Mission Dolores Park (“Dolores Park”) is located on the western edge of the Mission District (“The Mission”) on one of Twin Peaks’ lower slopes between Dolores, 18th, Church and 20th. It was originally occupied by the Ohlone Indians. When Spanish missionaries[1] arrived in the 1770s they used the land for growing crops. The area became parts of rancheros owned by the Valenciano, Guerrero, Dolores, Bernal and Noe families under Mexican rule. When San Francisco was incorporated in 1850 as part of the United States, a two mile wooden plank road connected The Mission to Portsmouth Square, the City’s hub at the time. This road was later paved and became Mission Street.
In 1860 what is today’s Dolores Park was purchased by Congregation Sherith Israel and Congregation Emanu-El[2] and converted into two Jewish cemeteries. The cemeteries became inactive in 1894, and gravesites were relocated to Hills of Eternity and Home of Peace Cemeteries in Colma.
In 1903 over 1,000 property owners south of Market Street formed the Mission Park Association and introduced a measure to buy the former cemetery land and create a public park. The measure passed by 73.9% and Mission Park, as it was referred to at the time, opened in 1905. A year later the park was converted into a refugee camp after the 1906 Earthquake and Fires[3] and remained as such until the summer of 1908. In 1909 a wading pool was built at the site where the current Diller Playground stands. As The Mission was still considered on the outskirts of San Francisco, all manner of entertainment could be found there: bullfighting, bear fighting, duels, horse racing and baseball games. In fact, three baseball stadiums would be built in The Mission. Recreation Grounds, opened in 1868, was California’s first professional baseball stadium. Located at Folsom and 25th, what remains of the stadium can be found in Garfield Square. Recreation Park was located at 14th and Valencia, and Seals Stadium[4] was located at 16th and Bryant.
Prior to the late 1930s The Mission was largely inhabited by Irish and German immigrants, but when the Mexican-American enclave on Rincoln Hill was displaced for the western landing of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge[5], most of the community relocated to The Mission. With the placement of the Mexican Liberty Bell in Mission Park in 1966, The Mission became the cultural epicenter of San Francisco’s LatinX Community.
Mission Park was not a popular destination spot in the latter part of the 20th century. With a national drug epidemic after the introduction of crack cocaine, Mission Park became a drug marketplace. But in 2014 Mission Park had a major makeover, including the installation of tennis courts, a basketball court, a soccer field, a children’s playground and a dog park. Reopened on January 27, 2016 as Dolores Park, it immediately became a popular weekend destination. It is the one place in the City where you will see every gender, every age, every religion, every ethnicity, every political persuasion and every sexual orientation enjoying the majestic views and party atmosphere. It remains my go-to place on a sunny day.
[1] Mission Dolores: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4168
[2] Congregation Emanu-El: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4291
[3] 1906 Earthquake: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=2849
[4] Seals Stadium: see story coming September 20th
[5] Bay Bridge: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3306
