Woodward's Gardens

You are walking near the site of what was once the most popular destination in San Francisco, an expansive pleasure resort known as Woodward's Gardens. Between 1866 and 1891, this site occupied two city blocks in the Mission District, stretching between Mission and Valencia Streets. It functioned as a massive, eclectic complex that included a zoo, a conservatory of rare plants, an art gallery, and a museum filled with curiosities collected by its owner, Robert Woodward. Visitors paid twenty-five cents to wander through this private estate turned public playground, which quickly earned a reputation as the Central Park of the West.