The Piedmont Recreation Department's Walking on Wednesdays walking group started out on their weekly walk last Wednesday with a copy of Gail Lombardi's recent Post article on the old Blair Park in hand.
The article explained that the Blair Park of the 1890s through the 1920s was a different Blair Park from the one we know today.
The original Blair Park was a large track of land at the end of current Highland Avenue and ex-
tended up and down Moraga Avenue from what is now the City Corporation Yard to Mountain
View Cemetery. In 1917 homes started to be built on portions of the old park. It was this area and
these homes that that the group set out to see.
The walkers stopped for a group photo in front of a home at the corner of Highland and Moraga Avenues, where the park's entrance was. The eucalyptus trees in the background have been there for more than 100 years.
They continued down Moraga Avenue, seeing homes on the north side of Moraga that were part of the development of Blair Park land. They also saw aspects of homes along the way that people have driven by thousands of times, but never noticed.
They took another group photo at the archway of a Moraga Avenue home with a lovely garden,
fountain, and view of Oakland and San Francisco.
The group circled back to Dracena Park to see the recently installed new turf, then headed back to the Exedra.
Walking on Wednesdays continues to meet every Wednesday morning at the Exedra (Highland
& Magnolia) at 10:30 a.m. Everyone is invited to join the group and there is no charge. New walkers are especially welcome. With school back in session walkers might want to give themselves a little extra time to find a parking spot for their cars.