TIMELINE compiled by John Kirkmire ©2023 lakemerritt.org
Lake Merritt Iconic Moments
notable structures completed, organizations formed
1867-69 Samuel Merritt becomes Oakland Mayor, leads movement to dam tidal estuary and install floodgate to create a stable lake, also lobbies state legislature to establish Wildlife Refuge
1870 Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge becomes protected by state law
1906 SF Earthquake sends thousands relocating to Oakland
1907 Bond Measure, enables city to purchase properties around lake to create lakeside parkland.
Oakland Public Museum opens (1907-1965). House built by Samuel Merritt in 1870's.
1909 Lakeside Pump Station built for downtown fire protection
1911 First Lakeside Park Bandstand constructed
McElroy Fountain installed in Lakeside Park
1912 Oakland Municipal Band formed
Bowling Green added to Lakeside Park
1913-14 Pergola & Colonnade built. Walter Reed architect
18th St. Pier / Boat Landing. Walter Reed architect
Municipal Boathouse ( added to Pumping Station structure). Walter Reed architect
1914 Easterbrook Fountain (imported from Italy) in Lakeside Park
1915 Bunya-Bunya Tree (from SF Expo) planted in Lakeside Park
Canoe House (aka Sailboat House) Walter Reed architect
Civic Auditorium and Theater opens, aka Kaiser Auditorium
City-sponsored Duck Feeding begins in Lakeside Park
1916 Oakland Women's Rowing Club formed
1918 Edoff Memorial Bandstand construction begins (completion 1923),replaces 1911 Bandstand
1920 Sun Dial installed in Park (inside Gardens at Lake Merritt)
1921-23 Duck Pond area in Lakeside Park. Howard Gilkey architect
Duck Island created. Howard Gilkey landscape architect
Cleveland Cascades. Howard Gilkey landscape architect
1922 Snow Museum of Natural History (1922-1967) formerly Cutting Mansion. Future site of Snow Park
1923 Edoff Memorial Bandstand completed. Waler Reed & William Corbett architects
1924c City Horticulture Nursery at Grand/Harrison/Bay
1925 Necklace of Lights completed. (Will continue until 1941)
1926 Bird Banding begins, will continue for 5 decades...
Lawn Bowling Clubhouse built (formerly tennis court site in Lakeside Park)
Veteran's Memorial Bldg completed
1927 Scottish Rite Center completed
1929 Bellevue-Staten Building. completed
Bellevue Club (Women's Athletic Club) completed
1933 Lake Merritt Breakfast Club begins at Lake Merritt Hotel (first guest speaker is Paul Covel)
1934 Paul Covel begins Sunday afternoon waterfowl talk in Lakeside Park
1936 Alameda County Courthouse completed
1941 Necklace of Lights turned off (will not resume until 1987)
1942 Cal Spring Flower Show designed by Howard Gilkey in Gardens. 100k visitors
1946 William Penn Mott Jr. becomes City of Oakland Park Superintendent 1946-1962
1948 Paul Covel becomes Oakland's first park naturalist
1949 Eastshore Library (Lakeview Library) completed
1950 Children's Fairyland created, sponsored by LM Breakfast Club
Peralta Playland opens, children's amusement park in LM channel area (1950-1968)
1951 Oakland Main Library. completed
1951 Oakland-East Bay Garden Center Inc. created by 42 garden clubs to raise funds to construct
a central Garden Center (completed 1959)
1952 Mid-Century Monster installed. Robert Winston sculpture
1953 Rotary Nature Center opens
1953-54 Four additional islands added to the wildlife refuge
1954 Sailboat House built on site of Canoe House
1956 Geodesic Dome / Bird Cage constructed
1959 Lakeside Park Garden Center completed, OEBGC Inc
Japanese Garden constructed next to Garden Center
Lake Merritt Breakfast Club meetings move to Garden Center
1960 Kaiser Center completed
1961 Ebell Wing of Garden Center added
Thaler Fountain built across from duck feeding area
1962 Bird Feeding area renovated, brick wall added
Green House complex and Lath House added to Gardens
Lake Merritt Rowing Club formed
Jim Carlton discovers unique marine organism in LM
Lake Merritt floods 7.3 feet above normal. (Leads to building of a flood control station 1971)
1965 Succulent and Cactus Gardens; Cascades/Pond; both added to Gardens
Lakeside Park Restaurant opens (future site of Junior Center for Arts & Sciences)
1969 Park Bellevue Tower completed
Oakland Museum of California opens (Snow Museum collection moved here)
Torii Gate added to gardens (will be replaced in 2002)
1971 7th Street Flood Control Station installed
1974 Polynesian Garden in Green House added
1977 Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders Club formed.
