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Golden Gate Park

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An urban park or metropolitan park , also known as a city park , municipal park (North America), public park , public open space , or municipal gardens ( UK ), is a park or botanical garden in cities , densely populated suburbia and other incorporated places that offers green space and places for recreation to residents and visitors. Urban parks are generally landscaped by design, instead of lands left in their natural state. The design, operation and maintenance is usually done by government agencies, typically on the local level, but may occasionally be contracted out to a park conservancy , "friends of" group, or private sector company.

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98-649: Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond and Sunset districts of San Francisco, California , United States. It is the second-largest park in the city , containing 1,017 acres (412 ha), and the third-most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 24 million visitors annually. The creation of a large park in San Francisco was first proposed in the 1860s. In 1865, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted proposed

196-451: A 10-minute walk , provides multiple benefits. A park is an area of open space provided for recreational use, usually owned and maintained by a local government. Grass is typically kept short to discourage insect pests and to allow for the enjoyment of picnics and sporting activities. Trees are chosen for their beauty and to provide shade , with an increasing emphasis on reducing an urban heat island effect. Some early parks include

294-407: A 2.5-acre living roof with almost 1.7 million native California plants and domes that cover the planetarium and rainforest exhibitions. The soil of the roof is six inches deep, which reduces storm water runoff by more than 90% and naturally cools the interior of the museum, thereby reducing the need for air-conditioning. The glass panels of the living roof also contain cells that collect more than 5% of

392-405: A known anti-Semite , who gave $ 60,000 for its construction. Strawberry Hills' waterfall was named Huntington Falls after its benefactor Collis P. Huntington. Blue Heron Lake was the first artificial lake constructed in the park and Huntington was the park's first artificial waterfall. The falls are fed by a reservoir located atop Strawberry Hill. Water is pumped into the reservoir from Elk Glen Lake,

490-526: A park designed with species native to San Francisco. The plan was rejected for a Central Park -style park designed by engineer William Hammond Hall . The park was built atop shore and sand dunes in an unincorporated area known as the Outside Lands . Construction centered on planting trees and non-native grasses to stabilize the dunes that covered three-quarters of the park. The park opened in 1870. Main attractions include cultural institutions such as

588-641: A racetrack, favored by " the Big Four " millionaires: Leland Stanford , Mark Hopkins , Collis P. Huntington , and Charles Crocker . Stanford, who was president of the Southern Pacific Railroad , was also one of the owners of the Ocean Railroad Company, which ran from Haight Street across the park to its south border, then out to the beach and north to a point near Cliff House. It was Gus Mooney who claimed land adjacent to

686-689: A series of improvements to include an underground 800-car parking garage and pedestrianization of the plaza itself. It is surrounded by various cultural attractions, including: Named after M. H. de Young , the San Francisco newspaper magnate, the De Young Museum is a fine arts museum that was opened in January 1921. Its original building, the Fine Arts Building, was part of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition , of which Mr. de Young

784-695: A steam-powered carousel. The two-story Sharon Children's House now houses the Sharon Art Studio. In 1888, a steam-powered carousel was installed in a circular building near the Children's House and Play Ground. The carousel building was occupied by two more carousels before the 1914 Herschell-Spillman Company carousel was purchased by Herbert Fleishhacker from the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1941. The 1914 carousel has undergone several major renovations,

882-403: A virtual town with large residential barracks [with temporary] tented housing, latrines and bathhouses, laundries, and other services." Not only was the standard of military organization high, but the social organization was also at an acceptable standard despite the aftermath of the earthquake and fires. Reports indicate that small communities formed within the tent neighborhoods. The children of

980-461: A whole. Another accomplishment of John McLaren is his creation of an open walking space along the Pacific shoreline on the western boundary of the park. Despite obstacles such as heavy tides and winds that carried sand inland towards the park, McLaren was able to build an esplanade by stacking thousands of tree boughs over the course of 20 years. When he refused to retire at the customary age of 60

1078-619: Is a monument to explorer Roald Amundsen and the Gjøa , the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage . Following the expedition, Gjøa was donated to the city in 1906 and put on display for decades near Ocean Beach. After falling into disrepair, Gjøa was returned to Norway in 1972. The Prayer Book Cross , also known as Drake's Cross, is a sandstone Celtic-style cross measuring 60 feet tall. Erected by Episcopalians in 1894, it commemorates Sir Francis Drake 's first landing on

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1176-512: Is accessible by car and by public transportation. Golden Gate Park earned the designation of National Historic Landmark and of California Historic Resource in 2004. The park is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department , which began in 1871 to oversee the park's development. Golden Gate Park is over three miles (4.8 km) long east to west, and about half a mile (0.8 km) north to south. In

