Lake Merritt Wild Duck Refuge - Oakland, CA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

"Dr. Merritt, the Mayor of Oakland, declared the Lake a National Wildlife Refuge in 1869, the first in North America. A dam was proposed to regulate the tidal water flow, to increase the water level, with a retaining wall that is 3.18 miles in perimeter.

In 1915 organized feedings of the wildlife (ducks) began. In 1925 the first bird island was constructed and four additional islands were erected in 1956. These are the largest of the artificial islands that house hundreds of egrets, herons, canada goose, and many other species of birds. The islands are equiped with fresh water ponds. To ensure that marine sports and boating activities based at Lake Merritt aren't distruptive to the birds, a boom cordons off the five islands from this section." - Oakland City website

County / Borough / Parish: Alameda Year listed: 1966 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event Periods of significance: 1850-1874 Historic function: Park Current function: Park Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Street address: Not listed Privately owned?: Not Listed Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   12/13/2011 saopaulo1 visited it 09/17/2007 ucdvicky visited it

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