John Hinkel Park
Clubhouse: John Gregg, Designer, 1918
City of Berkeley Landmark
designated in 2001
In 1919 John and Ada Hinkel donated seven hillside areas to the City of Berkeley in appreciation of the Boy Scouts’ service to the nation during the First World War. Before making their gift, the Hinkels added a playground, trails, a massive stone fireplace, and clubhouse. John Gregg, University of California landscape professor and president of the city’s park commission, contributed to the park design and designed the rustic redwood clubhouse.
City landscape designer Vernon Dean planned both Berkeley’s Rose Garden and this park’s stone-terraced amphitheater. Built by the Civil Works Administration during the Depression, it was home to the California (originally Berkeley) Shakespeare Festival from its founding in 1954 to 1991.
Marker can be reached from Somerset Place.
Courtesy hmdb.org