Proposition 13 passes. Will deplete park funding and services
1978 Herb and Fragrance Garden added to Gardens
1984 Palmetum added to Gardens
1987 Necklace of Lights restored by LM Breakfast Club fundraising
1990c Merritt College Horticulture classes at Gardens
1992 Junior Center for Arts & Sciences (replaces Restaurant )
Lake Merritt Institute founded by Richard Bailey
1995 Vireya Rhododendron collection added to GLM Lath House
1996 Bay Friendly Gardens added to GLM by stopwaste.org
1998 Grand Lake Farmer's Market founded, Saturdays
1999 Bonsai Gardens at Lake Merritt created
2002 Measure DD Bond Measure passes
Measure DD Community Coalition forms
Torii Gate added to Gardens, replaces 1959 model
17th St dock/pier restored
2004 LM Gardens renamed “Gardens at Lake Merritt”
Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt forms, unites with Oakland East Bay Garden Center Inc.
2005-09 (Japanese Garden) Gates & Fencing, designed and built by Jay Van Arsdale
2006 Sensory Garden (formerly Herb & Fragrance Garden) created
2007 Mediterranean Garden added to Gardens
Alameda Master Gardener Program begins in Urban Garden
2008 Cathedral of Christ The Light completed
2010 Tora Rocha becomes Oakland Park Superintendent
2011 Oakland Running Festival (Oakland Marathon) in Snow Park
2012 Autumn Lights Festival created
2013 lakemerritt.org founded
Pollinator Posse formed
Bee Hotel added to GLM (modeled after Bee Hotel in Paris)
Lake Merritt Channel Marsh renovation completed
2014 GLM Cascades /Pond upgrade project
Undercurrent light sculpture under Lake Merritt Blvd Bridge
2015 Golden State Warriors Championship Celebration at LM (also 2017)
2016 Children's Memorial Statue in Lakeside Park. Dennis Smith sculpture.
2017 Women's March at Lake Merritt (again in 2018)
Lake Merritt Advocates formed
2019 Snow Park/ Green Streets Project renovation completed
Billion Year Walk around Lake Merritt, science education project
Makkeweks Sculpture in Snow Park, sculpture by Scott Constable & Ene Osteraas-Constable
Mid-Century Monster restored by LM Breakfast Club
Gardens at Lake Merritt Gates, designed and built by Shawn Lovell, video
2020 Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge 150th Anniversary video
Black Lives Matter Family March at Lake Merritt
Weekend Vending program trial project at El Embarcadero
Diversity Street Mural on Belleview Ave inside Lakeside Park, video
Gardens & Guardians at Lake Merritt video
Lakeside Chats, monthly online speaker series begins
2021 Alpine Rock Garden added to Gardens at Lake Merritt, video
Lake Merritt Breakfast Club: History, Traditions & Projects video
Oakland Museum of California expands with new LM entrance
Litter SOS Campaign volunteers clean up lake area Sunday evenings, video
Lamppost Project sponsored by LMBC, video
Junior Center of Arts and Science fire damaged (again in 2022)
2022 Compassion Peace & Unity Mural, Oakland Fukuoka Sister City Garden GLM
Oakland Municipal Band, Then & Now, video
Algae Bloom causes massive fish die off in LM and SF Bay
2023. Winter Storms topple more than a dozen Lakeside Park trees
Parking Meters installed around lake to regulate parking and generate park funds
6 Interpretive Signs (nature, science, history) installed around lake
Edoff Memorial Bandstand 100th Anniversary (built 1918-1923)
Lake Merritt Iconic Moments
notable structures completed, organizations formed
1867-69 Samuel Merritt becomes Oakland Mayor, leads movement to dam tidal estuary and install floodgate to create a stable lake, also lobbies state legislature to establish Wildlife Refuge
1870 Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge becomes protected by state law
1906 SF Earthquake sends thousands relocating to Oakland
1907 Bond Measure, enables city to purchase properties around lake to create lakeside parkland.
Oakland Public Museum opens (1907-1965). House built by Samuel Merritt in 1870's.