1274-500: Is mostly constructed of copper, and its unique design was created with the idea that the "building would be enhanced not only by sunlight but also by San Francisco's constant fog." Since the opening of the De Young in 1921, its galleries have mostly changed, but some of the art originally featured during the fair and in the early twentieth century still exists in the museum today. The galleries of Asian art have since been relocated, but

1372-504: Is named after him. In 1903, a pair of Dutch-style windmills were built at the extreme western end of the park. These pumped water throughout the park. The north windmill was restored to its original appearance in 1981 and is adjacent to Queen Wilhelmina tulip garden, a gift of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands . These are planted with tulip bulbs for winter display and other flowers in appropriate seasons. The Murphy Windmill in

1470-582: Is recognized as the birthplace of the Summer of Love . On January 14, 1967, the Human Be-In was held in the Polo Fields . Organized by artist Michael Bowen , the event was attended by almost 30,000 people. Famous artists such as Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg were in attendance, as calls for alternative lifestyles and expanded consciousness reflected the countercultural attitudes of the period. At

1568-863: The De Young Museum , California Academy of Sciences , and the Japanese Tea Garden ; attractions such as the Conservatory of Flowers , the San Francisco Botanical Garden , the Beach Chalet , the Golden Gate Park windmills , and the National AIDS Memorial Grove . Recreational activities include bicycling, pedal boating, and concerts and events such as Outside Lands music festival and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass . Golden Gate Park

1666-715: The Horseshoe Court in the northeast corner of the park near Fulton and Stanyan, there is a concrete bas-relief of The Horseshoe Pitcher by Jesse "Vet" Anderson, a member of the Horseshoe Club. Across from the Conservatory of Flowers is Douglas Tilden's The Baseball Player . During the George Floyd protests , on June 19, 2020, demonstrators toppled or otherwise vandalized the statues of Catholic missionary Junípero Serra , Francis Scott Key (author of

1764-562: The La Alameda de Hércules , in Seville , a promenaded public mall, urban garden and park built in 1574, within the historic center of Seville. The Városliget ( City Park ) in the City of Pest , what is today Budapest, Hungary , was a city property when afforestation started in the middle of the 18th century, from the 1790s with the clear aim to create a public park. Between 1799 and 1805 it

1862-694: The Sacramento Valley . The park drew its name from the nearby Golden Gate Strait. The plan and planting were developed by Hall and his assistant, John McLaren , who had apprenticed in Scotland, home of many of the 19th-century's best professional gardeners. John McLaren, when asked by the Park Commission if he could make Golden Gate Park "one of the beauty spots of the world," replied saying, "With your aid gentleman, and God be willing, that I shall do." He also promised that he'd "go out into

1960-623: The Village of Yorkville Park in Toronto , which won an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Parks are sometimes made out of oddly shaped areas of land, much like the vacant lots that often become city neighborhood parks. Linked parks may form a greenbelt . There is a form of an urban park in the UK (officially called a "recreation ground", but commonly called a "rec" by

2058-426: The de Young Museum and is rumored to be the introduction site of the fortune cookie to America. George Turner Marsh, an Australian immigrant, originally created the garden as a "Japanese Village" exhibit for the 1894 Midwinter Exposition . Following the fair, a handshake agreement with John McLaren would allow Japanese horticulturalist Makoto Hagiwara to take over the garden. Hagiwara would oversee modifications in

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2156-514: The 1860s, San Franciscans felt the need for a spacious public park similar to Central Park , which was then taking shape in New York City . Golden Gate Park was carved out of unpromising sand and shore dunes that were known as the Outside Lands , in an unincorporated area west of San Francisco's then-current borders. In 1865, Frederick Law Olmsted proposed a plan for a park using native species suited for San Francisco's dry climate; however,

2254-399: The 1950s, the use of this effluent during cold weather caused some consternation, with the introduction of artificial detergents but before the advent of modern biodegradable products. These "hard" detergents would cause long-lasting billowing piles of foam to form on the creeks connecting the artificial lakes and could even be blown onto the roads, forming a traffic hazard. Golden Gate Park

2352-530: The Bandshell, providing local food options to visitors of the Music Concourse. Parkwide bicycle and surrey rentals are also available behind the bandshell and at Haight and Stanyan on the east edge of Golden Gate Park. The area also includes a number of statues of various historic figures, four fountains, and a regular grid array of heavily pollarded trees. Since 2003, the Music Concourse has undergone

