The Heart of Berkeley: The Historic McGee-Spaulding District

 

For years the historic importance of the District had been overlooked. So in 2000, a group of District residents founded the McGee-Spaulding-Hardy Historic Interest Group. Our goal was to research and document the history of the area and share our findings both with local residents and the broader public through publications, walking tours, historical plaques, oral histories and our website, www.MSHHIG.com . During the past fourteen years we have landmarked two historic buildings, the Hunter House (1895, Landmark #231), 2418 California Street and the Fish-Clark House (1883, Landmark #310), 1545 Dwight Way; conducted three walking tours; compiled an architectural style sidewalk inventory of all the buildings in the District; installed two Berkeley History Plaques, one on California Street at Dwight Way and the other at Allston and MLK, Jr. Way. We also collaborated with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association to provide two District walking tours for the 2009 edition of “41 Berkeley Walking Tours.”