A devastating earthquake in 1906&nbsp;ruined most everything in Nob Hill, however the pillars from&nbsp;A.N. Towne's mansion stood tall when it was all said and done. A.N. Towne spent most of his life working on for the railroad and towards the end of his career he was the Southern Pacific's second vice- president and general manager. Nob Hill was a prestigious neighborhood filled with mansions of the upper class before it's demise in 1906. These pillars are a symbol of hope and a memory of was once.

More about A.N. Towne  and the original house.

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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.

Portals of the Past

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.

In nineteenth-century America, conservatories, also known as greenhouses, became very popular among elite citizens. Explorers and botanists traveled the world collecting tropical plants to fill the newly erected glass wonders. Some conservatories were built to be part of mansions, while others were separate from any other structure. The Conservatory of Flowers was built during this time under James Lick's initial instructions.James Lick was born in Pennsylvania in 1796 as the son of a skilled carpenter. When Lick was a young man he became his father's apprentice and mastered the skill of carpentry. After moving from Pennsylvania he settled in Baltimore for a short time and learned the craft of piano making. In 1821 he moved to New York to open his own shop and found great success. When Lick discovered that his pianos were being exported to South America, he closed his shop and decided to move to Buenos Aires to be as close to the market as possible. Lick was determined to become a success. In the thirty years that he spent in South America, his piano shop thrived, and he became involved in the profitable fur trade. However, he longed to return to North America. He set his eyes on what would soon become California , and in 1847, he packed up his shop and set sail. When Lick arrived in San Francisco, he began to buy large portions of land with the money he had made for himself in South America. Instead of investing in the Gold Rush along with the majority of California's residents during the second half of the nineteenth century, Lick made the wise decision to invest in land. He made these investments in San Francisco and San Jose, and sold the produce cultivated on his land to the public. Lick expanded his wealth when he opened Lick's Mill in 1855 and then Lick House, a grand hotel, in 1861. As he grew into his millionaire status, he followed a trend popularized by other wealthy Americans: investing in a conservatory for his estate. However, before his death in 1871, he only made efforts to purchase the materials needed for such an undertaking, and they remained in crates for almost a decade.In 1877, the materials were purchased by notable San Francisco citizens who then gifted them to the city. The structure was built in Golden Gate Park and opened in 1879. It was an instant hit among the public and was visited often. Throughout the late nineteenth and through the twentieth century, the Conservatory was victim to destruction and disaster. Boiler explosion, fires, wind, and winter storms all caused the building to require expensive renovations. In 1998, the Conservatory of Flowers was placed on the 100 Most Endangered World Monuments list, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation adopted the structure into its Save America's Treasure Fund. Due to these attempts, a fundraising campaign was established, and twenty-five million dollars were raised for the Conservatory's renovations and reopening in 2003.

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.

The Conservatory of Flowers 

The initial idea for the National AIDS Memorial Grove began in the late 1980s among a group of family members, friends, and supporters who had lost loved ones to AIDS. Their vision was to create a peaceful space for honoring and remembering all those who were suffering from or had died from the disease in San Francisco and around the world. They also sought to provide a national memorial that would encourage greater reflection and understanding, while hoping for a way forward against a global disease for which there is currently still no cure. Together, hundreds of volunteers gathered in September 1991 to begin clearing brush from 10-acres of overgrown landscape to create a space for the memorial, while landscape architects and designers soon began to create an overall plan for the site. The National AIDS Memorial Grove was federally-recognized as a national memorial in 1996, shortly after the celebration of World AIDS Day held on December 1, 1995. Upon entering the Grove, a seven-ton Sierra granite boulder inscribed with the name of the site appears near the entrance. Once inside the Grove, a woodland path and a wheelchair-accessible ramp leads towards a stand of trees. These include Monterey Cypresses, Monterey Pines, and California Redwoods, located in the eastern part of the Grove. A bridge connects the Woodland Path with the Dogwood Crescent, a curved row of flowering trees that rests beside a flagstone marker called the "Circle of Friends". This special marker contains many names of those lost to AIDS, along with the names of friends, family, and supporters. Over 2,500 names appear together in a circular inscription carved into the flagstone marker. Each autumn, more entries are added to the Circle of Friends, although the newly added names are now inscribed within the adjacent sidewalk. This need for additional space for names attests to the continued reality of a heartbreaking disease. The Circle of Friends marker is also inscribed with the following quote: <blockquote>"Circle of Friends: Lives Touched by AIDS... Donors to the Grove... Those Who Have Died... Those Who Loved Them"</blockquote> In another part of the Grove, a Meadow contains a "Crossroads Circle" marker near its western edge. This marker was dedicated especially to women and children affected by AIDS. Volunteers also worked together to create a small dry creek bed, which contains a woodland stream. A bench for rest and contemplation is provided underneath the trees by the Woodland Stream. This area is surrounded by the Redwood Grove, bordered by ten boulders which mark the boundaries of this part of the Grove. One of the boulders has been named "Angel Rock," in honor of the Angels of the Grove. Each of the ten boulders is inscribed with meaningful dedications and remembrances. The West End of the Grove contains the Meadow Overlook and the Fern Grotto, which contains the Circle of Peace. The presence of this marker attests to the scope of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and the continued tragedy of AIDS around the globe. The Circle of Peace marker is inscribed with a poem written in 1996 by Thomas Gunn and it is dedicated to "all of the unidentified individuals who fell victim to AIDS." Throughout the Grove, this marker and many circular shapes can be found. These circles are meant to symbolize and evoke the power of an inclusive and healing embrace. In 2017, a new Artists Portal was added to the Grove, tucked among a stand of tall oak trees. This semi-circular space looks out upon the de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences. First conceived by Dr. Tim Seelig in 2011, it was dedicated on December 1, 2018, by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, which also performed on the same date for the 25th Anniversary of World AIDS Day. The Artists Portal honors the many creative, talented, and artistic souls within the gay community in San Francisco and elsewhere who have died from AIDS. True to Dr. Seeling's original vision, this otherwise quiet space also introduces the quality of sound to the Grove. An eight-foot Emperor Chime waits silently in this space until a visitor decides to ring it in memory of those lost to AIDS. Also in 2017, a new Hemophilia Memorial was added to the Grove. This memorial features a semi-circular stone wall and flagstone crescent nestled into the landscape. The Hemophilia Memorial contains the names of 200 people who died from AIDS after contracting HIV through contaminated blood transfusions, unknowingly administered to treat hemophilia, a disease which makes blood unable to clot. This marker includes the names of friends, family, supporters, and leaders who dedicated themselves to ensuring that the nation's blood supply became safe following the deaths of 90% of those with severe hemophilia due to contracting HIV/AIDS. A year-end engraving ceremony is held each autumn for adding new names to this memorial marker. Today, the Grove continues to be tended by hundreds of dedicated volunteers, friends, and supporters. Community outreach groups, LGBTQ support groups, and others who are committed to caring for this site often meet on weekends to maintain the landscape and plantings. Monthly workdays take place on the third Saturday of every month between March and October. Although the Grove is privately funded, it is open to all as a quiet sanctuary and a healing and hopeful place for gathering, picnicking, and spending time in Golden Gate Park.