1909 Lakeside Pump Station built for downtown fire protection
1911 First Lakeside Park Bandstand constructed
McElroy Fountain installed in Lakeside Park
1912 Oakland Municipal Band formed
Bowling Green added to Lakeside Park
1913-14 Pergola & Colonnade built. Walter Reed architect
18th St. Pier / Boat Landing. Walter Reed architect
Municipal Boathouse ( added to Pumping Station structure). Walter Reed architect
1914 Easterbrook Fountain (imported from Italy) in Lakeside Park
1915 Bunya-Bunya Tree (from SF Expo) planted in Lakeside Park
Canoe House (aka Sailboat House) Walter Reed architect
Civic Auditorium and Theater opens, aka Kaiser Auditorium
City-sponsored Duck Feeding begins in Lakeside Park
1916 Oakland Women's Rowing Club formed
1918 Edoff Memorial Bandstand construction begins (completion 1923),replaces 1911 Bandstand
1920 Sun Dial installed in Park (inside Gardens at Lake Merritt)
1921-23 Duck Pond area in Lakeside Park. Howard Gilkey architect
Duck Island created. Howard Gilkey landscape architect
Cleveland Cascades. Howard Gilkey landscape architect
1922 Snow Museum of Natural History (1922-1967) formerly Cutting Mansion. Future site of Snow Park
1923 Edoff Memorial Bandstand completed. Waler Reed & William Corbett architects
1924c City Horticulture Nursery at Grand/Harrison/Bay
1925 Necklace of Lights completed. (Will continue until 1941)
1926 Bird Banding begins, will continue for 5 decades...
Lawn Bowling Clubhouse built (formerly tennis court site in Lakeside Park)
Veteran's Memorial Bldg completed
1927 Scottish Rite Center completed
1929 Bellevue-Staten Building. completed
Bellevue Club (Women's Athletic Club) completed
1933 Lake Merritt Breakfast Club begins at Lake Merritt Hotel (first guest speaker is Paul Covel)
1934 Paul Covel begins Sunday afternoon waterfowl talk in Lakeside Park
1936 Alameda County Courthouse completed
1941 Necklace of Lights turned off (will not resume until 1987)
1942 Cal Spring Flower Show designed by Howard Gilkey in Gardens. 100k visitors
1946 William Penn Mott Jr. becomes City of Oakland Park Superintendent 1946-1962
1948 Paul Covel becomes Oakland's first park naturalist
1949 Eastshore Library (Lakeview Library) completed
1950 Children's Fairyland created, sponsored by LM Breakfast Club
Peralta Playland opens, children's amusement park in LM channel area (1950-1968)
1951 Oakland Main Library. completed
1951 Oakland-East Bay Garden Center Inc. created by 42 garden clubs to raise funds to construct
a central Garden Center (completed 1959)
1952 Mid-Century Monster installed. Robert Winston sculpture
1953 Rotary Nature Center opens
1953-54 Four additional islands added to the wildlife refuge
1954 Sailboat House built on site of Canoe House
1956 Geodesic Dome / Bird Cage constructed
1959 Lakeside Park Garden Center completed, OEBGC Inc
Japanese Garden constructed next to Garden Center
Lake Merritt Breakfast Club meetings move to Garden Center
1960 Kaiser Center completed
1961 Ebell Wing of Garden Center added
Thaler Fountain built across from duck feeding area
1962 Bird Feeding area renovated, brick wall added
Green House complex and Lath House added to Gardens
Lake Merritt Rowing Club formed
Jim Carlton discovers unique marine organism in LM
Lake Merritt floods 7.3 feet above normal. (Leads to building of a flood control station 1971)
1965 Succulent and Cactus Gardens; Cascades/Pond; both added to Gardens
Lakeside Park Restaurant opens (future site of Junior Center for Arts & Sciences)
1969 Park Bellevue Tower completed
Oakland Museum of California opens (Snow Museum collection moved here)
Torii Gate added to gardens (will be replaced in 2002)
1971 7th Street Flood Control Station installed
1974 Polynesian Garden in Green House added
1977 Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders Club formed.
