As the city grew, one of its mayors gave it a treasure. In 1869 Samuel Merritt dammed a tidal slough at the heart of downtown, turning brackish marsh into a clean saltwater lagoon. The next year, in 1870, the state declared it a refuge for the migrating birds that crowded its shores — the first official wildlife refuge in the United States. Lake Merritt has been the jewel of Oakland ever since, ringed in 1925 by the Necklace of Lights and still alive with herons, pelicans, and the great autumn flights along the Pacific Flyway. A wild lake in the middle of a working city is a very Oakland kind of idea.
Oakland's character grew richer as the city did. The young Jack London prowled its waterfront before he ever wrote a word, and the wharves where he loafed are now Jack London Square. In the 1920s and '30s the city raised two of the finest movie palaces in the West — the Fox Oakland and the great Art Deco Paramount, all gilt and neon. And in 1950, on the shore of Lake Merritt, Oakland opened Children's Fairyland, a storybook park whose whimsy is said to have helped inspire Walt Disney's own. The Town had become a place of theaters, parks, and waterfront stories.
Why People Visit Oakland
Visitors come to Oakland for a Bay Area city with its own strong character: a wild lake at its center, Art Deco theaters and a historic waterfront, redwood hikes in the hills, and one of the most celebrated food scenes in California. The museums and Jack London Square sit minutes from the lake, and San Francisco is a quick trip across the bay. Equal parts oak-grove heritage and creative energy, Oakland rewards anyone drawn to the heart of the East Bay.
