Walking Waterhoods: Sausal Creek — Fruitvale

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Walking Waterhoods: Sausal Creek — Fruitvale

Oakland, California 94607, United States

Created By: Wholly H2O

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The story of the vibrant, multi-cultural area Fruitvale has grown into began in the 1960s when freeway construction drove away the European communities and some displaced in West Oakland resettled here. For over 70 years, Fruitvale has been a place of civil rights history, community activism, collective care, and transformation for people of color. Well over a dozen different organizations serving different races, ethnicities, and historically disadvantaged groups are located in just these few blocks — perhaps a higher concentration than any other area in Oakland. Though you will see very little of the creek on this tour, it is the reason humans have inhabited this area for millennia.
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What You'll See on the Tour

In the 1870s, upper Fruitvale was largely orchards, cow pastures, beer gardens and muddy roads. However, Fruitvale Avenue boasted palatial estates. Eucalyptus trees lined the street and, within the estates, thirsty ornamentals like palm, ma... Read more
You may already know how Fruitvale got its name from the fruit orchards owned by entrepreneurs like Henderson Luelling and Frederick Rhoda. But why did they pick here to plant those fruit trees? Fruitvale sits atop an alluvial plain: a flat... Read more
The Unity Council, located along Fruitvale Ave., is a non-profit Social Equity Development Corporation. Latino community leaders founded The Unity Council in 1967 as they sought to increase representation and opportunities for the less fort... Read more
In the late 1840s, Quaker horticulturalist Henderson Luelling traveled west on the Oregon Trail with his family: his wife and their eight children. Luelling brought a variety of over 700 fruit and nut trees with him from his nurseries in Or... Read more
Small milkweed bugs (Lygaeus kalmii) are initially fully red, but eventually develop black diagonal markings. You can find them in meadows and fields containing common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), where they feed on the seeds and lay their... Read more
Fruitvale Avenue, like many major East to west roads in the East Bay, likely began as a Native American footpath. Sausal Creek not only provided hydration to water-loving redwood and willow trees, but also powered sawmills. Loggers would br... Read more
Check out the channel in front of you and the map attached to guess why the treatment of Sausal Creek varies from an engineered channel — or concrete riverbed — to an underground culvert through much of Lower Fruitvale. During the alter... Read more
Nestled among the Bay Area’s oak trees, you might find the hairy, pale yellow Edwards’ glassy-wing moth (Pseudohemihyalea edwardsii). These moths live throughout California and the American Southwest and typically fly in summer and fall... Read more
"The mission of Urban Promise Academy (UPA) is to develop scholars, warriors, and artists." What a goal! Promise Academy is a unique small public school that prioritizes project-based, personalized and social-emotional learning. When the ac... Read more
Ever spot a flash of blue in the tree branches? You might have spotted the California scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica): a white-throated bird with a grey back, and a bright blue head, wings and tail. The scrub jay hides calculated food ca... Read more
Situated by East 17th Street and Fruitvale, horticulturist John Sanborn once owned an extensive garden filled with over 100 different plant species he cultivated himself. Sanborn purchased this land in the late 1870s and passed away in 1889... Read more
Look up at the towering eucalyptus tree, a familiar sight in the Bay Area with its distinctive scent and bark. The most common variety in the Bay Area is the blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus). Planted for their rapid growth — which benefited... Read more
You might know Quaker horticulturalist Henderson Luelling (1810-1878) as the man credited with naming the Fruitvale area, but his life story tells a much more enthralling tale. In 1825, Luelling (sometimes spelled Lewelling) moved to Indian... Read more
Sanborn Park, as it was known in the 1960s and 1970s, became a local gathering point for political activism against the Vietnam War draft. However, during the 1980s, the park became home to gangs and drug dealers as the influx of crack coca... Read more
The Norway spruce (Picea abies) is an evergreen conifer native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The Norway spruce has a wide distribution because of its popularity as a timber and as a popular Christmas tree species. In Oakland, fam... Read more
Save native bees! The European honey bee gets a lot of media attention, but they are not the bees we need most in the Americas. As pollinators, bees co-evolved with flowering plants; so, even though there are thousands of bee species, only ... Read more
