Camp Mather History

History through the centuries at Camp Mather

_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 Native Americans, who may have gathered acorns in the area.

In the late 1800's ranchers acquired land in the Hetch Hetchy area to graze cattle and sheep. 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, construction camps were erected.

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 excavated for gravel needed for construction. During the excavation springs were struck, and the hole was flooded. The mill pond, located adjacent to the present swimming pool, was where the logs were floated to remove the bark to prepare them for milling. The sawmill was at the site of the present swimming pool and tennis court.

 When the sawmill was erected, the Yosemite National Park Company  leased the dining side of camp as a resort for tourists to visit Yosemite Valley and the Dam construction. In 1920 the Yosemite National Park Company (now Yosemite Park and Curry Company) built the Hetch Hetchy Lodge. This building, with additions, and renamed "Jack Spring Dining Hall," now serves as the Camp Mather kitchen and dining room.

The O’Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923.  After the necessary pipelines were completed, San Francisco began using Hetch Hetchy water in 1934.  San Francisco families began using the former sawmill camp, Camp Mather*, for summer recreation in 1924. 

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 Boys’ High School, which later became Lowell High School, in San Francisco.)

Friends of Camp Mather is seeking  ALUMNI NAMES, history, pictures and all kinds of useful info to add to this site. Please contact FriendsofCampMather@gmail.com .

_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

Dinner given by Stephen Mather at the Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite, for San Francisco Supervisors ~ July 1927

Mill Pond – floating logs to remove bark before milling at Mather in 1921. (Picture courtesy of SF PUC) When the Canyon Ranch timber allocation had been used this larger mill was erected at Mather to provide remaining construction needs. The swimming pool and tennis courts occupy this site today.

The Hetch Hetchy Station and water tank at Mather in 1922. The track to the right extended two miles to the Peach Growers sawmill. (Picture courtesy of SF PUC)

Visions for the Future
1949 Plan
Grand Jury Report
Visioning and Preliminary Facilities Assessment for Camp Mather (October 2011)
COMET Report

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This Camp Mather history was compiled by Richard Schaadt. Richard is a long-time historian of Camp Mather, Hog Ranch and the Mather environs.

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Friends of Camp Mather | FriendsofCampMather@gmail.com | 415-845-6701 | PO Box 320542, San Francisco 94132-0542
The mission of FRIENDS of CAMP MATHER  is to promote, enhance, protect, and support the traditional, recreational, social, environmental, and historic aspects of Camp Mather.
Camp Mather reservation desk / SF Recreation + Parks / 501 Stanyan St., San Francisco CA 94117-1898 / 415-831-2715
Camp Mather Office / phone 209-379-2284 / fax 209-379-9326 / 35250 Mather Road, Groveland, California 95321-9717