. BPWA 1442A WALNUT ST, #269 Dedicated to the creation, preservation and restoration of public paths, steps and walkways in Berkeley for the use and enjoyment of all. BERKELEY, CA 94709 Berkeley’s Berkeley Path Wanderers Association is a grassroots volunteer group of community members who have come together to increase PATHS public awareness of the City of Berkeley’s A Newsletter of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, Winter 2001 Vol. 4 No. 1 pathways. BPWA hopes to accomplish this goal through volunteer-led path walks, identification and accurate mapping of Important Figures in the History of the Pathways Berkeley’s complete path network, and In searching for documents showing the son of the Hillside Club; environmentalist eventual restoration of paths that have been origin of Berkeley’s paths, the best John Muir, painter William Keith; and blocked or obscured. sources are often original development architect Bernard Maybeck. San Francisco maps of Berkeley, Paul Grunland had provided a bad example of applying explained to January’s general meeting. the rigid grid design of streets to hilly terrain. Meetings Live Oak Park Rec. Center In the early 20th Century, Berkeley’s By this period, there seemed to be consensus 7-9 pm 1200 Shattuck Avenue hills were controlled by the Realty that hillside streets should be aligned with Feb. 22 Board Meeting Syndicate, the brain child of Frank the natural contours of the land. Thus the Mar. 15 General Meeting Havens and Frances Marion (Borax) continued on back Berkeley’s Early Byways Smith. The area was ripe for a boom: by Richard Schwartz The trans-Bay transportation network Apr. 19 Board was complete; rail lines and streetcars Berkeley’s Early Byways were being extended into the hills; and Path Walks RAIN OR SHINE the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Richard Schwartz Saturdays at 10:00 am (allow 2-3 hours) spurred a diaspora to the East Bay. Don’t miss Richard Schwartz’s presentation Feb. 24 Ridge to Bay Trail, Part I Berkeley was then a small town with a March 15 at Live Oak Recreation Center, Janet Byron 848-4008 Meet at Tilden Nature Center. Bring $1.35 large number of utopian visionary thinkers when he’ll elaborate on his book, tying in (exact change) for return trip on bus. such as Charles Keeler, principal spokesper- stories relevant to Berkeley’s paths. Mar. 17 N.E. Pathways continued on back Paul Grunland 526-8001 Meet at Euclid and Grizzly Peak April 21 Creeks and Flatland Paths, Yesterday and Tomorrow Susan Schwartz 848-9358 Meet at Boggie Woogie Bagel Boy Garden, Gilman between Curtis and Santa Fe May 19 Unimproved Paths Charlie Bowen 540-7223 Meet at Glendale-La Loma Park Potluck at Glendale-La Loma Park follows walk Jun. 9 Revelatory Landscapes (A tour of SFMOMA-sponsored art work) Mark Liolios 549-0818 Meet at AMTRAK station under University Ave. July 7 Kensington Pathways Paul Grunland 526-8001 The view is spectacular from Scott Newhall Path, Berkeley’s newest and highest-elevation Meet at Reservior Grizzly Peak and Spruce pathway, which was dedicated December 2, 2000. The nearly level, north-south path joins August 25th U.C. Campus Pathways two segments of Hill Road. Jack and Trudy Washburn donated the land to the city in honor Allen Stross 841-2359 of their friend and long-time neighbor Scott Newhall, who was editor of the San Francisco Meet at Center and Oxford Chronicle for many years. BPWA 1442A Walnut Street, #269 Berkeley, CA 94709 Board Members JACQUE ENSIGN, chair PAT DE VITO, co-chair ELEANOR GIBSON, recording secretary SUE FERNSTROM, treasurer KAREN KEMP, newsletter JAY CROSS, webmaster CHARLIE BOWEN TOM EDWARDS PAUL GRUNLAND SUSAN SCHWARTZ Special thanks to RUTH ARMSTRONG, JIM SHARP founder of BPWA, for her service on HELEN WYNNE the board. Important Figures continued new areas of Claremont, Northbrae, Sierra Club and the Save-the-Redwoods Cragmont, North Cragmont, and Thousand League and played a large role in the Oaks were developed with this in mind. creation of California’s state park system. Few people then owned horses or auto- To build the contoured streets and path- mobiles. The very long blocks created by ways, however, required a skilled engineer. contoured streets naturally led to plans for Here the key figure seems to have been pathways that would provide pedestrian Charles L. Huggins, who graduated from shortcuts to trains or streetcars. The original UC Berkeley in 1884 and later became development maps show Berkeley’s paths as Berkeley’s town engineer. Huggins had part of the original infrastructure, with names. helped the Hillside Club correct street Prime