THE NATURAL HISTORY OF STIVERS LAGOON
SIMEON STIVERS
Simeon Stivers was born in New Jersey on July 23, 1826. When
Simeon was three, his parents died in an accident. He was then
adopted by his aunt and uncle Earl and Letitia Marshall. As a young
man, Simeon was trained to be a carpenter. In 1846 his family
packed their belongings and boarded the ship
“Brooklyn.” This vessel took the first group of Mormon
settlers from the east coast to California. The journey took over
six months as they sailed around Cape Horn to Hawaii, with the
final destination of San Francisco. After spending two years in San
Francisco (then known as Yerba Buena) the Marshall Family moved to
what is now Fremont’s Civic Center and Central Park area, at
the urging of John Horner. During the Gold Rush, Simeon and his
uncle went to find their fortune in the Sierra’s, but they
soon realized that Aunt Marshall made more “selling milk for
a quarter a quart than they did panning for gold.” In 1850
Stivers finally settled down to the quiet life of dairy farming. At
the time of Simeon’s death in 1898, Simeon owned
approximately 612 acres of land. This was one of the last intact
open areas of open land owned by a single family at the time of
Fremont’s incorporation in 1956.
THE HISTORY OF STIVERS LAGOON
The original lagoon was approximately 200 acres in size. The
area had an open lake as well as a fresh water marsh. As this area
became more populated this natural waterway was changed. Areas of
the original lake and marsh were filled causing the flow of water
to change to conform to the growing community. Prior to the massive
population boom in Fremont, the marsh was probably deep enough for
boating and swimming. In 1776 an explorer described the lake as
being “somewhat salty,” pointing to a possibility of
salt intrusion from the San Francisco Bay. It was described as a
green and flower-covered route to the bay waters. The marsh area at
Stivers Lagoon was deeper in the late 1800's then it is presently.
The main tributaries included Mission Creek and Morrison Creek,
which drained f rom the hil l s . The groundwater table was much
higher than it is today, helping to maintain surface water all
year. An account by early settlers claimed that, “you could
dig 15 feet down and come up with a substantial well.” Tules
that grew in the pond borde r i ng t h e Stivers/Marshall property
were originally used by Native Americans to build boats, homes and
other essential items. Later in the 1860's they were harvested and
sold to local nurseries for packing their plants and trees for
shipping. The tule ponds which bordered the Stivers and
Marshall’s property provided an area for birds to feed and
roost. F. M. Smith, a contractor from Oakland, attempted to
establish a gun club in 1883 at the pond; unfortunately, there was
not enough wildlife for the members to hunt. Thus the club moved a
few years later to Coyote Hills. Sometime in the 1890's a levee was
constructed to restrict the amount of water flowing into the
lagoon. As a result the marsh could not maintain surface water,
throughout the year. In the 1930's there was a movement, initiated
by land owners, to limit flooding of the area caused by the natural
watershed. This led to the channelization of Mission Creek. At the
same time Hetch Hetchy, a San Francisco water aqueduct funded by
the City of San Francisco, was being constructed through the area;
this caused further drying of the marsh. In 1956, the year Fremont
was incorporated, S i m e o n S t i v e r s ’ granddaughter
sold part of the undeveloped land to Alameda County Flood Control.
They in turn leased the land to the newly incorporated City of
Fremont for use as a nature area in Central Park. In 1960, Central
Park included only 12 acres of land with a Community Center. Today,
the park area has grown to 450 acres which include: a 40 acre
nature area at Stivers Lagoon, a Swim Lagoon, four playground
areas, an 88 acre lake, sports complex, soccer fields, tennis
courts, lawn areas, and picnic areas. The creation of Lake
Elizabeth in 1968, caused the most damage to the marsh at Stivers
Lagoon. Mission Creek was rerouted through the marsh which allowed
the marsh to drain more rapidly and dry during the summer. This
allowed more upland plants and trees to grow in the former marsh
area. In 1971 the park won an award for its beauty and design. The
Candlelighters donated $20,000 towards construction of the nature
observation boardwalk into the marsh area and the kiosk near the
natural education area. These two structures were built by both
volunteer labor and donations. Unfortunately over the past twenty
-five years the boardwalk and the kiosk have fallen into disrepair
due to a lack of maintenance of this vital area. Currently the City
of Fremont, in partnership with the Math/Science Nucleus, is
working to restore the wetlands at Stivers Lagoon. The goal is to
develop and provide an outdoor education program and to reestablish
the natural environment for future generations to enjoy.
