Wildcat Canyon National Guard Target Range (abandoned) – El Cerrito CA

City:
El Cerrito, CA

Site Type:
Military and Public Safety

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Started:
1938

Designer:
Captain Thomas Fowler

Quality of Information:
Moderate

Site Survival:
No Longer Extant

Description

The WPA was involved in construction work in Wildcat Canyon.

“State of California, National Guard – Construct new rifle range on Wildcat Canyon in Contra Costa County, near Berkeley, by excavating; clearing and grading site; surfacing roads; erecting pit timbers, target frames and rifle racks; constructing superintendent’s house; reconstructing buildings; fencing; and performing appurtenant and incidental work. Project also includes dismantling existing rifle range at Leona Heights in Alameda County, near Oakland and moving to new location. Project will operate on East Bay Municipal Utility District owned property under lease to the State of California until 1947. In addition to projects specifically approved. Continuation of O. P. No. 165-06-8117”

Approval was granted March 29, 1938. 90,147 man hours went towards construction, $84,445 was spent in total, with $65,288 spent by the WPA, $16,906 by the sponsor, and 266 men were employed.

There is one mention of the range on a political forum by a former CCC member in use in 1951.

An event posting on Facebook in 2013 lists a hike to the remains of the range ruins and a place called Fowler’s Ranch

Source notes

WPA job card

El Cerrito Historical Society, Samuel R. Dows, "Ready on the Right...Ready on the Left," 1939: (https://www.elcerritohistoricalsociety.org/riflerange.pdf), accessed December 27, 2017.

Debate Policy: (https://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?41811-California-Cadet-Corps), accessed December 27, 2017.

Site originally submitted by Andrew Laverdiere on December 29, 2017.

Location Info


Rifle Range Rd Trail
El Cerrito, CA 94530

Location notes: 37.933251, -122.289733 Closest aproximation

Coordinates: 37.93325214771538, -122.28975418105927

Contribute to this Site

We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.

Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

Your email address will not be published, shared, or sold.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contribute to this Site

We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal project site.

Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

Your email address will not be published, shared, or sold.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.