Golden Gate Park, Bounded by Fulton Street, Stanyan Street, Fell Street, Baker Street, Oak Street, Frederick Street, Lincoln Way, and the Great Highway., San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA

2016 HALS Challenge Entry: Documenting National Register Listed Landscapes
2016 Leicester B. Holland Prize, Entry
Significance: Golden Gate Park, begun in 1871, has national significance as one of the pioneering examples of the large urban park in the United States. It is the first application of Frederick Law Olmsted's naturalistic park design principles in the western United States. The park is also the first to be created on land reclaimed from windswept sand dunes, resulting in a landscape transformation that was unprecedented. Golden Gate Park was also important in advancing the field of park design by successfully integrating active recreation features into the pastoral landscape. At the time of the park conception, San Francisco was the only large city in the west. City leaders sought to provide its residents, both rich and poor, the social benefits afforded by a naturalistic park as a foil to the pressures of urban life. This was a major advancement for San Francisco, and the West, helping transform the city from a western outpost, to a progressive city comparable to its eastern counterparts.

As a work of landscape architecture it has endured the test of time and remains a vibrant landscape of function and beauty. Much of the original park developed during the period of significance (1871-1943) is still present and retains its integrity. Its significance in social history is its role in advancing the importance of parks in society for improving the quality of peoples' lives. Golden Gate Park was a pioneering effort that required great vision and courage to transform a barren landscape of sand dunes into a verdant naturalistic park.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N142
Survey number: HALS CA-49
Building/structure dates: 1871 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 04001137