Community Corner
Dry Creek Cottage and its Secret Garden
Tucked away in the hills just outside of Union City is a lush garden full of local history.
As the person managing the Union City Historical Museum, I work on the three components: the display of artifacts, the oral history and the preservation of historical homes and buildings. I'm always in search of important sites from our past.
Back in 1998, while passing through a narrow street with rows and rows of apartments at the end of Mission Boulevard and Whipple Street, looking for historical structures, I noticed a road going uphill. What was back there, I wondered? I asked the East Bay Regional Park park ranger to give me and my husband a tour of the place. He opened the gates for us to a lush, idyllic garden.
I couldn't believe that this 60-acre garden, full of natural and vibrant flora, had been hidden in Union City's hills for nearly 100 years. This secret garden, named Dry Creek, also contains hiking trails and a quaint cottage.
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Named after the stream that runs through the hillside, Dry Creek Cottage sits on land originally owned by Jonas B. Clark, one of the first settlers in the area. It was a picnic ground in the late 1800s and host to the annual May Day celebration. It was named Dry Creek Ranch after August May, Sr. purchased the land in 1884. Later, the land was owned by the famous Meyers sisters, Edith, Mildred and Jeanette, who used the land to hold charity and fundraising events, drawing hundreds of visitors to its lush hillside. Back then, the cottage was a popular summer home for the sisters and a well-known landmark.
The garden, along with a larger parcel of 60 acres, was a gracious gift received by the East Bay Regional Park District in 1979 from the owners, the Meyers sisters. It remains a tranquil and beautiful place of history.
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The Dry Creek Cottage and Garden, which were hidden from the community for many years, opened to the public in September 2008. People can now dive into the history in our own backyard, located at the end of May Road, just outside of Union City in Hayward, on Thursdays and the first Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. To schedule a visit, contact the East Bay Regional Park District at 510-582-2206.