Urbano Sundial

The Urbano Sundial sits in the center of a quiet residential circle, marking the heart of a neighborhood built directly atop the former Ingleside Racetrack. In the late nineteenth century, this ground hosted horse racing and early automobile races, but the track eventually shuttered and served as a refugee camp following the nineteen hundred and six earthquake. Developer Joseph Leonard purchased the site in nineteen ten, transforming the old race course into a residential subdivision called Ingleside Terraces. To ground this new community, Leonard designed an oval road named Urbano Drive that follows the exact path of the original racetrack oval. He installed this massive, twenty-eight-foot-tall marble and concrete sundial in nineteen thirteen to act as a signature centerpiece and a magnet for prospective homebuyers. At the time of its unveiling, it was billed as the largest sundial in the world.