The street was named for Francis Kittredge Shattuck, an early landowner and booster who later served as Mayor of Oakland.

[2] During the Mexican era, a trail or road ran between the homes of the Peralta brothers, Domingo and Vicente.

Domingo made his home along Codornices Creek near what is today the intersection of Sacramento and Hopkins Streets in Berkeley.

Vicente's home was situated along Temescal Creek near what is today the intersection of 55th Street and Telegraph Avenue in North Oakland.

In North Berkeley, Shattuck Avenue is the location of the Gourmet Ghetto, an unofficial district known for its density of restaurants.

Shattuck is an important north–south arterial roadway for northern Alameda County connecting the downtowns of Berkeley and Oakland.

Today BART carries commuters underground on the system's second-most-popular line, including the Ashby and Downtown Berkeley stations.