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. 

National AIDS Memorial Grove, Golden Gate Park

In 1835, the Santa Maria de Ovila Monastery, a 12th-century Cistercian monastery located in Spain, was seized by the Spanish government and the land was sold off to private buyers. Some of the monastery’s stones were relocated to farms within the Spanish countryside, where they were used by farmers to construct traditional barns and stone walls. However, much of the original monastery structure still remained standing. In 1930, the American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst purchased the remnants of Santa Maria de Ovila monastery, with a plan to disassemble the stones and ship them to America. Hearst planned to use the stones to create an elaborate private castle and retreat for himself in Shasta County, California. But when Hearst suffered financial setbacks during the Great Depression, the monastery stones were instead sent to storage in a San Francisco warehouse. The stones remained in storage until 1941, when they were purchased by the City of San Francisco. The City of San Francisco 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 was unable to secure the necessary funds for the next phase of the project and was unable to use the stones as planned. Over the next two decades, the stones again sat in storage, this time near the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Due to the effects of weather and fire damage, some of the identification markings that were incised centuries ago by medieval stone-masons to show how the stones were supposed to fit together became worn away, with some markings becoming illegible. In the 1960s, several monastery stones were used in the Succulent Garden, the California Garden, and the Fragrance Gardens at Strybing Arboretum (now the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum). In 2001, amidst controversy, some monastery stones were also used to create a new stone wall for the Library Terrace Garden, as well as being incorporated into other areas of Golden Gate Park. Several of the stones that appear in the Library Terrace Garden are arch-shaped. They have been carefully placed to reveal the historical incisions that were created by medieval stone masons regarding the original placement of the stones. Although worn by the effects of weather and time, these historical markings still remain visible on several of the stones. Elsewhere in Golden Gate Park, some of the monastery stones have been placed to create "Druid Circles." These are located in the more wooded areas of the park. Between 1994 - 2013, following several decades of negotiation, the majority of the remaining monastery stones that had once formed the "chapter house" prayer room of the Santa Maria de Ovila Monastery in Spain were sold by the City of San Francisco to the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, CA. There, the monastery stones were used to construct a new chapel for the order of Cistercian monks that resides at the Abbey. In support of the project, the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company created a specialty series of Belgian Ale craft beers, the "Ovila Abbey Beers," and a portion of the proceeds was donated to the restoration of the stones at the Abbey. This relocation and building project was viewed by many people as an appropriate restoration of the monastery stones, since the stones would once again be owned by Cistercians. While some people were pleased to see the monastery stones restored in building a new chapel at the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, CA, others expressed regret that the majority of the historic stones no longer belonged to the City of San Francisco after so many years of ownership. Nevertheless, some of the original monastery stones do indeed remain under the ownership of the City and are visible in Golden Gate Park. Most notably, the stones appear within the Succulent, Fragrance, and California Gardens, as well as in the Library Terrace Garden at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, where the Migration of the Monastery Stones Historical Marker is located. In addition, you can view some of the monastery stones in the Druid Circles, which are located in other areas of Golden Gate Park.

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.

