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East Bay Hills: A Brief History
Like the mist rising from San Francisco Bay encircles the towering redwoods, the little-known legends of the East Bay Hills enrich a glorious history. Follow the trails of Saclan and Jalquin-Yrgin people over the hills and through the valleys. Ride with the mounted rangers through the Flood of '62. Break into a sealed railroad tunnel with a pack of junior high school boys. Learn how university professors, civil servants and wealthy businessmen planned for years to create a chain of parks twenty miles along the hilltops. Author Amelia Sue Marshall explores the heritage of these storied parklands with the naturalists who continue to preserve them and the old-timers who remember wilder days.
256 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2018
Although I've lived in the SF Bay Area my whole life I knew almost nothing about the East Bay. Now that I live over here I want to learn more, especially about the hills and the parks where I spend a lot of time hiking, running, and riding. So when I saw this book at my local bookstore I grabbed it.
Marshall has gathered quite a bit of information about the native people of the East Bay hills, the Mexican and then the European immigrants. She chronicles how we clear-cut the old growth redwood forests (except for one solitary tree!), and how the East Bay Regional Park District has been buying up properties to increase today's parklands. I learned how a seemingly "remote" Redwood Road was once the location of many lumber mills, homes, taverns, and an infamous brothel!
The author has chosen to relate factual information and descriptions. Happily, this means there are no flowery embellishments of what things could have been like, but the flip side is that often there is very little information that still exists about historical people, places, and events. Still, I feel she did a very good job collecting what was available.
Marshall has gathered quite a bit of information about the native people of the East Bay hills, the Mexican and then the European immigrants. She chronicles how we clear-cut the old growth redwood forests (except for one solitary tree!), and how the East Bay Regional Park District has been buying up properties to increase today's parklands. I learned how a seemingly "remote" Redwood Road was once the location of many lumber mills, homes, taverns, and an infamous brothel!
The author has chosen to relate factual information and descriptions. Happily, this means there are no flowery embellishments of what things could have been like, but the flip side is that often there is very little information that still exists about historical people, places, and events. Still, I feel she did a very good job collecting what was available.
September 11, 2018
East Bay history buffs, have you ever wondered about:
- when and how the old growth redwood forests were logged?
- how 19th century toll roads underlay our modern roads and trails?
- how our adjacent landscape and its use has changed dramatically in a little over 100 years?
- the various bars, saloons, and the colorful characters who inhabited them?
- what happened to towns and settlements on the East flank of the Oakland hills that have vanished, contrary to the overall expansion of housing and population?
This book answered these questions, and more. It draws together some familiar and some excitingly new anecdotes from a scrupulously notated bibliography. I found many of my favorite stories confirmed, and a number of wonderful new stories added.
A must-read for Oakland history fans.
- when and how the old growth redwood forests were logged?
- how 19th century toll roads underlay our modern roads and trails?
- how our adjacent landscape and its use has changed dramatically in a little over 100 years?
- the various bars, saloons, and the colorful characters who inhabited them?
- what happened to towns and settlements on the East flank of the Oakland hills that have vanished, contrary to the overall expansion of housing and population?
This book answered these questions, and more. It draws together some familiar and some excitingly new anecdotes from a scrupulously notated bibliography. I found many of my favorite stories confirmed, and a number of wonderful new stories added.
A must-read for Oakland history fans.
May 6, 2019
Very informative! I would have loved to see more maps, because I am (sadly) unfamiliar with most of the places she mentions.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews