Golden Gate Park A Vision Fulfilled

Ross, CA: E. W. Gutman. Very Good. 1962. 1st Edition; 1st Printing. Paperback. B&W Illustrations; This is an oblong paperback book. The book is in Very Good condition and was issued without a dust jacket. The covers are mostly clean and bright, but there are spots of ground-in dirt, and spots of rubbing. The text pages are clean and bright. " (John McLaren) He worked on the George H. Howard estate in the San Mateo foothills in California, then on the Leland Stanford estate in Palo Alto, and planted trees on the Coyote Point on the shore of the bay. He was friends with John Muir, and dedicated his life to vigorous advocacy and development of the 1,017-acre (4.12 km2) Golden Gate Park, one of the largest public parks in the world, using considerable political skill in addition to his remarkable gardening skill. Appointed Park Superintendent in 1887, he requested thirty thousand dollars a year for park building. One of John McLaren's stipulations before taking the superintendent job was, "There will be no 'Keep off the Grass' signs." [3] His horticultural philosophy was to achieve a natural look, typified in his dislike for statuary, calling them "stookies" and planting trees and shrubs to hide them. He built two windmills to pump water to his park and had the sweepings from San Francisco streets delivered as fertilizer. When ocean waves and wind piled sand on the west end of the park, he began a forty-year effort to pile branches, clippings and laths on the shore to capture sand and build the great berm that now holds the Great Highway. " (from Wikipedia) .