Prior to being a public park, the lands that are now Tilden Park were ancestral lands of Ohlone Indians. Spanish explorers and Mexican ranchos drove the Ohlone off the land as ranching became the dominant activity in Wildcat Canyon. American ranchers of the late 1800s and early 1900s included the Curran family ranch and the Sweet Briar Dairy. The eucalyptus plantations within the park were planted around 1910 by
Frank C. Havens' Eucalyptus, Mahogany, & Land Company. The first parkland was purchased by the
East Bay Regional Park District from the
East Bay Municipal Utility District on June 4, 1936. The 2,162 acres purchased included land for Tilden Park (then called Upper Wildcat Canyon),
Lake Temescal and
Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve (then known as "Roundtop.") Upper Wildcat Canyon was officially named "Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park" on July 16, 1936.
New Deal Era At the June 4, 1936 board meeting of
East Bay Regional Park District, the same meeting that authorized the land purchase, the Board appropriated $63,428 in local funds for park development. In doing so, they met their matching fund obligation in order to qualify for $1 million in federal relief funds for park development. The CCC crews built much of the park's earlier infrastructure and features including roads, trails, bridges, picnic areas, and golf course. The CCC also did work in the park related to fire and erosion prevention, insect and pest control, and geological work. In 1935, California Congressman John H. Tolan, who represented Alameda County helped get a $1.5 million dollar grant request to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) approved. The grant allowed construction on the Wildcat Canyon Road to commence, which was a 7 mile scenic road connecting Berkeley and Orinda.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews built the
Lake Anza dam and stone buildings including restrooms, the original
Lake Anza beach house, and the exterior of the Brazilian Room. The WPA crews also contributed to the reforestation of Tilden Park after the eucalyptus was removed. CCC and WPA workers assisted in the replanting of redwoods in the park that were shipped down the California coast from Fort Bragg. The aesthetic of the park today is directly derived from the original work performed by the CCC and WPA. The Brazilian Room, restroom buildings, stone monuments, and stone road ditches all remain in the park today. The stone that was used to build all the structures in the park were quarried in-park near the Big Springs trailhead on South Park Drive.
Golden Gate International Exposition The
Golden Gate International Exposition, a two-year long world's fair, held during 1939-40, was a championship cricket games were conducted in the Meadows field in northern Tilden Park. Brazilian hardwood from the Brazilian Pavilion at the World's Fair were used extensively as the interior for Tilden Park's Brazilian Room. The
East Bay Regional Park District also purchased used trash cans and benches once the World's Fair had closed. The event attracted a staggering seventeen million visitors from across the globe and was considered to be the first time a World Fair sought inspiration outside of Europe. Along with the championship cricket games, the exposition celebrated the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, both of which were opened in 1937.
World War II In 1942, at the onset of
World War II, of southern Tilden Park was leased to the United States government to construct the Grizzly Peak VHF Station. Beginning in 1944, the radio site served as headquarters for the San Francisco Control Group (411th Army Air Forces Control Group) that oversaw command and control for air defense radar sites across coastal Northern California. The site was also a VHF station for
Hamilton Air Force Base. While the site was named after nearby Grizzly Peak on the border of Tilden Park and
Oakland, the actual antennas were located atop Vollmer Peak. Camp Wildcat Canyon was used for convalescing soldiers during World War II. On September 7, 1942, the Richmond Shipyards Athletic Association put on a large scale Labor Day company picnic at Tilden Park for the thousands of workers and families of the Kaiser
Richmond Shipyards. The event spanned the entire park offering a golf tournament, diving contest, band concerts, and dancing in addition to picnicking and sporting events. The event went from 8am-10pm, allowing all shipyard shifts to attend the picnic. Attendance was 10,000 people, making it the largest event in Tilden Park history. Nimitz Way, which traverses the park from north to south generally following the ridgeline of the hills, was named in 1955 in honor of
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, former
U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander. Originally built as an access road for the World War II and Cold War-era anti-aircraft gun and missile batteries in the area, Nimitz Way is now closed to motor vehicles and has been redeveloped as a multi-use path. Nimitz was known to hike in the area of Inspiration Point, spreading wild flower seeds, during the time he and his wife lived in
Oakland at the
Claremont Hotel and later at a residence in
Berkeley.
Post-War Era In 1952, the
U.S. Army opened Grizzly Peak AAA Site No. 3 at the site near Vollmer Peak as an
anti-aircraft installation. Two locations had a 90mm four-gun battery. The anti-aircraft installation was decommissioned during the
Cold War as a result of the opening of the
Nike missile base in adjacent
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. The land was returned to the
East Bay Regional Park District in 1959. The Army Camp area of the
Redwood Valley Railway is the former location of the installation's barracks and mess hall. A large concrete bunker still exists and is used as a Tilden Park maintenance facility. The post-war period saw the addition of pony rides, model airplane field, tennis courts, trout fishing pond,
Tilden Park Merry-Go-Round in 1948, and the South Gate & Pacific Railway (precursor to the
Redwood Valley Railway) in 1952. With these attractions joining the already existing golf course, Botanic Garden, Brazilian Room, and Lake Anza, Tilden Park became a quintessential East Bay experience for the thousands of families that flocked to the area in the years during and after World War II. ==Park features==