Facebook page<\/a> with more than 130 fans:<\/p>\nPainted on a large half-round piece of concrete that was dumped there to bolster the shoreline sometime after World War II, the watermelon rock has been a fixture on the waterway between the Oakland International Airport and Alameda for at least 30 years now.
\n<\/em><\/p>\nIt\u2019s a folksy reminder that you\u2019re almost home to Alameda, if you\u2019re coming back from Costco or San Leandro. Kids like to make a game of it: Who\u2019s the first in the car to spot the watermelon rock?
\n<\/em><\/p>\nNo one is quite sure who painted the rock and no one has stepped forward to take credit. Some have complained, however, saying the rock is an eyesore. About five years ago, a few days after a formal complaint was made with the local park, someone painted the rock black seemingly overnight.<\/p>\n
A few days later, the rock was repainted to resemble an orange wedge. Only a few days after that, it was repainted once again, this time returning it to its original watermelon wedge color scheme.<\/p>\n
So who\u2019s responsible for painting the rock and giving it a periodic touch-up when the hot California sun fades its colors from red to pink?<\/p>\n
Popular theories range from it being the work of mermaids to the creation of a local fraternity who\u2019s taken it upon themselves to maintain the local landmark. Either way, the Alameda Watermelon Rock is there to stay and, if you ask me, that\u2019s pretty sweet!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a mystery brewing in Alameda, California. It seems someone in the community, which is located on an island in San Francisco Bay, loves watermelon so much they decided to paint a large rock to resemble a giant slice of watermelon. Alameda Magazine writer Mary McInerney had this to say about the beloved fixture, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n
THE MYSTERY OF THE ALAMEDA WATERMELON ROCK - What About Watermelon?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/the-mystery-of-the-alameda-watermelon-rock\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THE MYSTERY OF THE ALAMEDA WATERMELON ROCK - What About Watermelon?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s a mystery brewing in Alameda, California. It seems someone in the community, which is located on an island in San Francisco Bay, loves watermelon so much they decided to paint a large rock to resemble a giant slice of watermelon. 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There\u2019s a mystery brewing in Alameda, California. It seems someone in the community, which is located on an island in San Francisco Bay, loves watermelon so much they decided to paint a large rock to resemble a giant slice of watermelon.<\/p>\n