Historical Marker · No. 454
Site of Woodward's Gardens
San Francisco, San Francisco County · California
Erected by California Centennials Commission with the cooperation of the Society of California Pioneers, 1949
Woodward first opened his grounds only to friends. By one account, crowds stood outside for hours on Sundays hoping for a look, and in 1866, with a push from his daughter, he let the public in. The four acres he had bought along with John C. Frémont's old house held copies of European sculpture, a conservatory, animals shipped from Europe and, in January 1873, room for twelve thousand people to watch a Frenchman and a small boy go up in a hot-air balloon. It closed in 1892.
What the plaque says
Site of Woodward's Gardens Woodward's Gardens occupied the block bounded by Mission, Duboce, Valencia and 14th Streets, with the main entrance on Mission Street. R. B. Woodward opened his gardens to the public in 1866, as an amusement park catering to all tastes. It was San Francisco's most popular resort until it closed in 1892. State Registered Landmark No. 454 Tablet placed by California Centennials Commission with the cooperation of the Society of California Pioneers Dedicated December 15, 1949
Where it stands
37.76981, -122.42030 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Muir Beach Overlook — 11 miA cliff edge on Highway 1, and the concrete dugouts where two-man crews watched the sea after Pearl Harbor.
- Muir Woods National Monument — 12 miA redwood canyon saved from a reservoir by a gift, and named for a man who had been there once.
- Earthquake Trail — 28 miA short loop along the San Andreas, where a broken fence shows how far Point Reyes moved in under a minute in 1906.
- Kule Loklo — 28 miA Coast Miwok village built in the 1970s to honour a people its builders were told had died out. They had not.