In the 1870s and 80's, the area which is now known as Rockridge, was still considered to be "country". The first farmhouses scattered over the area where built in the Italianate style. Scattered farms lined the creek between college Avenue and Lake Temescal. As late as 1910, mining man Charles Butters operated an explosive plant and metallurgical lab alone the creek in the area between what is now Chabot Court and Presley Way. By the 1890s, on the west side of College Avenue many Italian immigrants were beginning to move into the area. Vegetable gardens were one source of livelihood for residents who sold produce from their kitchen gardens. Orchards and extensive truck gardens, watered by Temescal Creek, were common in this section of Rockridge. In the twenty years between 1890 and 1910 the population of Oakland tripled from less than 49,000 to 150,000. Ten years later, in 1920, the population of Oakland was 215,000. The developing infrastructure which surrounded College Avenue encouraged and supported this population growth. By 1890 electric street railways were revolutionizing transportation all across the country. By 1905 College Avenue was served by an Oakland Traction Line Streetcar and it became possible to commute from anywhere in Rockridge to downtown Oakland or Downtown Berkeley and anywhere in between. Today the BART system has made Rockridge a very desirable place to live because it is an easy commute to so many places in the Bay Area. ..