Mount Davidson is the highest natural point in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, with an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of .
It is located near the geographical center of the city, south of
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...
and Portola Drive and to the west of
Diamond Heights and
Glen Park. It dominates the southeastern view from most of Portola Drive. It is one of
San Francisco's many hills and one of its original "Seven Hills".
Mount Davidson's most notable feature, aside from its height, is the concrete
cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
situated on the crest of the hill.
It is the site of a yearly prayer service, performed on Easter, when the cross is illuminated, and a yearly commemoration of the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
, held on April 24.
Mount Davidson Park tops the hill – excluding the land at the summit, which is privately owned. The parkland portion is located between Myra Way (east), Dalewood Way (southwest), and Juanita Way (north). Public transportation is provided by the
36 Teresita Muni
Muni may refer to:
Municipal
* A common US abbreviation for municipal, municipal services, and the like
*Municipal bond
*Municipal Bridge, the former name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky
*"Muni", slang for a mu ...
line, which stops at the Dalewood Way and Myra Way entrance to the park.
The residential neighborhoods around Mount Davidson Park are Miraloma Park to the east and
Westwood Highlands and Sherwood Forest to the southwest.
History
Adolph Sutro
Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro (April 29, 1830 – August 8, 1898) 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 Cit ...
purchased the land in 1881. After his death, the highest of the San Miguel hills was named "Mount Davidson" at the request of, and to honor, charter member
George Davidson, of the
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
. The appraiser for Sutro's heirs, A.S. Baldwin, bought the western slope of the mountain in 1911, along with much of the land immediately north and south of Mount Davidson.
Baldwin began plans for development of St. Francis Wood, Westwood Park, Westwood Highlands, Forest Hill, Sherwood Forest, and Monterey Heights.
The cross
The first temporary cross was high, and erected in 1923 for a service led by Dean J. Wilmer Gresham of
Grace Cathedral.
A second high cross was built in 1924 and burned down in 1925.
In 1926, a nearly high cross was built and illuminated every night a week before Easter, then burned down in 1928.
In 1929 an high wood and stucco cross with lighting was built.
The same year at the top of Mount Davidson was purchased by the city of San Francisco for use as a park with funds donated by the Mount Davidson Conservation Committee, led by Mrs. Edmund N. "Madie" Brown.
Mrs. A. S. Baldwin donated a further on the summit to the city at the same time.
Arsonists burned down the 1929 cross in 1931.
In 1933 Mayor
Angelo Rossi, Governor and former Mayor "Sunny Jim"
James Rolph
James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Jr. (August 23, 1869 – June 2, 1934) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to a single term as the 27th governor of California from January 6, 1931, until his death on June ...
, the Easter Sunrise Service Committee, and the
Native Sons of the Golden West
The Native Sons of the Golden West is a fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation, documentation of historic structures and places in the state, the placement of historic p ...
pledged to construct a permanent cross to commemorate the early California pioneers. The high concrete and steel cross was completed the next year with President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
lighting the cross via telegraph from the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
on March 24, 1934 – eight days before
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
. Sunrise services are held at the cross every Easter and were broadcast nationwide by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
from the 1940s through the 1970s. (According to local gossip columnist
Herb Caen
Herbert Eugene Caen (; April 3, 1916 February 1, 1997) was a San Francisco humorist and journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, and offbeat puns and anecdotes—"A continuous love let ...
, the original plans in 1934 called for a cross high, but there was "enough concrete on hand for an extra three feet – so on it went.")
Director
Don Siegel
Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer.
Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...
filmed a scene from the 1971 movie ''
Dirty Harry
''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir
Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates ...
'' at the cross. Harry enters the park from Lansdale Avenue, an entry close to the Muni bus stop, before confronting ''Scorpio'' at the base of the cross. According to Warner Bros. literature, Siegel was pleased to discover the huge cross at Mount Davidson Park. However, the height of the cross and foggy weather made filming difficult. Every night for a month cinematographer
Bruce Surtees
The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...
would ride a crane to the top of the cross only to be hampered by foggy weather. When the weather finally cleared the shot was made in one night.
The cross itself has been the subject of much debate among the residents of San Francisco as they have tried to weigh its religious role against its status as an historic landmark. In 1991 the
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
, the
American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts.
History
The AJCongress was ...
, and
Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the city over its ownership of the cross.
After a long legal battle and loss at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in 1997 the City auctioned of land, including the cross, to the highest bidder. The decision to sell the land was challenged by two members of the group
American Atheists
American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and the ...
, but a federal appeals court ruled against them in 2002 and the Supreme Court declined to hear their case in 2003.
The cross was purchased for $26,000 by The Council of Armenian American Organizations of Northern California
which installed a bronze plaque at the base memorializing the victims of the 1915
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
. On Armenian Independence Day September 23, 2007, it was discovered that the plaque was missing. The original plaque was never found, and a replacement plaque was dedicated at a ceremony on April 20, 2008.
See also
* ''
Dirty Harry
''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir
Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates ...
'' (1971) film directed by
Don Siegel
Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer.
Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...
, featuring a famous scene filmed at the cross.
*
List of San Francisco, California Hills
This is a list of the hills of San Francisco, California.
Prior lists
Several cities claim to have been built on seven hills. "The Seven Hills of San Francisco" are Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Rincon Hill, Twin Peaks, Mount Davids ...
*
List of highest points in California by county
This is a list of highest points in California, in alphabetical order by county.
All elevations use the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88), the currently accepted vertical control datum for United States, Canada and Mexico. Elevations ...
*
Mount Soledad Cross lawsuits
The Mount Soledad Cross (formerly known as the Mount Soledad Easter Cross) is a prominent landmark located on top of Mount Soledad in the La Jolla neighborhood of the city of San Diego, California. The present structure was erected in 1954; it is ...
, lengthy legal battle regarding the cross located near San Diego, California
* ''
Salazar v. Buono'', United States Supreme Court case upholding constitutionality of the Mojave Memorial Cross
* , legal challenge to the cross atop the mountain
*
Serra Cross (Ventura, California), cross on public land in Ventura, California, which was the subject of litigation
References
External links
MtDavidson.org History of Mount Davidson Cross and NeighborhoodsMount Davidson Park: San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department
{{Neighborhoods of San Francisco
Hills of San Francisco
Landmarks in San Francisco
Davidson
Davidson may refer to:
* Davidson (name)
* Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan
* Davidson Media Group
* Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA
* Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
* ...
Neighborhoods in San Francisco
Parks in San Francisco
Armenian-American culture in California
Armenian genocide memorials
Armenia–United States relations