Longfellow, Oakland, California
Longfellow is a neighborhood in North Oakland, California. It is bordered by Temescal Creek to the north, State Route 24 to the east, Interstate 580 to the south, and Adeline Street to the west. It used to be part of the larger Temescal area, which stretched across parts of what is now several North Oakland neighborhoods. In the 1960s, the Grove-Shafter Freeway split the area and created smaller districts, including Longfellow.
The name Longfellow came with the opening of Longfellow Elementary School on Lusk Street between 39th and Apgar streets, likely named after the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1982, Nancy Reagan visited the school during a national tour about drug prevention, and her “Just say no” message became a well-known slogan nationwide. Longfellow Elementary closed in 2004, and the site is now used by Oakland Military Institute, which moved there in 2007. Other nearby schools include North Oakland Community Charter School and St. Martin De Porres Catholic School. Santa Fe Elementary, which served Longfellow and the Santa Fe neighborhood, closed in 2012; today, Santa Fe students attend Emerson Elementary in Temescal, and Sankofa Academy in the Bushrod area serves Santa Fe students.
In the early 1900s, North Oakland was a lively Italian neighborhood, and Grove Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Way) was a busy commercial strip with many Italian businesses. Sacred Heart Parish, founded in 1876 at MLK and 40th Street, was a key institution. A streetcar line along Grove Street connected the area to the broader transit network. The construction of the freeway in the 1960s hurt the commercial district and the parish, though the Grove Street corridor has since seen revitalization with new food-focused businesses.
From the 1940s and 1950s, the neighborhood saw a demographic shift from a largely Italian white community to a growing African American population. Important African American organizations began in Longfellow, including the African American Museum and Library (AAMLO) and the Black Panther Party. AAMLO’s roots trace to residents of Longfellow, while Panthers founders Huey P. Newton and David Hilliard grew up nearby. The Second Black Panther Party Office was located on MLK Way. The AAMLO had several moves and today operates on 14th Street.
Longfellow has an active community group, the Longfellow Community Association, founded in 2010. It brings together residents, schools, and local businesses and works with city offices and organizations on local issues. The neighborhood is home to artists and many new restaurants, reflecting ongoing growth after the economic rebound since 2008. Notable local contributors include artist Jon Sarriugarte, a well-known metalworker and Burning Man art car creator.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:38 (CET).