The Conservatory of Flowers is located in Golden Gate Park and is the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America. The Conservatory was built in the late 19th century after the supplies were purchased from the estate of James Lick and opened as a public attraction in 1879. After a number of challenges resulting from delayed maintenance and even the potential permanent closure of this landmark, the Conservatory reopened for the third time in 2003. Since that time, the Conservatory of Flowers has received a number of awards recognizing its beautiful architecture, collections, and history.
Established on November 12, 1996, the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park is a 10-acre contemplative space for remembering and honoring all those who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. During the late 1980s, amidst the grief experienced by many who recently had lost close friends and family members to the disease, a group of volunteers came together in San Francisco to envision the creation of a memorial in their honor. Also known simply as "The Grove", this site was officially approved in 1996 by Congress and the President of the United States as a federally-designated national memorial through the "National AIDS Memorial Grove Act". This act also recognized the Grove as the first AIDS memorial in the nation.
This marker shares the history of the stones that were once used in a 12th-century Cistercian monastery in Spain. The monastery stones were relocated to America in 1930 by the publishing magnate, William Randolph Hearst, who planned to use the stones to build a private castle and retreat in Shasta County, California. However, after Hearst faced financial problems because of the Great Depression, he instead sent the stones into storage in a San Francisco warehouse. The stones remained in storage until 1941 when they were purchased by the City of San Francisco and relocated to Golden Gate Park. City leaders planned to use the stones to expand the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park by adding a new museum of medieval art; however, the city struggled to find the necessary funding for the project. In the 1960s, some of the stones were used within the Succulent Garden, the California Garden, and the Fragrance Gardens within Strybing Arboretum (now the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum). In 2001, amidst some controversy, several of the stones were also used to create a stone wall for the Library Terrace Garden. From 1994 - 2013, after several decades of negotiation, the majority of the remaining monastery stones were sold by the City of San Francisco to the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, California, where the stones were relocated for the purpose of building a new chapel for the Cistercian monks who reside at the Abbey.
The San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum includes 55 acres of diverse, landscaped gardens and open space within Golden Gate Park. Established following a bequest from Helene Strybing in 1926, the San Francisco Botanical Garden is a "living museum" containing many different plant species and habitats. These include the Conifer Garden, the Fragrance Garden, the Ancient Plants Garden, the Children's Garden, and the Succulent Garden, along with other landscape elements including Redwood Trail, the Great Meadow, Waterfowl Pond, and the Moon-Viewing Garden. In addition, the San Francisco Botanical Garden also connects to the Japanese Tea Garden, a separately managed site within Golden Gate Park, with the "Friends Gate" providing an internal point of entry between the two sites. Along with its special collections of plants and trees, the Botanical Garden also hosts classes, educational programs, events, lectures, and hands-on learning opportunities for members and the public.
In 1894, a Japanese Tea Garden was created in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park as part of the California Midwinter International Exposition of World Villages held in the park that same year. This event is more commonly known as the "World's Fair." The earliest version of the Japanese Tea Garden was built by George Turner Marsh for the exposition; however, the site was also expanded considerably by Makoto Hagiwara, who included many additional elements of traditional Japanese art, landscape design, and culture. Hagiwara lived in a dwelling on-site with his family for nearly fifty years while he cared for the plantings and oversaw the landscape. The Japanese Tea Garden is located in Golden Gate Park near the California Academy of Sciences, the de Young Museum, and the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Although there are daily admission fees, the admission is free when entering before 10:00 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
The Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park was originally designed as the Grand Court of Honor for the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition, a major "world's fair" event that showcased the arts and architecture of different cultures around the world. Michael O'Shaugnessy, a civil engineer, designed the concourse as a sunken oval, with pedestrian paths surrounded by an outer carriage drive. After the Midwinter fair ended, the nine-acre open-air space was designated as a Music Concourse for people to gather and listen to live musical performances. By this time, the public already had been gathering to listen to music in Golden Gate Park for over a decade, as weekend concerts had been performed by the Golden Gate Park Band since 1882. A formal bandshell was added to the Music Concourse in 1900, and the bandshell became known as Spreckels Temple of Music, in honor of Claus Spreckels, who donated the funds for its construction. Several historic statues are also located within the Music Concourse, while a central path leads from the bandshell to the Francis Scott Key Memorial located on a hill to the northwest. The Music Concourse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The Golden Gate Park Band still performs at this venue today, offering free Sunday concerts for the public.
The Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers, known also as the "Shakespeare Garden" in Golden Gate Park, celebrates the English playwright and poet, William Shakespeare, and the numerous references to flowers which can be found in his written works. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England, and he died around 1616. In addition to writing plays, Shakespeare also wrote many sonnets. The Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park shares similarities with other such tribute gardens, which have likewise been planted at urban parks, botanical gardens, and universities in the U.S. and Europe, such as the Shakespeare Garden in New York City's Central Park. The California Spring Blossom and Wildflower Association established the Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers in Golden Gate Park in 1929. It is been maintained to this day for public enjoyment and recreation.