2450-720: The Beach Chalet Soccer Fields at the line's western terminus at the Judah and La Playa station . Various bus routes pass through Golden Gate Park or stop along its boundaries. The 18 bus stops along the Great Highway on the western end of the park. The 5 Fulton runs along the northern boundary of the park along Fulton Street. The 33 Ashbury/18th Street stops along the eastern edge of the park in Haight-Ashbury . The 7 Haight/Noriega also stops in

2548-567: The CPRR attorney from 1865 to 1869, added. Ambrose Bierce lampooned the "Big Four" in his work "Black Beetles in Amber" , a collection of satirical verses attacking various prominent Californians. In "The Birth of the Rail", "road agents" (bandits) Happy Hunty (Huntington), Cowboy Charley (Crocker), and Leland The Kid (Stanford), joined by minor devil Sootymug (Hopkins), give up robbing stage coaches for

2646-630: The Creator , and SZA . Following the COVID-19 pandemic , the Park became an epicenter of debate on which public city spaces should be made permanent car-free zones . In 2022, the Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 to keep the eastern section of John F. Kennedy Drive permanently car-free, a decision affirmed later that year by voters who defeated a ballot initiative which sought to revert the change. The section

2744-498: The De Young still features American art, Modern art, African art, textiles and sculptures, and special alternating exhibitions. The California Academy of Sciences was founded in 1853, just three years after California was made a state, making it the oldest scientific institution in the western United States. Evolutionist Charles Darwin corresponded on the initial organization of the early institution. The original museum consisted of eleven buildings built between 1916 and 1976 located on

2842-619: The Haight, running about halfway along the southern end of the park. The 43 Masonic stops near the Pandhandle on the far eastern end of the park. The 44 and 28 both run through the park. The San Francisco Botanical Garden was laid out in the 1890s, but funding was insufficient until Helene Strybing willed funds in 1926. Planting began in 1937 with WPA funds supplemented by local donations. This 55 acres (22 ha) arboretum contains more than 7,500 plant species. The arboretum also houses

2940-703: The Helen Crocker Russell Library, northern California's largest horticultural library. Due to the unique climate of San Francisco and Golden Gate Park, the plants in the San Francisco Botanical Garden range from a variety of different national origins, some of them no longer existing in their natural habitats. Areas of origin include but are not limited to Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Central and South America. These regions of origin go from desert to tropical. In addition, some native California species are housed in

3038-543: The Mooney's shanties be eliminated, and he found support with the San Francisco Police for park security. Pixley favored Stanford's company by granting a fifty-year lease on the route that closed the park on three sides to competition. The original plan, however, was back on track by 1886, when streetcars delivered over 47,000 people to Golden Gate Park on one weekend afternoon (out of a population of 250,000 in

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3136-638: The Rhododendron Dell. McLaren had this statue hidden and it was only placed in the dell after his death. Other statues of historical figures are also located throughout the park, including Francis Scott Key , Robert Emmet , Robert Burns , the double monument to Johann Goethe and Friedrich Schiller , General Pershing , Beethoven , Giuseppe Verdi , President Garfield , and Thomas Starr King . A bronze statue of Don Quixote and his companion, Sancho Panza kneeling to honor their creator, Cervantes , combines historical and fictitious characters. At

3234-565: The San Francisco Fly Casting Club). The horseshoe pits were also created by WPA employees. The pits also came with two sculptures, one of a gentleman tossing a horse shoe and one of a white horse (which has since crumbled), both created by artist Jesse S. "Vet" Anderson. Most of the water used for landscape watering and for various water features is now provided by groundwater from the city's Westside Basin Aquifer. In

3332-604: The San Francisco city government was bombarded with letters: when he reached 70, a charter amendment was passed to exempt him from forced retirement. On his 92nd birthday, two thousand San Franciscans attended a testimonial dinner that honored him as San Francisco's number one citizen. He lived in McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park until he died in 1943, aged 96. McLaren Avenue, in Sea Cliff , near Lincoln Park

3430-466: The South Windmill, wells, and the city's water supply to keep the system of lakes flowing eastward from Blue Heron Lake. Rowboats and pedalboats can be rented at the boathouse. Much of the western portion of San Francisco can be seen from the top of this hill. The reservoir at its top also supplies a network of high-pressure water mains that exclusively supply specialized fire hydrants throughout

3528-696: The U.S. and Japan that was damaged from World War II. In addition, a plaque, designed by Ruth Asawa , now stands at the entrance of the gardens as a tribute meant to honor Hagiwara and his family for their care-taking of the gardens. The garden also still has features such as the Drum Bridge and the Tea House from the Midwinter Exposition. As is typical among Japanese style tea gardens, the Golden Gate Park's tea garden has its own stepping stone pathways, stone lanterns, and variety of plants. In

