The Sutro Historic District is a National Park Service historic district in the Lands End area of the Outer Richmond District in western San Francisco, California. [1] It is within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, since being acquired by the National Park Service in 1977. [2]
The historic district includes attractions along Point Lobos Avenue at the coast originally built by Adolph Sutro, a Comstock Lode silver baron, and a major land owner/developer in and mayor of San Francisco. [3] [4] The 49-Mile Scenic Drive passes through it.
In 1881, Adolf Sutro purchased 22 acres (89,000 m2) of undeveloped land south of Point Lobos (San Francisco) and north of Ocean Beach at the western edge of the city. It included a promontory overlooking the Pacific, with scenic views of the Marin Headlands, Mount Tamalpais, and the Golden Gate. Sutro built his residence on a rocky ledge there, above the first Cliff House. The property had scenic views of the Pacific Ocean, Ocean Beach, Seal Rocks, the first and second Cliff House, Marin Headlands, Mount Tamalpais, and the Golden Gate.
Features Sutro developed on his land holdings in the Lands End area include: [2]
The Park and Ocean Railroad had provided relatively expensive transport to the Cliff House via Golden Gate Park. To provide inexpensive and more scenic transportation for visitors to the "Sutro District" features, in 1885 he invested significantly in The Cliff House and Ferries Railroad, a new passenger steam train line from downtown San Francisco via Point Lobos to the Sutro Heights area. [2] [3]
Adolph Sutro died in 1898. His daughter Emma Sutro Merritt then moved into the Sutro Heights estate. Until the early 1920s the gardens remained in relatively good condition with the plantings maintained in a state of maturity. In 1920, the ownership of Sutro Heights was transferred to the City of San Francisco under the condition that it be "forever held and maintained as a free public resort or park under the name of Sutro Heights." Between 1920 and 1933 the Merritts continued to allow visitors access to Sutro Heights, but provided for minimal maintenance of the site.
The second Cliff House burned to the ground in 1907. The third Cliff House was a lower Neoclassical style structure designed by Reid & Reid. It opened in 1909 and prospered until 1918, when the involvement of the United States in World War I required closure of all establishments within a half mile of Fort Miley Military Reservation to the north on Point Lobos (San Francisco). The Cliff House closed once more in 1925, not to reopen again until 1937.
In 1933, at the request of Emma Sutro Merritt, the City of San Francisco agreed to assume maintenance of Sutro Heights but there was no major improvement or rehabilitation of the grounds. The garden's condition declined after maintenance responsibility was deeded to the City, and it accelerated after her death in 1938.
In 1937, the city submitted a proposal to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for the rehabilitation of the grounds at Sutro Heights. When Emma Sutro Merritt died in residence at Sutro Heights in 1938, the WPA was in the process of further stabilizing the western slopes with an elaborate series of artificial concrete cliffs. Following her death, the WPA proceeded to demolish the aging Sutro residence, then in a state of serious disrepair, and also the remains of the conservatory, entrance gates, and Dolce far Niente Balcony vista point. [2]
During World War II, Sutro Heights was closed for security reasons because of its proximity to Fort Miley Military Reservation. [2] In 1949 the City of San Francisco commissioned a plan for the rehabilitation of the park. Little of the plan was implemented, except converting most of the planting beds to lawns. Between the late 1940s and the 1970s there was considerable vandalism and neglect at Sutro Heights Park. [2]
In 1951, battered still further by an even steeper drop in attendance at the Sutro Baths during World War II, Gustav Sutro offered the property for sale. George K. Whitney, owner of the Cliff House and nearby Playland at the Beach at Ocean Beach purchased it. He converted all of the swimming tanks to one large ice skating complex. Robert D. Fraser, a controversial developer, acquired the property in 1964 intending to build an apartment tower. In June 1966 a fire at Sutro Baths burned the once-grand structure to its foundations, and resulting sentiments impeded Fraser's development plan. [2]
National Park Service management efforts since the City of San Francisco transferred ownership of Sutro Heights Park to it in 1977 are to identify and preserve the historic features remaining on the site. Concrete headers, planters, fountains, and statues were removed for storage and cataloging. Reproductions of the remaining statues, including the entrance gate lions, and the Stag and Diana, were cast and re-erected on the site. [2]
In 1976, the National Park Service acquired the ownership of the Sutro Baths site. The site is heavily visited by people who examine the remains of the baths and experience the feeling and setting of the site. In 1977, the National Park Service also acquired the ownership of the third Cliff House that was built in 1909.
The National Park Service applied to have the area listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, under the proposed names Sutro Historic Landscape District and/or Adolph Sutro Historic District. [9] The historic district listing was unsuccessful, but the Camera Obscura at the Cliff House was added to the National Register.
The Sutro Historic District, including Sutro Heights Park and the Sutro Baths site, continue to provide open space for strolling, exploring history, wildlife viewing, picnicking, and other recreation activities. The historic Cliff House and Camera Obscura are still visitor attractions.
The National Park Service−Golden Gate National Recreation Area has on site interpretive history programs and events, and various historical information/images websites and online history documents (see References + External links below).
The Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California, developed initially in the late 19th century. It is sometimes confused with the city of Richmond, which is 20 miles (32 km) northeast of San Francisco.
Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro was a German-American engineer, politician and philanthropist who served as the 24th mayor of San Francisco from 1895 until 1897. Born a German Jew, he moved to Virginia City, Nevada and made a fortune at the Comstock Lode. Several places in San Francisco bear his name in remembrance of his life and contributions to the city.
The Sutro Baths was a large, privately owned public saltwater swimming pool complex in the Lands End area of the Outer Richmond District in western San Francisco, California.
Ocean Beach is a beach on the west coast of San Francisco, California, United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District, and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside the beach, and the Cliff House and the site of the former Sutro Baths sit at the northern end. The beach is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is administered by the National Park Service.
Baker Beach is a public beach on the peninsula of San Francisco, California, U.S. The beach lies on the shore of the Pacific Ocean in the northwest of the city. It is roughly a 0.5 mi (800 m) long, beginning just south of Golden Gate Point, extending southward toward the Seacliff peninsula, the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Sutro Baths. The northern section of Baker Beach is "frequented by clothing-optional sunbathers," and as such it is considered a nude beach.
Geary Boulevard is a major east–west 5.8-mile-long (9 km) thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, United States, beginning downtown at Market Street near Market Street's intersection with Kearny Street, and running westbound through downtown, the Civic Center area, the Western Addition, and running for most of its length through the predominantly residential Richmond District. Geary Boulevard terminates near Sutro Heights Park at 48th Avenue, close to the Cliff House above Ocean Beach at the Pacific Ocean. At 42nd Avenue, Geary intersects with Point Lobos Avenue, which takes through traffic to the Cliff House, Ocean Beach and the Great Highway. It is a major commercial artery through the Richmond District; it is lined with stores and restaurants, many of them catering to the various immigrant groups who live in the area. The boulevard borders Japantown between Fillmore and Laguna Streets.
The Cliff House is a neo-classical style building perched on the headland above the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach, in the Outer Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The building overlooks the site of the Sutro Baths ruins, Seal Rocks, and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, operated by the National Park Service (NPS). The Cliff House is owned by the NPS; the building's terrace hosts a room-sized camera obscura.
Seal Rock is a group of small rock formation islands in the Lands End area of the Outer Richmond District in western San Francisco, California. They are located just offshore in the Pacific Ocean, at the north end of the Ocean Beach, near the Cliff House and Sutro Baths ruins.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting 82,027 acres (33,195 ha) of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the United States Army. GGNRA is managed by the National Park Service and is the most visited unit of the National Park system in the United States, with more than 15 million visitors a year. It is also one of the largest urban parks in the world, with a size two-and-a-half times that of the consolidated city and county of San Francisco.
Sutro Heights Park is an historic public park in the Outer Richmond District of western San Francisco, California. It is within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Sutro Historic District.
The 49-Mile Scenic Drive is a designated scenic road tour highlighting much of San Francisco, California. It was created in 1938 by the San Francisco Down Town Association to showcase the city's major attractions and natural beauty during the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.
James Preston Delgado is a maritime archaeologist, historian, maritime preservation expert, author, television host, and explorer.
Founded in 1981, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is a nonprofit cooperating association that supports park stewardship and conservation in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area—the most visited national park in the U.S.
Mori Point is a 110-acre (0.4 km2) park located in Pacifica, California, that is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). Mori Point itself is a bluff next to the Pacific Ocean that provides scenic views of the peninsula coastline. In addition to the bluff and ridge, Mori Point contains a few small ponds and wetlands. Trails, many newly built, connect the ridgeline to the entrances to the park and to Sharp Park beach. A portion of the California Coastal Trail will run through Mori Point.
The Camera Obscura is a large-scale camera obscura, in the Lands End area of the Outer Richmond District in western San Francisco, California.
Lands End is a park in San Francisco within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It is a rocky and windswept shoreline at the mouth of the Golden Gate, situated between the Sutro District and Lincoln Park and abutting Fort Miley Military Reservation. A memorial to USS San Francisco stands in the park. Numerous hiking trails follow the former railbeds of the Ferries and Cliff House Railway along the cliffs and also down to the shore.
Rancho Corral de Tierra was a 7,766-acre (31.43 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day coastal western San Mateo County, northern California.
Kirby Cove Camp is a campground and scenic area managed by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) in the Marin Headlands, California. It is located at sea level below Conzelman Road, which leads from the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge up and along the Marin Headlands overlooking the Golden Gate strait that leads into San Francisco Bay. A road behind a locked gate leads to Kirby Cove from just beyond Battery Spencer, the first set of bunkers encountered from Highway 101 at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The history of the Jews in San Francisco began with the California Gold Rush in the second half of the 19th century. The San Francisco Bay Area has the fourth largest Jewish population in the U.S. behind the New York area, southeast Florida and metropolitan Los Angeles. Jewish San Franciscans played a significant role in the economic and cultural development of San Francisco and California.