Golden Sheaf Bakery

2071 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA

Susan Cerny

Photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004

27 October 2001

In 1877, John G. Wright, an Englishman, opened Berkeley’s first wholesale-retail bakery at 2026 Shattuck Avenue, just north of where the Kress building stands today. The original bakery was a two-story wood-frame building that featured tall storefront windows and a covered wood veranda in front. The owners, their bakery workers, and their student boarders lived on the second floor.

The bakery at 2026 Shattuck Avenue (photo: BAHA archives)

Sale receipt signed by J.G. Wright, 1880s

The bakery produced 26 varieties of bread and twelve types of cakes and pies. It also had a catering service, a dining room, and a retail sales shop. By 1905, the business had grown so large that it had a fleet of 40 horse-drawn trucks and motor cars.

Golden Sheaf wagon in front of Phoebe Apperson Hearst’s residence, 2368 Le Conte Ave. (photo: BAHA archives)

Wright was active in organizing the bakers’ union, which was formally established in 1904 at the Golden Sheaf Bakery. But unionization led to the demise of family-run bakeries and the concurrent rise of large baked-goods companies. In 1909, the Wright family sold their business to Wonderbread, and the old bakery building was torn down.

Pre-restoration (photo: BAHA archives)

Around the corner, at 2071 Addison Street, stands a remnant of the Golden Sheaf Bakery. The brick-sided building was constructed in 1905 as a storage building and loading area for the bakery. Despite its rather humble use, the building was designed by noted architect Clinton Day.

The Golden Sheaf building is a Classic-inspired, two-story red brick and terra-cotta structure with a three-part composition. Four pilasters frame three vertical bays, which contain three sets of paired arched windows on the second story. Above the central bay there is a sign molded in brick-colored terra-cotta depicting a sheaf of wheat, with the bakery’s name below. Molded terra cotta was also used for the bases and capitals of the pilasters and for the cornice. The terra cotta was made by the Gladding McBean Company.

Terra cotta pediment (photo: Daniella Thompson, 2004)

After the bakery was sold, the building served as offices and shops until 1927, when it was converted into a garage. On 20 July 2000, a dedication ceremony was held for the Nevo Educational Center of the Berkeley Repertory Theater. The remodeled bakery-warehouse building will provide space for the theater’s education program.

This article was originally published in the Berkeley Daily Planet.

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The Golden Sheaf Bakery was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark on 17 October 1977. It is #78000644 on the National Register of Historic Places (added in 1978). The building currently houses the Jazz School and the Aurora Theatre Company.

Ad in the Oakland Tribune, 31 May 1915

 

  

Copyright © 2004–2007 Daniella Thompson. Text © 2001–2007 Susan Cerny. All rights reserved.