85 years ago, Tilden Park Golf Course in Tilden Regional Park opened to the public with much fanfare and excitement. The course was built during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), that included Civilian Conservation Corps’ (CCC) Company 2940-C, a segregated group of 182 young African Americans from California sent to the East Bay to construct park roads and picnic grounds, park beautification, water-shed protection, and fire hazard reduction. From 1933 to 1942, the WPA and CCC were key parts of the country’s recovery from mass unemployment, providing labor for infrastructure projects throughout the country.

The golf course was first envisioned in the 1910s by Roy Butler, an Oakland businessman and former member of the UC Berkeley golf team. The vision became a reality when the East Bay Regional Park District was formed and received national assistance for a public course.