MEDAU'S TRACT. Seems to Have Been Designed by Nature for a Park Site. Nov 22, 1897, Oakland Tribune

MEDAU'S TRACT. Seems to Have Been Designed by Nature for a Park Site. Hays Canyon Chain of parks Mon, Nov 22, 1897 – Page 5 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com

MEDAU'S TRACT.

Seems to Have Been Designed by Nature for a Park Site.

SCENIC VIEWS UNSURPASSED.

Abundance of Water for Lake, de Irrigation and Other Purposes.

ROCK AND GRAVEL IN PLENTY.

Accessibility, Price, Location and Environment in its Favor.

While nearly all residents of Oakland are devoting considerable attention to the question of public park sites not a few are strongly, though quietly, advocating the acceptance of Mr. Medau's offer of his tract of 476 acres of on the very reasonable terms proposed.

It is true the Medau tract has not been as loudly touted into public prominence as have some of the other tracts proposed. It is well understood there is no syndicate behind the Medau offer. No division of the purchase money has to be made if the owner's offer is accepted by the citizens of Oakland. Nevertheless those who are familiar with the land of Mr. Medau declare it deserves far more recognition than it has thus far received in the discussion of park sites.

ITS CLIMATE. 

It is well known to a majority of the Oakland public that along the southern slopes of the Contra Costa hills there extends what has been aptly termed “the warm belt,” where the average temperature, year in and year out, is five to seven degrees warmer than it is in Oakland. This condition especially obtains on the Medau tract. Therein lies one superior point for resort purposes over Golden Gate Park, where there is more fog, wind and mist to the square acre than visits the entire 476 acres of Medau. Even on its highest points, where winds might be expected, families may camp in spring time, summer and until late in the fall without any discomfort.

The tract is less than four miles from the City Hall, and therein is more accessible by electric car lines, carriage drives, or to wheelmen than was San Francisco's park site before the era of cable roads. The county road to Contra Costa county passes through nearly the entire length of the tract, and a contemplation of this grand scenic road may lead to a further consideration of the unrivaled views obtainable from the Medau tract.

FROM VALLEY TO HILLSIDE. 

While the lower part of the ranch comprises stretches of level and slightly rolling land, to the northward the tract extends up the sloping hillsides to the crest of the ridge, where is located the dividing line between Alameda and Contra Costa counties. An extreme elevation of 1,300 feet above sea level is reached by the highest peak in the tract, and from this point of vantage eight or nine counties of the State can be seen.

The views from these points are unrivaled. Stretching far to the north are the pretty vales of Contra Costa, with villages and hamlets dotting the landscape. Bold Mt. Diablo seems but a few miles distant, while beyond is gained a sweeping view of the great San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. To the eastward the San Ramon, Livermore and Santa Clara valleys are embraced in a view of hill and vale as diversified and exquisite as can be imagined. Mt. Hamilton, the Garden City of San Jose and all intermediate towns in the valley which lie between that city and Oakland, are taken in at a glance. South and west lies a panorama of bay, ocean, islands, cities, ships at anchor and the homes of more than half a million people.

It has been often remarked that from almost any part of the upper two-thirds of the Medau tract the most superb views of the bay and its surroundings are obtained, while from its higher elevations the eye may roam at will over a vast extent towards either point of the compass only to meet a most entrancing vision.

Mr. J. F. W. Sohst has pertinently suggested in public discussions that a powerful searchlight established on the highest elevation of the Medau tract would prove an attraction at once unique, and an advertisement quite unrivaled.

ITS APPROACHES. 

From several directions the Meda tract is comparatively easy of approach. Passing Blair Park and the Hays Canyon is an easy grade to the tract, where the Piedmont Electric Line would have little difficulty in extending its tracks. Or a line of car traffic could be swung eastward from the Piedmont line where it reaches the Piedmont road, and the turntable swinging thence around the hill above the county road, passing below Bowman's place. From East Oakland the tract is easy of approach from Thirteenth avenue and the road leading thence to Joaquin Miller's neighborhood. [This is now Thirteenth Avenue - Park Boulevard - Mountain Boulevard, Joaquin Miller Road. - MF] A five cent fare would carry a person to the tract were it devoted to park purposes. Golden Gate Park site was for a quarter of a century almost unknown to the people for whose benefit it had been acquired. Within the next quarter a century Medau's tract will be an environ of a thickly populated city and considered an easy pleasure jaunt, and a delightful place for an outing.

MANY NATURAL ADVANTAGES.

Aside from the natural advantages mentioned, there are others which are not all found in any other parcel of land in the vicinity of this city. There is an abundance of water on the tract. A mountain stream flows along its eastern border. [Shepherd Creek, which feeds Sausal Creek - MF] Along its course near its banks are located numerous springs, carrying sulphur and other minerals, which have been found highly beneficial by many people. Near the Medau residence a natural lake of an acre in extent is fed by springs from the adjacent hillside, and this lake could easily and inexpensively be enlarged, if desired, to five or six acres. [I think this might be the pond in Montclair Park. - MF]

Upon the tract are quarries of excellent freestone formation, and in many places natural rockeries rise out of the ground such as in Central Park, New York City cost more to construct than many times the price asked for the entire Medau tract. For walls, curbing and heavier pieces of construction, the freestone obtainable on the tract is apparently inexhaustible. Besides there is gravel for walks, paths and driveways close at hand.

There is a sufficiency of level land on the tract for recreation grounds, where football, baseball, bicycle racing and all such sports might be carried on. Its wooded ravines afford ample and natural sites for menagerie purposes.

Since Mr. Medau made this offer of his tract to the city for a park site it has been stated in public that the soil of a portion of it was not suitable for park purposes. The gardener who made this assertion doubtless had reference to a portion of the southwest section of the tract. However, should the Medau tract be purchased for a park site the present proprietor states he would be glad to retain twenty acres of the section mentioned at the price of $1,000 an acre.

Anybody who has seen the beautiful Colonel Jack Hays place where William, J. Dingee has resided since he purchased that property, and made it a miniature paradise, will appreciate the possibilities possessed by its neighbor, the Medau tract. The country houses of Mrs. Kohler and Colonel E. M. Gibson, also in the near vicinity, are beautiful examples of suburban, scenic tracts, and in their attractive embellishments well illustrate what park possibilities lie in the neighborhood.

As to the price, when compared with other sites for which from $1,000 to $4,000 an acre are asked, Mr. Medau's offer of 476 acres at $210 an acre, seems more than reasonable considering its numerous natural advantages as mentioned.

[Obviously this didn't happen. This site became Montclair, and the property is roughly bounded by highway 13, Snake Road, Skyline Boulevard and Shepherd Canyon Road, now. Notice that property marked "Shepard" is at the top of Shepherd Canyon Road, and that HAYS SCHOOL is where Montclair Elementary is now. Medau Place is all that's left of the name. - MF]

Map of the City of Oakland, Berkeley, Oakland & Brooklyn Townships and Alameda, H.S. Crocker & Co., 1889 at georeferencer.com