Located in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences serves as both a museum and research institution.The campus houses a museum, a penguin exhibit, a 4-story rainforest, a coral reef ecosystem, a planetarium, and an expansive green roof. The Academy's mission is to "explore, explain, and sustain life on Earth." According to the California Academy of Sciences website, the Academy’s Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability "supports world-class scientists, researchers, fellows, and graduate students in 12 fields of study" by funding scientific expeditions that lend to the quality of the exhibits hosted at the museum.
This historical marker commemorates the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition, considered the first "world's fair" event to be held west of the Mississippi River. The event itself was inspired by the Columbian Exposition, a similar "world's fair" that was held in Chicago in 1893. The California Midwinter International Exposition in 1894 transformed Golden Gate Park through architecture, music, art, and other cultural and technical elements on display to the public for the event. The marker incorporates dual signs on either side of the path leading to the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park. The signage also includes Braille for the vision-impaired.
Located in Golden Gate Park, the de Young is an art museum dates back to the 19th century and features over 1,000 paintings, 800 sculptures, and 3,000 other works of art. The museum is named after its founder, early San Francisco newspaperman M. H. de Young. The current director of the museum is Max Hollein, who took over from Colin Bailey on March 22, 2016.
This historical marker recognizes the presence of thirteen trees planted in 1896 within the Colonial Trees Grove in Golden Gate Park. Each tree hails from one of the original thirteen colonies of the United States of America. The trees were planted in October 1896 by the Sequoia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In April 1920, the Colonial Trees Grove was commemorated with a bronze plaque historical marker mounted onto a boulder. The grove stands nearby to the Pioneer Log Cabin and the Pioneer Mother Statue, which is the only statue of a female figure in Golden Gate Park. The Colonial Trees Grove is situated just south of John F. Kennedy Drive and North of Stow Lake. The historical marker is located at the intersection of Stow Lake Drive and John F. Kennedy Drive and it will appear on your right when approaching the grove from the east.
Competing visions of pioneer womanhood collided in the creation of this statue sculpted by Charles Grafly. The tribute to early Euro-American California settlers was created for San Francisco’s 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. It was forgotten after the fair, but later restored and moved to its permanent location in Golden Gate Park in 1940.
In 1894, the Church of England donated a stone monument, the Prayer Book Cross, for display in the Midwinter International Exposition, a "world's fair" event that was held the same year in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Originally, the monument was also known as "Drake's Cross" because it marked the first Anglican church services held by Sir Francis Drake's chaplain in the new world during the sixteenth century. Although some consider the Prayer Book Cross to be a controversial monument, it currently appears mostly hidden from view by the tall trees that have grown up around it. The Prayer Book Cross is situated atop the hill above Rainbow Falls in Golden Gate Park. It is accessible via a short hike up the hill, just north of John F. Kennedy Drive and east of Cross Over Drive.
Portals of the Past is a monument located along Lloyd Lake in Golden Gate Park. The pillars in the monument are from the mansion of A.N. Towne.
The historic Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park were created in 1904 in the middle of the old Speed Road, a mile-long horse-racing track established in 1894. Immediately surrounding the Polo Fields, a bicycle track was built in 1906 to cater to the immensely popular trend of bicycling. The site was originally known as the Velodrome at Golden Gate Park Stadium, because it hosted so many bicycling events for spectators to watch. Throughout the twentieth century, the Polo Fields and the surrounding bicycle track have served as the site of numerous public events in Golden Gate Park, not only bicycle races and polo matches, but also foot-races, concerts, and parades. In January 1967, the Polo Fields became the site of the "Human Be-In", also called the "Gathering of the Tribes," an event attended by some 20,000 "hippies" associated with the countercultural youth movement. Today, the historic Polo Fields and cycling track are still maintained for public recreational use and enjoyment, as well as for equestrian and sporting events, and other types of public gatherings.
In the western part of Golden Gate Park, a small herd of American bison can be seen grazing in a pasture within the Bison Paddock. In 1892, a menagerie of animals was integrated into Golden Gate Park. These included deer, elk, sheep, goats, and bears. In addition, a small herd of American bison was also integrated into the Park as a symbol of the American West. In 1899, the bison were moved from the eastern part of the Park to their current location in the western part of the park. The Bison Paddock features a large meadow for grazing near Spreckels Lake along John F. Kennedy Drive. The current herd that resides in Golden Gate Park is comprised exclusively of females. The bison are under the care of the San Francisco Zoo, which was founded in 1929. The San Francisco Parks & Recreation Department maintains the land and the paddock.
The Dutch Windmill was built in 1902 to capture westerly winds coming from the Pacific Ocean and use their energy to power Golden Gate Park's irrigation system. The windmill was so useful that in 1905 it inspired the construction of the Murphy Windmill in the park's southwest corner. As motorized pumps were introduced in the early 20th century the use of structures such as the Dutch Windmill began to decline. After years of failing to be cared for properly, the Dutch Windmill was almost unable to continue functioning. After campaign for it's restoration was successful, the Windmill was restored in 1980, and today it sits in the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden in Golden Gate Park.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This walk through the central portion of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park starts at the Conservatory of Flowers and includes several highlights of the park such as the Japanese Tea Garden, Botanical Garden, a and De Young Museum.