STIVERS LAGOON TODAY
Stivers Lagoon is part of the Laguna Creek Watershed, whose
headwaters begin at the elevation of 2500 feet and drop to sea
level within 5 miles. This steep decent is a result of uplifting
caused by faulting. Ten creeks and drainage channels flow into
Laguna Creek, draining the hills and developed areas of Mission San
Jose, Irvington, and the Industrial Districts. Mission and Morrison
Creek join in the southern part of Lake Elizabeth to form Laguna
Creek. Laguna Creek is diverted at Stivers Lagoon into a high flow
(historic channel) and low flow (flood control c h a n n e l )
drainage system (during storm events). Both channels then flow into
Mud Slough in southern San Francisco Bay. Movement along the
Hayward fault zone caused a depression to form in this area. Since
large reservoirs of ground water can be found underneath (called
the Niles Cone Aquifer), water easily percolates upward in this
area to cause a natural pooling of water that existed before
present day man-made Lake Elizabeth. Storm waters and springs along
the hillsides also bring water into this region. The present day
lagoon supports a variety of different habitats spanning from Paseo
Padre Parkway to the Southern Pacific Railroad to the path of
Mission Creek. The various environments including the marsh are
important in the preservation of a marsh habitat and provide a
refuge for numerous native species of plants and animals. The
maintained grassland has the largest number of non-native species
of plants including; wild oats, ripgut brome, soft
chess,Mediterranean and hare barley, mustard, fennel, poison
hemlock, cocklebur, and yellow star thistle. The animals of this
area include small birds and small mammals, especially rodents. The
most visible habitat is the riparian and forest environment. This
area contains numerous native plants, including: California black
walnut, Fremont cottonwood, arroyo and polished willow, California
blackberry, poison oak, sandbar willow, wooley sedge, baltic rush,
pink smartweed, and lippia. All of these plants have regenerated
themselves in the last 25 years. The animals in this area are
mainly swallows, warblers, towhees, sparrow species, finch species
and various raptor birds. This is a sheltered area where they can
forage, nest, and roost. Muskrat eating shellfish in the tules.
Mallards The current marsh area has remained relatively undisturbed
and is only accessible from the boardwalk. The dominant plant is
the native hardstem bullrush. Other native species are the;
pink-flowered knotweed, arroyo and polished willow, and western
goldenrod. The wildlife found in this area includes great egret,
great blue heron, green - backed heron, marsh wren, common
yellowthroat, American bittern, red-winged blackbird, Western pond
turtles, raccoons, foxes, muskrat, Virginia opossum, striped skunk,
and rodents such as deer mice. In dryer areas, non-native plant
species such as fuller’s teasel and bristly ox tongue invade
the landscape and inhibit the growth of native plants. The Mission
Creek ecosystem is an open water environment. The plants are mainly
aquatic and consist of duckweed, pondweed, cattails, and tules.
These plants help prevent erosion and an excess amount of silt from
entering the waterway. The wildlife in this area include the common
ducks found around Lake Elizabeth as well as small fish and
crayfish found in the stream running through the lagoon. The entire
lagoon and nature area are essential to our community. It has been
an excellent resource for school aged children to learn about
Fremont history as well as various habitats. Fremont Recreation
Programs have included short trips to the lagoon to go
“crawdad fishing” and learn/experience the natural
habitats that exist in the area. This refuge is home to a wide
variety of different animals and plants that need this area to
survive because they cannot survive anywhere else so...
please treat this area with care and respect!
Special thanks to: Sandy Ferreira, City of Fremont, Parks and
Recreation