country: United States of America
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N 37° 52.235', W 122° 17.873'

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Inscription

Circa 1854

— City of Berkeley Landmark, designated in 1985 —

This building, thought to be Berkeley's oldest remaining structure, originally stood on the Contra Costa Road, now San Pablo Avenue. Built by Captain William J. Bowen when the area was sparsely populated, it served as an inn, saloon, grocery store, and stagecoach stop. Oceanview, Berkeley's first community, grew up between Bowen's Inn and a small shipping wharf built by Captain James Jacobs at the foot of what is now Delaware Street.

In 1872 the building became Berkeley's first post office, in James Higgins' grocery store. In 1893 Sam Heywood, later mayor of Berkeley, moved the building to the corner of Delaware and Fifth streets where he opened it as a "temperance grocery store." Around 1920 it was moved to this site where it later served as the home of the Liberty Hill Baptist Church before becoming a private residence.
Details
HM NumberHM10EJ
Tags
,
Year Placed2000
Placed ByBerkeley Historical Plaque Project
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, October 20th, 2014 at 1:12am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)10S E 561752 N 4191688
Decimal Degrees37.87058333, -122.29788333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 37° 52.235', W 122° 17.873'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds37° 52' 14.10" N, 122° 17' 52.38" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)510, 650, 408, 925
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 834 Delaware St, Berkeley CA 94710, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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