George V. Arth & Son

In 1877, George V. Arth settled in Oakland, California after making the long ocean journey across the Atlantic. He had arrived with his family from the region of Alsace-Lorraine, France. A blacksmith by trade, George set up shop in the East Bay when he purchased a small local business named the Oakland Carriage Manufactory, which he later renamed to George V. Arth & Son. The business made a good living by repairing and painting horse-drawn buggies, but as Mr. Henry Ford's "horseless carriages" began appearing on the local Oakland streets, George V. Arth & Son adapted to the new technology and began repairing and painting the new motorized vehicles.