This photo was taken at dusk on the bridge at Huntington Falls in Golden Gate Park.  June 5.2006

"One summer in the early 1890’s, ‘Park Superintendent John McLaren met with naturalist John Muir in the High Sierra Mountains. Muir showed the superintendent several natural cascades set among groves of grand sequoias. When McLaren returned to San Francisco, he described his idea of an artificial waterfall to W.W. Stow, the wealthy chair of the park commission. Stow agreed that this would be a wonderful addition to the park and took his friend, railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington, for a buggy ride through the park, passing Strawberry Hill several times. (Huntington, considered ruthless by many, was one of the railroad barons and a former employer of Stow’s.) McLaren joined them for part of the ride, but it was Stow who convinced the tycoon that water tumbling down the slope would be a fine addition to the park. Two days later, Huntington gave Stow a check for the anticipated amount of $25,000. With skillful work by Stow and McLaren, the park did get its waterfall. The 110-foot-tall cascade started flowing on May 9, 1894, from its reservoir originally on the apex of Strawberry Hill—and then via a brooklet toward the cliff. The upper waterway was at some point abandoned, and water now flows from partway down the hill. The two wooden bridges allow aerial views over the length of the cascade, while imitation stones of concrete at the fall’s base permit stepping just inches from the foaming white torrent before it enters the lake."  
   
Respectfully taken from:
SAN FRANCISCO'S GOLDEN GATE PARK by Christopher Pollock, WestWinds Press  2001

<<                       >>

Golden Gate Park Master Index

Photography Index  | Graphics Index | History Index

Home | Gallery | About Me | Links | Contact

© 2006 All rights reserved
The images are not in the public domain. They are the sole property of the artist and may not be reproduced on the Internet, sold, altered, enhanced, modified by artificial, digital or computer imaging or in any other form without the express written permission of the artist. Non-watermarked copies of photographs on this site can be purchased by contacting Ron.