SAN FRANCISCO AREA BY AREA - San Francisco and Northern California - page 141

4 de Young Fine
Arts Museum of SF
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden
Gate Park. Map 8 F2. Tel [phone].
@ 5, 21, 44. v N. Open 9:30am-
5:15pm Tue-Sun (Apr-Nov: to 8:45pm
Fri). Closed Thanksgiving, Dec 25.
& (free first Tue of month). 7
∑ famsf.org

6 Children's
Playground
Kezar Drive, near First Ave. Map 9 A1.
@ 5, 71. v N. No adults allowed
unless accompanied by children.

This is the oldest public
children's playground in the
United States, and it set the
style for many later ones.
In 1978 it was redesigned with
sandboxes, swings, sprawling
slides, and a climbing “fortress.”
On the Herschell-Spillman
merry-go-round, housed in a
Greek-inspired structure that
dates from 1892, children ride
on brightly painted beasts.

Founded in 1895, the de Young
Museum houses one of the city's
finest art collections. In 1989
the building was too damaged
by an earthquake to be saved.
However, an exciting state-of-
the-art facility opened in 2005.
The museum now contains a
broad range of American art,
with more than 1,000 paintings
on view, as well as extensive
pre-Columbian-American,
African, and Oceanic works.

Plaques in the Shakespeare Garden

1 Shakespeare
Garden
Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park.
Map 8 F2. @ 44.
Gardeners here have tried
to cultivate all the plants
mentioned in William Shake-
speare's works. The relevant
quotes are written on plaques
set in a wall at the back of
the garden.

5 McLaren Lodge
Nr junction of Stanyan St and Fell St
on the park's east side. Map 9 B1.
Tel [phone]. Open 8am-5pm Mon-
Fri. Closed major holidays. @ 7, 21.

This sandstone villa, designed
by Edward Swain, was built in
1896. As superintendent of the
park, John McLaren lived here
with his family until his death in
1943. His portrait hangs on the
wall, and every December the
cypress tree outside is lit with
colored lights in his memory.
The lodge is now a park office
that also dispenses maps
and information.

2 California
Academy of
Sciences
See pp152-3.

Inside the Columbarium

7 Columbarium
1 Loraine Court. Map 3 B5. Tel 752-
7891. @ 33, 38. Open 10am-5pm
Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat & Sun.
Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, Dec 25.
7 ground floor only.

3 Japanese Tea
Garden
Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park.
Map 8 F2. Tel [phone]. @ 44.
Open 9am-6pm daily (Nov-Feb:
to 4:45pm). & - =
∑ japaneseteagardensf.com

The San Francisco Columbarium
is the sole survivor of the old
Lone Mountain Cemetery, which
once covered sizable tracts of
the Richmond District. Most of
the remains were disinterred
and moved to Colma in 1914.
This Neo-Classical rotunda
houses the remains of 6,000
people in elaborate decorated
urns. Unused for several decades,
it was rescued and restored by
the Neptune Society in 1979. The
ornate, bright interior under the
dome has lovely stained-glass
windows. The narrow passages
encircling the dome are
remarkable for their acoustics.
View of Golden Gate Bridge from Lincoln Park

Established by the art dealer
George Turner Marsh for the
California Midwinter Fair of 1894
(see p148) , this garden is a
popular attraction. The best
time to visit is when the cherry
trees bloom in April. Paths wind
through the carefully manicured
Japanese trees, shrubs, and
flowers. The steeply arched Moon
Bridge forms a dramatic circular
reflection in the pond below.
The largest bronze Buddha to be
found outside Asia, which was
cast in Japan in 1790, is seated
at the top of the garden stairs. Gateway in the Japanese Tea Garden