This photo shows up every once in a while, with variations on the same basic info: “A George J.P. Turner operated as bootblack from early 1900’s to about 1918 according to Oakland City Directories. Had shops listed at various places including Narrow Gauge Depot on Franklin, 14th street and Clay street in Oakland.” It’s from the California State Library (CSL).

Coming across the photo again, with a higher resolution than the usual copies, I decided to take a closer look at it, both literally and figuratively. Who was George Turner? Where and when was the photo taken?

I started by trying to confirm the information above from CSL. I never did find a mention of a location on Clay St., but the rest seemed mostly accurate if a bit vague. The 1913 directory listed both 411 – 14th St. and 501 – 14th St. The latter was probably the source of the Clay St. mention, but the address was at the no longer extant

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