entrance to Albany Hill Park, north end of Taft AveView of Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay, from the western side of Albany Hill.
Albany Hill is a prominent hill along the east shore of San Francisco Bay in the city of Albany, California. Geologically, the hill is predominantly Jurassic sandstone, carried to the western edge of North America on the Pacific Plate and scraped off there in the course of subduction. Albany Hill is part of a range of hills uplifted long before today's Berkeley Hills. These hills include Fleming Point and Point Isabel (their summits dynamited away), Brooks Island, the Potrero San Pablo, and the hills across San Pablo Strait.
Albany Hill's indigenous Ohlone name is unknown. The 1772 Fages expedition referred to the landmark as "El Cerrito," and it was named Cerrito de San Antonio[3] by the Luís María Peralta family after the name of their ranch, Rancho San Antonio, a Spanish land grant which encompassed much of the East Bay. The name was changed to Albany Hill shortly after the city incorporated as Ocean View changed its name to Albany in 1909.[4] The adjacent city of El Cerrito was named after the hill's original Spanish name.[5][6]
Early history
The north side of Albany Hill was long used by Native Americans, as evidenced by large mortar stones and remnants of a shell midden. Oaks on the north side, the willow grove where tributary Middle Creek joins Cerrito Creek, salt and fresh wetlands to the north (now filled), and the nearby Bay would have made this a bountiful seasonal home.
Beginning in the late 19th century, Judson Powder Works manufactured dynamite at the northwest foot of the hill. The company had been forced to move from San Francisco and then nearby Fleming Point in Berkeley because of continuing accidental explosions. The eucalyptus trees now on the hill were planted by the dynamite manufacturers to catch debris and muffle sound of these explosions. The stop on the transcontinental railroad tracks just to the west was called Nobel Station after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
In 1905, a massive accidental explosion of nitroglycerin killed 23 workers. The explosion carved a massive crater in the north flank of the hill, which is today evident by a large dip in the tree-line. After this incident, dynamite making was forced north to less-settled areas, making an eventual last stand at Pt. Pinole, now a regional park. Quarrying on the hill continued for many years, leaving scars on the rock and eventually obliterating a low summit northwest of Albany Hill, approximately where Richmond's Pacific East Mall is now located.
Modern history and ecology
As a large open space, the only nearby high elevation next to the Bay, and in the path of sea winds blowing through the Golden Gate, Albany Hill is an ecological island. It is a haven for plants normally found in much cooler areas, for example Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana), stinging phacelia (Phacelia malvifolia), and coast horkelia (Horkelia californica ssp. californica) The Native American practice of regular burning to avoid brush buildup (and major fires) was continued by the dynamite companies and later the city, into the 1960s. Perhaps as a result, the hill harbors unusually large numbers of native wildflowers and other plants. The oak forest on the cool north face remains much as it was pre-European-settlement. The non-native eucalyptus trees on the summit attract migrating and wintering monarch butterflies. Hawks, owls, wild turkeys, and deer are among the animal inhabitants; herons, kingfishers, and egrets fish the creek.
The hill provides a view of Albany, Berkeley — notably, UC Berkeley's Sather Tower — and the Berkeley Hills from one side. From the other, it looks out onto the Bay, with San Francisco in the distance. Looking south from the hill, the high-rises in downtown Oakland and Emeryville are visible. From earliest European settlement, residents have enjoyed open space on the hill, "sledding" on dry grass and swinging from rope swings.
From the early 20th century on, particularly in the 1970s, numerous schemes were proposed for development of Albany Hill, from dynamiting it for bay fill to building high-rise hotels or blasting out the top as a reservoir. Protest by local residents defeated most of these. Eventually the city retained an environmental consultant to prepare an Environmental Impact Report on alternative development schemes and development densities. After a series of public hearings the consultant's recommendation design was chosen leading to the present development pattern of clustered high-rise residential use and preservation of the majority of the hill.
In 1994, citizens passed Measure K, cutting allowed density on the hill by half and allowing the city to pursue further lowering, and in 1996 voters passed Measure R, a special levy including $3 million to buy land on the hill.[7] In 2008, the remaining open space hill was declared a Priority Conservation Area by Bay Area and state agencies.[8] By 2019, when the bonds matured, the city had bought small parcels totaling six acres. The remaining bond funds in 2019 were being spent for access and other improvements called for in the city's plans for the park, adopted first in 1991 and repeated in a new plan adopted in 2012.[9]
Just under 3⁄4 of almost 40 acres of open space on the hill is protected from development. A public park extends from Cerrito Creek up the north side of the hill. Large condominiums on the west side of the hill maintain significant areas of open space as part of their development agreements, and the north part of the summit ridge and a portion of the northeast slope is owned by the city.
