Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt is a lake located in a large tidal lagoon basin in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown. It is named after Samuel Merritt, Oakland's mayor in 1867–1869, who had the lagoon dammed turning the varying tidal lagoon into a stable salt-water lake. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. Historically significant as the first official wildlife refuge in the United States, designated in 1870, the lake has been listed as a National Historic Landmark since 1963. The circumference of the lake is, with an area of.
The lake features grassy shores, several artificial islands intended as bird refuges, and an interpretive center called the Rotary Nature Center at Lakeside Park. There is a small fairy-tale themed amusement park called Children's Fairyland and The Gardens at Lake Merritt is also in the park. A popular walking and jogging path runs along the lake's perimeter.
History
The lake was originally an arm of San Francisco Bay, formed where several creeks empty into the bay. It was surrounded by of wetlands when the Ohlone people fished, hunted, and gathered food along its shores. By 1810, the remaining Native Americans were removed to Mission San José, and the estuary and of surrounding land was deeded to Sergeant Luis Maria Peralta to become Rancho San Antonio.After gold was discovered in 1848 in present-day Coloma to the northeast, Anglo squatters led by lawyer Horace Carpentier took control of the East Bay area which would later become downtown Oakland, including the estuary known as "San Antonio Slough". Oakland was incorporated in 1852 with Carpentier as its first mayor, and the estuary became the city's sewer. In 1856, Peralta fought and won a United States Supreme Court case against the squatters, but further court cases between his sons and daughters would greatly diminish their holdings. The Peralta brothers had to sell much of the land to Carpentier to pay legal fees and new property taxes.
Lake Merritt naturally had tidal flows via a broad 600-foot outlet, but that has been steadily reduced with development of the region after 1869. Currently, the tidal flows are limited in size and managed for flood control. For years, the lake acted as a waste collector. It was regarded as ideal for sewage because of its chemical contents, which have high acidities that cause it to decompose human feces at very high rates. Sixty miles of brick and wood channeling sent the broken-down sewage to the bottom of the lake to then be eaten by bottom feeders. The stench at the lake during the decomposition of the sewage was a problem for Oaklanders on the west shore and residents of Clinton and San Antonio villages on the east.
Samuel Merritt, Oakland's mayor, who owned property at the shore's edge, was keen to get the body of water cleaned up so that it could become a source of civic pride. In 1868, he proposed and funded a dam between the estuary and the bay by which the flow of water could be controlled, allowing the water level inland to rise higher and become less saline, turning the tidal lagoon into a lake. Sewage was to be redirected elsewhere by two new city projects, though these weren't completed until 1875. The resulting body of water was called variously "Lake Peralta", "Merritt's Lake" and later Lake Merritt.
The lake at that time still had thick wetlands fringing the shores and it continued to attract large numbers of migratory birds. In order to protect the birds from duck hunters and stop the noise and danger of gunfire so close to the city, Merritt proposed to turn the lake into a wildlife refuge in 1869. The state legislature voted Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge into law in 1870, making it the first such refuge in North America. No hunting of any sort was to be allowed and the only fishing was to be by hook and line.
File:Camron-Stanford House.jpg|thumb|The Camron-Stanford House was built by Samuel Merritt in 1876 along the southwest corner of Lake Merritt in Oakland, California.
The ornate Camron-Stanford House was built in 1876 near the lake's western shore. Tax records suggest that Samuel Merritt built the Italianate Victorian as part of his plan to promote and develop downtown Oakland and the new lake. In 1877, the house's title was transferred to Mrs. Alice Camron, a purchase she was able to make due to an inheritance from her father, California pioneer John Marsh. She, her husband Will, and their two daughters were the first residents of the home. Further fine homes were built on the lakeshore by others following Merritt's lead, though none but Camron-Stanford remain today. Beginning in 1910, the house served as the Oakland Public Museum. In 1967, the Oakland Museum moved to other quarters, and the Camron-Stanford House is now a separate museum.
Protection for the wetlands was nonexistent and residences kept being built on reclaimed land around the shore of the lake. Cleanliness continued to be a problem because of incomplete sewage projects, and the lake kept silting up since the natural tidal flow had been interrupted by Merritt's dam. Dredging of the lake began in 1891, with the removed silt being piled along the eastern shore to make a foundation for a road which became Lakeshore Avenue.
From 1893 to 1915, Lake Merritt saw major changes. Inspired by the new City Beautiful movement, which got its start at the World's Columbian Exposition, the lake became a city-owned park. In 1913, an elaborate Mission Revival pergola was constructed at the northeastern tip of the lake. Adam's Point was cleared of houses, planted with lawns and imported trees, and became Lakeside Park. Eastshore Park was created where East 18th Street brought Trestle Glen's watershed to the lake. Oakland Civic Auditorium was built at the south edge of the lake in 1914.
File:Bellevuestaten 2.jpg|thumb|The Bellevue-Staten Building was designed by Herman Baumann and constructed in 1929 using an architectural blend of Spanish Colonial and Art Deco styles.
1923 saw Cleveland Cascade spring into life, conceived and assisted by noted landscape architect, Howard Gilkey. This was a three-tiered water feature incorporating multiple waterfalls tumbling sequentially into twenty large collection basins and a pool at the bottom, flanked by twin stairs descending from Merritt Avenue in Cleveland Heights to Lakeshore Avenue. Colored lights in rainbow sequence lit the waterfall at night.
In 1925, the "Necklace of Lights" was turned on.
1929 is the year the luxurious Bellevue-Staten apartments were completed at 492 Staten Avenue in Adam's Point near Lakeside Park. The 15-story blend of Art Deco and Spanish Colonial styles is one of the most prominent sights viewable from nearly every point of Lake Merritt.
Lake Merritt's natural wetlands are long gone—converted to parks, pathways and roads. Some of the wetland vegetation has been restored to five "Bird Islands" constructed of dredged silt between 1925 and 1956, sheltering hundreds of nesting and roosting water fowl. The islands have a fresh water irrigation system to bring drinking water to the birds. A boom and a rope/buoy barrier protects the islands from recreational boaters.
Under the name Lake Merritt Wild Duck Refuge, the site became a National Historic Landmark on May 23, 1963.
Starting in 1961, Oakland's "Downtown Property Owner's Association" and the "Central Business District Association" repeatedly advocated for extending Alice Street directly through Snow Park, which was then the grounds of the Snow Museum, past the Schilling Gardens and the Bechtel Building at 244 Lakeside Drive, and down to the lake's edge on 20th Street. They purportedly sought to alleviate motorist traffic congestion that might be caused by the closure of Broadway during construction of the nearby BART line. The plan met stiff opposition from Oakland's City Council in October 1964, which, as reported by the Staff of the Oakland Tribune at the time, told downtown property interests to "quit wasting its time."
While celebrations at Lake Merritt have been largely peaceful and lively, several incidents of violence have marred the park during events. A mass shooting at a 2021 Father's Day event involving two San Francisco gang factions left two dead and five wounded. A gang shooting on Juneteenth 2024 in June left 15 wounded.
Necklace of lights
A "necklace of lights" encircles Lake Merritt. Featuring 126 lampposts and 3,400 "pearly bulbs", the necklace was first lit in 1925. In 1941, the lights were removed to comply with World War II blackout conditions. After a decade-long campaign by the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club, the lights were again illuminated in 1987.During Oakland's annual gay pride celebration, the city replaces the white bulbs with multicolored bulbs.