American Photoplayer Co. Copper Woodworking Buildings

CITY OF BERKELEY LANDMARK 
designated in 1986

AMERICAN PHOTOPLAYER CO. 
COOPER WOODWORKING BUILDINGS 
1912 - 1920

Over the years this complex housed Cooper Woodworking, the Sperry Flour Company, the
American Photoplayer Company, and other industrial and manufacturing enterprises. American
Photoplayer manufactured a musical instrument that produced mechanical music “like an orchestra”
for use in movie theaters. The company went out of business in the late 1902s when “talkies”
were introduced. An elevated sawdust hopper (removed in 1995) and brick kilns were part of
the complex. Lumber was once milled and kiln-dried on the site. Scrap wood was recycled as
fuel to fire the kilns and heat the complex.

These industrial buildings are among the few that were constructed in Berkeley along
the spur line of the Santa Fe Railroad that was laid in 1903. Most industry was
concentrated west of San Pablo Avenue, closer to Berkeley’s waterfront and the
transcontinental Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1987 the complex was renovated
and adapted for reuse as the Strawberry Creek Design Center, providing
studios and offices for designers, artists, and creative ventures.

Berkeley Historical Plaque Project 
1998