Oakland Urban Paths: Fruitvale

On every Oakland Urban Paths walk, we try to include some history, art, current events, and to hook up with people in the neighborhood whenever we can. On last Saturday's walk, "Three Jellyfish, Two Creeks, One New Book", we had all that and more. About 80 people joined us for an exploration of the Fruitvale district, led by OUP co-founder Paul Rosenbloom.

We started the walk at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park. While the centerpiece is the home that Antonio Maria Peralta lived in with his family, Peralta Hacienda covers local history from the days of the Ohlone people to the present day and regularly hosts cultural events. It's also part of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, a unit of the National Park Service.

We crossed the first of the two creeks, Peralta Creek, then headed down 35th Avenue to the Calvin Simmons Middle School. There Paul told us a bit about Oakland Symphony Orchestra director Calvin Simmons, who died tragically young just a few years into a promising career.

Across 35th and up Galindo Street, we came to the 3 jellyfish, part of a new art installation on the Carrington Steps. A few years ago, the steps were a dumping ground and an eyesore. The neighbors got together and cleaned them up, got a grant and created a beautiful mosaic, and got another grant and had Oakland muralist Dan Fontes create a colorful and unique staircase mural. Fontes is probably best known for murals around Oakland like the Giraphics murals under I-580. We heard from Fontes and Cynthia Elliot of Keep Oakland Beautiful about the whole process. Now local students and their parents happily use the stairway, and so far, the stairs are staying clean. (For whoever was wondering, the school beyond the top of the stairs is the Global Family Elementary School.)

Continuing our walk took us along part of Foothill Blvd., where we could see some of the results of the Fruitvale Alive! Community Transportation Plan that was completed in 2005. The streetscaping includes stamped intersections, colorful wayfinding signs, and more. Then it was on to the first of two city parks, the recently revamped Cesar Chavez Park, which includes a stretch of Peralta Creek. We walked near St. Elizabeth Church which was originally organized by German Catholics, but now the congregation is mostly Latino. Crossing Fruitvale Avenue took us to the next city park, Josie de la Cruz Park, named for a local community activist and home to the Carmen Flores Recreation Center. There we got our first glimpse of our second creek, Sausal Creek.

Then it was on the new book portion of our walk. We were a bit surprised to enter Austin Square Park along Sausal Creek by a different entrance than when we'd scouted the route before. We were quite surprised to find the approach required climbing down the hillside to the creek with the aid of a rope. But there we got to hear about the new bilingual children's book, I Am Sausal Creek / Soy El Arroyo Sausal. We heard from the publisher, Josh Fowler of Nomadic Press, book illustrator Robert Trujillo, and author Melissa Reyes. When she was a teacher, she was told to teach Oakland history to young students, but found few age-appropriate resources, and the idea for the book was born. Reyes read from the book, which tells the story of Sausal Creek from the days of the Ohlone up to present times. It's full of beautiful watercolor illustrations by Trujillo, and also has a section for parents and older children with a bit more detail about the history.

All around a great walk! Thanks to everyone who came out for the walk, to Paul for organizing and leading the walk, and new OUP volunteer Charlie for helping with the walk logistics. And thanks to Charlie, Noël and Tom for the photos. Be sure to check out Tom's video at the end of this post.

Next month's walk will be a more strenuous hike, from the Dimond district up to Skyline Blvd. with a return by bus. See more info here.

Some other notes: the 20th annual Creek to Bay Day is this Saturday, September 19th. This is a fun, free, family-friendly way to help make Oakland more beautiful and protect our local environment. There are work projects along Sausal Creek, Peralta Creek, and all the other creeks that flow through Oakland to the bay. Find a project near you and see more info here.

Sunday, September 20th is the 3rd annual Love Our Lake Day. Some of the streets around Lake Merritt will be closed to vehicle traffic, so people can walk, run, cycle and dance in the streets with a variety of events. I'll be leading a special walk at Lake Merritt -- see more info here.

Speaking of the creeks, check out the Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Creeks on the Oakland Museum of California website. There's online info and a printed version of the map, too.

More pictures from the walk:

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To make sure we had enough time for the book event, we skipped part of our route that included seeing the Cohen-Bray House. The home was built by Julia Moses and Watson A. Bray as a wedding present for their daughter Emma, who married attorney Alfred H. Cohen on February 28, 1884. The sprawling Bray family estate was across the street, and while it's gone, the Cohen-Bray House is an elegant reminder of times past. Tours are available by appointment.

