Buena Vista Park

Buena Vista Park holds the distinction of being the oldest official park in San Francisco, established in eighteen sixty-seven. When the city first claimed this steep, thirty-six acre hilltop, it was a largely barren landscape known as Hill Park. To secure the land for public use, the city had to pay nearly ninety thousand dollars to remove the squatters who had settled on its slopes. The area was later renamed Buena Vista, which means good view in Spanish, to reflect the expansive city panoramas visible from its higher elevations.