LANDS END
Mia's Territory
Landmarks:
Cliff House
Built in 1909, the present building is the third on this site. Its predecessor, an elaborate eight-story Gothic structure that burned in the fires that followed the 1906 quake, was built by flamboyant entrepreneur Adolph Sutro (his estate on the hill overlooking Cliff House is now Sutro Heights Park). Cliff House has restaurants on the upper level, and a visitors center and two museums on the lower.
Lands End
A rugged seascape of rock, cliff and cypress woods, Land's End is the wildest part of San Francisco. It can be reached by foot along the Coastal Trail, which begins at some stairs in Lincoln Park. Every year, a number of hikers and tourists who foolishly leave the marked trail are lost when they are trapped by incoming tides or swept away by high waves.
Lands End Tunnel
A 100 foot tunnel dug through solid cliff rock to open an access way for three trains to service Cliff House and the Sutro Baths. The rail tracks are now eroded and provide an extension of the Coastal Trail.
Lincoln Park
Sitting just a few blocks north of Golden Gate Park, this park was originally Golden Gate Cemetery, where graves were segregated according to the nationality of their occupants.
Palace of the Legion of Honor
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor museum was built in 1924 (inspired by the Palais de la Legion in Paris) and is home to Rodin's "The Thinker".
Seal Rocks
In 1887 the Seal Rocks and their resident seals were put in trust and protection as a preserver for the peoples of the USA through an act of Congress.
Sutro Baths (ruins)
The concrete ruins to the North of Cliff House are all that remain of the Sutro Baths (opened 1896). A classic Greek portal opened to a massive glass enclosure containing seven swimming pools of various temperatures. There were slides, trapezes, springboards and a high dive. Together the pools held 1.7 million gallons of water and could be filled in one hour by high tides. The Baths could accommodate 10,000 people at one time. For all their glamour and excitement, the success of Sutro Baths was short lived. The Baths were not commercially successful and Sutro's grandson converted part of the Baths into a skating rink in 1937, a task completed in the early 1950's by new owner George Whitney. Sutro Baths never regained its popularity and the ice-skating revenue was not enough to maintain the enormous building. In 1964, developers who planned to replace the Baths with high-rise apartments bought the site. A fire in 1966 quickly finished the demolition work, but the apartment scheme was never realized.
Sutro Heights Park
As part of the history of Adolph Sutro's development of the area, Sutro Heights was known for its plant conservatory and Romanistic statues that once decorated the area. It was also home to Adolph Sutro, the self-made millionare of the 1800's.
Features:
Mile Rock Beach
Lincoln Park Municipal Golf Course
Veterans Administration Hospital (Fort Miley)
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