Page One

Berkeley Observed 

Looking back, seeing ahead 

After the 1906 earthquake and fire, Jack Jaymont and Pauline Mirandette moved from San Francisco to Berkeley and established a laundry at 2578 Shattuck Ave. This location was just one block south of Dwight Way Station, the hub of a thriving commercial district.  

When the first steam trains began running downtown in 1876, Dwight Way Station was the transfer station for a horse drawn streetcar line to the Schools for the Deaf and Blind at the top of Dwight Way. James Barker was the original owner of the land around Dwight Way Station and he hoped that downtown would be located here.  

Although Dwight Way Station did not become the center of downtown, a small commercial district was established and several of the more substantial buildings are still standing. On Dwight Way above Shattuck Avenue a number of impressive 19th century homes are still standing. They would have been conveniently located within walking distance of the station.  

As was typical during the early part of the century, the Berkeley French Laundry  

building had the business on the ground floor and living  

quarters above.  

Susan Cerny writes Berkeley Observed in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association