The handwritten notation on the back of the photo says it all: "A quick haze covers the old Alameda County Courthouse as a couple takes a lunchtime walk along Lake Merritt." The Courthouse looms high on the far side of the couple. A traffic directional sign and a lamp post are at the right side of the photo. Betsy Willcuts, September 2002 Bibliography: THE HEART OF OAKLAND, A Walking Guide to Lake Merritt by Leslie Flint, Sponsored by the Camron-Stanford House Preservation Association The Alameda County Courthouse, designed by W.G. Corlett and J.W. Plachek, architects, was completed in 1935. Between 1933 and 1939 the Public Works Administration provided the State of California with funds for over 221 government buildings and 140 schools. The federally-funded buildings of the 1930s sought to employ traditional motifs that were modern and utilitarian at the same time.