3626-602: The UK, with around 2.6 billion visits to parks each year. Many parks are of cultural and historical interest, with 300 registered by Historic England as of national importance. Most public parks have been provided and run by local authorities over the past hundred and seventy years, but these authorities have no statutory duty to fund or maintain these public parks. In 2016 the Heritage Lottery Fund 's State of UK Public Parks reported that "92 per cent of park managers report their maintenance budgets have reduced in

3724-459: The United States and the world, though cow grazing did not end until the 1830s. Around the country, the predecessors to urban parks in the United States were generally rural cemeteries . The cemeteries were intended as civic institutions designed for public use. Before the widespread development of public parks, the rural cemetery provided a place for the general public to enjoy outdoor recreation amidst art and sculpture previously available only for

3822-842: The United States are Central Park in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago, Mission Bay Park in San Diego. In the early 1900s, according to Cranz, U.S. cities built neighborhood parks with swimming pools, playgrounds and civic buildings, with the intention of Americanizing the immigrant residents. In the 1950s, when money became available after World War II , new parks continued to focus on both outdoor and indoor recreation with services, such as sports leagues using their ball fields and gymnasia. These smaller parks were built in residential neighborhoods, and tried to serve all residents with programs for seniors, adults, teens and children. Green space

3920-686: The West Coast in 1579, the first use of the Book of Common Prayer in California and (from the inscription) the "First Christian service in the English tongue on our coast." It is located near Rainbow Falls on Crossover Drive between the John F. Kennedy Promenade and Park Presidio Drive. The cross was meant to be visible to ships at sea but has since been overgrown by trees. A gift of George W. Childs , it

4018-493: The West Wing (artistic history of San Francisco). The original De Young Memorial Museum stood for most of the twentieth century, until 2001 when it was completely rebuilt, reopening in 2005. The head-architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron , when asked about their design, said they wanted to create a place "where the art would be less hierarchically presented – more like contemporary art than like bijoux." The building

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4116-687: The area quickly became known as Nob Hill , a name it carries today. In Henry T. Williams' The Pacific tourist – Williams' illustrated trans-continental guide of travel, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean published in 1878, the Big Four was replaced by the Five Associates or Representative Men of the Central Pacific Railroad, with Charles Crocker's older brother Judge Edwin B. Crocker (1818–1875), who served as

4214-617: The city annually. There is a constant debate whether or not changes should be made to the garden. Adding souvenir shops and a diversity of food options at the garden historically brings in more money to the organization monitoring the Golden Gate Park, the Recreation and Park Commission. Selling products that share knowledge about Japanese gardens and culture also helps maintain the Japanese Tea Garden's authenticity. The Conservatory of Flowers opened in 1879 and stands today as

4312-435: The city). The first stage of the park's development centered on planting trees in order to stabilize the dunes that covered three-quarters of the park's area. In order to transform the sand dunes into Greenland, John McLaren grew bent grass seeds obtained from France for two years. Once the seeds were grown, he planted them over the sand to hold the ground together. After this success, McLaren introduced new species of plants to

4410-789: The city. The lake itself also serves as a reservoir from which water is pumped to irrigate the rest of the park should other pumps stop operating. In the past the Hill was also topped by Sweeny Observatory, but the building was ruined by the 1906 earthquake and plans to replace it were not approved by park commissioners. Urban park Depending on size, budget, and land features, which varies considerably among individual parks, common features include playgrounds , gardens , hiking, running, fitness trails or paths, bridle paths , sports fields and courts, public restrooms, boat ramps, performance venues, or BBQ and picnic facilities. Park advocates claim that having parks near urban residents, including within

4508-496: The confines of a serpentine carriageway, put in place the essential elements of his much-imitated design for Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead . The latter commenced in 1843 with the help of public finance and deployed the ideas which Paxton had pioneered at Princes Park on a more expansive scale. Frederick Law Olmsted visited Birkenhead Park in 1850 and praised its qualities. Indeed, Paxton is widely credited as having been one of

4606-604: The control of the United States Army. The United States Army housed 20,000 people in military style encampments, and 16,000 of the 20,000 refugees were living at the Presidio . Within the Presidio were four major encampments including a camp exclusively for Chinese immigrants. Despite being simple lodgings, the army organized 3,000 tents into a geometric grid complete with streets and addresses. "The Army constructed

4704-647: The copyright), re-opening in 1984. Presently, the carousel includes sixty two animals, and a German Band Organ. Two of the animals, a goat and an Outside Row Stander Carousel Horse , are by the Dentzel Wooden Carousel Company . In 2007, the Koret Foundation funded a $ 3.8 million renovation, later called the Koret Playground/Children’s Quarter. The San Francisco Muni Metro runs along the southern edge of