Proposition 13 passes. Will deplete park funding and services
1978 Herb and Fragrance Garden added to Gardens
1984 Palmetum added to Gardens
1987 Necklace of Lights restored by LM Breakfast Club fundraising
1990c Merritt College Horticulture classes at Gardens
1992 Junior Center for Arts & Sciences (replaces Restaurant )
Lake Merritt Institute founded by Richard Bailey
1995 Vireya Rhododendron collection added to GLM Lath House
1996 Bay Friendly Gardens added to GLM by stopwaste.org
1998 Grand Lake Farmer's Market founded, Saturdays
1999 Bonsai Gardens at Lake Merritt created
2002 Measure DD Bond Measure passes
Measure DD Community Coalition forms
Torii Gate added to Gardens, replaces 1959 model
17th St dock/pier restored
2004 LM Gardens renamed “Gardens at Lake Merritt”
Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt forms, unites with Oakland East Bay Garden Center Inc.
2005-09 (Japanese Garden) Gates & Fencing, designed and built by Jay Van Arsdale
2006 Sensory Garden (formerly Herb & Fragrance Garden) created
2007 Mediterranean Garden added to Gardens
Alameda Master Gardener Program begins in Urban Garden
2008 Cathedral of Christ The Light completed
2010 Tora Rocha becomes Oakland Park Superintendent
2011 Oakland Running Festival (Oakland Marathon) in Snow Park
2012 Autumn Lights Festival created
2013 lakemerritt.org founded
Pollinator Posse formed
Bee Hotel added to GLM (modeled after Bee Hotel in Paris)
Lake Merritt Channel Marsh renovation completed
2014 GLM Cascades /Pond upgrade project
Undercurrent light sculpture under Lake Merritt Blvd Bridge
2015 Golden State Warriors Championship Celebration at LM (also 2017)
2016 Children's Memorial Statue in Lakeside Park. Dennis Smith sculpture.
2017 Women's March at Lake Merritt (again in 2018)
Lake Merritt Advocates formed
2019 Snow Park/ Green Streets Project renovation completed
Billion Year Walk around Lake Merritt, science education project
Makkeweks Sculpture in Snow Park, sculpture by Scott Constable & Ene Osteraas-Constable
Mid-Century Monster restored by LM Breakfast Club
Gardens at Lake Merritt Gates, designed and built by Shawn Lovell, video
2020 Lake Merritt Wildlife Refuge 150th Anniversary video
Black Lives Matter Family March at Lake Merritt
Weekend Vending program trial project at El Embarcadero
Diversity Street Mural on Belleview Ave inside Lakeside Park, video
Gardens & Guardians at Lake Merritt video
Lakeside Chats, monthly online speaker series begins
2021 Alpine Rock Garden added to Gardens at Lake Merritt, video
Lake Merritt Breakfast Club: History, Traditions & Projects video
Oakland Museum of California expands with new LM entrance
Litter SOS Campaign volunteers clean up lake area Sunday evenings, video
Lamppost Project sponsored by LMBC, video
Junior Center of Arts and Science fire damaged (again in 2022)
2022 Compassion Peace & Unity Mural, Oakland Fukuoka Sister City Garden GLM
Oakland Municipal Band, Then & Now, video
Algae Bloom causes massive fish die off in LM and SF Bay
2023. Winter Storms topple more than a dozen Lakeside Park trees
Parking Meters installed around lake to regulate parking and generate park funds
6 Interpretive Signs (nature, science, history) installed around lake
Edoff Memorial Bandstand 100th Anniversary (built 1918-1923)