Community Corner

Piedmont Time Machine

What would Walter Blair think about the debate swirling around the park named after him?

This week, we stretch the rules for the picture of the week to include a historical image. With the discussion about the future of Blair Park reaching something of a crescendo in the City Council on Monday, we looked to the past.

Rooting around the online archives of UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library, we found this picture of the eponymous Walter Blair sitting in an electric trolley car between Bonita Avenue and Moraga Road in 1887. The Vermont dairyman turned California land baron is the one in the tall silk top hat. There's something in his stout appearance that suggests he'd be a bit baffled by all the fuss over playing fields.

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