When you ask somebody from outside our state what comes to mind when they think of California, they might imagine sunny beaches underneath palm trees. But there is only one palm tree native to California (Washingtonia filifera) in the Mojav... Read more
Dwarf mallow (Malva neglecta), a distant cousin of the marshmallow, is a naturalized mallow originally native to the Old World. Even though mallow is not native to the Americas, we consider it "naturalized," not "invasive" because it can ex... Read more
The weeping willow (Salix babylonica) is an iconic tree native to China. Today, weeping willows and their hybrids are invasive to the Americas, displacing native willow species like the Arroyo willow (Salix lapiolepsis). If they are both wi... Read more
Before Europeans came to the Oakland area, Sausal Creek provided water, food and habitat to a vast amount of local species. The Ohlone people not only relied on the creek’s abundant fresh water, but also for countless plant, fish and anim... Read more
Sausal Creek runs culverted along the back edge of Josie de la Cruz Park, but is in an open channel upstream at 17th Street. (A culvert is a structure that allows water to pass under an obstacle, such as a road, trail, or stream. Culverts a... Read more
When you turn on the tap, have you ever wondered where that water is actually coming from? Well, some of Oakland’s water used to come right here from Sausal Creek! Before Spanish colonization, the indigenous Ohlone set up villages near Sa... Read more
The common raccoon (Procyon lotor) is a native North American species that has thrived alongside humans for centuries. The Ohlone people initially hunted raccoons for their meat and fur. Over time, these nocturnal creatures have adapted rem... Read more
Josie de la Cruz Park has existed since the 1980s, but major renovations in the late 1990s helped clear out the criminal activity and promote community growth. Once a center of gangs and drug dealers, the Carmen Flores Recreation Center at ... Read more
The adaptable American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) thrives in urban environments, including the Sausal Creek Watershed. With their intelligence and scavenging behavior, they are common residents, foraging on the ground, in trees and trash.... Read more
At first glance, all squirrels might look alike. But there are actually three different species you might see in this area! Fox squirrels (Sciurus niger), with their brownish-gray fur and fluffy tail, are the most common, though they are no... Read more
During the late 1800s, Chinese laborers were scattered throughout Oakland because job opportunities were dispersed and limited. Some of these laborers took up residence and found work farming and/or selling produce grown in the fruit orchar... Read more
Artist Raymundo (Zalas) Nevel painted this mural on the side of La Clínica de la Raza Dental in 1977. It depicts crucial parts of the Chicano movement and ancestors like the feathered serpent deity Quetzalcoatl. Over time, the mural suffer... Read more
In 1971, a group of UC Berkeley students alarmed by the lack of local, affordable health options formed La Clínica de la Raza (The Clinic of the People). The discrepancy between health care options for the affluent, primarily white classes... Read more
"¡Sí, se puede! Yes, we can!" This rallying cry for labor rights echoed in Oakland in the 1960s as the United Farm Workers (UFW), led by Cesar Chavez, fought for fair treatment for farm workers. The UFW boycotted Safeway grocery stores be... Read more
In the 1960s, Latino/a community members organized around their shared experiences of lack of services and widespread poverty. In 1964, they formed the Spanish Speaking Citizens' Foundation (SSCF). Their goal, similar to the Unity Council, ... Read more
Historically in America, areas of wealth and leisure have tried to exclude people of color. During the New Deal between 1935-1940, the government-backed Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) created "residential security" maps for Oakland wit... Read more
In May 1910, Oaklanders looked forward to celebrating the Eagles’ Street Fair and Carnival in Fruitvale. The Fraternal Order of the Eagles — an organization dedicated to uplifting the performing arts — hosted the event, which took pla... Read more
Look at this colorful mosaic trash can! It’s part of a community beautification effort, started in 2010 in the Allendale Park neighborhood of East Oakland. Though it started in one neighborhood, local volunteer professional and amateur ar... Read more
Fruitvale’s non-profit Native American Health Center (NAHC) has been helping the Bay Area’s Indigenous and underserved populations access vital medical care at affordable costs since 1972. NAHC is one of the oldest and most well-establi... Read more
This towering Victorian house was an 1884 wedding present for Emma Bray and Alfred H. Cohen: children from prominent business families in the grain and railroad industries. In 1863, A.H Cohen's father A.A Cohen established the San Francisco... Read more
The Ghost Ship Warehouse Fire in Oakland occurred on December 2, 2016, in a warehouse that had been converted into an artist collective and living space. The building, known as the Ghost Ship, lacked proper permits for residential use and h... Read more
