Historic Landmarks of San Francisco

Robert B. Woodward was a Gold Rush millionaire and the owner of the What Cheer House. The grounds of his Mission District mansion covered two square blocks and were one of the City's showplaces. He was also a collector of oil paintings, live and stuffed animals, shells, and other items of Victoriana.

In November 1864 Woodward opened his private art gallery to the public in a benefit for the Sanitary Commission, the Civil War equivalent of the Red Cross. Due to the success of this enterprise, and in response to popular demand, Woodward decided to convert his mansion and grounds into a public amusement park. Woodward's Gardens became the Central Park of the West and San Francisco's leading family entertainment center. The grounds were bounded by Mission, Valencia, Duboce, and 14th Streets, with the main entrance on the west side of Mission. The park included a menagerie, an aquarium, an alligator house, a bear pit, a sealion pond, a lake with boats, a roller rink, and a tower with a camera obscura. On festive occasions there were balloon ascents, parachute jumps, and chariot races. When Woodward's Gardens closed in 1891 an era in the City's social history ended.

The site of Woodward's Gardens is now part of a somewhat rundown neighborhood in the shadow of a freeway. No trace of the amusement park remains, although there is a Woodward Street in the vicinity. A rather battered state plaque is mounted at the sidewalk level on the side of the building at the southwest corner of Mission and Duboce. The marker was dedicated December 15, 1949, by the California Centennial Commission and the Society of California Pioneers.