A Brief and Incomplete History of Koret Children’s Quarter, Golden Gate Park

The Park: A Brief History

San Francisco changed from a minor port town to a metropolis because of and after the Gold Rush in the mid 1800s. City officials came together to strategize about how to rebrand San Francisco as a civilized city like its East Coast counterparts of Boston and New York. Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect of Central Park, was brought in to make a proposal. However, somewhat ironically, Olmsted’s proposal was rejected as the local government wanted something more like central park. The local government, looking for a large mostly available area, had already settled on the mostly undeveloped west side of the peninsula. Olmsted had rejected the city’s proposed location for the park because he didn’t believe anything would grow on the sand dunes; and suggested a greenbelt on a north/south axis starting near Fort Mason. No wonder the city decided against Olmstead’s proposal, as it had taken several years and a Supreme Court ruling to negotiate a settlement with the claimants/homesteaders and secure ownership of what is now Golden Gate Park. So the city is in need of a visionary designer and in comes our hero, civil engineer and 24 year old, William Hammond Hall. Hall won the contract to do the topographical survey probably due to his prior experience surveying the bay area for the US coast guard. Hall was a proponent of working with the existing undulating landscape, fighting against many who wished to flatten it. Hall embarked on a horticultural experiment that involved several iterations of planting shrubs and grasses to find the one that would provide a solid base for future greenery on top of miles of sand dunes. Hall, along with Scottish immigrant, John McLaren, and superintendent of the park for 53 years, are largely credited as the visionaries and builders of the park. The ‘park’ now sees some 24 million annual visitors.

The Playground: Initial Funding

The playground was only named Koret in 2007. Sharon Quarters for Children was the name that the playground opened with; after a posthumous 50K donation from William Sharon’s trustees. The park commissioners almost built a commemorative marble archway, but after getting some bad press during construction, they demolished what they had already started building and decided to build the playground which officially opened in December 1888. Many sources state that it was the FIRST PUBLIC playground of its kind in the United States, including the somewhat concealed carved stone marker at the north entrance to the playground. Playgrounds were being built all over the US at this time as part of the ‘playground movement’; a popular social movement that was sweeping the nation to keep wild gangs of children off the streets, and out of jail.

It says: “The first public playground in the united states was established here in 1887 by gift funds received from the Sharon Bequest. The east expansion and rehabilitation work of 1977 were funded by Walter and Elise Haas by Walter and Phyllis Shorenstein the Fuhrman Bequest & Friends of Recreation.”

The Playground: Initial Design

Upon opening in 1888, the park featured gondola swings, boys’ tennis and girls’ croquet courts, a slide, a maypole, and a steam driven carousel. There was a dedicated track for donkey rides and carts pulled by goats. The adjacent Sharon building was constructed as a wet-weather shelter; that offered a playroom and restaurant for light refreshments. Older boys and men were NOT ALLOWED in the playground or building.

The Playground: 1888 - 1977

There is not a lot of text documentation online covering these years. Presumably, small scale changes and maintenance were conducted during these years. However, there are photographs and personal accounts of some pretty spectacular attractions such as a multi-storey corkscrew metal slide, some kind of tricycle train, elephants and grizzly bears. The donkey and goat track, was still operational until at least the 1930s. However, at some point it was replaced with a sandpit, disappointing. I came across a very sweet account from a life-long Richmond resident about visiting the park as a child in the 1930’s, which you can find here.

View of the Carousel and Main Playground, 1920’s

View of Main Playground- Note the Addition of Slides

Slides at Main Playground, 1920s - Here Are Those Slides

Donkey and Goat Track, 1920s - Look at that Sign!

View of Main Playground 1920s - Looks like the Maypole in the Background (Right)

Petting Zoo, 1940s - This Little Barn is Still There!!!

Sandpits, Corkscrew Metal slide, Gondola Swings, 1950s

1970’s Renovation: Mary B Connolly Playground

As part of this renovation, the playground was renamed after a popular park commission secretary, Mary B Connolly. If you’d like to have a giggle and read an account of touring the renovated playground in December 1977, pay 4 dollars and download this article from the San Francisco Chronicle Archives. The original swings were preserved and repainted and intermixed with new equipment, “a mouse tower to climb, a sturdy teeter totter to bounce on, a platform to stand on, and a trolls bridge to crawl through.” There was new gymnastic equipment installed, a swinging bridge, a log jungle gym and new concrete slides. There was also a little petting zoo!

It says: “Mary B Connolly Children’s Playground”

1977-2007: An Exciting Mystery…

The period from the 1977 renovation to the 2007 renovation is very poorly documented. Which is crazy, considering how prolific the SF Chronicle articles are in the early half of the 1900’s. To give you an indication of how well covered the playground was; I just finished reading an article from 1926 about how one of the elephants, Marjorie, accidentally ate a cigarette butt and along with her elephant pal, Valerie, caused a bit of a ‘stampede’. However, there are a few verbal accounts and photographs online of an amazing colorful space frame structure that may have been installed during the 1977 renovation; that was removed to make way for the most recent renovation. Not that I’m complaining, but this mystery structure did have some design merit. Please ping me if you remember this structure or have any leads I can track down. I must find out more!!!

Metal Swings - Similar to the Gondola Swings I think

The Playground: The 2007 Renovation

The majority of the funds were kindly donated by the Koret foundation, with the remaining coming from state sources. This renovation developed the park into the current layout we all enjoy, so I won’t spend much time talking about it! Go see it, it’s fun! Look out for the five cast stone creatures by local sculptor, Vicki Saulls, pictured below.

Sculptures by Vicki Saulls, Carousel Behind

The Playground: Fire Vandals in 2017

The playground was set on fire by vandals on a Sunday night in June 2017. The majority of the damage was to the older kids play structure, where most of the plastic had melted. Funds for the repair were provided by a mix of public and private organizations; including a lemonade stand run by local preschoolers.

The Carousel: A Brief Mention

I read that there have been 3 carousels in the same location since the park opened. The current carousel, the Herschell-Spillman carousel, dates from 1914. It has visited several different cities, including LA and Portland. The Carousel arrived in San Francisco to be featured at the World’s Fair on Treasure island before being installed in the current location in 1940. It was closed for refurbishment from 1977-1984.