SFCityGuides.org - It was started by the SF Public Library by a librarian to give tours to visiting dignitaries of the City Hall building. 2 cool things about them, the Tours are free, and the organization is almost complete staffed by Volunteers, they have 2 paid employees, who basically co-ordinate the happenings. some 300+ volunteers give some 80+ tours, 365 days a year, rain or shine. The organization is now a non-profit, with offices on the 6th Floor of the Main Public Library in the Civic Center. The organization does get money from the City, for the Hotel Tax, and has corporate sponsor such as the Omni and Palace Hotels among others, (there are tours of these 2 historic hotels, BTW.)
Tour given Audrey Ann Cooper
This very informative tour started at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.
Plantosaurus RexCurrently at the Conservatory is a Prehistoric Plant exhibit, which is only important because while looking around on the tour I noticed a dinosaur sticking its head out of the roof, RANDOM!
We learned that it opened in 1878, that it is one of the finest examples of Victorian architecture in San Francisco, It houses an important collection of exotic plants. It is the oldest building in Golden Gate Park and the oldest municipal wooden conservatory remaining in the United States. It is also one of the first municipal conservatories constructed in the country. We learned that it is constructed of Redwood, glass and stained glass, and is white washed so you can't see how little there is to see inside for the $7 admission charge. (That last bit is my editorial comment, BTW!)
Tunnels and Undergound Passages
These underground tunnels were constructed for the Ladies. Back in the 1878 the roads were all dirt, and horse and buggies were how people got around. Horse leave messes in the roads, and long Victorian Dresses drag on the ground. So the passages were created so ladies did not have to get their dresses "messy" by soil, or manure!
LIBERTY TREE - Daughters of the Revolution
A large Sequoia Tree the Liberty Tree in Golden Gate Park by Sequoia chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. April 19, 1894, the one hundred and nineteenth anniversary of the Battle of Lexington (1894). The tree is huge, and is growing is soil taken from each Civil War battle field. Cool, huh. But the Sons of the American Revolution were miffed at the press and publicity that the Daughters were getting, so they planted this Elm Tree of their own. Not very impressive, even a 120 years later!
PRE-HISTORIC LOOKING FERNS
Well these pre-historic looking ferns actually are pre-historic ferns from Australia. Alice Eastwood a Botanist with the California Academy of Sciences, planted them after having the foresite to have a contingency plan in case of an Earthquake in San Francisco. Her plan was to move all her plant samples from their downtown offices to a barge anchored in the bay. Though the offices were destroyed in the fires that followed the quake, Alice's samples were safe out in the Bay. (This is now the second tour we have that had a Barge story, the first Barge story we heard was at the palace of Fine Arts!) After the rebuilding of San Franisco, Alice planted these rare and saved ferns in the Park for all San Franciscans to enjoy for generation to come, celebrating the the rebuilding of San Francisco.
Old Rock QuarryThough and past the pre-historic ferns is a hidden, forgotten and neglected corner of the park, the old Rock Quarry. This non-maintained, African Claw Foot Frog infested, (nasty, dangerous little beasts that eat the turtles and fish!) , natural pond could be a gem in the park, if anyone cared about it. Seems that the city has abandoned this area on purpose to try and contain the frog infestation. Seems the eggs of these nasty little beasts can live for a long time in the soil, so it is cost prohibitive to try and eradicate them, so containment was decided upon. The frogs are basically trapped in this quarry area, and not encouraging visitation keeps the eggs from being tracked to other parts of the park.
MONISTAIRY STONES
Through out the park there are large granite stones that were once part of a Monistary in Spain. these stones were dismantled from the historic monistairy in spain by one Mr. Hearst, who was going to reconstruct the building at his San Francisco estate. He ran out of money, and these stones were latter sold to the city for some $28,000. For many, may years the stones sat in a Gardening Shed at Golden Gate Park, and industrious gardeners started to use them to shore up different areas of the park.
TENNIS COURTS
Ok, I found the tennis courts boring as heck, I can't remember when they were built, I don't remember who had them built, all I remember is a story about a remarkable lady, and her remarkable life, (including a stint as a spy in WWII!), one Alice Marble. She indeed had an interesting life, but what caused me pause was the fact that till the 1950's the Tennis Courts in San Francisco were WHITES ONLY. I had NEVER heard that there was segregation in SAN FRANCISCO, SO I WAS SHOCKED! Seems that Ms. Marble was also shocked!
In July 1950, she wrote an open letter that was published in World Tennis magazine. The letter criticized the association for not inviting Althea Gibson, (an African American and National Champion) to play in the Forest Hills tennis tournament because she was black. Marble wrote, “If tennis is a game for ladies and gentlemen, it’s also time we acted a little more like gentlepeople and less like sanctimonious hypocrites. ... If Althea Gibson represents a challenge to the present crop of women players, it’s only fair that they should meet that challenge on the courts.” Marble said that if Gibson were not given the opportunity to compete, “then there is an uneradicable mark against a game to which I have devoted most of my life, and I would be bitterly ashamed.”
Gibson was allowed to enter the 1950 U.S. Championships, becoming the first African-American player to compete in a Grand Slam event.
HIPPY HILLI don't remember much about this little section of the park except the strong smell of pot, (kidding!) ... In 1906 after the earthquake this was a huge tent city were hundreds of thousands lived in Yurt like Huts (here's a picture I found Online http://www.zazzle.com/...). In the 1960's this area was very popular with the Hippies who basically lived in this area of the park for many years.
AIDS MEMORIAL GROVE
Brought to life in 1988 by a small group of San Francisco residents representing a community devastated by the AIDS epidemic. It was to be a place dedicated to all lives touched by AIDS. As news of the Grove initiative grew, so did support and interest.
The group selected as the site for the Grove the de Laveaga Dell, near the park’s tennis courts. Due to park budget cuts and lack of funding, the Dell had fallen into a state of disrepair. It was overgrown and unusable by the public. Volunteers dedicated countless hours to create a space that could serve as a memorial to those fallen to the AIDS Pandemic, and serve as a living memorial.
Site renovation began in September 1991, and is still in progress. The Grove is an award-winning example of civic beautification, combining both public and private sectors in urban-park restoration and promoting AIDS awareness.
VIEWS AND VISTAS
There is so much to see in this historic section of the park. Here's a photoroll of some of the views form our walk of the East End of the Park.