ALAMEDA WALKS - BAY FARM ISLAND THE UPLANDS

ALAMEDA WALKS - BAY FARM ISLAND THE UPLANDS  Alameda Walks - Bay Farm Island The Uplands took place on Saturday, June 18th. it was a beautiful day for a discovery walk.  Our leaders Dennis Evanosky and Eric Kos were ready to open our eye to a new way of looking at the history of an area Alamedans have ignored.  Dennis and Eric walked us through a section of Alameda's Bay Farm Island once called the "Uplands".

Dennis Evanosky and Eric Kos

Alameda Walks - Bay Farm Island The Uplands  Bay Farm Island was mostly marsh and tideland's.  However, the Uplands was not marshland and was at a slightly higher elevation than the surrounding marsh.  It was a place where the Oholone Native Americans came to hunt.  The Uplands was about 230 acres is size.  When the Europeans came to the Island many of them farmed, thus the name Bay Farm Island.

The Europeans who came to settle Bay Farm Island Uplands were squatters.  In 1851 Luis Maria Peralta was given a land grant from the King of Spain which included lands from Berkeley, north of Alameda and south, to San Leandro.   Squatters settled the land and were able to obtain title to the land at some point. They began farming and selling off parcels of land.  Dennis Evanosky has investigated county recorder documents and is still trying to discover when the land was actually transferred to the squatters.

Dennis, Eric and the Alameda Walks - Bay Farm Island Group

The farmers sold their fruit and vegetables to the Gold Rush miners at high prices and made a fortune.  In the 1920's developers began filling parts of what is now the Oakland Airport and the Chuck Corica Golf Couse.  In 1923 developers built homes on an area of the Uplands near the Golf Course.

Alameda Walks - Bay Farm Island The Uplands was a fast paced walk through an area where very little is know of its history by the average Alamedan.  It was our walk of discovery.