4802-631: The cost of construction at a rate of two dollars a month for twenty-five months. During the Great Depression, the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department ran out of public funds. Thus, the duties of the department were transferred to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) , a government program designed to provide employment and community improvements during the economic woes of the 1930s. Within

4900-420: The country and walk along a stream until he found a farm, and that he'd come back to the garden and recreate what nature had done." The initial plan called for grade separations of transverse roadways through the park, as Frederick Law Olmsted had provided for Central Park, but budget constraints and the positioning of the Arboretum and the Concourse ended the plan. In 1876, the plan was almost replaced by one for

4998-400: The designed landscape as a setting for the suburban domicile (an idea pioneered by John Nash at Regent's Park in London) and re-fashioned it for the provincial town in a most original way. Nash's remodelling of St James's Park from 1827 and the sequence of processional routes he created to link The Mall with Regent's Park completely transformed the appearance of London's West End . With

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5096-434: The electricity needed to power the museum. Due to its eco-friendly materials and natural sources of energy, the California Academy of Sciences has been named the country's only LEED-platinum certified museum, granted by the U.S. Green Building Council . The Japanese Tea Garden is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States and occupies five of the 1,017 acres (412 ha) of the Golden Gate Park. It stands adjacent to

5194-442: The establishment of Princes Park in 1842, Joseph Paxton did something similar for the benefit of a provincial town, albeit one of international stature by virtue of its flourishing mercantile sector. Liverpool had a burgeoning presence in global maritime trade before 1800, and during the Victorian era its wealth rivalled that of London itself. The form and layout of Paxton's ornamental grounds, structured about an informal lake within

5292-452: The event, psychologist Timothy Leary coined the phrase " Turn on, tune in, drop out ." Several months later, Scott McKenzie 's " San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) " became an anthem for the Summer of Love. The eastern end of the Park was the epicenter of the Summer of Love, with an estimated 100,000 youth visiting the Haight-Ashbury district, where they embraced communal living and counter-establishment values. Hippie Hill

5390-432: The first, a transition from steam to electric power with the assistance of the PG&E Company. In 1977, the carousel closed for safety concerns and The San Francisco Arts Commission hired local artist Ruby Newman to oversee the artistic restoration. Her crew of craftspeople restored the badly deteriorated carousel and hand painted all animals, chariots, painted landscapes of the bay area and decorative housing (she holds

5488-779: The form of walking, running, horse riding, mountain biking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing; or sedentary activity such as observing nature, bird watching, painting, photography, or picnicking. Limiting park or open space use to passive recreation over all or a portion of the park's area eliminates or reduces the burden of managing active recreation facilities and developed infrastructure. Many ski resorts combine active recreation facilities (ski lifts, gondolas, terrain parks, downhill runs, and lodges) with passive recreation facilities (cross-country ski trails). Many smaller neighborhood parks are receiving increased attention and valuation as significant community assets and places of refuge in heavily populated urban areas. Neighborhood groups around

5586-557: The former site of the 1894 Midwinter Fair 's Mechanical Arts Building in Golden Gate Park. The structure was largely destroyed in the 1989 earthquake and just three of the original buildings were conserved for the new construction: the African Hall, the North American Hall, and the Steinhart Aquarium . The new building opened in 2008 at the same location in the park. The present building encompasses 37,000 square meters and includes exhibits of natural history, aquatic life, astronomy, gems and minerals, and earthquakes. The academy also contains

5684-411: The garden as well, such as Redwood trees. Overall, the tradition of these diverse gardens that eventually served to inspire the San Francisco Botanical Garden comes originally from China, Europe, and Mexico. Blue Heron Lake , formerly known as Stow Lake , surrounds the prominent Strawberry Hill , now an island with an electrically pumped waterfall . The lake was originally named for William W. Stow ,

5782-521: The garden's transition from a temporary exhibit to a permanent installment within the park. Hagiwara and his family would continue to occupy the garden, maintaining the landscape and design of the garden until 1942. Hagiwara himself died in 1925, leaving the garden in the hands of his daughter, Takano Hagiwara, and her children. They lived there until 1942, when they were evicted from the gardens and forced into internment camps by way of Executive Order 9066 . During World War II, anti-Japanese sentiment led to

5880-406: The idea of a conservatory in his original concept for the design of the park. The idea was later realized with the help of twenty-seven of the wealthiest business owners in San Francisco. In 1883, a boiler exploded and the main dome caught fire. A restoration was undertaken by Southern Pacific magnate Charles Crocker. It survived the earthquake of 1906, only to suffer another fire in 1918. In 1933 it

