Coastal Survey-SF Bay detail 1859

Description:
Detail of U.S. Coastal Survey map showing Temescal Creek; Vicente Peralta's adobes (both his primary compound towards upper right, and near the mouth of Temescal Creek, towards upper left); Telegraph Road (including what was later renamed Claremont Avenue); San Pablo Road; two shellmounds near the mouth of Temescal Creek; the city of Oakland; San Antonio Slough (later becoming Lake Merritt); the town of Brooklyn (Oakland's Eastlake district today); and various willow groves, sloughs, and oak forests in what was then unincorporated Alameda County, immediately north of Oakland, Calif.

Date of Document:
1859

Document Author:
U.S. Coastal Survey

Geographic Location:
San Pablo Avenue and 53rd Street, Oakland,Calif.

Context:
Flowing down from the Oakland hills through the flatland communities of Rockridge, Temescal, and Emeryville to San Francisco Bay, Temescal Creek forms one of the largest watersheds in Oakland. Three main tributaries feed the creek: Harwood Creek in Claremont Canyon; the Thornhill branch running from the Montclair district; and Tunnel Branch roughly following Highway 24 west of the Caldecott Tunnel. Today, virtually the entire creek, from Lake Temescal to the bay, is confined to an underground culvert. In many places, the upper reaches of Temescal Creek s tributaries and smaller branches are still visible, although their banks and creek beds often have been altered.