An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park

An introduction to the An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park audio tour.

At the base of the statue of President Garfield listen to this episode on the original vision behind Golden Gate Park.

This chapter explores the history of greenhouses and the origins of the Conservatory of Flowers.

What were the design criteria that the park designers used to create the pastoral look of Golden Gate Park? This chapter takes you on a walk between the carpet beds at the foot of the Conservatory of Flowers to Rhododendron Dell.

As you stand in front of the De Young Museum you can see the Academy of Sciences currently under construction. This installment explores the history of the Academy as a natural history museum and the green roof of its new building.

The San Francisco Botanical Garden is an outdoor museum and a repository for the conservation of plants from around the world. This chapter involves a hunt to find a botanical treasure, the Dawn Redwood.

In WWII San Francisco citizens were invited to tend vegetable plots in Golden Gate Park as park of the city’s Victory Garden program. Today there is a resurgence of interest in gardening, urban agriculture, and expanding the local food shed.

The Children’s Playground in Golden Gate Park is the oldest public play area reserved exclusively for children in the United States. Since it opened in 1888 it has existed in three distinct iterations.