The Cragmont area of

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

is a residential district located in the northeastern section of the city, occupying most of the hill area north of

Codornices Creek Codornices Creek (sometimes spelled and/or pronounced "Cordonices"), long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 is one of the principal creeks which runs out o ...

. It lies at an elevation of 755 feet (230 m). The Cragmont area was mostly grassland with

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

bay laurel ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cookin ...

trees in the canyons until the beginnings of the American era. The area was named for the various rock outcroppings which occur throughout the district. It was first developed as grazing land in the late 19th century. When a one-mile (1.6 km) exclusion zone for the sale of liquor was imposed with respect to the campus of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

, a local farmer opened up a saloon at what is now the corner of Spruce Street and Marin Avenue. Today, there are no commercial areas in the district. In the early 20th century, a streetcar line operated by the Key System was opened up along Euclid Avenue to Hilgard Street near the University campus. It was soon extended up Euclid as far as Regal Road, one block south of Marin Avenue. The area was immediately put up for sale for residential development. Many homes in the Cragmont area command an outstanding view of San Francisco Bay and the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...

. On the other hand, houses are closely spaced and there are many trees, posing a very high fire hazard during episodes of warm, dry and windy weather. There are also a number of active slides, and the

Hayward Fault The Hayward Fault Zone is a right-lateral strike-slip geologic fault zone capable of generating destructive earthquakes. This fault is about long, situated mainly along the western base of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It run ...

, a major branch of the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizonta ...

, cuts right through the district, roughly along the alignment of (from south to north) La Loma-Euclid-Spruce streets.

References

* Neighborhoods in Berkeley, California {{AlamedaCountyCA-geo-stub