Lake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco, California. It is surrounded by three golf courses (the private Olympic Club and San Francisco Golf Club, and the public Harding Park Golf Club), as well as residential areas, Lowell High School, San Francisco State University, Fort Funston and the Pacific Ocean. The SFPD shooting range, as well as a skeet shooting club and the city's National Guard armory are also in the ...
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Lake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco, California. It is surrounded by three golf courses (the private Olympic Club and San Francisco Golf Club, and the public Harding Park Golf Club), as well as residential areas, Lowell High School, San Francisco State University, Fort Funston and the Pacific Ocean. The SFPD shooting range, as well as a skeet shooting club and the city's National Guard armory are also in the area.
Once owned by Francisco De Haro, first Alcalde of Yerba Buena, as part of the Galindo ranch, the Spring Valley Water Company bought the water rights for the Lake in 1868, and the surrounding watershed in successive years. By purchasing all local supply, the company created a monopoly on San Francisco's water. It was not until 1908, when the city approved construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam creating the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, that the city gained municipal control. Prior to the construction of the dam,...
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