Community Corner

Stow Lake In Golden Gate Park Renamed Blue Heron Lake

Last year, San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar spearheaded an effort to rename the lake.

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Aerial view of Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco in June 2023. The city renamed the feature Blue Heron Lake on Jan. 18, 2024.
Aerial view of Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco in June 2023. The city renamed the feature Blue Heron Lake on Jan. 18, 2024. (Anadolu Agency/CBS News)

CBS San Francisco

January 19, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park has been renamed Blue Heron Lake, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission decided Thursday.

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The lake was originally named for former California State Assembly Speaker William Stow, who served in the Assembly between 1854 and 1857, and on the city's park commission in the 1890s.

Stow was an antisemite who publicly called for eliminating California of its Jewish population and tried to tax Jews to discourage them from opening businesses.

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