The Cascade

The Cascade. Creating a Lush Tropical Paradise in Piedmont. In her memoir about life in Piedmont, Elsie Whitaker Martinez remembered fishing with her brothers in the Piedmont Heights in the 1880s. A myriad of streams found their way from Alta, Scenic, Pacific and Mountain Avenues. Most fed into the city’s largest waterway, Bushy Dell Creek. Today asphalt, cement and modern landscaping have forced water flow underground or into manmade culverts and Bushy Dell Creek is a shadow of its former self. , Even in 1890, the Piedmont Springs canyon was never steep enough to create a true waterfall. Never one to let nature determine aesthetics, Frank Havens designed his own artificial falls which he named The Cascade. To complete his Victorian vision of a lush tropical paradise, he lined the pathway near the falls with banana palms, canna lilies, cordylines and other plants from the tropics. , Fashions changed. In 1986, when the city created the Piedmont Park Master Plan, a key goal was the elimination of non-native species of plants and trees. After 20 years of renovation, there appears to be little that remains of Haven’s vision. Look closely. The steps of the old Cascade are still visible and in the spring of the year Piedmont Park has its own waterfall and beautiful pathways thanks to Frank C. Havens.