Martha McLean – Anza Narrows
Regional park in California, United States
Martha McLean – Anza Narrows is a 40-acre (0.16 km2; 0.063 sq mi) regional park located along the Santa Ana River in Riverside, California, United States. The park is operated by the City of Riverside - Parks Recreation and Community Services Department. A plaque in the northwest corner of the park marks the point at which the Juan Bautista de Anza party, the first Europeans to traverse the Riverside area, crossed the river in 1774 and again in 1776.
History
The park was named for Martha McLean, an activist who worked with her friend Ruth Anderson to save the Santa Ana River from being channelized, as proposed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s.
The park is located at a section of the Santa Ana River referred to as the Anza Narrows, in reference to the crossing point where the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition crossed the river in 1774 and 1776. A marker in the park commemorates the crossing, which is part of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail that stretches across Southern California.
Amenities
The park contains picnic facilities, hiking, bicycle and equestrian trails as well as an eighteen hole disc golf course. Group picnicking with reservations is available. The 40-acre (160,000 m2) park sits atop a shady bluff along the Santa Ana River with sweeping views of the river.
The landscape, which includes a mix of shaded picnic areas and open turf, terminated at the bluffs that drop to the river.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Martha McLean – Anza Narrows” is regional park in California, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Martha, McLean and Anza, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “regional park in California, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6774491. Authority coordinates are 33.963, -117.428. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1774 and 1776.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Martha McLean – Anza Narrows”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Martha McLean – Anza Narrows primary sources, Martha McLean – Anza Narrows archive and Martha research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Martha McLean – Anza Narrows”?
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Martha McLean – Anza Narrows” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.