The remaining quarter of the open space is a single tract: South of the highest point, a 10.7-acre privately owned parcel runs from Pierce Street on the west up over the summit and down to Taft Street on the east slope. Most users treat this land as park, but the city has never negotiated a legal right-of-way allowing public access. In late 2019, this tract was listed for sale at $10 million.[10] It is zoned for apartments or town homes, with a maximum density of nine units per acre.[7] The city's Master Plan includes various policies regarding this parcel, including keeping the summit open, clustering development, providing a trail easement, protecting monarch butterfly habitat, minimizing grading, and protecting and restoring the hill's natural features, native vegetation, and wildlife.[11]
Fire is a serious concern on this wooded hill surrounded by city. Plans adopted in 1991 and 2012 call for thinning eucalyptus and controlling brush to create a savannah-like habitat that would limit fires. On November 15, 2008, strong dry northeast winds whipped up a fire in a forested area on the west side of the hill above a large apartment complex (555 Pierce Street). Recent heavy rains and a prompt response by the Albany and Berkeley fire departments limited the blaze to 2 acres (8,100m2), with no structures burned.[citation needed]
However, the fire danger may be less than what it seems. In the 1980s, a large fire started from Pierce street, and swept uphill, going north-west. No large tree burned, although many were scorched. The fire burned fiercely the Poison Oak, next to the ground (this was witnessed by local residents such as Constance Ramos and Patrice Ayme). [citation needed] The city has increased brush control, road maintenance, and clearing. Clearing is limited by wanting to maintain habitat for birds, including hawks and owls, and monarch butterflies that use the eucalyptus trees as a migration stopover or winter habitat.[citation needed]
A few volunteer groups work on and near the hill. Friends of Albany Hill has worked to maintain and increase native vegetation on the hill itself by removing non-native invasive plants. The Friends have also educated the public about the natural and cultural significance of the hill, monitor the wintering site for the monarch butterfly migration and trail improvement projects, and in the 1990s they helped bring privately held parcels into city hands. Friends of Albany HillFriends of Five Creeks has done extensive restoration along Cerrito and Middle Creeks and adjoining groves and meadows at the foot of the hill. A new group,TASH (Tending the Ancient Shoreline Hill), formed in 2018 to continue habitat restoration and environmental education on Albany Hill, holds monthly work parties.
Lions Club cross
A 20-foot cross stands near the summit of Albany Hill. The cross was erected by the Albany Lions Club in 1971 on then-private land, subject to an easement allowing for maintenance by the Lions Club. The land was obtained by the City of Albany in 1973. The cross is illuminated by the Lions Club on Christmas, Easter, and other occasions such as the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The cross has been subject to disputes regarding the Lions Club easement and the legality of a Christian symbol displayed on public land. In 2016, the city cut off power to the cross for several months, citing safety concerns regarding the electrical wiring. In June 2018, a federal judge ruled the display unconstitutional, requiring that the city remove the cross or sell the parcel on which it stands.[12][13]
Proposed Development of the West Side of the Hill
In January 2020, a development of 48 mansions up the west side of Albany Hill, facing the Golden Gate, was proposed by Trumark Homes.[14] A public petition ("Save Albany Hill Park") was created online to entice City Hall to block the project.
Albany Hill Fire
On June 26, 2022, a vegetation fire broke out on the west side on Albany Hill, burning near Cleveland and Washington avenues. The City of Albany asked residents of Gateview, Hillside, and Taft St to evacuate. An initial evacuation center was set at Golden Gate Fields.[15]
Contra Costa County is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,165,927. The county seat is Martinez. It occupies the northern portion of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area and is primarily suburban. The county's name refers to its position on the other side of the bay from San Francisco. Contra Costa County is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Kensington is an unincorporated community and census designated place located in the Berkeley Hills, in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, in Contra Costa County, California. In the 20th century it was considered part of Berkeley, although it is across the county line. House numbers follow the pattern used in Berkeley, and Kensington shares two zip codes with the Berkeley Hills area.
The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which is the largest urban regional park district in the United States. The administrative office is located in Oakland.
Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park on the shores of the San Pablo Bay, California, in the United States. It is approximately 2,315 acres (9.37 km2) in area, and is operated by the East Bay Regional Park District. It includes the Dotson Family Marsh and the Point Pinole Lagoon and hosts the North Richmond Shoreline Festival.
Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve is a small regional park mainly located in the city of Oakland, California, and administered by the East Bay Regional Park District. The park is named for the canyon in which it is situated, Claremont Canyon, out of which Claremont Creek flows on its way to its confluence with Temescal Creek. Originally, the canyon was named Harwood's Canyon, and then later as Telegraph Canyon. The name was changed to Claremont by a developer of the nearby Claremont district.