Migration of the Monastery Stones Historical Marker 

The origins of this living museum and historic landscape can be traced several decades earlier, to the origins of Golden Gate Park itself, which began to take shape between 1870-1876. During this period, the engineer William Hammond Hall created a detailed site survey and plan for Golden Gate Park, leveling and stabilizing the coastal sand dunes and establishing a nursery for some 60,000 new trees. An overarching vision for Golden Gate Park was further brought to fruition by John McLaren, who served as the Park's first superintendent. During McLaren's tenure, Helene Strybing's bequest in 1926 provided the necessary funding to create a new Botanical Garden and Arboretum within Golden Gate Park. Throughout the 1930s, the arboretum's first director, Eric Walther, oversaw the selection and importation of numerous varieties of plants and trees from the U.S. and from around the world. The arboretum came to reflect the ecological diversity of many global plant habitats. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal program providing jobs for unemployed workers during the Great Depression, supplied the necessary labor for the major construction, landscaping, and initial planting projects at the arboretum. The site officially opened to the public as the Strybing Arboretum in 1940. Upon its grand opening, the Strybing Arboretum featured central axial paths leading to the Zellerbach Perennial Garden, as well as to diverse collections of other outdoor plants and trees. In 1954, the Strybing Arboretum Society was established to further support the development of the site. In 1959, a new master plan was designed by the landscape architect Robert Tetlow. It included a Great Meadow, a central fountain, and an overall layout of the site, as it still remains today. In the 1960s, a Fragrance Garden was created to provide special aromatic experiences, particularly for people with sight impairments or other disabilities. Plants featured within the Fragrance Garden were selected for their unique scents and interesting textures. The garden beds in the Fragrance Garden were built with stones from a 12th-century Spanish monastery imported to California in 1930 by the publishing magnate, William Randolph Hearst. In the 1970s, the master plan was expanded to include a new Moon-Viewing Garden, which overlooks a turtle-shaped island. A Horticultural Library was also constructed on site. This collection of books, archival materials, and plant records comprises the largest horticultural library in Northern California. In addition, from the 1980s to early 2000s, the living plant collections at the Strybing Arboretum grew to include a greater number of Mediterranean species and historic varieties of plants that thrive in mild temperate and coastal climates. Other gardens were also created and renovated, including the Southeast Asian Cloud Forest. This unique plant habitat was the first of its kind to be designed within the setting of a botanical garden and living museum. In 2004, the name of this site was officially changed from Strybing Arboretum to the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum. Today, the site is managed jointly in a public-private partnership between the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society at Strybing Arboretum and the San Francisco Recreation &amp; Parks Department. The Botanical Garden offers lectures, classes, tours, and programs for people of all ages. The Youth Education Program, in particular, serves thousands of schoolchildren and includes treasure hunts, guided walks, story-time in the garden, and hands-on experiential learning. The majority of the Botanical Garden's paved pathways are wheelchair accessible and are marked as such by way-finding signage. Wheelchairs are available at entrance gates for no charge on a first come, first served basis. Although there is a daily admission fee, this fee is waived for entrance on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Admission is always free for members, school groups, and for San Francisco city and county residents with proof of residency.

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. 

San Francisco Botanical Garden

Built by George Turner Marsh and the landscape designer Makoto Hagiwara, the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park was initially created to reflect a Japanese village for California’s International Exposition of World Villages in 1894. The Exposition was held in Golden Gate Park and it featured temporary replica villages reflecting many cultures around the world. However, Hagiwara had a vision for expanding the Japanese Tea Garden beyond the early version in which it appeared for the International Exposition. Hagiwara envisioned that the Japanese Tea Garden would remain a permanent fixture in Golden Gate Park as a walkable landscape for numerous residents and visitors to experience throughout the years. Under Hagiwara's expanded design plan, the Japanese Tea Garden grew to encompass five acres while incorporating many different design elements. These include a five-story stone Pagoda, a boat-shaped water basin, a clipped hedge in the form of Mount Fuji, crane statues, rock features, and a Dragon Hedge set against an illuminated bamboo background. There is also a sunken garden and a Zen garden, featuring bonsai trees, colorful azaleas, a river made of white stones, and a tumbling waterfall. Although the Japanese Tea Garden was modified since the 1894 exposition, the landscape contains several original features from the exposition, such as the Drum Bridge, which features a perfect circle. When entering through the main gate, you will notice a Monterey Pine, which Hagiwara added to the entrance in 1900. Before this tree was relocated to the entrance of the tea garden, it stood on the windswept oceanfront side of Golden Gate Park. When exiting the garden through the main gate, you will also notice a large stone, featuring a bronze plaque that pays tribute to the garden's designer. Hagiwara and his family lived in a dwelling within the garden for nearly fifty years while he cared for the plants and the landscape. He also imported into this landscape many traditional elements of Japanese culture, such as rare Japanese goldfish, birds, plants, and statuary. The commemorative plaque that is dedicated to him reads: <blockquote>"To honor Makoto Hagiwara and his family who nurtured and shared this garden from 1895-1942."</blockquote> During World War II, Japanese Americans who were living in San Francisco faced harsh discrimination. Many families were rounded up and forcibly evacuated into inland internment camps, including some of Hagiwara's descendants. Amidst the wartime intolerance, the Japanese Tea Garden was renamed the Oriental Tea Garden. During this period, statues and plantings within the garden were often destroyed or were not able to be properly cared for. By 1952, however, efforts towards cultural reconciliation were undertaken to heal the wartime animosity. These efforts included restoring the name of the site to the Japanese Tea Garden and installing a 9,000-pound Lantern of Peace, a gift offering made by Japan in 1953. Today, the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park is a favorite spot for both locals and tourists. It is known for its tranquil atmosphere and it is sought out as a place for meditation and relaxation amidst the beauty of nature. There is also an Asian Art Museum and Gift Shop on-site, as well as a Tea House which serves traditional Japanese tea to guests.

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. 

Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco

The Music Concourse and Spreckels Temple of Music were added to Golden Gate Park following the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition, an event that lay the groundwork for the creation of the Music Concourse. This nine-acre sunken oval landscape was originally designed to serve as the Grand Court of Honor during the exposition. After this event ended, however, it was designated to serve as a Music Concourse where people could gather for public concerts. Since 1883, people had enjoyed coming to Golden Gate Park to listen to live musical performances. The first performance stage built for hosting music in the park was simply a small wooden platform constructed to host the Golden Gate Park Band, which was founded in 1882. In the open space surrounding this rustic platform, the public was able to enjoy live musical performances while sitting in their horse-drawn carriages, walking along pedestrian paths, or resting on benches. But as the Golden Gate Park Band grew from 12 to 25 members, more space was needed. The band was initially founded within a local San Francisco unit of the California National Guard, but soon, members of the 2nd Artillery Regimental Band also joined the group. Because the size of the band grew so quickly, a larger bandshell was built in 1886 to accommodate the additional musicians. Meanwhile, more space was also designated in the park for the spectators, which included people and their horses. Free public concerts, offered on Saturdays and Sundays, were supported by contributions from the Park Commission, along with local business and the Market Street Cable Railway Company, which transported many of the concert-goers to the venue each weekend. Thus, by the time that the Midwinter International Exposition was held in Golden Gate Park in 1894, attending public performances in Golden Gate Park was already a popular pass-time. However, in preparation for the Midwinter fair, the landscape was greatly refined by creating a nine-acre sunken oval concourse that included more elaborate walking paths surrounded by a carriage drive. Following the event, this open-air space was designated as the Music Concourse, a beautiful area within Golden Gate Park where the public could enjoy listening to musical performances. In 1900, the sugar magnate Claus Spreckels donated funds for the construction of a formal bandshell within the Music Concourse as a place for symphony orchestras and concert bands to play. The classical-style bandshell became known as "Spreckels Temple of Music." The dramatic dome-shaped space is flanked by colonnades on each side of the bandshell. In 1906, Spreckels Temple of Music suffered damage caused by the great earthquake that shook the city of San Francisco, and the Golden Gate Park Band was temporarily relocated during the restoration of the site. Decades later, the Temple of Music was damaged again during the earthquake of 1989. Each quake left the bandshell out of commission for a period of years. However, the Temple of Music was successfully restored after each earthquake, and the public concerts continued to be held either off-site or on a make-shift stage while the restorations were being completed. For over a century, Spreckels Temple of Music has continued to serve as a venue for musical performances. In recent decades, the site has hosted musical artists ranging from Luciano Pavarotti to the Grateful Dead. Today, the Music Concourse remains a gathering place where people can listen to live music in the park by different musical artists, bands, and symphony orchestras. During its annual series of Sunday concerts held from April to October, the Golden Gate Park Band performs both popular and classical music. These concerts still remain free and open to the public. They often feature themed performances such as patriotic, jazz, or circus music, or they highlight the work of a particular composer. In a spirit similar to the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition, the Golden Gate Park Band also frequently features music from other cultures, in addition to special performances by singers, dancers, costumed performers and ensembles. Within the Music Concourse, several historical statues may also be spotted. These include statues of the composer Guiseppe Verdi, a statue of the Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant, and even a likeness of a Roman gladiator. There are also four decorative fountains along the axial paths that bisect the Music Concourse. Near the east entrance, close to the de Young Museum, a water feature known as the Pool of Enchantment features bronze statues of California mountain lions and a musical boy playing a flute. In addition, a bosque filled with pollarded plane and elm trees provides some shade within the open-air concourse. Nearby, the de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences each sit in close proximity to the historical musical venue.

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.

Music Concourse & Spreckels Temple of Music, Golden Gate Park

William Shakespeare, also known as simply "The Bard", was a playwright and poet associated with the sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century English Renaissance. He is known as a dramatist who wrote tragedies, such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar, yet he is equally well remembered for his comedies, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare often drew upon historical figures, past civilizations, and other historical themes in his work, as when writing about the Roman Empire or the Italian Renaissance. However, it is somewhat less well-known that many of Shakespeare's plays, along with his sonnets and other poems, include frequent references to flowers. Shakespeare's botanical references often included wildflowers that grew naturally in his native England. In addition, Shakespeare also referred to garden varieties of flowering plants and trees, such as lilies, roses, and crabapples. Many of the flowering trees and plants mentioned by Shakespeare in his plays and poems were cultivated in English gardens for their beauty as well as for their culinary or medicinal uses. To honor Shakespeare's literary references to flowers, several botanical gardens, universities, and urban park committees in the U.S. and Europe have planted "Shakespeare gardens" in his honor. These gardens incorporate some of the particular varieties of flowering plants and trees mentioned within his plays and poems. Because Shakespeare was a playwright and poet, his literary references to flowers usually served as metaphors, holding deeper layers of meaning. In Romeo and Juliet, for example, Juliet says, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," thus declaring that she would not let Romeo's family name alter her true feelings, despite the long-standing feud between their families. Throughout his plays and sonnets, Shakespeare also conveyed rich, sensory imagery through his literary references to flowers. By describing the scents, colors, or textures of plants and trees, The Bard was able to transport readers more deeply into a scene. In Sonnet 18, for example, Shakespeare wrote that "rough winds do shake the darling buds of May," thus referring to the May tree (also known as Common Hawthorne), which grew readily in England. On a metaphorical level, Shakespeare was conveying his idea that the sentiments held in one's youth are often shaken by the storms of life. In 1928, the idea for planting a "Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers" in Golden Gate Park began with Alice Eastwood, who was then serving as the Director of Botany for the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The California Spring Blossom and Wildflower Association made Eastwood's vision a reality by converting a meadow in the park into the new garden, featuring some of the flowering plants and trees that Shakespeare mentioned in his writings. The longstanding superintendent of Golden Gate Park, John McLaren, was responsible for overseeing the installation of irrigation pipes, while also preparing the soil for planting by ploughing and fertilizing the ground. Each spring, hollyhocks and flowering crabapple trees are a few of the blooms that still appear in this garden today. The entrance features a beautiful wrought-iron gate, above which is a gold-lettered sign that welcomes visitors into the landscaped space. Once inside the garden, there are axial paths, and a sundial is on display. A stone bench, placed in Eastwood's honor, still sits inside the garden, near the far edge. Hidden in an alcove within the garden wall is a bronze copy of a 17th-century bust of William Shakespeare, donated by the mayor of Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace in England. The bust is occasionally on display for public viewing, although most of the time, it remains safely locked behind doors in the garden wall. Today, the Shakespeare Garden is a favorite site for weddings, as well as for spending leisure time on a peaceful afternoon. Located close by are the Japanese Tea Garden and the San Francisco Botanical Garden, also in Golden Gate Park.

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.

Shakespeare Garden, Golden Gate Park

The California Academy of Sciences was founded in 1853 under the name of the California Academy of Natural Sciences; the name was changed to its present title in 1868. In 1874, the Academy opened its first museum at California and Dupont streets (presently Chinatown). However, in 1891, in&nbsp;order to host the 80,000 visitors, the museum was receiving annually, the site was relocated to Market Street. Unfortunately, in 1906, the building was destroyed by the historic 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.In 1916, the Academy moved to its present site in Golden Gate Park. Over decades more and more buildings were added to the museum's campus; unfortunately, the museum was once again ruined by earthquake damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Instead of repairing the museum's badly damaged buildings, it was decided to rebuild. In 2005, a $500 million building project ensued which was finished in 2008. Since the museum's re-establishment, the site has been widely recognized for its environmentally friendly design and has been featured on the Discovery Channel's&nbsp;Extreme&nbsp;Engineering as well as National Geographic's&nbsp;Man-Made.&nbsp;Additionally, the Academy&nbsp;was a site of optical and navigational equipment repair for U.S. Navy ships during World War II.&nbsp;

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.

