H95.6.2R

A remarkable airplane view of the San Francisco Bay cities looking toward the west. The camera is directly above the City of Oakland. It shows us Lake Merritt lying within the city and close to its business section; also, at the left, the estuary, which is bordered by shipping terminals and factories. The full span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is shown, and in the far distance, the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco occupies the tip of the peninsula. Photograph album prepared by the Board of Supervisors, Martinez, California, 1945. "Contra Costa County presents for your consideration a site which has imposing advantages as the Seat of Government of the United Nations. This location embraces a very large expanse of land to which we are giving the general title of the Moraga Valley area." The album features views of Contra Costa County and San Francisco and Oakland. Betsy Willcuts, May 2002 Bibliography: THE HEART OF OAKLAND, A Walking Guide to Lake Merritt by Leslie Flint, Sponsored by the Camron-Stanford House Preservation Association Lake Merritt was a tidal slough; part of an estuary flowing into San Francisco Bay. At low tide it was a swampy, smelly marsh, and at high tide, it was a lake much as you see it today. At the time Oakland was incorporated in 1852, the outlet from the lake to the bay was considerably larger than what you see today, stretching almost the entire length of the present day viaduct. The only access to the towns on the eastern shore was by boat across San Antonio Slough or around the lake by a long route through the hills. In 1853, Horace Carpentier built a toll bridge at 12th Street. In 1869 Dr. Samuel Merritt, then Oakland's mayor, funded the construction of a dam at the 12th Street Bridge. Lake Peralta became known as Lake Merritt. Under Mayor Mott (1905-1915) Lake Merritt was made into a park with a boulevard around the lake, a municipal boat house, a bandstand, and hiking trails. During that time the City Hall, the Oakland Auditorium (Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center), and the Oakland Public Museum (Camron-Stanford House) were built. Note: In 1969, the Oakland Museum, now the Oakland Museum of California opened.

Used: United States Congress | Sheridan Downey