5978-406: The land, and added over 700 new types of trees to California within the span of one year. By 1875, about 60,000 trees, mostly Eucalyptus globulus , Monterey pine , and Monterey cypress , had been planted. By 1879, that figure more than doubled to 155,000 trees over 1,000 acres (400 ha). Within his lifetime, McLaren is credited to have planted over two million trees within northern California as

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6076-525: The large amount of open space and natural habitat in the former pleasure grounds, they now serve as important wildlife refuges, and often provide the only opportunity for urban residents to hike or picnic in a semi-wild area. However, city managers or politicians can target these parks as sources of free land for other uses. Partly for this reason, some of these large parks have "friends of X park" advisory boards that help protect and maintain their semi-wild nature. There are around estimated 27,000 public parks in

6174-503: The life of the park. A survey and inspection of the vast area west of Strawberry Hill revealed a large flow of water toward the ocean. The North windmill was constructed to reclaim the drainage towards the Pacific Ocean and direct fresh well water back into the park. Alpheus Bull Jr., a prominent San Franciscan, designed the North Windmill. The Fulton Engineering Company received the bid for the ironwork, and Pope and Talbot Lumber Company donated sails ("spars") of Oregon pine. The North Windmill

6272-416: The lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner ), Ulysses S. Grant , Cervantes, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone , described the toppling of the saint's statue as "an act of sacrilege [and] an act of the evil one ", and on June 27 performed an exorcism at the site using the Prayer to Saint Michael . In the northwest corner of the park, near the Beach Chalet,

6370-421: The middle and late 1860s. Composed of Leland Stanford (1824–1893), Collis Potter Huntington (1821–1900), Mark Hopkins Jr. (1813–1878), and Charles Crocker (1822–1888), the four themselves, however, personally preferred to be known as " The Associates ." They enriched themselves using tax money and land grants , while heavily influencing the state legislature from within the Republican Party (Stanford

6468-411: The mix there are dwarf trees, bamboo, and azaleas adorning the gardens. The Japanese Tea Garden serves as a spot of tranquility in the middle of the various activities that take place at the Golden Gate Park and provides visitors "a place in which it is possible to be at one with nature, its rhythms, and changing beauties." The Japanese Tea Garden brings in more than $ 1 million to the Golden Gate Park and

6566-581: The museum, 5,000 people protested the Queen's visit due to Britain's role in The Troubles in Northern Ireland . In 2023, the FBI revealed an assassination plot against the Queen during her visit. Today, Golden Gate Park is one of San Francisco's core attractions, drawing more than 24 million visitors each year. It hosts several annual music and arts festivals, including Outside Lands and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass . Notable Outside Lands headliners have included Radiohead , Paul McCartney , Kendrick Lamar , Elton John , The Weeknd , Billie Eilish , Tyler,

6664-567: The need to provide substantial space to congregate, typically involves intensive management, maintenance, and high costs. Passive recreation, also called "low-intensity recreation" is that which emphasizes the open-space aspect of a park and allows for the preservation of natural habitat. It usually involves a low level of development, such as rustic picnic areas, benches, and trails. Passive recreation typically requires little management and can be provided at very low costs. Some open space managers provide nothing other than trails for physical activity in

6762-497: The older community, which were "more sentimental than artistic." By 1916, the Fine Arts Building's collection had grown to 1,000,000 items, and a more suitable museum was necessary. Construction to build a new museum began in 1917. With funds donated by De Young, and Louis Mullgardt as head architect, the De Young Museum was completed in 1921 in a "sixteenth century Spanish Renaissance design, with pale salmon colored façades that were burdened with rococo ornamentation." At its center

6860-412: The oldest building in Golden Gate Park. The Conservatory of Flowers is one of the largest conservatories in the US, as well as one of few large Victorian greenhouses in the United States. Built of traditional wood and glass panes, the Conservatory stands at 12,000 square feet and houses 1,700 species of tropical, rare and aquatic plants. Though it was not originally constructed, William Hammond Hall included

6958-406: The park on Ocean Beach. Many of Mooney's friends also staked claims and built shanties on the beach to sell refreshments to the patrons of the park. Hall resigned, and the remaining park commissioners followed. In 1882 Governor George C. Perkins appointed Frank M. Pixley , founder and editor of The Argonaut , to the board of commissioners of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Pixley was adamant that

