- City:
- Berkeley, CA
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Lakes and Ponds
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Completed:
- 1939
- Contractor:
- Guerin Brothers
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Public Works Administration (PWA) financed the construction of Lake Anza in Tilden Park. The lake is formed by a dam on Wildcat Creek which flows through the park (apparently, the lake drowned a lovely 9-foot waterfall on Wildcat Creek).
Lake Anza was created initially for water supply for the Tilden Golf Course and other facilities, but afterward it was developed for recreation like swimming and boating.
Before the lake could be developed, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) teams cleared vegetation in the area with hand tools; Guerin Brothers and other contractors, used earth-moving machinery to construct the dam. Work was completed in 1939.
This work was one of the first steps in a major New Deal effort to aid the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) in improving its four original parks and making them available for public recreation. EBRPD was created in 1934 and purchased its first park lands from the East Bay Municipal Utility District in 1936.
Source notes
Elbert Vail, The Early Story of the East Bay Regional Parks. Unpublished manuscript, available at East Bay Regional Parks District archives.
Elbert Vail, Progress Report, c 1940, available at East Bay Regional Parks District archives
Elbert Vail, 1940 Master Plan. Oakland CA: East Bay Regional Parks District, 1940, available at East Bay Regional Parks District archives
Amanda Sue Marshall, "WPA and CCC worksites in East Bay Regional Parks," research report for Living New Deal, January 2, 2012.
Mimi Stein, A Vision Achieved:Fifty Years of the East Bay Regional Parks District. Oakland CA: East Bay Regional Parks District, 1984. @ https://www.ebparks.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=25719
Brechin, Gray. 2008. "Forgotten Foundation". Bay Nature Magazine. January 1. https://baynature.org/articles/jan-mar-2008/forgotten-foundation
Smith, Harvey. 2014. Berkeley and the New Deal. Charleston SC: Arcadia Books.
Amanda Sue Marshall, The East Bay Hills: A Brief History. Charleston SC: The History Press, 2017.
Site originally submitted by Shaina Potts on May 26, 2012.
Additional contributions by Richard A Walker.
At this Location:
- Tilden Regional Park: Brazilian Room - Berkeley CA
- Tilden Regional Park: Golf Course - Berkeley CA
- Tilden Regional Park: Botanical Garden - Berkeley CA
- Tilden Regional Park: Lake Anza Bath House (demolished) - Berkeley CA
- Tilden Regional Park: Wildcat Canyon Road - Berkeley CA
- Tilden Regional Park: Picnic Areas - Berkeley CA
- Tilden Regional Park: Stone Restrooms - Berkeley CA
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