In 1772, the area that later became Oakland was colonized, along with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called Encinar--Spanish for "oak grove"--due to the large oak forest that covered the area, and which eventually led to the city's name.

An act to incorporate the city was passed on May 4, 1852, and incorporation was later approved on March 25, 1854.

North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route") was a 1,912-mile (3,077 km) railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay. The resulting coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West.

The first recorded stadium wave occurred in Oakland at an Athletics' playoff game against the New York Yankees on Oct. 15, 1981. It was organized and led by professional cheerleader Krazy George Henderson and was seen by a national TV audience and captured on film. Sixteen days later on Halloween at the University of Washington in Seattle, former UW cheerleader Robb Weller--back for a game as guest yell leader--led fans in a Wave at Husky Stadium during the school's 42-31 victory over Stanford. Krazy George and the University of Washington feuded for years over who started The Wave, but The Wave of evidence is in George's favor.

The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun, who lived there for thousands of years. The Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone (a Miwok word meaning "western people"). In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, a stream that enters the San Francisco Bay at Emeryville.

The city's population doubled when refugees made homeless after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake moved to Oakland.

The Black Panther Party was a political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California. Upon its inception the Black Panther Party's core practice was its open carry armed citizens' patrols ("copwatching") to monitor the behavior of officers of the Oakland Police Department and challenge police brutality in the city.

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as a United States senator from California from 2017 to 2021, and as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017. In 2021, she became the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president.

Gertrude Stein wrote in her 1937 book Everybody's Autobiography "There is no there there", upon learning that the Oakland neighborhood where she lived as a child had been torn down to make way for an industrial park. The quote has sometimes been misconstrued to refer to Oakland as a whole, prompting the city to install a colorful sculpture titled "There" in City Center plaza, ending debate once and for all as to whether or not there is a "There" there.

The Northwest War Industries League and American Football League were two closely related professional football leagues based on the West Coast that played for two nonconsecutive seasons during World War II. During the 1944 season, the city of Oakland fielded its first professional football team, but the Oakland Hornets folded after just four games, with a record of 0-4. The Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) were more successful, winning Super Bowl XI (1976) and Super Bowl XV (1980) during their stay in the city.