among the companies that car- problems in the Daley Scenic Park neigh- Berkeley Boy Scouts Troop 19 at work on Twin Path. ried out this subdivision was the Berkeley borhood, north of the UC Berkeley campus. Traction Company, which became the Paul recently interviewed the 102-year-old Berkeley Development Company and final- daughter of Charles Huggins, who used to New Mini-Grant Will ly Oakland Traction Company. The com- stroll in the hills with him, and feels his Continue Path panies borrowed money from the Realty contribution to developing the pattern of Syndicate, bought the land, laid out the hill transportation was immeasurable. Improvements streets, and sold the lots. Others, such as John Spring in Thousand BPWA has received a new $3,300 Berkeley Duncan McDuffie, a key partner in Oaks, later followed the pattern McDuffie Parks mini-grant to continue improving Berkeley Traction, probably deserves much and Huggins had set out. paths in the coming year. Working with of the credit for establishing Berkeley’s As we enjoy the pathways today, we Berkeley Boy Scouts, we hope to continue re-grading, improving drainage, and path network. McDuffie, who graduated should remember the forethought of a cen- adding wooden steps. from UC Berkeley in 1899, not only devel- tury ago and be grateful for our legacy. Our first mini-grant made five muddy, oped many of Berkeley’s most beautiful slippery tracks easy to stroll. In the latest neighborhoods, but also was a leader in the Story by Paul Grunland. projects, Boy Scout Troop 19 Eagle Scout candidates Sven Chilton, Ian Saulsberg, and Matt Seuferer improved Latham and Twin Paths, both close to Grizzly Peak. This Berkeley’s Early Byways continued year's candidates for improvement include Schwartz’s book Berkeley 1900, Daily they appeared in the Berkeley Gazette, inter- Acacia, Sterling, and Stevenson Paths. Life at the Turn of the Century, offers a woven with quotes from turn-of-the-century The new grant also includes funds for wild ride through Berkeley with a unique Berkeleyans. Included are over 170 photos benches. If you know of a good spot, presentation of faithfully reproduced news- of long-ago daily life. please let us know. In partnership with Friends of Five paper articles and vintage photographs. Schwartz, who came to Berkeley in Creeks, BPWA is also working on a grant Schwartz reveals a town of large gypsy 1973, is the author of The Circle of Stones, proposal to link the Bay Area Ridge Trail in camps, larger-than-life criminals and police- a nonfiction archeological mystery. He Tilden Park with the Bay Trail in the new men, resourceful immigrants, and bustling also has written articles for the Alameda Eastshore State Park, via Berkeley paths mom-and-pop shops. He has uncovered County, Berkeley, and Truckee Historical and Codornices Creek. In addition to build- fascinating human-interest stories and anec- Societies. ing one or two of the unbuilt hill paths, and helping create a half-mile pedestrian dotes about Berkeley’s children, wild animals In 1996, Schwartz was at the Berkeley path along lower Codornices Creek, the in downtown streets, environmental issues, Historical Society as a stack of Berkeley project would demarcate one or more race relations, and more, from articles first newspapers circa 1900 was about to be routes, perhaps with interpretive signs published a century ago. discarded due to possible mold. He couldn’t telling about human and natural history. The book’s thirty chapters provide the imagine such an intriguing resource getting reader with a textual introduction followed thrown away, so he rescued the papers and by over 650 newspaper articles exactly as took them home. The book was the result. Yearly $5.00 membership dues were due in January for the 2001 year. If you haven’t yet, please send checks to: Problems with paths call Berkeley Path Wanderers Association, Encroachments: Diana Aikenhead, 883 6555 1442 A Walnut Street, #269, Berkeley, CA 94709. Maintenance: Jay Kelekian, 644 6943 owww.internettime.com/path n Dept. of Parks & Waterfront If you have any concerns about path issues please call Jacque at 524-4715. Annual membership in Berkeley Path BPWA Membership Form Please print Wanderers Association is $5.00 due January 1st of each year. Benefits include Path Inventory Index, maps of pathways, Name quarterly newsletter, and BPWA mailings. Mail form with check or money order, Address City Zip payable to: BPWA, Berkeley Partners for Parks Email Telephone 1442A Walnut St., #269, Berkeley, CA 94709 (BPWA is a member of Berkeley Partners for Parks, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.).