"Four blocks of Telegraph will be closed to traffic, so this will truly be a street fair," says Karen Hester. "There will be historic photos on display, courtesy of the Italian American Federation. Many Italian families settled here over the years, and Temescal still retains an Italian-heritage flavor.

"The performers and participants who have signed up strongly reflect all the ethnicities and diverse communities found in North Oakland," says Hester.

Library History Room files describe the district in 1875 as "our northern suburb of Temescal, midway between the City Hall and the classic precinct of Berkeley." In those days, Oakland's city limits extended only to 36th Street, the land beyond was open fields, with small farms here and there growing "wheat and vegetables."

The area known as Temescal would eventually be annexed to Oakland in 1897, say the files.

The East Bay's first horsecar railroad, the Oakland Railroad, ran from the landing at the foot of Broadway out Telegraph Avenue to Temescal Bridge (over the creek of the same name) starting in the 1870s. Telegraph Avenue was the main road over to neighboring Berkeley, home to the newly established university (which had relocated from its initial site on Franklin and 13th Streets in downtown Oakland in 1873). Car fare was set at 61/4 cents (or four rides for two bits), and the street cars were to move no faster than 10 mph. Commuters could catch a ride "every 15 minutes from the Broadway depot to the creek, with 30 minute service beyond and to Berkeley."

It was possible to make the journey from San Francisco (on the ferry) on to Berkeley in an hour-and-a-half, with "scenery incompassing mountains, meandering streams, natural groves, and a spectacular view of the San Francisco Bay." Later in the 1880s, a narrow gauge steam train made the trip, from 51st Street on into Berkeley. "The new management was denied permission to run steam trains all the way into downtown Oakland, however."

With the coming of the electric streetcars in the early 1890s, major activities in Temescal centered at the car barn at 51st and Telegraph.

The area along Telegraph Avenue saw the establishment of parks and resorts, such as Humboldt Park, described as "just the place for a picnic, innocent flirtation or midnight strolls." It was the place where clubs and fraternal groups held their annual picnics and bazaars. Ayala Park (at 55th and Telegraph) was named for Captain Ayala, son-in-law of Vicente Peralta, and "soon became a picnic mecca on the sunny side of the bay." Farther north, Idora Park filled 17.5 acres (between 56th and 58th) and boasted a "huge figure-eight roller coaster and a opera house." Folks flocked to the park, using the Key Route streetcar line owned by Francis M. "Borax" Smith, millionaire land-developer and town promoter.

Telegraph Avenue originally got its name because the area's first telegraph line was strung along its length, out to Sacramento, say the files. In 1919, city leaders briefly contemplated changing the avenue to "Roosevelt," to honor President Theodore Roosevelt, who had just died. Evidently the idea did not catch on, however, and the name change did not take place.

At Saturday's event, local historian Jeff Norman will be taking names for a book he is currently working on, called "Traces of Temescal."

"I am looking for folks to interview who remember certain aspects of Temescal history, particularly the era when the Grove Shafter Freeway was going in," he says. "I'm also hoping to speak to anyone who was involved with the community effort to acquire the Studio One building and the lot for Temescal Pool, in the late 1940s."

Kenny Mostern, editor of the neighborhood newsletter and active in many community activities, began fundraising and lining up sponsors in the spring. "We are celebrating the new emergence of Temescal as a commercial district. We have been working with the City's Community and Economic Development Agency, and the Temescal Merchant's Association and we are still signing up volunteers, so anyone interested should call 654-6346, or visit www.temescalmerchants.com"