Temescal Regional Recreational Area

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Temescal Regional Recreational Area

Temescal 24.jpg

Lake Temescal and Beach House in Temescal Regional Recreation Area. Image date September 17, 2006
Nearest city Oakland, California
Area 48 acres (19 ha) [1]
Created 1936
Operated by East Bay Regional Park District

Temescal Regional Recreation Area (TRRA), formerly Lake Temescal Regional Park, is a regional park in the Berkeley Hills, in northeastern Oakland, California. The TRRA encompasses 48 acres (19 ha), abutting SR 24, SR13, and the interchange connecting the two highways, southwest of the Caldecott Tunnel.The park is part of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). [1]

A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government.

Berkeley Hills

The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges that overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills", but with the establishment of Berkeley and the University of California, the current usage was applied by geographers and gazetteers.

Oakland, California City in California, United States

Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port city, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the San Francisco Bay Area, the eighth most populated city in California, and the 45th largest city in the United States. With a population of 425,195 as of 2017, it serves as a trade center for the San Francisco Bay Area; its Port of Oakland is the busiest port in the San Francisco Bay, the entirety of Northern California, and the fifth busiest in the United States of America. An act to incorporate the city was passed on May 4, 1852, and incorporation was later approved on March 25, 1854, which officially made Oakland a city. Oakland is a charter city.

Contents

History of the lake

Lake Temescal was created in 1869, after Anthony Chabot won a contract to supply the town of Oakland, California with drinking water. Chabot had already become notable by developing a method of extracting gold from the Sierra Nevada mountains with high-pressure water cannons. He decided to use the same technique to construct a reservoir by blasting the walls above Temescal Creek, and recovering the dirt and rocks to build an earthen dam across the creek. [2] Chabot had already formed the Contra Costa Water Company to pump water from the proposed reservoir to the Oakland water system.

Lake Temescal lake of the United States of America

Lake Temescal is a small reservoir in the Oakland Hills, in northeastern Oakland, California. It is the centerpiece of Temescal Regional Recreation Area, also known as Temescal Regional Park. It is a part of the East Bay Regional Park District.

Anthony Chabot American businessman

Anthony Chabot was a nineteenth-century businessman and entrepreneur, notable for his contribution to developing hydraulic mining and for building water systems, especially in the Bay Area, so much that he became known as the "Water King".

Temescal Creek (Northern California)

Temescal Creek is one of the principal watercourses in the city of Oakland, California, United States.

By 1875, Oakland's population had grown to about 25,000 from about 10,000 when the dam was first completed. It was obvious that Lake Temescal was too small to remain the primary source of the city's water, so Chabot's company moved farther south to construct a much larger reservoir, later named Lake Chabot. Temescal became only a secondary source. [2]

Temescal Creek in Temescal Regional Recreation Area, September 18, 2006 Temescal 39.jpg
Temescal Creek in Temescal Regional Recreation Area, September 18, 2006

Lake Temescal is the main attraction in the park, which also offers trails, picnic areas, forest habitats, and bird watching. The lake was originally constructed as a drinking water reservoir for the city of Oakland. It was one of the first three parks opened to the public in 1936 by the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). [3]

Habitat ecological or environmental area inhabited by a particular species; natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population

In ecology, a habitat is the type of natural environment in which a particular species of organism lives. It is characterized by both physical and biological features. A species' habitat is those places where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction.

East Bay Regional Park District

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.

Beach House

In 1940, workers supplied by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed an imposing building overlooking the lake. The two-level building, which has since been known as Beach House, can be rented for private events, such as group meetings, receptions and dinners. [4]

Civilian Conservation Corps public work relief program

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men. Originally for young men ages 18–25, it was eventually expanded to ages 17–28. Robert Fechner was the first director of the agency, succeeded by James McEntee following Fechner's death. The CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. The CCC was designed to provide jobs for young men and to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression in the United States. Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000. Through the course of its nine years in operation, 3 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a wage of $30 per month.


See also

Notes

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    References


    Coordinates: 37°50′52″N122°13′53″W / 37.84778°N 122.23139°W / 37.84778; -122.23139

    Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

    A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.