A Tour of San Francisco

Golden Gate Park and the Colonial Arch of Trees is a special place for the La Puerto de Oro - San Francisco Chapter, NSDAR. It’s a great place to have a picnic, explore the park and all it has to offer. But there are other locations throughout San Francisco that our Chapter has celebrated over the years and these are just a few of these commemorated locations.

coit tower and Telegraph Hill Historical Landmark no. 91

Coit Memorial Tower, more popularly referred to as Coit Tower, is located at 1 Telegraph Hill Boulevard, in San Francisco. Designed in the Art Deco style by noted architect Arthur Brown, Jr. as a commemorative monument and observation tower, it was built during the Great Depression, largely financed by a bequest to the City and County of San Francisco from Lillie Hitchcock Coit.

Known for its views and 27 murals that comprise a large-scale, fresco, New Deal art project titled Aspects of Life in California, 1934. Before Coit Tower was built, the location was home to the first western telegraph station and inner signal station. A California Historical Landmark, NO. 91 Telegraph Hill; “A signal station was erected on Telegraph Hill in 1849 from which to observe the incoming vessels, a tall pole with movable arms was used to signal to the people in the town below whether sailing vessels or the sidewheel vessels of the Pacific mail were passing through the Golden Gate. In September 1853, the first telegraph in California, which extended eight miles to Point Lobos, was stationed here, giving the hill its name.” - California Historical Landmarks.

At the east side of the north wall is a bronze plaque placed by Daughters of the American Revolution commemorating the inner signal station on Telegraph Hill and the first western telegraph station.

Fort Point - Castillo de San Joaquín Historical Landmark no. 82

Errected in1955 by San Francisco Chapters, Daughters of the American Revolution the marker celebrates the Castillo de San Joaquin, the first fortification built on this spot in 1794. The first ship ancored here in 1775, eventually becoming Fort Point in 1853, which still stands today. The marker describes the discovery and military significance of this location for the City of San Francisco and the Golden Gate.

The marker is located on the southwest corner of the fort wall under the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Fort Point is easily accessed via the water front path at Crissy Field.

Portsmouth Square - First Raising of the American Flag in San Francisco

In 1924 the San Francisco chapters joined together in placing a bronze plaque set in a stone at the base of the flagpole in Portsmouth Square, commemorating the first raising of the American Flag in San Francisco by Capt. John Montgomery of the USS Portsmouth in 1846.

Located in the heart of Chinatown, is Portsmouth Square. Not only is it the location of the first raising of the American flag within San Francisco in 1846, it is also where the discovery of gold was announced in 1848, starting the Gold Rush and put the City of San Francisco on map. On July 9, 1846, Commander John B. Montgomery and his detachment from the Portsmouth raised the American flag over the plaza in the town of Yerba Buena, then under Mexican rule. The name of the plaza was later changed to Portsmouth Square commemorating Montgomery's ship. However, it should be noted that Montgomery Street is named after Commander Montgomery of the Portsmouth.

Renowned French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon journeyed to America, where he stayed at Mt. Vernon for two weeks, studying the 53 yr old Washington, making sketches, casts and taking detailed measurements. His completed work, arriving in the US in 1796, was acclaimed by Washington’s friends as the best likeness of him ever done. It still stands in the State capitol rotunda in Richmond, Virginia.

The statue proved very popular and several bronze replicas were made in the 1800s for various locales, primarily in the East. In 1908 Mrs. John McGaw, Regent of La Puerta de Oro Chapter, began the enormous task of fund raising for a replica for San Francisco. Sequoia and California Chapters, other Chapters in California and the SAR also participated in the project. The first fund raiser, an elegant affair, was held in December 1908 in the Colonial Ballroom of the St. Francis Hotel, newly rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake and fire. DAR officers were in Colonial dress and there were a variety of musical offerings as entertainment. Patronesses were from many San Francisco philanthropic families, including Mrs. Pheobe Hearst.

Six years later, when the required $7000 was raised, the statue was ordered. On Decoration Day 1917 the bronze statue was unveiled in elaborate ceremonies at the Palace of Fine Arts, by Miss Betty Washington Mann, a descendant in the George Washington family.

The original plaque read: “Presented to the Citizens of San Francisco by the Daughters of the American Revolution May 30, 1917.”

In 1933 the statue was moved to the War Memorial Veterans Building in Civic Center, and later to a San Francisco schoolyard. In 1994 it was installed at George Washington High School. The original base was lost in a move, so in the 1990’s the San Francisco Chapter of the SAR graciously donated the current base and replaced the original plaque, which had been saved.

The statue itself is filled with symbolism. Although he is dressed in his military uniform Washington’s sword is laid aside. Rather he holds a cane in his right hand, symbolizing what he long stood for – the subordination of the military to the civil power of the people. The column has 13 rods, one for each of the 13 original states, in the form of a fasces, the ancient Roman symbol of the administrative power of the State. His foot resting on the plowshare represents his return to the life of a farmer.

There are only 22 replicas of the original Houdon throughout the country and the world; one stands in London’s Trafalgar Square, given to Great Britain by Virginia in 1921. Because after the Revolution Gen. Washington said that he would never again set foot in Great Britain, some earth was brought from Virginia and placed under the base so he would be standing on Virginia soil.

The molds no longer exist, so this statue is truly a treasure and we are indeed fortunate to have it in our City.