Slough Becomes Lake Merritt  

Originally Lake Merritt was a tidal slough, a wet marsh at low tide and a body of water at high tide. As the city began to grow up around it, it became a dumping ground for nearly 90% of the city's garbage. High tide wasn't so bad but low tide turned the area into a smelly eyesore.

In 1869, the energetic Dr. Samuel Merritt used his own money to build a dam across the mouth of the slough near 12th Street. Flood gates helped to contain clean salt water in the slough during low tide and create a lake--Lake Merritt. It should be noted that Merritt's large real estate holdings at the north end of the lake greatly increased in value once the marsh became a lake. But streams continued to deposit silt in the shallow lake, and the residents continued to deposit sewage. By the 1880s, plans had been created for a boulevard around the lake to prevent it from degenerating into a "miasmatic bog or frogpond." But it was not until 1907 that a million dollar bond issue was passed to create the lake and park we know today.

Ann Richter
Friends of OPRCA

  "Walk Along the Water"
  © Oakland Museum of California, used with permission.

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Lake Merritt History - Camron-Stanford House

Dr. Samuel Merritt - Camron-Stanford House

View of Lake Merritt, ca. 1890s. - Oakland History Room, Oakland Public Library

 

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