t o r y o f A H i s Golden Gate Park Fromm Institute - Fall 2019 - John Freeman September 18 - The Impossible Location Fallacy
Birds Eye View of SF Bay Area - 1868
Chain of Lakes Mallard Lake Strawberry Hill Botanical Garden Lake (now pumps) D e L a v e a g a D e l l ( A i d s M e m o r i a l G r o v e ) ( fi l l e d ) C h i l d r e n ’ s P l a y g r o u n d ( fi l l e d )
i d e t o f t h e O u t s 1869 Map W a t e r S h a p e d D e v e l o p m e n www.outsidelands.org/ H o w westsidewater.php L a n d s o s T o l l R o a d P o i n t L o b 8 6 3 ) ( 1 468 320 Lone Mountain Washington Hts. 468 ft. 320 ft. Strawberry Hill 426 Grand View Pk. 426 ft. 673 ft. Mount Sutro 920 ft. 920 Twin Peaks 673 925 ft. 925 Larsen Peak 783 ft. 783 Edgehill Mt. 733 733 ft. 938 Mt. Davidson 938 ft.
But there was more than sand if you knew where to look .....
Other obstacles to overcome to creating a thriving park in a place that Frederick Law Olmsted described as “ a dreary waste of shifting sand hills where a blade of grass cannot be raised without four posts to keep it from blowing away .” Obstacles to overcome: - Inexperience - Ham Hall had experience with surveying, but not horticulture. He was 25 years old, and a “quick study” of all things scientific. - Water resources - Hall had some experience with hydrology, and while surveying the boundaries of the park, paid close attention to where to find water, and origins of the aquifers. - The challenge of the westerly winds. Planting would have to be protected from the winds until they could take root. - Use native or plants from similar regions of the world. - Turn sand into soil - follow the horses!
From his surveying, Hall determined that of the approximate 1,000 acres, about 270 acres (~ 27%) in the eastern end was good, arable land, already covered with trees, shrubs and native grasses. The remaining 730 acres (~73%), west of Strawberry Hill and stretching down to the Ocean, was a wasteland of drifting sand, that would take more time and experimentation to get plants and trees to grow. Course of Action: After grading and establishing roads and filling in low spots, start at the eastern end with a nursery and stables as a base of operation. Begin planting in the Avenue (Panhandle) section with selected trees, surrounded by bushes to protect the trees until their root took hold. Do the same along the northern ridge further west, among live oak trees.
Transverse Road #1 11th Ave. crossing Avenue Drive (The Panhandle) Children’s Quarter Nursery Hall’s plan Eastern End of Park in 1872
Panhandle - c.1888 (“The Avenue” until 1889) Baker St. The Panhandle was where they experimented with growing techniques and species.
Native California Live Oak
Only Tree Native to Golden Gate Park
Phil Arnold Trail Oak Woodlands West of Superintendent’s Lodge, along north ridge, exit near 6th Avenue Entrance.
Eucalyptus - one of 15 species Ham Hall planted in his first two years. Native of Australia, where ~ 700 species are found, but fossilized samples have been found in South America. The source of most eucalyptus introduced in California came from the southern state of Victoria (Melbourne).
Blue Gum Eucalyptus: grew from seed: 18 ft. in first two years 1,500 planted in first two years
Monterey Cypress grew from seed: 14 ft. in first two years 3,500 planted in first two years
Monterey Pine grew from seed: 14 ft. in first two years 3,500 planted in first two years
Other trees or bushes planted in first two years Plume Albizia (Acacia) Sydney Golden Wattle (Acacia) 1,200 planted in first two years Sequoia giganteum (400 plants) Sequoia sempervirens (500 plants) Peruvian Peppertree (350 plants)
Elizabeth May McClintock 1912 - 2004 curator in the Department of Botany at the California Academy of Sciences (1949 - 1977) Founder of Pacific Horticulture magazine
Taming the Dunes 25
John McLaren Western Half of Golden Gate Park John McLaren 1846 - 1943 Transverse Road #2 Transverse Road #3 43rd Ave. 24th Ave. 39th Ave. Hall’s plan for Eastern End 26th Ave. 38th Ave. 41st Ave. of the Park in 1872 Park Superintendent 53 years Much less developed, primarily because of proximity to the Ocean
Did barley conquers the dunes? 27
Barley: Seed Sprouted Growing
Yellow Lupine - native species 29
Letter of strong rebuke from Wm. Ham. Hall to John McLaren - April 26, 1927 After publication of Gardening in California , 1924 by John McLaren Two paragraphs about sowing of barley-seed and yellow lupin “John McLaren, – if you were in your right mind when you wrote and published the above paragraphs…. you must have known that you were LYING…as a basis for building up a….record for yourself as Park Superintendent.” 30
European Beach Grass (Atlantic Coast of U.S. too) Marram Grass Ammophila arenria Who brought in this non-native species? 31
William Hammond Hall 1846 - 1934 “brilliant, idealistic and irascible…” Kevin Starr described Hall as “ a little stiff-necked and defensively arrogant….”
View SW from Strawberry Hill - new trees c. 1880 e e s p l a n t e d B y 1 8 7 6 : 6 0 , 0 0 0 t r r e e s p l a n t e d B y 1 8 7 9 : 1 5 5 , 0 0 0 t e y C y p r u s a n d A u s t r a l i a n s - M o n t e r e y P i n e , M o n t e r S p e c i e a l y p t u s B l u e G u m E u c
Update on Golden Gate Park The park is approached by a serpentine drive, winding among the grove of shrubbery. The drives are many, and have been laid out judiciously. Picnic grounds with lovely rustic buildings and dancing pavilions are being laid out by skilled workmen. The picnic area embraces twenty-five acres......The chief improvement is the reclamation of the sand and establishing thereon a growth of forest trees......The management of the park is in excellent hands San Francisco Chronicle , October 24, 1875 Olmstead’s response to Hall’s Third Biannual Report January, 1876 I cannot too strongly express my admiration of the spirit and method which characterize your undertaking, and I do not doubt that it will be rewarded with results such as I have not hitherto thought reasonable to expect under the circumstances. There is no like enterprise anywhere else which, so far as I can judge, has been conducted with equal foresight, ingenuity and economy. Very Truly Yours, Fred. Law Olmsted
Daniel C. Sullivan’s Vendetta Against Superintendent Ham Hall - Hall’s previous dealings with Mr. Sullivan - Sullivan’s rise in local politics to State Assembly - Accusations against the Superintendent, Fall, 1875: - wanton & useless destruction of 1/3 of all trees planted - neglect of duty by making private surveys in San Mateo & Marin - waste of money: dug wells that were not in continuous use - moving granite surveying markers used in 1870 to private property - Hearings & scandal, Spring, 1876 - Results..... William Hammond Hall’s salary was cut in half, which prompted him to resign. He did remain as a consulting engineer for Golden Gate Park until 1890
The years of neglect and mismanagement in Golden Gate Park William Bond Prichard Superintendent 1876 - 1881
1876 - Hall is appointed the first California State Engineer - he worked on a number of State water projects, but his experience with the hydrology of Golden Gate Park was applied to the first San Joaquin Water Project. 1886 - Hall resigned as State Engineer, and was briefly hired back to advise the San Francisco Park Commission on the plans for a children’s playground and the construction of the Sharon Building. One of his other tasks was the selecting and training a new Park Superintendent.
The Gift That Altered the Park’s Original Concept From James Lick Estate - 1878 James Lick 1796 - 1876
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