urban paths: Anza Trail

Earlier this month was a special Oakland Urban Paths walk put on in conjunction with the National Park Service. The tour featured the Juan Bautista de Anza trail, the route taken by some of the first European settlers in California. In 1775-1776, Lt. Colonel Anza of the Spanish army led more than 240 men, women and children 1,200 miles from what is now Mexico to Alta California here in the Bay Area. Prior expeditions had all been explorers, soldiers and priests, but these were some of the first families to settle.

We started the tour at Peralta Hacienda, which was fitting because Luis Peralta came to California on that expedition as a teenager. The tour was led by NPS ranger Hale Sargent, who handed us cards representing the settlers. And with a call that would have been familiar to the settlers, "¡Vayan Subiendo!", we were off. We crossed Peralta Creek and headed southeast to Courtland Creek.

We followed the creek up to Fairfax, where we heard more about the Anza expedition. Then we were treated to the stunning mosaics at Maxwell Park, and heard about the project from Nancy Karigaca, who spearheaded the project. Read more about the mosaics at Oakland Local.

Then it was up over the hill to Mills College. There we met up with local historian Dennis Evanosky, who told us about an earlier exploration by the Spanish. Captain Don Pedro Fages led six "bluecoat" soldiers and a muleteer. They camped at what is now Mills College, and were the first Europeans to see the entrance to the Golden Gate from contra costa, the opposite shore.

We returned to our starting point via the Laurel (where the Laurel Book Store had hosted a talk by Hale and Dennis earlier in the week) and Allendale. It was a long walk, but all the people and dogs managed it. The day wasn't over yet, though. Peralta Hacienda graciously opened their doors earlier than usual, so people who were interested could get a tour there to learn more about the Peralta family and the current community surrounding the museum. Another great OUP walk, and special thanks to Hale, Dennis, the Peralta Hacienda, and the Laurel Book Store!

Lots more pictures from the walk:

Home of Peace Cemetery

Reminded by Oakland Daily Photo of Home of Peace Cemetery in a recent Taphophile Tragics entry, I went and checked it out on Monday. I've ridden past it many times on my way to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, but had never stopped before.

It's much smaller than Mountain View Cemetery or even Saint Mary's Cemetery, and a bit newer, as the land for it wasn't purchased until 1901. At the time, that was still a ways from the city limits, though people were living in nearby areas. Despite its compact size, it's an interesting place, and I'll need to make another visit sometime.

The cemetery is owned by Beth Jacob Congregation, which has been on Park Blvd. since the 1950s. But the original structure for the congregation was in Old Oakland, at 9th and Castro, dating back to the incorporation of the congregation in 1893.

I saw a lot of familiar symbols: ivy (fidelity, eternal friendship), kohanim hands (priestly tribe of Aaron), and even a few Freemason symbols. But I also saw some new symbols, including a water pitcher (a Levite, a person who was responsible for cleaning the hands of the temple priest) and lions (tribe of Judah).

All of the markers had English, but most had some Hebrew text on them as well. A few had Cyrillic (Russian), and one I saw had a quote in Romanian. I also saw a number of them that were fully bilingual—English on one side, Hebrew on the other. While the markers are generally smaller and simpler than those at Mountain View or Saint Mary's, many of them were visually quite striking, using unusual colors of granite or marble, along with a combination of polished and unpolished stone and painted lettering.

One thing I'd never seen before was what appeared to be a small mailbox next to one of the gravestones. It had a glass front so I could see there was something inside, but it wasn't clear what was there. Maybe on my next visit I'll be brave enough to see what's in there.

Lots more pictures:

signs: Island Market

Island Market

On High Street is this great sign for the Island Market. Most, but not all of the neon is intact, so I don't know if any of it still lights up. And is the case when your sign is bigger than than your building, they had to build quite a tower to hold the thing aloft.

Besides having a great sign, I love the color they painted the building. It's a warm, orange-ish wheat color, made more so by late afternoon sun. My office walls are a subtler version of this color, and the office glows when it gets the late afternoon sun through my window.

great color