Review of reviews and world's work (1890) (14598310127)

The Sutro Historic District is a

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

historic district in the

Lands End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

area of the Outer Richmond District in western

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is within the

Golden Gate National Recreation Area The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the United ...

, since being acquired by the National Park Service in 1977.National Park Service: The History and Significance of the Adolph Sutro Historic District
/ref> The

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

includes attractions along Point Lobos Avenue at the coast originally built by

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 ...

, a

Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the Unit ...

silver baron, and a major land owner/developer in and

mayor of San Francisco The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by ...

.NPS− GGNRA: Lands End, Adolph Sutro Develops Seaside Recreation
/ref> The

49-Mile Scenic Drive 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 19 ...

passes through it.

History

Adolf Sutro Era

In 1881, Adolf Sutro purchased 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 The Marin Headlands is a hilly peninsula at the southernmost end of Marin County, California, United States, located just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the two counties and peninsulas. The entire area is p ...

Mount Tamalpais Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a peak in Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Mou ...

, and the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...

. Sutro built his residence on a rocky ledge there, above the first Cliff House. The property had scenic views of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

, Ocean Beach, Seal Rocks, the first and second Cliff House,

, and the

. Features Sutro developed on his land holdings in the Lands End area include: *

Sutro Heights Park 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. It is located above the Cliff House in the ...

, on the site of the former Sutro Heights estate of Adolph Sutro. He opened the extensive gardens to the public in 1885. They were a city park from 1938 to 1976, when the City of San Francisco transferred ownership of Sutro Heights to the National Park Service, to be managed as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.U.S. National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA): Sutro Heights History
/ref> * Sutro's Aquarium (opened 1887), a concrete basin located in a cove just north of the Cliff House, fed fresh seawater by a high and long tunnel cut through an adjacent cliff. A heated, glass- enclosed pool was sited on higher ground above the tidal basin and featured a stocked supply of more exotic sea creatures. * Sutro Baths (1894-1964), a massive public bath house and freshwater swimming facility. It included six saltwater swimming tanks of varying sizes, shapes, and water temperatures, tiers of bleacher-like seats, providing seating for thousands of spectators, and a massive arched glass roof made from 100,000 square feet of stained glass and supported by 600 tons of iron girders. * Cliff House (1896-1907), the second and elaborate Victorian chateau-style palace building. * Sutro Pleasure Grounds at Merrie Way (1896-1898), a grand amusement park. 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.

Post−Sutro Era

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 Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

structure designed by

Reid & Reid Reid & Reid, also known as Reid Brothers, was an American architectural and engineering firm that was active from 1880 to 1932. Established in Indiana by Canadian immigrants, the firm moved to the West Coast and became was the most prominent fi ...

. It opened in 1909 and prospered until 1918, when the involvement of the United States in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

required closure of all establishments within a half mile of

Fort Miley Military Reservation The Fort Miley Military Reservation, in San Francisco, California, sits on Point Lobos (not to be confused with Point Lobos near Carmel-by-the-Sea), one of the outer headlands on the southern side of the Golden Gate. Much of the site is part of th ...

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 The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(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. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Sutro Heights was closed for security reasons because of its proximity to

. 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. 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 Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

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.

National Park Service

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. 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.

Historic district

The National Park Service applied to have the area listed as a historic district on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2000, under the proposed names Sutro Historic Landscape District and/or Adolph Sutro Historic District. The History and Significance of Adolph Sutro Historic District from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (2000).
/ref> The historic district listing was unsuccessful, but the

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...

at the Cliff House was added to the National Register.

Present day

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).

References

External links

*
NPS−Golden Gate National Recreation Area: Visiting Lands End

— ''digital guidebook''. {{authority control Historic districts in California History of San Francisco Golden Gate National Recreation Area Richmond District, San Francisco