Glen Canyon Park is a city park in San Francisco, California. It occupies about 70 acres (28 ha) along a deep canyon adjacent to the Glen Park, Diamond Heights, and Miraloma Park neighborhoods. O'Shaughnessy Hollow is a rugged, undeveloped 3.6 acres (1.5 ha) tract of parkland that lies immediately to the west and may be considered an extension of Glen Canyon Park.
Mount Sutro is a hill in central San Francisco, California. It was originally named Mount Parnassus.
San Bruno Mountain is a fault-block horst in northern San Mateo County, California; its northern slopes rise in San Francisco. It is surrounded by San Francisco Bay and the cities of Brisbane, Colma, Daly City, and South San Francisco.
El Cerrito Plaza is a shopping center in El Cerrito, California, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Codornices Creek, 2.0 miles (3.2 km) long, is one of the principal creeks which runs out of the Berkeley Hills in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. In its upper stretch, it passes entirely within the city limits of Berkeley, and marks the city limit with the adjacent city of Albany in its lower section. Before European settlement, Codornices probably had no direct, permanent connection to San Francisco Bay. Like many other small creeks, it filtered through what early maps show as grassland to a large, northward-running salt marsh and slough that also carried waters from Marin Creek and Schoolhouse Creek. A channel was cut through in the 19th century, and Codornices flows directly to San Francisco Bay by way of a narrow remnant slough adjacent to Golden Gate Fields racetrack.
McLaughlin Eastshore State Park is a state park and wildlife refuge along the San Francisco Bay shoreline of the East Bay between the cities of Richmond, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland. It encompasses remnant natural wetlands, restored wetlands, as well as landfill west of the Eastshore Freeway. Its shoreline is 8.5 miles (13.7 km) long, and its total area is 1,854 acres (750 ha), which includes both tidelands and uplands. Originally named just Eastshore State Park, it was renamed in October 2012 to honor the late Save the Bay founder Sylvia McLaughlin, who, along with the late Dwight Steele of Citizens for Eastshore Park, drove the establishment of the park. Prior to 2013, it was jointly managed by the California State Parks and East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). The state agency and EBRPD executed a 30-year agreement for EBRPD to manage the park.
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is a 2,789-acre (1,129 ha) East Bay Regional Parks District park bordering the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It includes a portion of Wildcat Canyon as well as a portion of the adjoining San Pablo Ridge, and is directly connected to the more heavily used Tilden Regional Park.
Point Isabel is a promontory on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in the Richmond Annex neighborhood of Richmond, United States.
Baxter Creek or Stege Creek, is a three-branch creek in Richmond and El Cerrito, California, United States, forming the Baxter Creek watershed. The creek has three sources and flows from the Berkeley Hills to Stege Marsh and the San Francisco Bay. The Baxter Creek watershed at-large has 10 sources.
Cerrito Creek is one of the principal watercourses running out of the Berkeley Hills into San Francisco Bay in northern California. It is significant for its use as a boundary demarcation historically, as well as presently. In the early 19th century, it separated the vast Rancho San Antonio to the south from the Castro family's Rancho San Pablo to the north. Today, it marks part of the boundary between Alameda County and Contra Costa County. The main stem, running through a deep canyon that separates Berkeley from Kensington, is joined below San Pablo Avenue by a fan of tributaries, their lower reaches mostly in culverts. The largest of these is Middle or Blackberry Creek, a southern branch.
Fleming Point is a rocky promontory in the U.S. state of California. The rocky promontory is part of a band of rock, that geologists call the Novato Terrane. Which has been formed through titanic clashes of plates that have pulled the rock upwards. This area is the only original existing shoreline in the East Bay Region today. It is situated in Albany, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Albany Bulb is an extension of the point, having been formed in the 1960s from construction debris.
Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP) is a United States environmental organization that focuses on the acquisition and preservation of parkland in the San Francisco Bay Area. CESP works to protect open space along the East Bay shoreline for natural habitat and recreational purposes through a combination of advocacy, education, and outreach. Since its founding in 1985, CESP has worked to secure approximately 1,800 acres (730 ha) of public land, primarily through the creation of the 8.5-mile (13.7 km) long Eastshore State Park in 2002.
Friends of Five Creeks is a regional community volunteer organization founded in 1996 by Sonja Wadman originally dedicated to the stewardship of creeks in northern Alameda County and western Contra Costa, California, United States. Education about wildlife and restoration is also a major facet of the FFC's mission.
Live Oak Park is a public park and recreation area of the city of Berkeley, California, it lies in the center of several North Berkeley neighborhoods, 5.5 acres of nature juxtaposed with facilities that form the beating heart of the area. It's a place where play areas, basketball and tennis courts, an indoor theater and the Berkeley Art Center share space with native oaks and California Bay Laurels, quiet shady picnic areas, a spacious grassy knoll and the lovely Codornices Creek, which flows through the park. Live Oak Park is one of Berkeley's oldest and most naturalistic public parks.
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