Conservatory of Flowers – Garden Railway: 1915 Pan-Pacific Exhibition

The Conservatory of Flowers opened in 1879 making it one of the oldest buildings in Golden Gate Park today. It’s also one of the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatories in North America. A popular attraction to tourist and local Bay Area residents it’s a city, state and national historic landmark. On a recent visit, I missed a proposal by a few seconds in which the happy groom (she said yes!) exclaimed to surrounding friends how he chose that location because of its beautiful surroundings which no one could deny. There’s a tranquility to it that can only be understood through experience.

You can view an array of plants from all over the world such as, Cymbidium Orchids from Asia, Clerodendrum thomsoniae from West Africa and Anthurium from Latin America. There’s also a special exhibition in the back until April 10, 2016 entitled, “Garden Railway: 1915 Pan-Pacific” which celebrates the Centennial of San Francisco’s historic world’s fair, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The event was one of the biggest events in San Francisco history celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal, making San Francisco a hot spot for the world. The structures were built to impress but were meant to only be temporary. The Palace of Fine Arts was spared and is the only structure from the fair today that remains on the old fair grounds.

The display includes hundreds of dwarf plants, water features, and model trains making their way through the “fairgrounds”. Re-creations of monuments include the Tower of Jewels and Palace of Fine Arts. After the 1906 earthquake the city was left damaged and this was a great way for San Francisco to present themselves to the world as a recovered, vibrant and energetic city again. The fair took up around 630 acres of bay front tidal marsh—extending three miles from Fort Mason through the Presidio waterfront to just east of the Golden Gate. It was said that it would take years to visit all the exhibitions. Luckily for you, you can see the mini version in a couple of hours.

More info: http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Conservatory of Flowers

Garden Railway: 1915 Pan-Pacific