7056-404: The park was built was purchased by Richard Vaughan Yates, an iron merchant and philanthropist, in 1841 for £50,000. The creation of Princes Park showed great foresight and introduced a number of highly influential ideas. First and foremost was the provision of open space for the benefit of townspeople and local residents within an area that was being rapidly built up. Secondly it took the concept of

7154-714: The park, the WPA was responsible for the creation of several features such as the Arboretum, the archery field, and the model yacht club. In addition, the WPA reconstructed 13 miles of roads throughout the park and built the San Francisco Police Department's horse stables. Another WPA contribution, Anglers Lodge and the adjoining fly casting pools, is still in use today. It is home to the Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club (formerly known as

7252-544: The park. Access to the park on the westbound N Judah line begins at the Carl and Stanyan station , located one block from Kezar Stadium . The line continues along the entirety of the park, and includes access to the California Academy of Sciences and De Young Museum at the 9th Avenue and Irving station ; Blue Heron Lake at the Judah and 19th Avenue station ; Polo Fields at the Judah and Sunset station ; and

7350-530: The park. It contains two restaurants and murals from the 1930s. Before the construction of its windmills, Golden Gate Park paid the Spring Valley Water Works up to 40 cents per 1000 gallons of water. To avoid this expense the North (Dutch) Windmill was commissioned in 1902 when Superintendent John McLaren deemed the park's pumping plant insufficient to supply the additional water essential to

7448-420: The past three years and 95 per cent expect their funding will continue to reduce". Parks can be divided into active and passive recreation areas. Active recreation is that which has an urban character and requires intensive development. It often involves cooperative or team activity, including playgrounds , ball fields, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and skateparks . Active recreation such as team sports, due to

7546-457: The principal influences on Olmsted and Calvert's design for New York's Central Park of 1857. Another early public park, the Peel Park, Salford , England, opened on 22 August 1846. Boston Common was purchased for public use grazing cows and as a military parade ground and dump in 1634. It first started to get recreational elements in 1728, arguably making it the first municipal park in

7644-475: The proposal was rejected in favor of a Central Park-style park needing extensive irrigation. Conceived ostensibly for recreation, the underlying purpose of the park was housing development and the westward expansion of the city. Field engineer William Hammond Hall prepared a survey and topographic map of the park site in 1870 and became its commissioner in 1871. He was later named California's first state engineer and developed an integrated flood control system for

7742-445: The public.) and some EU states that have mostly recreation grounds for kids to play within a park, but may also have a duck pond, large grassy zones not meant exclusively for sports, many trees, and several bushy places. When it occurs as a separate facility on its own, without any parkland, at a street corner or by a shop, the play facility is called a playground . The Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad) " The Big Four "

7840-430: The refugees established play areas, and the adults congregated in the mess halls to socialize. In June 1906, the Presidio tent camps were shut down. To replace these tents the city of San Francisco built more permanent living quarters. As mentioned earlier these earthquake shacks were built to house those still homeless after the earthquake and subsequent fires. Army Union carpenters built the shacks, and residents paid off

7938-593: The renaming of the garden as the "Oriental Tea Garden". After the war, a letter-writing campaign enabled the garden to be formally reinstated as the Japanese Tea Garden in 1952. In January 1953, "a classical Zen garden was added to the Tea Garden" as well as the Lantern of Peace. The Lantern of Peace, weighing 9,000 pounds, was a gift from the Japanese Government as a way to mend the relationship between

8036-496: The southwest corner of the park was restored in September 2011. After the great earthquake of San Francisco in 1906, Golden Gate Park became a site of refuge for many who found themselves without shelter. The undeveloped Outside Lands became a prime location to house these masses of people, and "earthquake shacks" popped up all throughout the area. Of the 26 official homeless encampments in the Golden Gate Park region, 21 were under

8134-490: The wealthy. In The Politics of Park Design: A History of Urban Parks in America, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1982), Professor Galen Cranz identifies four phases of park design in the U.S. In the late 19th century, city governments purchased large tracts of land on the outskirts of cities to form "pleasure grounds": semi-open, charmingly landscaped areas whose primary purpose was to allow city residents, especially

8232-488: The workers, to relax in nature. As time passed and the urban area grew around the parks, land in these parks was used for other purposes, such as zoos, golf courses and museums. These parks continue to draw visitors from around the region and are considered regional parks , because they require a higher level of management than smaller local parks. According to the Trust for Public Land , the three most visited municipal parks in

8330-531: The world are joining together to support local parks that have suffered from urban decay and government neglect. A linear park is a park that has a much greater length than width. A typical example of a linear park is a section of a former railway that has been converted into a park called a rail trail or greenway (i.e. the tracks removed, vegetation allowed to grow back). Some examples of linear parks in North America include New York's High Line and

