Jump to navigation

Picture This:
California Perspectives on American History
  • Home
  • Browse Pictures
  • Picture Map
  • Log In
  • Activities
  • Teaching Resources
  • About the Website

Search form

Depression Era: 1930s: Depression

Click image to zoom in.
Or view larger version.
Pipe City. 1932. M.L. Cohen. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California. Gift of Martin J. Cooney.

This is a photograph of a resident of Pipe City. During the Great Depression homeless men created a community called Pipe City, also known as Miseryville, which was located at the foot of 19th Avenue in Oakland, California. Using surplus sewer pipes, belonging to the American Concrete and Steel Pipe Company, the men created makeshift homes on company land. To qualify for a pipe, a man had to be jobless, homeless, hungry, and scruffy, but not helpless.

  • More information about this Topic

Picture Location

Browse the Picture Map »

Timeline: Depression Era: 1930s
« previous picture
next picture »

Browse By Timeline

  • Early California: pre-1769–1840s
  • Gold Rush: 1848–1860
  • Early Statehood: 1850 – 1880s
  • Progressive Era: 1890–1920s
  • Depression Era: 1930s
  • World War II Homefront Era: 1940s
  • Homogenization, Protests & Outright Rebellion: 1950s
  • Unforgettable Change: 1960s
  • Cultural Realignment & Economic Recession: 1970s
  • The Reagan Years: 1980s
  • 1990s to Present

Also, browse by Theme or by Most Useful

California.  Many Voices.  Many Stories.  Oakland Museum of California
Picture This is a project of the Oakland Museum of California