East Bay Regional Park District history

The first acquisition of EBMUD land for Redwood Park occurred in 1939, and the District's fourth park was developed and opened the following year.

The Army terminated its lease of the Tilden CCC Camp in 1946, and schools from the District's seven cities began to use the site for "in-town" camps to teach natural history to school children.

In 1947, Walpole visited Griffith Park in Los Angeles, and returned with glowing reports about revenue producing concessions.

In 1951, the District purchased 82 acres for Roberts Park that soon featured a swimming pool, merry-go-round, pony ride, and enough picnic tables in the redwoods to seat 5,000.

The District also purchased Grass Valley's first 927 acres from EBMUD in 1953, and opened its sixth park (Chabot) with minor improvements the next year.

Residents in the Eden Township Area (Hayward, Castro Valley, and San Lorenzo) were first to take this step when they voted to annex to the District in 1956.

In 1962, William Penn Mott, Jr. became the District's next General Manager.

Lake Chabot was leased to the District by EBMUD in 1964, and opened 2-years later with fishing and boating allowed for the first time.

The District entered into lease agreements in 1966 for Alameda Beach, the first Regional Park on the Bay Shoreline, and residents in the Pleasanton area voted by an overwhelming 80 percent to annex to the District.

Richard Trudeau became general manager in 1968, and both Trudeau and the board were determined that the momentum of the past five years would not be lost.

Fortunately in 1971, the legislature approved AB 925 and Governor Reagan signed the legislation that allowed the District to increase its tax rate for land acquisition and new park development, subject to the preparation of a master plan.

Nevertheless, Liberty Union Township (Eastern Contra Costa County) was annexed to the District in 1981 as residential growth began to spread throughout Contra Costa County's last large developable rural area.

In 1988, Pat O'Brien became general manager, and District voters approved the passage of Measure AA, a $225 million bond to provide funding for both regional and local park projects.

In 1992, the rest of Murray Township (Livermore Area) was annexed with appropriate changes made to the District's master plan to now cover all of Alameda County and Contra Costa County.

The District's Board of Directors placed Measure WW on the November 2008 ballot to extend Measure AA for an additional 20 years.

The District celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2014 to thank its residents for their support.

The Oral History Center (OHC) of The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley first engaged in conversations with the EBRPD in the fall of 2016 about the possibility of restarting an oral history project on the parklands.

Laura McCreery, Oral History Project Director at ISSI, will continue her local government research in 2017 under a new contract with the East Bay Regional Park District, a state-sanctioned "special district" serving Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.