California Academy of Sciences

The California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 brought local spectators as well as attendees from around the world to Golden Gate Park for a major "world's fair" event. Featuring cultural elements such as architecture, arts, and music, as well as agriculture and food products from around the world, this 160-acre event also showcased technical achievements, such as impressive electrical displays at a time when many people in California still relied on kerosene lanterns to provide light in private homes. The overall goal for the event was to bring jobs to the region while highlighting the exciting innovations in mechanical, agricultural, and cultural arts from throughout the U.S. and from other countries around the world. The event also served to showcase the region's agricultural products, many of which flourished specifically in sunny California because of the warm weather and temperate climate. In addition, the exposition included elaborately costumed performers, carnival rides, theater shows, and other spectacles meant to entice public curiosity, such as a replica of an 1849 mining camp, circus lions, a stylized 'Eskimo village', and men wielding scimitars, elements that contrasted with the staid, neo-classical architectural elements also built for the event. Thus, through this deliberate use of contrast and spectacle, the world's fair also conveyed an unmistakably imperial tone, particularly as it was envisioned as part of a broader effort to "cultivate the frontier" through culture and commerce. While it may seem far from politically correct by today's standards, at the time, the exposition was considered a successful and peaceful event that generally reflected an amicable spirit of cross-cultural interaction. The idea for the California Midwinter International Exposition came from Michael de Young, founder and publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle. De Young had served on the committee for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the first major world's fair event in the U.S. At the time, it was thought that many of the same displays, materials, and elements could simply be recycled from the fair in Chicago and transported to the exposition that would be held the following year in San Francisco. It was hoped that this also would save money overall. However, train delays caused by rain and fog during the winter season in December 1893 and January 1894 meant that many of the expected displays, workers, and performers did not arrive on time as scheduled. Still, while the finishing touches were being completed on the large architectural elements, such as the Agricultural Building and the Mechanical and Liberal Arts Building, members of the local public began to show up in eager anticipation for the start of the fair. Officially, the exposition in Golden Gate Park opened to the worldwide public on January 27, 1894. It closed as planned several months later on July 4. During this time, it is estimated that 2.5 million visitors were in attendance. Although much of the original architecture from the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition is no longer standing, the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park is one of the architectural elements that does remain in the park today. Within the Music Concourse, Spreckels Temple of Music is beautifully maintained and remains in frequent use as a public venue. The neo-classical bandshell and the surrounding landscape of the Music Concourse, which features historical statues and fountains, evokes the look and feel of the 1894 world's fair, as it served as the centerpiece of the "Grand Court" during the Midwinter International Exposition in Golden Gate Park.

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.

California Midwinter International Exposition Historical Marker

Originally built in 1894 for the California Midwinter International Exposition, the temporary structure, named after the exposition chair and co-founder of the San Francisco Chronicle Michael H. de Young, became a permanent local art museum, which opened March 24, 1895, and was immensely successful. Designed in a pseudo-Egyptian Revival style, the building featured images of the cow goddess, Hathor. The free-admission-museum featured American art, international textile arts and costumes, and art of the ancient Americas, Oceania and Africa. Unfortunately, the museum building suffered damaged during the 1906 earthquake and had to close for a year and a half while it was repaired.

As the museum’s success continued to grow, Michael de Young headed up plans to construct a new building as an expansion of the museum. The coordinator for architecture for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, Louis Christian Mulgardt, designed the new structure in the Spanish-Plateresque style. According to the museum’s official website, “In 1921, de Young added a central section, together with the tower that would become the museum's signature feature, and the museum began to assume the basic configuration that it retained until 2001. Michael de Young's great efforts were honored with the changing of the museum's name to the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. Yet another addition, a west wing, was completed in 1925, the year de Young died.&nbsp;Just four years later, the original Egyptian-style building was declared unsafe and demolished. By the end of the 1940s, the elaborate cast concrete ornamentation of the original de Young was determined to be a hazard and removed because the salt air from the Pacific had rusted the supporting steel.”

Again, in 1989, the museum building suffered damage as a result of an earthquake; this time it was the Loma Prieta earthquake. Eventually, the board of trustees came to the decision that the reconstruction of the fine arts museum would be privately financed “as a philanthropic gift to the city, in the tradition of M. H. de Young.” According to the museum website the board chose the Swiss architectural firm Herzog &amp; de Meuron to conduct the design project,&nbsp;and they worked the museum “into the natural environment of the park. [The design] also provides open and light-filled spaces that facilitate and enhance the art-viewing experience. Historic elements from the former de Young, such as the sphinxes, the original palm trees, and the Pool of Enchantment, have been retained or reconstructed at the new museum.”

Today, the de Young Museum is one of the most popular art museums in the nation.

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. 

