The Main Gate to Woodward’s Gardens. Many a kid slipped through thanks to an intentional lax policy. —Photo courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Woodward expanded his gateway, topping it with a pair of carved grizzlies and a matched set of statues of the goddess California, the namesake of the state. Kids clamored at the gate even if they didn’t have the price of admission. Woodward made it easy for them to slip inside the park. The park included shows, museums, an aquarium, an extensive zoo, and curiosities from around the world, including freaks of natures. Park attractions also included an amphitheater, a dance hall, multiple restaurants, and a theater. Woodward became the “Barnum of the West.” A patron saw it all at Woodward’s. However, while one newspaper review touted Woodward’s fine beer garden and a pitifully uninformed woman wrote back to her church headquarters (copied in a local newspaper editorial) that beer and whiskey were served more commonly than water, no alcohol was served there. Like the What Cheer House, Woodward’s Gardens catered to teetotalers.
Looking northeast from Robert Woodward’s house. —Author’s collection
REMEMBRANCE OF WOODWARD’S GARDENS
We moved, mother and family, out to Twelfth Street about the time Woodward’s Gardens became popular. This place was really a cultural center of attractions, brought together and maintained by the Woodward brothers, themselves gentlemen of refinement. Its trees, shrubs, flowers and mosses were selected and so attractively arranged as to please the most critical patrons and engage the most casual eyes. The comfort of the animals was made evident to visitors, and a small gallery of art provided for the relaxation of visitors.
It was in this gallery I first saw a replica of the Naples bronze bust of Dante. I have never forgotten its effect upon me as I stood alone there, held by its austere dignity in the half gloom where it was pedestaled—what humility I felt, yet what strange reflections it stirred.
—Michael Doyle
Though today’s residents of the city view that area of the Mission as flat and uninteresting terrain, visitors to that same area in 1866 described a rugged and untamed portion of the city. Crags, mounds, hills, caves, depressions, bogs, and streams made up the base that Woodward carved to create his park. With an eye toward nature, Woodward’s Gardens included a conservatory overflowing with exotic trees, plants, and flowers. The sweet aroma, coupled with the warm humid air, created a sense of the tropics. The conservatory had one of the finest collections of ferns in the Western Hemisphere. A small lake hosted all forms of waterbirds at one end in a placid setting of water lilies and cattails. A water park complete with boats and chutes, a skiff ride down a fast moving flume, dominated the other side of the main park. A second lake hosted seals and sea lions, providing an opportunity to observe these animals in a natural setting. Streams and torrents wound through the entire garden area. A stroll in the Deer Park provided scenes that included small tame deer from China and Japan. Walking paths dotted with benches meandered through sculptured gardens and connected the various attractions. Ostriches and goats wandered loose on the grounds. A tunnel ran under Fourteenth Street to provide access to a zoo from the Gardens.
Camels were a novelty in 1880—to ride one was worth writing home about. —Photo courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Woodward’s boasted the most complete zoo on the West Coast. A grand enclosure contained the large herbivores such as camels, zebra, buffalo, deer, llama, and kangaroos. A long row of cages held various panthers (mountain lions), jaguars, foxes, and small animals both from North America and around the world. Aviaries housed birds from diverse corners of the globe. Bear pits contained grizzlies and black bears. Families clamored for the opportunity to view creatures they would never otherwise see. Walter J. Thompson, reporter for the Chronicle wrote:
Near by was the bear pit, into which ‘Fat’ Brown toppled one day to the consternation and positive embarrassment of the bears, who did not recover their nerve until ‘Fat’ was fished out with a long pole with hook attached. Across the way was the Happy Family, where, by standing too near the bars, Sister Susy lost her hat and back hair to a simian hoodlum of the family, the members of which showed anything but agreeable manners at feeding time.
Ad for Adams animal acts at Woodward’s Gardens. —Author’s collection
The zoo area also included an outdoor pavilion where acrobats from Japan and fire-eaters from Delhi performed for the crowds. Shows of every sort entertained the patrons, including bear wrestling, chariot races, comedy performances, Gilbert and Sullivan plays, and beauty contests thinly disguised as dance reviews. Walter Morosco’s Royal Russian Circus wowed the crowds with trapeze acts, acrobatic feats, and tumbling. Heavily painted and feathered Warm Springs Indians, victorious veterans of the Modoc War of 1872, provided examples of tribal dances and music that put fear into young and faint hearts.
Staged battles like the Celebrated Sword Contest between Duncan C. Ross and Sergeant Owen Davies in Woodward’s Gardens lent an air of excitement to the day. —Photo courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
The aquarium opened in 1873, with sixteen tanks that held from three hundred to a thousand gallons of salt or fresh water apiece and, for the first time ever, fish and crustaceans survived in saltwater tanks over an extended period. Sea and freshwater fauna and flora were on display, fascinating all viewers. Illumination came from above the tanks lined up on both sides of a forty-foot hall. Animals normally hidden below the waves displayed themselves to the stares of those who had never seen them in their natural state. Crabs, lobsters, and other crustaceans were of particular interest, busily foraging, while making aggressive gestures at each other as they crossed paths. Trout flashed their colors as sport fishermen dreamed of the ultimate catch. Sharks, cod, and perch cruised around the tanks while flounders and rays disguised themselves in the sand. Octopi amazed the throngs with their fluid antics and intelligent eyes. A fish-hatching machine, an early version of a hatchery, created a sensation among park-goers. The aquarium reigned as the most popular exhibit.
Woodward’s old home near the entrance became the “Museum of Miscellanies.” Gigantic mastodon tusks some ten thousand years old framed the entrance. Mineral samples, fossils, and zoological specimens made up the collection. The mineral display included crystals, volcanic stones, precious and semiprecious gems, and at one point in time, the largest gold nugget ever found. Viewing the nugget cost twenty-five cents extra. Woodward originally paid $25,000 for the nugget that several years later yielded only $23,000 in twenty-dollar gold pieces when smelted and coined. Of course, he made up the difference in the viewing fees charged. The zoological specimens included taxidermy and skins of every sort of animal and bird, as well as fossilized