We also didn't have time to talk about Patten University near Peralta Hacienda. It was founded by evangelical Dr. Bebe H. Patten as the Oakland Bible Institute, after the Pattens led a revival at the Oakland Auditorium that went on for 19 weeks and had as many as 5,000 people a night.

urban paths: Anza Trail

Earlier this month was a special Oakland Urban Paths walk put on in conjunction with the National Park Service. The tour featured the Juan Bautista de Anza trail, the route taken by some of the first European settlers in California. In 1775-1776, Lt. Colonel Anza of the Spanish army led more than 240 men, women and children 1,200 miles from what is now Mexico to Alta California here in the Bay Area. Prior expeditions had all been explorers, soldiers and priests, but these were some of the first families to settle.

We started the tour at Peralta Hacienda, which was fitting because Luis Peralta came to California on that expedition as a teenager. The tour was led by NPS ranger Hale Sargent, who handed us cards representing the settlers. And with a call that would have been familiar to the settlers, "¡Vayan Subiendo!", we were off. We crossed Peralta Creek and headed southeast to Courtland Creek.

We followed the creek up to Fairfax, where we heard more about the Anza expedition. Then we were treated to the stunning mosaics at Maxwell Park, and heard about the project from Nancy Karigaca, who spearheaded the project. Read more about the mosaics at Oakland Local.

Then it was up over the hill to Mills College. There we met up with local historian Dennis Evanosky, who told us about an earlier exploration by the Spanish. Captain Don Pedro Fages led six "bluecoat" soldiers and a muleteer. They camped at what is now Mills College, and were the first Europeans to see the entrance to the Golden Gate from contra costa, the opposite shore.

We returned to our starting point via the Laurel (where the Laurel Book Store had hosted a talk by Hale and Dennis earlier in the week) and Allendale. It was a long walk, but all the people and dogs managed it. The day wasn't over yet, though. Peralta Hacienda graciously opened their doors earlier than usual, so people who were interested could get a tour there to learn more about the Peralta family and the current community surrounding the museum. Another great OUP walk, and special thanks to Hale, Dennis, the Peralta Hacienda, and the Laurel Book Store!

Lots more pictures from the walk:

Creek to Bay Day 2012

Saturday was Creek to Bay Day, the Oakland part of the larger Coastal Cleanup Day across California. It happens as part of International Coastal Cleanup that has people volunteering all over the world. Last year I volunteered at Wood Park along part of Sausal Creek; this year I volunteered at Peralta Hacienda, along part of Peralta Creek.

There was a big group of students from Fremont High School in Oakland, who mostly worked down by the creek, as well as a troop of girl scouts who cleaned up the playground area. The rest of us, a mixture of nearby neighbors and people like me who came from elsewhere in Oakland to volunteer, worked in the gardens and along the entrance walkway from Coolidge.

I worked on picking up trash, and trimming around the interpretive signs in the garden. While some of signs were pretty grown over, it was easy, relaxing work. It was also a pretty short work day, from 9am until noon, so it made for an easy way to help cleanup Oakland and the bay.

Trash that ends up near the creek frequently ends up in the creek, and then in the bay. Besides being unsightly, the garbage can injure or kill wildlife. It's a big, ongoing problem—last year's Coastal Cleanup Day picked up 1.3 million pounds of trash. Fortunately there were thousands of volunteers out around the bay and California working to clean up waterways and the coast again this year. Thanks to everyone who turned out!

But you don't need to wait for a special day. Next time you're out walking along the shore, or just walking around Oakland, stop and pick up trash and throw it in a garbage can. Every piece you pick up is one piece that doesn't end up in a creek, the bay, or the ocean. It's an easy way to help make Oakland (and beyond) a little bit better.

More pictures from Creek to Bay Day at Peralta Hacienda:


Additional coverage of Coastal Cleanup Day around SF Bay:

• NBC Bay Area
• San Jose Mercury News
• Contra Costa Times
• Save the Bay (SF)
• Oakland North

And just a reminder: the 5 Houses Bike Tour on Saturday, September 29th will begin at Peralta Hacienda. See http://5houses.ouroakland.net for more info.