De Young Museum

As noted on the Historic Trees Historical Marker, each tree planted within the Colonial Trees Grove in Golden Gate Park is native to one of the original thirteen colonies (now states) in the United States of America. Each tree planted in this grove also holds unique historical significance reflecting a particular event, figure, or symbol from each of the original thirteen colonies. First planted by the Sequoia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in the autumn of 1896, some of the trees have since been replaced over the years due to the effects of weather and time. The following significant species of trees were included within the Colonial Trees Grove in Golden Gate Park: <ul><li>a Sugar Maple from General Stark's homestead (New Hampshire)</li><li>an Elm from the old bridge at North Concord (Massachusetts)</li><li>a Birch from the homestead of General Nathanael Greene (Rhode Island)</li><li>a White Oak from a seedling of the Charter Oak, replaced in 2014 with a Black Walnut (Connecticut)</li><li>a White Oak from the Battlefield of Saratoga (New York);</li><li>a White Linden from a former home of General Washington (New Jersey)</li><li>a Red Maple from Belmont Hall (Delaware)</li><li>a Liquid Amber (Maryland)</li><li>a Chestnut from the grave of Thomas Jefferson (replaced by a Tulip tree in 2014)</li><li>a Hackberry replaced by a Red Maple in 2014 (North Carolina)</li><li>a Magnolia (South Carolina)</li><li>a Catalpa replaced by a living Oak in 1976 (Georgia)</li></ul> In the center of the Colonial Trees Grove stands a keystone Cedar tree from Valley Forge Pennsylvania. (This tree was replaced by a Hemlock in 2012). The trees from the southern colonies were planted in an arc just south of the Pennsylvania Cedar tree, while the trees from northern colonies were planted in an arc just north of it. The soil that was added to the site during the planting of the Pennsylvania Cedar tree came from the Paris grave of the Marquis de Lafayette, who joined the cause of the American Revolution while gaining the formal support of France and playing a key role in the victory against Britain's Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown. Sponsored by the Sequoia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in October 1896 just after the California Midwinter International Exposition ("World's Fair") earlier that year, it is estimated that some 2,000 people were in attendance to witness and celebrate the planting of the Colonial Trees Grove. While planting the trees, a silver trowel was used, featuring a handle that had been specially crafted from a Magnolia tree which once stood at George Washington's Mount Vernon property. The additional soil that was added to the site during the planting also came from several historic American battlefields that were of particular significance during the Revolutionary War. The Colonial Trees Grove was further commemorated with a bronze plaque historical marker mounted into a boulder in 1920. The Colonial Trees Grove was re-dedicated in 1976, the year of the U.S. Bicentennial, and again in 2012. Today, this site continues to be maintained for educational purposes as well as for outdoor enjoyment, in honor of earlier generations who fought against Britain in the American War for Independence.

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.

Historical Marker, Colonial Trees Grove in Golden Gate Park

The idea for San Francisco’s 1915 Pioneer Mother monument was planted a decade earlier when a San
Francisco resident viewed the city’s earlier pioneer monument. The sight of San
Francisco’s Pioneer Monument towering
over that city’s ruins in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake inspired in San
Francisco society matron Ella Sterling Mighels a vision of a monument to
pioneer mothers in her city. She worked tirelessly to promote her vision of a
monument to pioneer women as a civilizing influence over the rough-and-tumble world
of gold rush California. Like many women of her time, Mighels believed that
women’s influence should be channeled through motherhood within the domestic
sphere. While many white Californians shared Mighels’ racial vision, they were
slow to embrace her vision of a monument depicting a seated pioneer mother holding
church at her knee.

Mighels’ efforts inspired the creation of the Pioneer Mother
Monument Association (PMMA). Led by President Helen Sanborn, the association
organized a fundraising campaign. They planned to erect a monument “symbolizing
Motherhood, to be dedicated to the Pioneer Mothers of the West – the
self-sacrificing women who, with their little ones at their side, braved the
dangers and underwent the hardships and privations that are always incident to
pioneer life.”1 They
envisioned a woman and two or three children in mid-19th-century
clothing, with a gold miner father in the background or in a bronze relief
panel on the statue’s base.

Mighels and the PMMA struggled to raise support for the
statue until the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) Woman’s Board got
involved. The PPIE Woman’s Board sought to place the monument at San Francisco’s
1915 world’s fair. The PPIE was intended to celebrate San Francisco’s recovery
from the 1906 earthquake. The Pioneer
Mother monument would join the earlier monuments to California men that had
survived that earthquake.&nbsp; 

Most PPIE buildings and sculpture were made from plaster.
They were only intended to survive the length of the fair. For example, a larger-than-life
male Pioneer and male Indian at The End of the Trail were headed for a
landfill after the fair until citizens of Visalia, California, claimed them. In
contrast, the Pioneer Mother was cast
in bronze and would remain as a permanent gift to the city of San Francisco. 

The PMMA and various California pioneer associations pledged
to fundraise for the project. But tension soon developed between John Trask,
chief of the PPIE’s fine arts department, and the club women sponsoring the
statue. Some of the women questioned Trask’s choice to commission a prominent
eastern sculptor. They believed it should be done by a local artist. But Trask
was a leading figure in the fine arts establishment. He was convinced that no
California artist was qualified for a project of this significance. He gave the
commission to his friend Charles Grafly instead.

Grafly abandoned both Mighels’ image of a hoop-skirted woman
holding church at her knee and the PPMA’s
vision of a pioneer woman in a more practical prairie-style dress. Instead,
Grafly sculpted a woman clad in the fringed buckskin and moccasins that many
easterners associated with the Wild West.&nbsp;
The sculptor surrounded his pioneer women with nude children symbolizing
the future.

Grafly’s model produced outrage in San Francisco because it blurred
racial and gender identities. A decade earlier, Portland, Oregon, had welcomed
a sculpture of Sacajawea as a tribute
to white pioneer mothers. But in 1915, San Franciscans balked at Grafly’s
depiction of a white woman dressed in Native clothing. Pressure from the Native
Daughters of the Golden West and other women’s pioneer associations persuaded
Grafly to replace the “costume of a primitive Sioux Indian squaw”2 with
a homespun gown and simple leather shoes. Under pressure from the female
donors, Grafly also agreed to adjust the head covering.&nbsp; But even the final version lacked the wide
brim characteristic of mid-nineteenth-century sunbonnets designed to protect
white women’s fair complexions from the sun.

