London in Oakland - attractions of Jack London's hometown in Oakland, California

Sunset, July, 1995 by Lora J. Finnegan

Explore the docks that launched a thousand ships, and even a novel or two

The waterfront lights of Oakland began to slip past. Soon the stretches of docks and the shadowy ships began to be broken by dim sweeps of marshland, and Joe knew that they were heading out for San Francisco Bay. The wind was blowing from the north in mild squalls, and the Dazzler cut noiselessly through the land-locked water."

Much of The Cruise of the Dazzler, Jack London's 1902 novel, is set against the backdrop of Oakland and its rowdy docks. Though his Yukon travels inspired his most famous books, White Fang and The Call of the Wild, London first honed his skills locally. He was born in San Francisco in 1876 and lived in the Oakland area until his 20s, attending Oakland High School and, briefly, UC Berkeley.

Stories such as The Fish Patrol and The Cruise of the Snark drew on his Oakland roots. Today, London fans can visit a small museum that celebrates the town's most famous author, and even drop in for a cool drink at one of the writer's waterfront haunts.

For a taste of the Oakland waterfront's colorful past, visit the recently opened Jack London Museum. As you walk among the shops of Jack London Village, you'll come across a 30-foot sailboat in a small pond near the museum entrance. The fragile-looking craft represents the fictitious boat depicted in The Cruise of the Dazzler.

Inside the compact museum, displays give vivid testimony to London's prolific output, including 53 books and uncounted short stories, essays, and letters. A number of autographed first editions are displayed here, as well as editions in Russian, Finnish, and Czech, and posters from some of the 48 films made from London tales. You'll also see letters written by the author and magazines that published some of his earliest works. These publications include turn-of-the-century editions of Sunset and Overland Magazine, which bought an early London story for a mere $5.

A bookstore in the corner of the museum offers a wide selection of London titles along with such collectibles as White Fang wine, made from grapes grown at Jack London's Beauty Ranch in Sonoma (now a state park). This month, a recently opened lecture room adds movies based on London's books to its schedule. For more information, call (510) 451-8218.

The museum is in Jack London Village, at The Embarcadero and Alice Street; hours are 10:30 to 6 Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is by donation.

Outside, you can stroll along the waterfront London prowled as a youth - sort of. The scene is vastly changed from the working dock areas London knew, but the author would recognize one hangout, Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon, still at the foot of Webster Street. Legend has it that the saloon was built more than a century ago from the remnants of a whaling ship. You have to step down to enter the ramshackle little building, since years of settling and earthquakes have lent an odd tilt to the floor and bar. Ask the bartender to point out the comer where London sold newspapers and studied. Heinold's is still a bar, so you must be over 21 to enter; it's open noon to midnight daily except Sundays, when it closes at 8.

Just outside the bar is the rustic one-room log cabin London lived in during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. Identified in the late 1960s, it was brought here from the Yukon Territory and reassembled in Jack London Square. To get directions and parking information, call (510) 814-6000.