Sutro Heights Park

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Entrance to the Sutro Heights Gardens (1895).

The Sutro Heights Park is a historic public park in the Richmond District to the west of San Francisco in California . It is located in the Golden Gate National Park above the Cliff House in the Lands End area and is subordinate to the Sutro Historic District . The park is named after Adolph Sutro , a German-American who was mayor of San Francisco between 1895 and 1897.

history

The "observation plaza" viewpoint of the Sutro Heights gardens with the second Cliff House.
Map of Sutro Heights from 1890

The 7.3 acre park is on the site of the former Sutro Heights estate of Adolph Sutro , a large landowner, silver baron of the Comstock Lode ore deposit, and Mayor of San Francisco .

In 1881, Adolph Sutro bought 89,000 m 2 raw land south of Point Lobos (San Francisco) and north of Ocean Beach on the west end of town. It included a promontory that provided views of the Marin Headlands , Mount Tamalpais, and the Golden Gate . Sutro built his mansion on a rocky ledge above the first Cliff House.

The development consisted of a spacious corner tower villa, a carriage house and outbuildings that were built in extensive gardens. The property dominated the area around Lands End and had an ornate entrance gate.

Sutro invested over a million dollars in rebuilding Italian gardens . They included fountains, statues, Victorian flower beds, mazes , parterres , woods, a large greenhouse, and other garden structures. Lookouts such as the "observation plaza" overlook the Cliff House and the "Dolce far Niente Balcony", a long terraced structure along the cliffs overlooking Ocean Beach. As garden decorations, he imported over 200 exact copies of Greek and Roman sculpture from Belgium to show visitors European culture.

In 1883, Sutro opened the gardens of his estate, called Sutro Heights, to visitors willing to pay a dime for it. This contribution towards expenses helped him pay the 17 gardeners and machinists who were necessary to maintain the garden.

Other attractions that he developed on his large estate were the Sutro Baths (1894-1964), the second, Victorian Cliff House (1896-1907) and an amusement park called Sutro Pleasure Grounds at Merrie Way (1896-1898). To provide inexpensive transportation for visitors, he built a passenger steam train route from downtown San Francisco to Lands End.

Adolph Sutro died in 1898, a man rich in real estate but poor in money, at the end of his frustrating period as Mayor of San Francisco. As a result, his daughter Emma Sutro Merritt moved to Sutro Heights to take over the property. As she got older, she could no longer maintain the property and the house fell into disrepair, although she lived there until her death in 1938. During the period 1920-1940, many of the rose plants were stolen and many of the statues were destroyed.

park

The Sutro Heights Gardens (1895).

The Sutro family eventually donated the property to the City of San Francisco in 1938. In 1939 the rest of the residence was destroyed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The remaining statues were removed, with the exception of "The Lions" and a statue of Diana (or Artemis) , the goddess of the hunt, an exact copy of Diana of Versailles in the Louvre , which is itself a Roman copy of a Greek statue . After that, the park was opened and made accessible to the public.

Sutro Heights Park is no longer a city park as it is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area . It is maintained by a neighborhood group called Friends of the GGNRA , many of whom live in the surrounding streets.

See also

Web links

Commons : Sutro Heights Park  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gail Todd: Sutro Heights Park, San Francisco , SFGate.com. January 21, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
  2. ^ Sutro Historic District. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b c Sutro Heights History - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). In: www.nps.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  4. ^ Adolph Sutro - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). In: www.nps.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Diana Statue in Sutro Heights Park | San Francisco History | Guidelines newsletter. In: www.sfcityguides.org. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  6. ^ Sutro Baths History - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). In: www.nps.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  7. ^ Cliff House History - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). In: www.nps.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  8. ^ Sutro Pleasure Grounds at Merrie Way - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). In: www.nps.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Lands End History - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (US National Park Service). In: www.nps.gov. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  10. ↑ The Sutro Heights residence is visible on the 1938 layer of Google Earth , located at 122 ° 30'42.98 "W 37 ° 46'39.71" N.
  11. ^ Diana statue in Sutro Heights Park | San Francisco History | Guidelines newsletter. In: www.sfcityguides.org. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .
  12. ^ Park Stewardship San Francisco. Retrieved June 9, 2016 .