In 2020, the Alameda County Public Health Department launched the "Mask On Alameda County!" campaign to encourage mask-wearing and unity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign included commissioning four murals in highly impacted neighb... Read more
The vibrant celebration of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is one of the most captivating cultural events in Fruitvale. According to tradition, this holiday welcomes the spirits of the dead back home for the night, allowing them to... Read more
Today, International Boulevard remains one of the "high injury corridors" of Oakland, where only 6% of streets account for 60% of severe accidents. Why is this the case? Here are some numbers: 25% of accidents involve speeding, 75% of accid... Read more
As you walk down International Boulevard, you'll become aware of an entirely different mix of businesses than you see along other segments of Fruitvale Avenue. In many ways, this neighborhood resembles one you might find in Latin America be... Read more
In May 1996, the City of Oakland renamed East 14th Street to "International Boulevard." The renaming had two main purposes: to honor the diverse origins of Oakland's residents but also to improve the street's reputation, which had become a ... Read more
What's in a name? Sausal Creek was supposedly named after the stand of water-loving willow trees it passed by just shy of its outlet into the San Leandro Bay estuary — in Spanish, a willow grove is bosque de sauces. The original willow gr... Read more
During the Vietnam War, the country of Laos — sandwiched between Vietnam and Thailand — became a major battleground. Despite the U.S. military and CIA's support of the Laotian government, the United States bombed Laos with more explosiv... Read more
Among the predominantly Latino murals in Fruitvale, here's a striking piece that stands out for its Laotian and Cambodian influences. This vibrant mural, created by Oakland-based artist Pat Kong, features a woman adorned with iconic symbol... Read more
The Oakland, Brooklyn and Fruitvale Railroad was a significant horse car line connecting downtown Oakland with the town of Brooklyn (lands south of Lake Merritt and the channel). Resident knew it colloquially as the "Tubbs Line," named afte... Read more
Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexico's victory against the French in 1862. It started as a small event in some of Mexico's larger cities, but soon became a tradition in the United States as the Mexican community began to flock to American cities... Read more
Located on Oakland’s East Street, the Fruitvale BART station and surrounding Fruitvale Village is an internationally famous example of a successful transit-oriented development. Because this particular BART station is such a cornerstone i... Read more
The Fruitvale BART station is located on 35th Ave, right near Fruitvale Village. As the fourth-busiest BART station in the East Bay, Fruitvale is fundamental in connecting the residents of the Sausal Creek watershed (especially those on the... Read more
On New Years Day in 2009 at the Fruitvale BART station, BART police officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant III, a local 22-year-old Black man. The killing caused massive social unrest in the Bay Area and around the country, i... Read more
There is a long, troubling history of housing challenges in Oakland, including gentrification, displacement and exclusionary housing policies like "redlining." These challenges disproportionately affect low-income Latino/a and East Asian co... Read more
In front of you lies the "Culturas, Sueños, y Sanación" mural. The American Friends Service Committee funded this mural and continues to fund 67 Sueños, a youth art collective. 67 Sueños, led by artist Amend TDK, unveiled their creatio... Read more
Check out this pocket park! Thanks to a 1998 collaboration between the City of Oakland and the Spanish Speaking Unity Council, Fruitvale Plaza Park revitalized the corner of 35th Street and International Blvd. Through a community-driven pro... Read more
In the late 1960s, after being displaced from West Oakland to Fruitvale, the Latino/a community faced mounting challenges, such as inadequate schools, services and housing, as well as police brutality. Triggered by the police murder of 23-y... Read more
Francis "Amend TDK" Sanchez, Angelica Lopez and youth artists from 67 Sueños painted this "Heal Your People Heal Yourself" mural in July 2021. The 67 Sueños organization is connected to the American Friends Service Committee. The artists ... Read more
In 1906, the "Great Quake" occurred offshore of San Francisco, setting off days of shockwaves that you could feel from Oregon to Los Angeles. Experts estimate it was about 7.9 magnitude on the Richter scale. In addition to killing an estima... Read more
Today, Fruitvale has the highest percentage of Hispanic, Latino/a and Chicano/a residents in Oakland, but this was not always true — its primary occupants used to be German, Portuguese and Irish families. Prior to World War II, West Oakla... Read more

 

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