CAMP HISTORY ~
The history of Camp Mather dates back many years before the area became a popular vacation site. Even before the pioneers settled in California, Mather was home to a group of Miwok Indians, who made their camp near where the corral now stands. Artifacts are occasionally found from these Indians.
Although there are signs that prospectors may have re-settled the area during the gold rush era, it was actually not until the early part of this century that the area became heavily populated, when the City of San Francisco, authorized by the U.S. Congress in the Raker Act of 1913, began construction of a dam and reservoir on the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park.
During this time, a sawmill was built on the lake side of Mather to supply the lumber needed for the dam's construction. Birch Lake, now the camp "swimming hole," was used to float logs needed for the project.
At the same time, the Yosemite Park and Curry Company used the other side of camp to house tourists interested in seeing both Yosemite National Park and the construction of the dam. The company built the Jack Spring Dining Hall for this purpose, the building that now serves as the Camp Mather kitchen and dining room.
The O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923 and, after the necessary pipelines and power houses were completed, San Francisco began using water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for its water supply and electrical power generation, and San Francisco families began using the former workers’camp, Camp Mather, for summer recreation. In the mid 1920's, the City of San Francisco designated the property for use as a family recreation area. It was named Camp Mather in honor of *Stephen T. Mather, the first director of the National Park Service.
Many families have stories from generations of summers at Camp Mather - and those are the stories and pictures that we are looking for!
* Stephen Mather, First Director of the National Park
Service, was a graduate of Lowell High School,
San Francisco.
Friends of Camp Mather is seeking ALUMNI NAMES, history, pictures and all kinds of useful info to add to this site. Send photos via email or get in touch with friendsofmather@gmail.com
or Robin Sherrer: 415.333.1794
Birch Lake, floating logs for Hetch-Hetchy's Dam. San Francisco's sawmill at Mather, 1921. When timber supplies were exhausted at Canyon Ranch, this larger mill was put in operation at Mather and provided all lumber needed on the project until completion of the Mountain Division work. The lake is now used for swimming at Camp Mather. (City of S.F.)
Dinner given by Stephen Mather at the Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite, for San Francisco Supervisors ~ July 1927
ILLUSTRIOUS MATHER ALUMNUS ~
US Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer
San Franciscan, Lowell graduate, Camp Mather Assistant
Speaking of his experience working in the kitchen at Camp Mather, Justice Breyer says,
“In San Francisco in the nineteen-fifties, it was a wide-open time... there was a sense of possibility that we’ve never seen before or since. You had a great mixing of classes. I was a hasher at Camp Mather, in the Sierras, which was run by the city and county of San Francisco. Anyone could go. You had a mix of the families of firemen, policemen, and doctors and lawyers. They all felt an obligation to be part of the community and to contribute to the community.” This egalitarian mixing of San Franciscans remains a hallmark of the Mather experience.
Exerpt of article quoted with permission of author Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker Magazine
Friends of Camp Mather is not involved with the San Francisco Park and Recreation reservation process for Camp Mather. For information call the SF Park + Rec Camp Mather desk at 831-2715, or go to McLaren Lodge, 501 Stanyan, SF 94117.
