Outside Lands was the name used in the 19th century for the present-day Richmond District and

Sunset District The Sunset District is a neighborhood located in the southwest quadrant of San Francisco, California, United States. Location The Sunset District is the largest neighborhood within the city and county of San Francisco. Golden Gate Park forms the ...

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 few roads and no public transportation, the area was covered by

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

and was considered inaccessible and uninhabitable. Today, after extensive development, the area is home to

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

, Ocean Beach, and well-developed neighborhoods.

History

Like all of California, the Outside Lands were a Mexican possession until the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

in February 1848 ceded it to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The area was

U.S. government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

land at the time of the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

. The City and County of San Francisco, which was growing rapidly, desired the land and petitioned for it in the 1850s. After years of court battles, on March 8, 1866, Congress passed an Act ending the litigation and settling the title to the Outside Lands against the claims of squatters. During the course of lengthy litigation over the Outside Lands, local politicians, led by

Frank McCoppin Frank McCoppin (July 4, 1834 – May 26, 1897) was the first Irish-born, and foreign-born Mayor of San Francisco. Career McCoppin was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary from 1851 until he emigrated to the United States in 1853. In 1860, ...

, and residents of San Francisco, rallied for the establishment of a public park in the western quarter of the city. Mayor

Henry P. Coon Henry Perrin Coon (September 30, 1822 – December 4, 1884) was the 10th Mayor of San Francisco who served from July 1, 1863, to December 1, 1867. He was one of the most versatile men ever to hold the office, having previously worked as a teache ...

worked with a three-member special committee of the Board of Supervisors, which had surveys and maps made of all the Outside Lands, at a cost of $12,000. Their report recommending subdivision into blocks and a reservation for a park was submitted to the Board on May 18, 1866. Suitable portions were also to be set aside for public squares, fire-engine house lots, school lots and hospitals. The committee also proposed an arrangement whereby squatters could donate a portion of their claims for a public park in return for clear title to the remainder of their lands. The proposal won Supervisor McCoppin the Mayor’s office, and gained the approval of the state legislature.Coon, H.I., ''Life of Henry P. Coon'', unpublished manuscript c.1885, in the California State Library, California History Room, Sacramento, California

Creation of Golden Gate Park

On April 4, 1870, the state legislature passed “An Act to provide for the improvement of Public Parks in the City of San Francisco” Soon after, the newly formed park commission advertised bonds to fund park improvements. Enough bonds were sold to finance a topographical survey of Golden Gate Park and its approach. Surveyor and engineer

William Hammond Hall William Hammond Hall (1846–1934) was a civil engineer who was the first State Engineer of California, and designed Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA. Biography William Hammond Hall was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on February 12, 1846. ...

won the contract to survey park land, completed his report on February 15, 1871, and in August that year was appointed as engineer of the park. Initial work completed in 1871 included grading, fencing, drainage and irrigation work, and development of a park nursery. The following year, 22,000 hardy and quick-growing trees were planted, park roads were built, and visitors began to arrive by the thousands.

References

External links

Western Neighborhoods Project - San Francisco History

San Francisco Outside Lands Festival
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