Berkeley, a Look Back: 1925 council OKs rezoning corner for mortuary

A century ago on July the Berkeley City Council overturned a decision by the city s Planning Commission and granted approval - to rezone the northwest corner of Grove Street currently s Martin Luther King Jr Way and Derby Street for a mortuary proposed by undertaker Edward Niehaus The decision ends two years of zoning controversies caused by Niehaus trying to get a new location in Berkeley the Berkeley Daily Gazette shared During discussion a Councilmember observed that virtually every mortuary previously approved in Berkeley had faced zoning opposition The building still stands and the city of Berkeley used it for offices in contemporary times Racist neighbors The Channing Way Club a group organized by residents living west of the city s downtown held a mass meeting on July One of their major discussion topics was how to prevent an African American property owner in the area from building two bungalows on a lot he had purchased at the northeast corner of Dwight Way and McKinley Street The group decided as part of an effort to accomplish what the Gazette characterized as pursuing their right to keep the district free from colored people to ask the City Council to create a -foot setback requirement along Dwight Way from McKinley to what is now Martin Luther King Jr Way the former Grove Street that would be combined with a similar setback on both sides of McKinley Avenue from Channing to Dwight The petition to the council was certainly and openly racist since its advocates narrated the meeting they inferred the two setbacks would make the corner property unbuildable for two dwellings and the African American owner likely couldn t afford to proceed with building just one dwelling His construction permit was pending before city staff Scopes trial July the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton Tennessee ended with a conviction According to newspapers the jurors took just seven minutes to deliberate and return a verdict Sentenced to a fine John Scopes communicated the presiding judge I feel that I have been opposing an unjust law I will continue to help my ideals On July less than a week after the trial s end the winning prosecution attorney William Jennings Bryan died of a stroke in Dayton making new front-page news across the nation Bryan had been a major force in American politics for more than a quarter-century having run three times for president as a Democrat and serving as U S Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson Dog damage July a collie pup who has a great fondness for chewing things up proved a costly nuisance for Miss Mabel Clune who operates a millinery store at Center Street The dog came in with a woman and selecting one of the choicest hats in the store made way with it and chewed the hat into bits Miss Clune notified police The woman and dog left without identifying themselves and Clune urged police to find them so she could try to get reimbursement for the hat Near-centenarian Berkeley resident William B Brown who had come to California in the Gold Rush of died July at the age of He had fully traversed the continent during America s westward expansion Born in Virginia he moved to Missouri with his family when a child then later emigrated to California He pursued gold mining then bought land in Solano County and brought the rest of his family there At the age of he went to Alaska to prospect for gold He had been living in Berkeley for years when he died Bay Area native and Berkeley district historian Steven Finacom holds this column s copyright