Turning Sand Into Golden Gate Park - Revision history

Lisaruth: updated photo credits for manure/dirt cars from URR collection to include SFMTA and dates

2024-09-25T17:34:38Z

updated photo credits for manure/dirt cars from URR collection to include SFMTA and dates

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:34, 25 September 2024
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	[[Image:1905 dumping-street-sweepings-into-Golden-Gate-Park-gully URR.jpg]]		[[Image:1905 dumping-street-sweepings-into-Golden-Gate-Park-gully URR.jpg]]

	'''~~1905, dumping~~ "street sweepings" (mostly horse manure) into a gully in Golden Gate Park.'''		'''Dumping "street sweepings" (mostly horse manure) into a gully in Golden Gate Park, ca. 1903.'''

	''Photo: United Railroads, via Charles Smallwood''		''Photo: United Railroads, by John Henry Mentz, via Charles Smallwood. Now in [http://SFMTA.com/Photo SFMTA Photo Archive] U00011.''

	[[Image:Street-sweeping-car-leaves-City-Cleaning-Dept-yard-on-Brannan-betw-7th-and-8th-for-GGP-with-its-aromatic-load URR.jpg]]		[[Image:Street-sweeping-car-leaves-City-Cleaning-Dept-yard-on-Brannan-betw-7th-and-8th-for-GGP-with-its-aromatic-load URR.jpg]]

	'''Street sweeping streetcar leaves the City Cleaning Department yard on Brannan between 7th and 8th Streets for Golden Gate Park with its "aromatic load." '''		'''Street sweeping streetcar leaves the City Cleaning Department yard on Brannan between 7th and 8th Streets for Golden Gate Park with its "aromatic load, March 1903." '''

	''Photo: United Railroads, via Charles Smallwood''		''Photo: United Railroads, by John Henry Mentz, via Charles Smallwood. Now in [http://SFMTA.com/Photo SFMTA Photo Archive] U00010.''

	<blockquote>In 1873 the Park Commission passed an ordinance prohibiting heavy wagons on park roads unless they had tires at least five inches wide. Street Department wagons were then turned away at the gates. In retaliation, the Street Department refused to let the park commissioners have any of the street sweepings, including horse manure, to fertilize the park. Not until the mid-1890s was this high-level dispute settled; after that, street railways were used to haul horse droppings and other sweepings to the park. Before that, the sweepings had been dumped into the Bay rather than used to improve the city park. (p. 17, Clary, Part 1 ''The Making of Golden Gate Park'')</blockquote>		<blockquote>In 1873 the Park Commission passed an ordinance prohibiting heavy wagons on park roads unless they had tires at least five inches wide. Street Department wagons were then turned away at the gates. In retaliation, the Street Department refused to let the park commissioners have any of the street sweepings, including horse manure, to fertilize the park. Not until the mid-1890s was this high-level dispute settled; after that, street railways were used to haul horse droppings and other sweepings to the park. Before that, the sweepings had been dumped into the Bay rather than used to improve the city park. (p. 17, Clary, Part 1 ''The Making of Golden Gate Park'')</blockquote>

Ccarlsson: added photo

2020-05-12T22:09:32Z

added photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:09, 12 May 2020
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	''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014''		''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014''

			[[Image:Astroturf-soccer-field 20161229 181221.jpg]]

			'''The new recycled tire athletic fields, now brightly lit at night in ways that also disturb local bird life.'''

			''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2016''

	Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America's finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City's streets by the drays who were, until the 1920's, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons.		Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America's finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City's streets by the drays who were, until the 1920's, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons.

Ccarlsson at 20:22, 17 March 2020

2020-03-17T20:22:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:22, 17 March 2020
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	[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[~~Transplanted Traffic Barrier Becomes Shrine~~ \| Next Document]]		[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[Park and Ocean Railroad \| Next Document]]

	[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Parks]] [[category:2010s]]		[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Parks]] [[category:2010s]]

Ccarlsson: added horseshit story and photos

2020-03-17T20:20:46Z

added horseshit story and photos

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:20, 17 March 2020
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	Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America's finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City's streets by the drays who were, until the 1920's, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons.		Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America's finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City's streets by the drays who were, until the 1920's, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons.

			[[Image:1905 dumping-street-sweepings-into-Golden-Gate-Park-gully URR.jpg]]

			'''1905, dumping "street sweepings" (mostly horse manure) into a gully in Golden Gate Park.'''

