Mosswood Park

Mosswood Park

Mosswood Park in Oakland, California
Type Public park
Location W MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, California, USA
Coordinates 37°49′26″N 122°15′36″W / 37.82389°N 122.26000°WCoordinates: 37°49′26″N 122°15′36″W / 37.82389°N 122.26000°W
Area 11-acre (45,000 m2)
Created 1907
Operated by Oakland Department of Parks and Recreation

Mosswood Park is an 11-acre (45,000 m2) public park in Oakland, California, located on W MacArthur Boulevard between Webster Street and Broadway. The address is 3612 Webster St. It is managed by the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. It contains a community recreation center as well as extensive grassy lawns, picnic areas, children's play equipment, dog runs, tennis and basketball courts,[1] and baseball fields.

Programs at the park include after-school tutoring for grades K-7, along with numerous other after-school classes.[2]

Mosswood Park is situated on the former estate of J. Mora Moss, who built a Carpenter Gothic style mansion there in 1864. After he married Julia Wood, he combined their two surnames to name it Mosswood. The mansion, an Oakland Heritage Landmark, still stands but is in poor repair and is used for office and storage space by the Park and Recreation Department.

The city purchased a portion of the estate, including the house, in 1907 for use as a park. Over the years the park was augmented with two amphitheaters and a decorative pergola. During the 1950s there were children's plays in one of the amphitheaters every week, put on by the Mosswood Children's Theatre Teen Troupe. However, that amphitheater was demolished in the 1960s when Interstate 580 was built and an on-ramp was constructed through that part of the park.

The neighborhood around Mosswood Park is called Mosswood. The neighborhood goes from the Grove Shafter Freeway to the West to Broadway Street to the East. The border to the North is 40th Street and to the South the border is the MacArthur Freeway. MacArthur Blvd. runs right through the Mosswood neighborhood.

The park was used in NBA Street Vol. 2.

References