Comments on: Six Oakland quarries

By: Peder

Peder — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 04:19:04 +0000

I was looking at some old Oakland maps today and noticed that Maple Avenue used to be called Quarry Avenue. Do you know what quarry this is referring to?

It seems from the terrain maps on Google that at the head of Maple street could be a candidate for this quarry. It’s right next to Rettig canyon, actually.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:05:14 +0000

Sorry, 2003 was the first time I visited it.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:54:38 +0000

Andrew, do you have any older photos of the Leona Rock Quarry?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:00:10 +0000

John, there’s still a pit remaining, unless they’ve filled it in the last five years.

By: John Slawinski

John Slawinski — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:10:21 +0000

Merritt College sits directly on quarry pits. As a kid we used to hike up there along the Leona trail. At the time we used to call the site “devils punchbowl”,of course to build the college the pits had to be backfilled.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:33:32 +0000

I have some shots of that place. Thanks for the bit of history.

By: FloodedByCEDA

FloodedByCEDA — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:39:53 +0000

Red Rock Road off of Moraga Avenue was the source of many pink sidewalks and other concrete. A kiln to make cement was also at the site.

By: Jafafa Hots

Jafafa Hots — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:32:24 +0000

Thanks!
I’ve recently moved back to the bay area from NY. Can’t drive due to disability, but can hike. Need to find some geology field trips to tag along on!

Quarries here are much different than in NY. In NY they’re dangerous places. One in the middle of urban Buffalo is the source of famous and rare eurypterid fossils that are in museums throughout the world.

Been meaning to thank you for this blog. I’ve always been fascinated by geology but it’s somewhat hard to self-educate without hands-on experience, especially with an 8th grade education like mine, and California geology is so different from the NY rocks I’m used to. Smells different!

Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks I get to show Peter Roopnarine of Cal. Academy of Sciences a spot in Pinole where I found an interesting fossil that he’s interested in exploring the source of.

(Though my interests are wide-ranging and varied, it always feels like everything comes down to geology at some level. Am I the only one that feels this way?)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:39:35 +0000

Mary, I've featured that quarry a few times, most notably in this post, but I'll try to post a portrait of it in the next batch. Christine, I featured that quarry in this post, and I have a new photo lined up. Bob, I don't have a photo of that spot yet. Jafafa, there's not a lot around Oakland, but along the Silverado Trail in Napa you can pick up some excellent obsidian (see this piece from my collection).

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:48:19 +0000

I’m sure you are also well aware of Davies Tennis Stadium in Piedmont being a former quarry.