Palisades Park is a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. The park is located along a section of Ocean Avenue on top of an uplifted unconsolidated sedimentary coastal

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million year ...

terrace with exposed bluffs, offering views of both 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 ...

and the coastal mountains.

History

The earliest portion of the park was gifted to the City of Santa Monica in 1892 by city founders Arcadia Bandini de Baker and John Percival Jones. The park was originally named Linda Vista Park until 1915. On the Bluff Overlooking the Sea Santa Monica

On the Bluff Overlooking the Sea Santa Monica

Throughout the early 1900s, the city expanded the park with additional land and commissioned upgrades to the area, installing walking paths, planting landscaping, and erecting lighting. In 2007, the park was designated as a historic landmark by the city of Santa Monica. Today, the park extends from the

Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. Attractions Pacific Park T ...

at the south to Adelaide Drive at the north. This long linear park contains public art, rose garden, and historic structures, as well as benches, picnic areas,

pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

courts, restrooms and the historic Santa Monica Camera Obscura. Barriers discourage visitors from approaching too close to the cliffs, which are prone to erosion and landslides. Private use of the park by fitness instructors has generated some controversy. There was a train/streetcar stop at the park called Linda Vista station; the building was torn down in 1955."Railroad and Trolley Linking Santa Monica to Inglewood." ''Los Angeles Times'', Sep 16, 1981, pp. 2-m1''.''

Public art and historic features

The oldest structure built in Palisades Park is the Idaho Gate, a Craftsman-style archway built in 1912 and named for the adjacent street, and a distinctive Native American

totem pole Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually ...

was donated to the City in 1926 by Walter J. Todd. After the installation of Eugene H. Monrahan's 1934 sculptural statue of Santa Monica, additional

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...

was installed more than fifty years later. *

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

cannon (1908) (terminus of Colorado Avenue and Broadway) The cannon is an 1861 Rodman seacoast gun on loan from the Federal Government. The cannon was brought to Santa Monica in 1908 from San Francisco *Idaho Gate (1912) by

Greene and Greene Greene and Greene was an architectural firm established by brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868–1957) and Henry Mather Greene (January 23, 1870 – October 2, 1954), influential early 20th Century American architects. Active primarily in Cal ...

(terminus of Idaho Avenue) Idaho Gate

* Statue of ''Santa Monica'' (1934) by Eugene H. Monrahan (terminus of Wilshire Boulevard) * Bust of ''Arcadia Bandini de Baker'' (1987) by Masahito Sanae, near rose garden (terminus of Palisades Avenue) * Wood sculpture ''

Gestation III ''Gestation III'' is a 1990 wooden sculpture by Baile Oakes, installed in Santa Monica, California's Palisades Park, in the United States. The sculpture measures approximately 10 ft. 7 in. x 11 ft. 8 in. x 8 ft. 6, and was surveye ...

'' (1993) by Baile Oakes (

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

sunset alignment) (terminus of Palisades Avenue) * Sculpture ''Beacon Overlook'' (2000)] by Jody Pinto, near California Incline (terminus of California Avenue) *Totem pole (circa 1925; artist unknown) (terminus of San Vicente Boulevard, Santa Monica) *

The Redwood Pergola: known as: The Pergola, Architect: Unknown, Built: 1912, located between Washington Boulevard and Idaho Avenue

Trees

The park has more than 30 species of plants and trees, including gum, yate, pine, palm, and fig trees. Two stone monuments with plaques honor two noted tree experts, George Hastings and Grace Heintz, who both wrote books on the trees of Santa Monica. Spanning five decades from 1944 to 1989, the works provide five baseline studies for understanding the history and geography of the urban woodland of the park, as well as the trees in Santa Monica and neighboring portions of Los Angeles, including cemeteries, schools, colleges, and businesses. Some of the tree species at Palisades Park include: * Monterey cypress, ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' (Hart.) Bartel * Indian laurel fig, ''Ficus microcarpa'' L. * rusty-leaf fig, ''Ficus rubiginosa'' Desf. * Yate, ''Eucalyptus cornuta'' Labill. * Murray River red gum, ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'' Dehnh. * Italian stone pine, ''Pinus pinea'' L. * Canary Island date palm, ''Phoenix canariensis'' Chaub. * European fan palm, ''Chamaerops humilis'' L. * Mexican fan palm, ''Washingtonia robusta'' Wendl. * Mexican blue palm, ''Brahea armata'' S. Watson * windmill palm, ''Trachycarpus fortunei'' Wendl. * Cuban royal palm, ''Roystonea regia'' (Kunth) O. F. Cook * Senegal date palm, ''Phoenix reclinata'' Jacq.

References

External links

Official website
* {{commonscatinline, Palisades Park, Santa Monica Landmarks in Santa Monica, California Parks in Los Angeles County, California Santa Monica, California Tourist attractions in Santa Monica, California