Griffin’s Dad, Don, and his wife Cheryl were in town last weekend to enjoy some San Francisco scenery. We had a great time taking them ALL over the city. I think we did something like 80 miles in three days in a city that is only 7 square miles! On Friday Griffin took them to Golden Gate Park while I was at work (again, someone has to pay the bills…) to see the Conseravatory of Flowers and the Japanese Tea Garden. In the evening we went to the top of Twin Peaks for the view of the city since it was clear out.
On Saturday we went all over the place. We started out at the Marin Headlands, taking the Embaracadero all the way around the outer edge of the city to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was incredibly windy at the bridge overlook so we didn’t last long there. We drove around the area enjoying some less windy vantage points and several old bunkers. Many batteries and bunkers were built in the Marin Headlands starting in 1890s and continuing into World War II to protect the bay.
After tooling around the Headlands for a bit we headed back accross the Golden Gate. Since we were up in the northern part of the city I suggested we visit the Sutro Bath ruins as they have been on my list of things to see in San Francisco for quite some time now. In an attempt to find them from the bridge we promptly got lost in the Laural Heights neighborhood (at least that’s where I think we were) but eventually found our way thanks to GPS navigtion on our cell phones. The ruins weren’t much to look at but their history was fairly interesting.
They were built in 1896 by Adolph Sutro, a former mayor of San Francisco. The 3 acre natatorium consisted of seven pools, a glass ceiling, seating for 8,000, artifacts from Sutro’s extensive collection, a concert hall, and at one time, an ice skating rink. The seven pools ranged in temperature from ice-cold to eighty degrees in ten degree gaps. During high tides, sea water would flow directly into the pools from the ocean. During low tides water was pumped in with a large pump. There were water slides, diving platforms, trampolines and swings to play on in the pools. Patrons were required to use suits provided by the establishment (ick). Sutro held numerous events at the baths to attract visitors such as fairs, competitions, beauty contests and swimming championships and eventually installed amusement park rides outside the baths.
After Sutro’s death his heirs struggled to maintain the business. They tried to get the city to buy the baths in 1912 with a $687,000 bond issue that failed. In 1919, Sutro’s daughter tried to sell the baths for $410,000. Eventually Sutro’s grandson renovated the baths with a south seas theme and brought in ice skating, dancing, ping-pong, and basketball but after losing money every year sold them in 1952 for $250,000. The new owner, George Whitney shutdown the pool portion of the baths and then eventually the whole builting in 1966. Soon after the building burned down in waht some called a suspicious fire. In 1980 the National Park Service bought the land for over $5 million to be part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Pictures from cliffhouseproject.com
History from outsidelands.org