Some of the clubwomen sponsoring the monument – including
Mighels – also were outraged that Grafly insisted on depicting nude
children.&nbsp; PMMA president Sanborn
insisted that the children’s nudity made it impossible for the organization to
raise public subscriptions to support the monument.&nbsp;But Grafly remained determined to maintain the allegorical quality of the
children at her feet. Philanthropist and honorary president of the PPIE Woman’s
Board Phoebe Hearst and U.S. Senator (and former San Francisco mayor) James
Phelan finally brokered a compromise. They persuaded Grafly to make the boy’s genitalia
“somewhat less conspic[u]ous,”3 and
thus less offensive to Anglo women’s genteel sensibilities. 

Public opinion of the revised statue was generally
positive.&nbsp; More than one thousand people
visited the artist’s studio to view the completed statue, which they agreed was
a “symbolical masterpiece.”4 Thousands of California schoolchildren
contributed pennies and nickels toward erecting the monument, including $651.59
in San Francisco and $591.94 in Los Angeles (a total of about $30,000 in 2015
dollars).

The Pioneer Mother
monument was cast in bronze to make it a permanent fixture in San Francisco,
but it received less attention at the PPIE than did the plaster Pioneer and End of the Trail. After the fair, those pieces were moved to
Visalia’s Mooney Grove Park. But Grafly’s
bronze Pioneer Mother was neglected and forgotten. A
quarter-century later it was discovered, weather-worn and vandalized, in the
near-ruin of the Palace of Fine Arts.&nbsp;
Within three months of its discovery, civic and historic groups helped
to restore the monument, and it was displayed at the Golden Gate International
Exposition before being installed at its final site in a meadow in Golden Gate
Park on December 8, 1940. <div><div>

</div>

</div>

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.

Pioneer Mother Monument

In 1894, the Church of England donated the Prayer Book Cross, a 57-foot Celtic-style cross made of sandstone, marble, and granite, for display in the Midwinter International Exposition. This "world's fair" event was held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park the same year. It reflected many different cultural heritage traditions from around the world and drew public attention from near and far. Several new monuments, gardens, and structures were erected in Golden Gate Park for this special event. As noted in the inscription on the Prayer Book Cross, this monument was created to mark the first recorded use of the Book of Common Prayer during a worship service held in the new world. The Book of Common Prayer is the standard book of prayer used by the Church of England (also called the Anglican Church). This religious service was led by Reverend Fletcher, a chaplain who accompanied the sixteenth-century explorer, Sir Francis Drake, on a voyage in the Pacific Ocean in 1579. On this voyage, Drake and his men spent six weeks on the coast of California. It was during this period that the Reverend Fletcher led the first Anglican service in the Americas by reading from the Book of Common Prayer on June 24, 1579, while on the shores of the Pacific coast. To commemorate the first Anglican church service in the Americas, the Church of England commissioned an architect to design the Prayer Book Cross (also called "Drake's Cross") in 1894. The monument was originally intended to be erected at Point Reyes, California. This was the actual site of the first Anglican prayer service held by Reverend Fletcher for Drake's party in the Americas. However, it was thought that this remote coastal location would not allow for sufficient public access to the monument. Thus, it was decided that the cross would instead be placed atop a hill in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to coincide with the upcoming Midwinter fair in 1894. By placing the monument on a hill in the park, rather than amidst the busy architectural cityscape of San Francisco, it was also thought that the monument would more easily be seen from miles away, especially from the sea by ships entering the harbor. The Prayer Book Cross monument was designed by Ernest Coxhead, an architect born in Sussex, England, who spent much of his career working in San Francisco. Many of Coxhead's architectural designs became associated with a style known as "Bay Area Traditional." Since Coxhead was an Englishman and well-regarded as an architect in California, he was selected by the Church of England to create the new monument. He designed the 57-foot tall Celtic-style sandstone cross to sit atop a 7-foot marble base, making the structure 64-feet in overall height. The Prayer Book Cross is still the tallest monument in Golden Gate Park. In recent years, some questions have been raised regarding the constitutionality of the monument. However, it remains in its original location to this day, a site of quiet contemplation in Golden Gate Park. Despite being situated atop the hill above Rainbow Falls, the monument is now largely obscured from view by the tall trees that surround it.

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.

Prayer Book Cross and Rainbow Falls, Golden Gate Park

Since 1904, the Polo Fields and surrounding cycling track in Golden Gate Park have served as the site of horse races, bicycle races, footraces, parades, and polo matches, in addition to other significant historical and cultural events during the 20th century. The Polo Fields were created in the middle of an existing mile-long speedway known as the old Speed Road, the site of horse-racing and betting since 1894. After the Great Earthquake shook San Francisco in 1906, hundreds of refugees set up temporary encampments at the Polo Fields. During this time, the original speedway fell into disuse. However, because of the immense popularity of bicycling during the early twentieth century, a bicycle track was built around the fields in 1906 to accommodate recreational cycling as well as bicycle races. During this era, bicycles had only one gear and no brakes, making them considerably more challenging to ride than they are today. This sporting area was known as the Velodrome at Golden Gate Park Stadium, as it was mainly a venue for cycling enthusiasts. A hillside adjacent to the track was re-designed to provide stadium-seating for spectators, with bleachers made from California redwood trees. Inspired by the colosseum in Rome, it was hoped that the site would come to garner the same world-class renown. For a time, San Francisco was indeed known as an epicenter for recreational and professional cycling, which remained the main sporting event at the venue for several decades. When the bicycle eventually declined in popularity, mainly because of the rise of the automobile, the Velodrome continued to be used as a cycling track, but the Polo Fields instead became the main attraction. New stables for the polo horses and ponies were constructed as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the 1930s. In the mid-twentieth century, polo matches were well-attended and remained popular throughout the 1960s. Thereafter, rugby began to gain ground, replacing polo as the favorite sport to watch at the Polo Fields during the 1970s. Breaking radically with tradition, in January 1967 the Polo Fields became the site of the "Human Be-In", also known as the "Gathering of the Tribes". This historic event preceded the famous "Summer of Love" which also occurred in San Francisco later the same year. Attended by over 20,000 "hippies," the Human Be-In epitomized the countercultural youth movement of the 1960s. The "Be-In" borrowed its name from the "Sit-Ins" that had become an important aspect of the 1960s Civil Rights movement. Musicians such as Santana and the Steve Miller Band, poets such as Alan Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and other leaders of the countercultural movement such as Timothy Leary, who advocated the use of mind-altering psychedelics, spoke to the crowds of young people dissatisfied with authority and intent on protesting the Vietnam War. The Hells Angels provided on-site "security", while the well-attended event was covered heavily in the media. A success in consciousness-raising, the 1967 Human Be-In also paved the way for other rock concerts, including the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, held in Monterey, California, in June of the same year, as well as the Woodstock Music Festival held in New York in 1969. Today, the historic Polo Fields and the surrounding cycling track and stadium are maintained for public recreation, sporting events, and other special public gatherings, such as the Outside Lands Music &amp; Arts Festival. Although polo is not often played anymore, there are now six regulation soccer fields surrounded by the .67 mile cycling track. In 2017, when the bleachers around the cycling track needed to replaced, the superintendent of Golden Gate Park and the project engineers ensured that the original redwood bleachers would not end up in a landfill. Instead, the salvaged wood was offered online for sale, where it quickly sold out. The Polo Fields' 1906 bleachers are now enjoying a second life, thanks to the reuse of this historic wood in various projects around the country.