			''Photo: United Railroads, via Charles Smallwood''

			[[Image:Street-sweeping-car-leaves-City-Cleaning-Dept-yard-on-Brannan-betw-7th-and-8th-for-GGP-with-its-aromatic-load URR.jpg]]

			'''Street sweeping streetcar leaves the City Cleaning Department yard on Brannan between 7th and 8th Streets for Golden Gate Park with its "aromatic load." '''

			''Photo: United Railroads, via Charles Smallwood''

			<blockquote>In 1873 the Park Commission passed an ordinance prohibiting heavy wagons on park roads unless they had tires at least five inches wide. Street Department wagons were then turned away at the gates. In retaliation, the Street Department refused to let the park commissioners have any of the street sweepings, including horse manure, to fertilize the park. Not until the mid-1890s was this high-level dispute settled; after that, street railways were used to haul horse droppings and other sweepings to the park. Before that, the sweepings had been dumped into the Bay rather than used to improve the city park. (p. 17, Clary, Part 1 ''The Making of Golden Gate Park'')</blockquote>

	Despite its "natural" look, Golden Gate Park is a purely artificial paradise. One park gardener, asked to estimate how long the trees and plants would last if the irrigation were cut off, said "it'd be dunes again in ten or fifteen years ... though a few eucalyptus trees might survive." (And speaking of artificial paradises, Golden Gate Park has probably hosted more drug-induced mind-alterations per acre than any other patch of ground in the world.)		Despite its "natural" look, Golden Gate Park is a purely artificial paradise. One park gardener, asked to estimate how long the trees and plants would last if the irrigation were cut off, said "it'd be dunes again in ten or fifteen years ... though a few eucalyptus trees might survive." (And speaking of artificial paradises, Golden Gate Park has probably hosted more drug-induced mind-alterations per acre than any other patch of ground in the world.)

Jeff: Text replacement - "category:Gay and Lesbian" to "category:LGBTQI"

2018-10-16T15:09:13Z

Text replacement - "category:Gay and Lesbian" to "category:LGBTQI"

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:09, 16 October 2018
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	[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[Transplanted Traffic Barrier Becomes Shrine \| Next Document]]		[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[Transplanted Traffic Barrier Becomes Shrine \| Next Document]]

	[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:~~Gay and Lesbian~~]] [[category:Parks]] [[category:2010s]]		[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Parks]] [[category:2010s]]

Ccarlsson: added new photo

2016-09-12T06:08:19Z

added new photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:08, 11 September 2016
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	When the idea of Golden Gate Park was first hatched, in the mid-1860's, the whole world scoffed: Everyone knew that the western half of San Francisco was an arid wasteland of [[Animals of the Dunes\|barren sand dunes]], upon which nothing could be made to grow. The ''Santa Rosa Press-Democrat'', in 1873, wrote: "Of all the white elephants the city of San Francisco ever owned, they now own the largest in Golden Gate Park, a dreary waste of shifting sand hills where a blade of grass cannot be raised without four posts to keep it from blowing away..."		When the idea of Golden Gate Park was first hatched, in the mid-1860's, the whole world scoffed: Everyone knew that the western half of San Francisco was an arid wasteland of [[Animals of the Dunes\|barren sand dunes]], upon which nothing could be made to grow. The ''Santa Rosa Press-Democrat'', in 1873, wrote: "Of all the white elephants the city of San Francisco ever owned, they now own the largest in Golden Gate Park, a dreary waste of shifting sand hills where a blade of grass cannot be raised without four posts to keep it from blowing away..."

			[[Image:Gg-park-soccer-fields-before-astroturf 4616.jpg]]

			'''These soccer fields at the far western edge of Golden Gate Park were difficult to maintain as flat athletic fields covered in grass, due to problems with irrigation and soil drainage. So the Parks Department sponsored a ballot proposition that passed in 2013 that will convert these fields--not back to sand as one might assume would be appropriate, but to a type of artificial turf made from recycled tires!'''

			''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014''

	Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America's finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City's streets by the drays who were, until the 1920's, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons.		Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America's finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City's streets by the drays who were, until the 1920's, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons.

Ccarlsson: moved Sand Conversion to Turning Sand Into Golden Gate Park

2014-11-09T06:51:40Z

moved Sand Conversion to Turning Sand Into Golden Gate Park

← Older revision	Revision as of 23:51, 8 November 2014
(No difference)

Ccarlsson: added new photos and a category

2014-11-09T06:50:44Z

added new photos and a category

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:50, 8 November 2014
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	''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''		''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

	'~~''Q~~: ~~What Does it Take~~ to ~~Turn a Sandy Wasteland into Paradise?~~ '''		When the idea of Golden Gate Park was first hatched, in the mid-1860's, the whole world scoffed: Everyone knew that the western half of San Francisco was an arid wasteland of [[Animals of the Dunes\|barren sand dunes]], upon which nothing could be made to grow. The ''Santa Rosa Press-Democrat'', in 1873, wrote: "Of all the white elephants the city of San Francisco ever owned, they now own the largest in Golden Gate Park, a dreary waste of shifting sand hills where a blade of grass cannot be raised without four posts to keep it from blowing away..."

	~~A: Some Water~~, and ~~a Whole Lot~~ of ~~Horseshit~~. ~~More Weird Shit About Golden Gate Park~~.		Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America's finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City's streets by the drays who were, until the 1920's, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons.

