Archival and Ephemeral Material

The Oakland and/or Alameda "arks" were a community of house boats and casually constructed structures located in the Oakland Estuary. They were home to a Bohemian community of artists, writers, musicians and social iconoclasts.

Ordinary citizens viewed the community as an eyesore and the City of Oakland tried for decades to remove them and clean the area up. Most had been moved or destroyed by 1950 in order to make way for industrial developments in the area.