by Woody LaBounty
A closer look at OpenSFHistory images.
Now the site of apartment flats, body shops, small warehouses, and a gas station, the northwest corner of 14th Street and Mission Street was once the home of Woodward’s Gardens, a pleasure resort that its founder dedicated to “education, recreation, and amusement.”
In 1895, a San Francisco Call reporter wrote: “There are three particular places in California that have acquired world-wide fame, and these are the Yosemite Valley, the old Cliff House and Woodward’s Gardens. Possibly the latter is more generally known than either of the other two.”
Robert Woodward’s private estate ran up the hill from Mission Street to Valencia Street, and he had a view east across sandy hillocks, scattered homes, and marshland to the bay. With the city encroaching on this formerly country home and after having to deal with some disastrous floods of the area, Woodward decided in 1866 to move to Napa and turn his landscaped Mission District grounds into a park open to the public (for a quarter admission).
Turrill and Miller image of Woodward’s Gardens on the northwest corner of 14th Street and Mission Street. (wnp13.010a, courtesy of a private collector.)
The main attractions to the first visitors were the well-tended grounds with ponds and quaint bridges; the conservatory of flowers and rare plants; the Moroccan-inspired “summer house” observatory on the hill; and Robert Woodward’s art and curiosity collection housed in what had been his residence.
Thomas Houseworth & Co. stereoview card of the Woodward’s Gardens summer house on the hill. (wnp24.321a, courtesy of a private collector.)
Edward Muybridge photo of the entrance to the Woodward’s Gardens museum, formerly R. B. Woodward’s home. (wnp37.00554, courtesy of a private collector.)
Whereas other pleasure resorts in the area—the Willows, Hayes Park, and City Gardens—went through unsavory periods as rough beer gardens and weekend hangouts for hoodlums, Woodward’s Gardens had a more elevated reputation. Robert Woodward was a temperance man and drunken toughs found no home in his establishment. Sunday schools, science academies, and benevolent societies arranged picnics, gatherings, and field trips to Woodward’s Gardens from as far away as Sacramento.
The best comparison one can make today to explain the role Woodward’s Gardens played in San Francisco is to imagine the de Young Museum, Academy of Sciences, Botanical Gardens, San Francisco Zoo, and Conservatory of Flowers combined into a block and a half—then add balloon ascensions, instrumental band concerts, a boardwalk sideshow, and rotating companies of circus performers.
Statues and odd arrangements of taxidermies enlivened the gardens, while Woodward’s menagerie of live animals included sea lions, bears, birds, reptiles, deer, jaguars, tigers, beavers, ferrets, elk, reindeer, foxes, kangaroos, wallabies, emus, eagles, pheasants, monkeys, and, for a couple of weeks, a headless rooster. A pedestrian tunnel ran under 14th Street to the zoo grounds across the street, now where the massive brick Armory stands. Children had ponies, donkeys, and camels to ride; goat-pulled chaises to drive; and mechanically-driven sailboats to circle around upon:
Families strolling, boat ride on little lake, summer house observatory on hill. Check out the kids rolling down the grassy incline! (wnp24.0075a, courtesy of a private collector.)
The camel rides at Woodward’s Gardens, about 1870. (wnp37.00569.jpg, Eadweard Muybridge stereoview, courtesy of a private collector.)
Woodward created the West Coast’s first aquarium, where a “monster crab” was displayed, and, in 1871, put up a forty-two-foot-high pavilion near the Valencia Street frontage where conventions, skating, and circus performances were held.
Alongside serious scholarly displays on minerals, plants, and technological innovations, there were carny exhibits such as a window with the imprint of a ghost on the pane (supposedly a murdered woman). Admiral Dot, a 15-inch-tall man, and Chang, the Chinese Giant, standing at eight feet, both gave receptions to visitors. As many as 15,000-20,000 people would pack the place on Sundays, with Woodward’s own transit line delivering them to the main gates. In 1879, the entire student body of San Francisco filled Woodward’s Gardens to greet U. S. Grant a few months after he finished his second term as president.
Robert Woodward died in 1879. His heirs kept the Gardens running while his estate was in probate for the next decade and a half. But the creation and maturation of Golden Gate Park meant many of the offerings of Woodward’s Gardens were available to the public for free. In April 1893, most of the curios were sold at auction (with Adolph Sutro buying many to later display at his Sutro Baths). Two years later the grounds were auctioned off for development. Only the pavilion remained in service, used for big boxing matches and political rallies before it burned to the ground in the fires following the April 18, 1906 earthquake.
Grand Stairway and Italian Terrace to the refreshment pavilion at Woodward’s Gardens, about 1870. Band stand at left. (wnp37.01040.jpg, Lange & Newth image, courtesy of a private collector.)