	~~Actually~~, it ~~takes more than that~~ ... ~~brilliant planning and hard work round out the equation~~. ~~When the idea~~ of Golden Gate Park ~~was first hatched,~~ in the ~~mid-1860's, the whole~~ world ~~scoffed: Everyone knew that the western half of San Francisco was an arid wasteland of~~ [[~~Animals of the Dunes\|barren sand dunes~~]]~~, upon which nothing could be made to grow. The~~ ''~~Santa Rosa Press-Democrat~~'', in ~~1873~~, wrote: "Of all the white elephants the city of San Francisco ever owned, they now own the largest in Golden Gate Park, a dreary waste of shifting sand hills where a blade of grass cannot be raised without four posts to keep it from blowing away.~~.."~~		Despite its "natural" look, Golden Gate Park is a purely artificial paradise. One park gardener, asked to estimate how long the trees and plants would last if the irrigation were cut off, said "it'd be dunes again in ten or fifteen years ... though a few eucalyptus trees might survive." (And speaking of artificial paradises, Golden Gate Park has probably hosted more drug-induced mind-alterations per acre than any other patch of ground in the world.)

			[[Image:AIDS-Memorial-Grove 4497.jpg]]

			'''Entry to AIDS Memorial Grove in 2014, between Middle Drive and Bowling Green Drive.'''

	~~Fortunately, San Francisco ignored the conventional wisdom and set about the task of creating America~~'s finest urban park. The two chief requirements were fertilizer and water; the latter was piped in and distributed with the help of the [[Windmill\|Dutch Windmill]] that still stands by the ocean near where John F. Kennedy Drive hits the Great Highway, while the former was provided in the form of the copious droppings generously bestowed upon the City'~~s streets by the drays who were, until the 1920~~'s, the mainstay of the local transportation system. Though no reliable estimate of the amount of horse-excrement collected for park fertilizer exists, the total undoubtedly ran into tens, even hundreds of thousands of tons -- nearly as much as went into the Warren Commission Report on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.		''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

	~~Despite its "natural" look, Golden Gate Park is a purely artificial paradise~~. ~~One park gardener~~, ~~asked to estimate how long the trees and plants would last if the irrigation were cut off~~, ~~said "it'd be~~ dunes again in ten or fifteen years ... though a few eucalyptus trees might survive." (And speaking of artificial paradises, Golden Gate Park has probably hosted more drug-induced mind-alterations per acre than any other patch of ground in the ~~world~~.)		[[Image:AIDS-grove-path 4494.jpg]]

			'''Path through the AIDS Memorial Grove, 2014, where once sand dunes and fresh water ponds filled the landscape.'''

			''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

	[[Image:ggpk$sandy-origins-of-gg-park$aids_itm$aids-memorial-grove.jpg]]		[[Image:ggpk$sandy-origins-of-gg-park$aids_itm$aids-memorial-grove.jpg]]
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	''Photo: Rick Gerharter''		''Photo: Rick Gerharter''

	~~'''A Rose is a Rose is a Rose ... Except When it's Not : The (Rarely Roseless) Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park '''~~

	The best time to visit the Rose Garden is when there aren't any roses. Unfortunately, it's hard to find a season of the year when you won't run into the bloomin' things. May and June, peak rose season, are definitely out. Your best bet is midwinter. If you should chance upon that perfect late January day when every last thorn is revealed to the gray and drizzly sky in naked splendor, without so much as a bud to be seen, consider yourself blessed.

	~~''--Dr. Weirde''~~


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	[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[Transplanted Traffic Barrier Becomes Shrine \| Next Document]]		[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[Transplanted Traffic Barrier Becomes Shrine \| Next Document]]

	[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:Gay and Lesbian]] [[category:Parks]]		[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:Gay and Lesbian]] [[category:Parks]] [[category:2010s]]

Aiobrec13: Changed credits from Greg Garr to Private Collection

2014-06-16T22:12:59Z

Changed credits from Greg Garr to Private Collection

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:12, 16 June 2014
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	'''1899: deer meander through what is today the AIDS memorial grove between Middle Drive and Bowling Green Drive.'''		'''1899: deer meander through what is today the AIDS memorial grove between Middle Drive and Bowling Green Drive.'''

	''Photo: ~~Greg Gaar~~ Collection, San Francisco, CA''		''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

	'''Q: What Does it Take to Turn a Sandy Wasteland into Paradise? '''		'''Q: What Does it Take to Turn a Sandy Wasteland into Paradise? '''

Ccarlsson at 02:27, 19 January 2009

2009-01-19T02:27:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:27, 18 January 2009
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	[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[Transplanted Traffic Barrier Becomes Shrine \| Next Document]]		[[Buffalo\| Prev. Document]] [[Transplanted Traffic Barrier Becomes Shrine \| Next Document]]

	[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:Gay and Lesbian]]		[[category:Golden Gate Park]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:Ecology]] [[category:Gay and Lesbian]] [[category:Parks]]