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. 

Historic Polo Fields & Cycling Track, Golden Gate Park

It is estimated that up to 60 million bison once grazed throughout the American West, roaming freely across the Great Plains between northern Mexico and Canada. Although bison are today considered a symbol of the American West, at the end of the nineteenth century, they were nearly wiped out to the point of extinction. By the mid-1800s, there were only a few hundred bison remaining, with almost no bison west of the Rockies. Bison are often associated with a now-vanished American frontier. The American bison and other bison species still in existence today can actually be traced back as far as the Pleistocene Era. These bison are among the few species that survived the Ice Age extinction. For centuries, bison served as an important resource for indigenous tribes throughout the Great Plains of North America. While Native Americans refer to bison as "buffalo," the bison in North America are distinct from buffalo species, which hail from Asia and Africa (such as the water buffalo). Although bison have served as a valuable resource for Great Plains tribes over the centuries, much of the animal's natural habitat was lost rapidly during the 1800s due to the encroachment of railroads and increasing conversion of prairies into farmland for new settlers. Bison meat, hides, furs, and bones became highly coveted for economic and industrial uses. Bison bones were used for refining sugar, as well as for manufacturing fertilizer and making fine bone china. In addition, bison slaughter was used a tactic to remove native tribes from the land as indigenous communities relied heavily on bison herds as a natural resource. Bison numbers especially plummeted as herds were culled to make way for new railroad lines. According to some reports, "Buffalo Bill" Cody killed over 4,000 bison in order to feed the crews of men who were at work building the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Some hunting of bison occurred simply for sport, with reports of tourists shooting bison from railcar windows, while the animals were left for dead. Trained marksmen were often hired by railroad companies for the same task, as bison were thought to cause railroad accidents and track delays. In recent years, American bison numbers have been rebounding dramatically. This is largely because of dedicated efforts by conservationists, land managers, and indigenous groups. Many farmers and ranchers are now cultivating bison herds for meat, which has risen in popularity. In 2016, the Obama Administration declared the bison to be America's national mammal. This symbolic decision lent support to conservationists who have been working for decades to restore herd populations of American bison. This species still remains the largest land mammal in North America.

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. 

Bison Paddock, Golden Gate Park

In 1901 San Franciscans
John McLauren, Adolph B. Spreckles and Reuben Lloyd went to the Recreation and
Park Commission and persuaded them to construct a windmill that would pump
water for Golden Gate Park's irrigation system.&nbsp;The structure was designed
by a well-known San Francisco resident, Alpheus Bull, Jr. In 1902 the Dutch
Windmill was built in the northwest corner of the park, 300 yards away from the
ocean in order to utilize westerly winds as a power source. A cottage was
constructed near the structure to house the windmill’s caretaker. This person
was responsible for the windmill’s maintenance and for making sure that the
animals who often resided in the park were fed. 

&nbsp;The Dutch Windmill was so
useful that in 1905 the Mayor of San Francisco, Eugene Schmitz, pushed for
another windmill to be erected in Golden Gate Park. The construction of the
second windmill was made possible by a $20,000 donation from the vice president
of Hibernia Bank, Samuel Murphy. Thus, the Murphy Windmill (or South Windmill)
was built and in operation that same year. Murphy Windmill was known as the
largest of it’s kind in the world.

&nbsp;In 1913 both windmills
were installed with motorized pumps and no longer required wind to function.
However, as their usefulness declined so did their upkeep. Overtime, operation
of the windmills halted and they became part of the Park’s landscape. After
decades passed, a campaign to restore the Dutch Windmill (or North Windmill)
commenced and was spearheaded by Eleanor Rossi Crabtree in 1964. Crabtree’s
mission was realized in 1980 and the windmill received renovations that were
long overdue. That same year the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden was created
surrounding the Dutch Windmill.

&nbsp;Similar plans began in
1993 for the Murphy Windmill. The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
and San Francisco Beautiful teamed up to evaluate what their course of action
to repair the windmill would be. It was decided that renovations would need to
be made as soon as funds were available. They were able to convince the city of
San Francisco to donate $500,000 towards the windmill’s restoration.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;Today, both windmills have
seen continued decay after their initial restorations. Plans for more
renovations are in place and involve rebuilding a windmill tower, pump
mechanisms, sails, and more. Never the less, the Dutch Windmill, along with its
counterpart, continue to showcase over a century of history and are beautiful
additions to the historic Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.&nbsp;

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.

Golden Gate Park Walking Tour

Portals of the Past

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information