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15-581: The Corona Heights neighborhood stretches between Buena Vista Park and Eureka Valley. The streets within Corona Heights were literally cut out of the large hill that once encompassed all of Buena Vista Park and extended all the way down to Market Street. In 1899, excavation began on the hill to make way for the Gray Brothers Quarry and brick factory. The quarry had removed tons of rock and produced tens of thousands of bricks, creating

30-524: A blasted landscape. George and Harry Gray (the Gray brothers) owned a total of three quarries in San Francisco. Besides The Corona Heights Quarry, One was located on Telegraph Hill, and the third at Thirtieth and Castro (now called Billy Goat Hill ) located above Noe Valley . They had a bad reputation that was well deserved. Of the bricks that were produced at the factory, many of them were used in

45-473: A few cases the inscriptions were placed facing up and can be discerned ( Cf. the Wave Organ ). The northeast corner staircase features a large peace symbol (the classic Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament variety) shaped out of flower plantings. Further south a tennis court is located just inside the park at the intersection of Duboce and Buena Vista East streets. Across the street from the south side of

60-508: Is a park in the Haight-Ashbury and Buena Vista Heights neighborhoods of San Francisco, California . It is the oldest official park in San Francisco, established in 1867 as Hill Park, later renamed Buena Vista. It is bounded by Haight Street to the north, and by Buena Vista Avenue West and Buena Vista Avenue East. The park is on a steep hill that peaks at 575 feet (175 m), and covers 37 acres (150,000 m ). The lowest section

75-481: Is the north end along Haight. The hill on which the park lies is composed primarily of sand and San Francisco chert, formed in the Mesozoic era. The layout of the park uses the steepness of the hill to good advantage, offering good views of the city (particularly to the north). At the peak of the park is a small lawn. Notable views are available from various lookouts lower down, including "The Window," an overlook on

90-464: The Cable Car beds. Subsequently, it was determined that these bricks were substandard and had to be replaced. The community became enraged with the Gray brothers when adults and children were injured by falling rocks and homes were damaged by flying debris. Although the Gray brothers faced lawsuit after lawsuit, they kept quarrying. In 1909, Carolyn Bush, their cashier and George Gray's secretary,

105-643: The Wave Organ , and died seven months before construction started. The Wave Organ is located at the end of a spit of land extending from the Golden Gate Yacht Club . There is a panoramic view of the city across the narrow channel into the St. Francis and Golden Gate yacht clubs, bounded on the left by the Fort Mason piers and to the right by a towering eucalyptus grove bordering Crissy Field . The park and trail to it are wheelchair accessible, with

120-534: The modern-architecture work of Cass Calder Smith , as featured in many architectural magazines including Dwell (Jan/Feb 2005). This modern house was significantly modified with an addition of another level in 2015. The N Judah runs underneath the park via the Sunset Tunnel . Wave Organ The Wave Organ is a sculpture located in San Francisco, California . It was constructed on

135-537: The park is 355 Buena Vista East, an architecturally notable building which appears briefly in Alfred Hitchcock 's Vertigo . The building, constructed in 1928 as St. Joseph's Hospital, has been converted to condominiums. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places . 611 Buena Vista West, on the west side of the park near Frederick Street, was a particularly noteworthy example of

150-445: The rock for transport vehicle access and from the general quarrying done to the area. This made the location prime real estate for people who began to build their homes on the streets cut into the hill. Many of the neighborhood homes have views (due to the elevation on the hill), close proximity to underground transportation ( MUNI ), and are situated just a few blocks from The Castro , local restaurants, and neighborhood hangouts. At

165-578: The shore of San Francisco Bay in May 1986 by the Exploratorium , and more specifically, by installation artist and the Exploratorium artist-in-residence Peter Richards, who conceived and designed the organ, working with stonemason George Gonzales. The Wave Organ is dedicated to Frank Oppenheimer . Oppenheimer was the founding director of the Exploratorium, led the fundraising efforts for

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180-640: The top of the hill, where the quarry used to stand, there is now the Corona Heights Park : a large, open space with panoramic views of the city and the bay. Corona Heights Park also features a fenced-in, maintained dog park . Corona Heights features prominently in Fritz Leiber's famous horror novel "Our Lady of Darkness" (1977). 37°45′44.3″N 122°26′37.9″W  /  37.762306°N 122.443861°W  / 37.762306; -122.443861 Buena Vista Park Buena Vista Park

195-529: The trailhead at the Marina Green park. Through a series of 25 PVC pipes, the Wave Organ interacts with the waves of the bay and conveys their sound to listeners at several different stations. The effects produced vary depending on the level of the tide but include rumbles, gurgles, sloshes, hisses, and other more typical wave sounds. The sound is best heard at high tide. The structure incorporates stone platforms and benches where visitors may sit near

210-524: The western side of the hill from which there is a sweeping vista of Golden Gate Park , the Pacific Ocean, and, on clear days, northward up the coast to the white cliffs of Drake's Bay . The paths along the west side are lined with gutters built by WPA workers out of broken headstones from the city's Victorian cemeteries at Lone Mountain Cemetery , which were moved to Colma in the 1930s. In

225-475: Was shot and killed by an unpaid worker who lost his temper. A few years later in 1915 George, by then a millionaire, was at the Thirtieth and Castro quarry. He was confronted by Joseph Lococo, a 26-year-old former worker whom Gray refused to pay back wages of $ 17.50. George was murdered by Lococo at the quarry. The quarrying and the company ended at that time. Because of the quarry, streets had been cut out of

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