8428-647: Was a 134-foot tower from which its wings extended. At the entrance was the Pool of Enchantment, which consisted of the sculptured Indian boys created by M. Earl Cummings . The museum contained four wings: the East Wing (featuring ever-changing paintings, sculptures and photography by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh ); the Central Wing (famous American and European work); the Northeast wing (Asian collections); and

8526-648: Was a central meeting place, and renowned artists like Janis Joplin , the Grateful Dead , Jefferson Airplane , and George Harrison performed free concerts there during the Summer of Love. In 1983, Queen Elizabeth II visited Golden Gate Park during a tour of the West Coast . Her stop included a dinner at the De Young Museum , attended by then-President Ronald Reagan , Willie Mays , George Lucas , Joe DiMaggio , and Steve Jobs . About three blocks away from

8624-426: Was called the "maker of San Francisco" for his work in clearing land for development. He was invited to be a part of the "Big Four" but declined due to the financial risks . Over his lifetime he gained and lost several fortunes. In their time, the four men were sometimes referred to as nabobs or "nobs," a reference to their wealth and influence. When the four built mansions in the same neighborhood of San Francisco,

8722-403: Was declared unsound and closed to the public, only to be reopened in 1946. In 1995, after a severe storm with 100 mph (161 km/h) winds damaged the structure, shattering 40% of the glass, the conservatory was closed again. It was cautiously dissected for repairs and reopened in September 2003. The two-story Beach Chalet faces the Great Highway and Ocean Beach at the far western end of

8820-433: Was designed by the architectural firm Coxhead & Coxhead of San Francisco. William Hammond Hall persuaded officials to build the Children's House and Play Ground, designed by Percy & Hamilton , finished in 1888, and funded by William Sharon ' s bequest. It was the first public children's playground in the United States, for children and their mothers, offering swings, indoor enclosures, open sitting areas and

8918-664: Was governor of California when the first of the Pacific Railroad Acts was passed.), and through monopolizing tactics. Contemporary critics claimed they were the greatest swindlers in U.S. history. Collectively, the four established the Sacramento Library Association for the state capital in Sacramento, California in 1857, which later established the present Sacramento Public Library . David Hewes , an enterprising businessman,

9016-418: Was installed, standing 75 feet tall with 102-footlong sails. The windmill pumps water an elevation of 200 feet with a capacity of 30,000 gallons of water per pump per hour, supplying and replenishing Lloyd Lake, Metson Lake, Spreckels Lake, and Lincoln Park. The water is pumped from the valley into a reservoir on Strawberry Hill. From there the water runs downhill into Falls and Blue Heron Lake. The North Windmill

9114-530: Was of secondary importance. As urban land prices climbed, new urban parks in the 1960s and after have been mainly pocket parks . One example of a pocket park is Chess Park in Glendale, California. The American Society of Landscape Architects gave this park a General Design Award of Honor in 2006. These small parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, and often a playground for children. All four types of park continue to exist in urban areas. Because of

9212-547: Was rented out to the Batthyány family to carry out such a project but the city had eventually taken back control and in 1813 announced a design competition to finally finish the park; works started in 1816. An early purpose-built public park, although financed privately, was Princes Park in the Liverpool suburb of Toxteth . This was laid out to the designs of Joseph Paxton from 1842 and opened in 1843. The land on which

9310-583: Was subsequently renamed "JFK Promenade." The Music Concourse is a sunken, oval-shaped open-air plaza originally excavated for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 . Its focal point is the Spreckels Temple of Music , also called the "Bandshell", where numerous music performances have been staged. During the fall, spring, and summer seasons, various food trucks are often parked behind

9408-446: Was successful, causing another system of wells and a second windmill at the southwestern corner of the park to be recommended. Samuel G. Murphy provided $ 20,000 to erect the windmill. The South Windmill (Murphy Windmill) stands as the largest in the world, having the longest sails in the world since its construction, with the ability to lift 40,000 gallons of water per hour. A statue of longtime park superintendent John McLaren stands in

9506-559: Was the director. The Fine Arts Building featured several artists, twenty-eight of whom were female. One of these revolutionaries was Helen Hyde , who is featured in the De Young Museum today. Once the fair ended, the Egyptian-styled building remained open "brimful and running over with art." Most of these pieces were paintings and sculptures purchased by De Young himself, and others were donations of household antiques from

9604-760: Was the name popularly given to the famous and influential businessmen, and railroad tycoons — also called robber barons — who funded the Central Pacific Railroad (C.P.R.R.), which formed the western portion through the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States, built from the mid-continent at the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean during

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