Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County, California. Originally inhabited by the Ohlone Native Americans, the area was colonized by Spanish settlers in 1772, and it was part of the Rancho San Antonio before the land was divided up in 1842, and the area became part of Encinar (meaning "oak grove"). After the Mexican-American War, squatters cut down the Mexican landlords' fruit trees, killed their cattle, destroyed their buildings, and even fenced off the roads leading to the rancho, forcing landowner Vicente Peralta to sell off his land to Horace Carpentier. In 1851, Carpentier and two associates begna developing downtown Oakland, which was incorporated in 1852; by then, Oakland had 100 inhabitants, two hotels, a wharf, two warehouses, and cattle trails. In 1854, Oakland became a city. Oakland rapidly developed due to the California Gold Rush, and Chinese immigrants became railroad workers in Oakland; the local white community discriminated against them and burned down their living quarters several times. Oakland became a major rail terminal during the 1860s and 1870s, and horsecar and cable car lines were built in the late 19th century, with the first electric streetcar setting out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891. Oakland was devastated by the 1900-1904 plague, forcing 5,000 residents to quarantine in 1908. In 1906, the city's population doubled as refugees from the San Francisco earthquake moved to Oakland. In 1917, General Motors opened an automobile factory in Oakland, followed by Fageol in 1916 and Chrysler in 1929; Oakland was nicknamed the "Detroit of the West" for its auto manufacturing. During World War II, Oakland contributed to the war effort with it prominent canning and shipbuilding industries. Tens of thousands of Southern whites and African-Americans migrated to Oakland to pursue wartime job opportunities, followed by Mexican-Americans who were employed at the West Oakland rail yard. Starting in 1946, Oakland's streetcars were replaced by cheaper diesel buses, and Oakland's shipbuilding and automobile industries declined; in December 1946, Oakland was one of six American cities to have a general strike in the aftermath of World War II. In 1960, the Kaiser Corporation opened its new headquarters in Oakland, but wealthier residents moved to new housing amid "white flight"; as a result, Oakland became a mostly Black city, even as only 16 of the city's 661 police officers were Black by 1966. Police abuse of African-Americans led Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to found the Black Panther Party at Merritt College in Oakland, and the Black Panthers advocated armed self-defense against police and provided services to children and the needy. After the destruction of the Black Panthers by the FBI, Oakland became an epicenter of the crack epidemic during the 1980s, leading to Oakland becoming one of America's most crime-ridden cities. In 1991, Oakland experienced the worst firestorm in American history until 2017, killing 25 people, injuring 150, and destroying 4,000 homes. The city began to revitalize during the 1990s as new jobs were created in the downtown area, the Port of Oakland, and the international airport. Mayor Jerry Brown oversaw urban renewal programs during the 2000s, leading to rent increases and gentrification. In 2011, socialist protesters began "Occupy Oakland" demonstrations in Downtown Oakland shortly after the city paid claims of $57 million to plaintiffs claiming police abuse. By 2010, African-Americans dropped to 28% of Oakland's population due to fast-rising rents and an extreme housing crisis in the region. In 2019, the city decriminalized shrooms, and the city came to suffer a higher homeless rate than both San Francisco and Berkeley by 2019, suffered a disproportionate death toll from COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022, and lost three major professional sports teams to other cities within a span of five years. In 2020, Oakland had 440,646 residents, of whom 29.29% were white, 26.81% Hispanic, 24.4% Black, 14.12% Asian, 4.32% multiracial, .39% Pacific Islander, .33% Native American, and .33% other.
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