Golden Gate Park, San Francisco’s largest urban park, grew from an 1860s effort to transform the sandy Outside Lands into a major public landscape. Built by stabilizing dunes and planting vast numbers of trees, it opened in 1870 and was shaped especially by longtime superintendent John McLaren. The park developed into a heavily visited urban space combining lawns, lakes, wooded areas, gardens, museums, and other cultural institutions. It also served the city during crises such as the 1906 earthquake and fire, gained new amenities during the Great Depression, and became nationally significant as an early center of the 1967 Summer of Love. In 2004 it was designated a National Historic Landmark and a California Historic Resource.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain