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Belvedere Lagoon is an artificial
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...
on
San Francisco Bay in
Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
in
Marin County, California. Narrow strips of land separate it from
Richardson Bay
Richardson Bay (originally Richardson's Bay) is a shallow, ecologically rich arm of San Francisco Bay, managed under a Joint Powers Agency of four northern California cities. The Richardson Bay Sanctuary was acquired in the early 1960s by the ...
(to the northwest) and
Raccoon Strait
The Raccoon Strait is a waterway of the San Francisco Bay between Angel Island and the Tiburon Peninsula, mainland Marin County, California, United States. During the ice ages, when sea levels were considerably lower and San Francisco Bay was a ...
.
The lagoon is owned and maintained by the Belvedere Lagoon Property Owners' Association. The lagoon is not accessible by boat from San Francisco Bay, and no public access is provided. Until somewhat late in the 20th century houseboats were present in Belvedere Lagoon.
[Russell Conder. 1992]
There used to be a natural passage between the lagoon and the San Francisco Bay through the southern spit.
The passage was spanned by a drawbridge.
From the late 19th century, the drawbridge would be raised twice a year, once in the Spring to allow pleasure boats of the
Corinthian Yacht Club to exit the lagoon, where the boats wintered, and go to their Summer moorings, and once in the Fall, to allow the boats to return.
This raising of the drawbridge signaled the beginning of the pleasure boat season.
In 1917, that informal celebration morphed into a more formal and elaborate parade of boats that has now evolved into the
Opening Day on the Bay involving the 104 clubs of the
Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association.
Belvedere Lagoon was partially filled after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
to provide building sites for tract houses and to improve access to Belvedere Island. It was also once the site of a 9-hole golf course.
See also
*
List of lakes in California
There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California.
Largest lakes
In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occupie ...
*
Strawberry Lagoon
References
Bibliography
*
* Russell Conder. 1992. ''Handmade Houseboats: Independent Living Afloat'', McGraw-Hill Professional, , . 240 pages
* C. Michael Hogan. 2008.
Ring Mountain', The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham
*
External links
Belvedere Lagoon Property Owner's Association
Lagoons of Marin County, California
Lagoons of California
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