Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove - San Francisco, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 44.099 W 122° 28.526
10S E 546220 N 4176540
Stern Grove, a natural amphitheater surrounded by giant eucalyptus, redwood, and fir trees, is one of Northern California's favorite concert sites.
Waymark Code: WMFTQ2
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/30/2012
Views: 6
Stern Grove, as know to San Franciscans, is an 83 acre park between Sloat Boulevard and Wawona Street. It is contiguous with Pine Lake Park and Laguna Puerca Lake. The park occupies the floor of a deep recession fifteen blocks in length and a block or so wide at the base. The slopes of this recession are covered with a dense eucalyptus forest. The trees are up to an estimated 200 feet in height and create a thick natural screen from noise and the surrounding city.
The main entrance to the park is at Sloat Boulevard and 19th Avenue. This entrance leads to a small parking lot, usually reserved for performers at a concert. A second entrance at Vale Avenue off of Sloat leads to a larger parking lot for concert goers or to access Pine Lake Park.
There is a sandy playground in the park.
Excerpted from the
History of Stern Grove Festival and
Sigmund Stern Grove - San Francisco History:
George Greene originally homesteaded the Grove - a tract of sand dunes and marshes - in the 1840's. The Greene family planted the first eucalyptus trees in the Grove and built the Trocadero Inn, a popular recreation spot until its closure in 1916.
In 1931, John McLaren, San Francisco Superintendent of Parks, recommended to Rosalie Stern that she buy the Grove as a memorial to her late husband Sigmund, a prominent civic leader.
Marveling at the Grove's natural acoustics, Mrs. Stern determined that the site would be preserved as a park in which the public could enjoy admission-free music, dance, and theater performances. On June 4, 1932, Stern Grove was dedicated. Two weeks later, the San Francisco Symphony played the first concert in the Grove. Mrs. Stern, then President of the San Francisco Recreation Commission, formed the non-profit Stern Grove Festival Association in 1938, stipulating that all concerts were to be free to the public and designed for everyone's enjoyment.
In keeping with Mrs. Stern's vision, the wide selection of performers reflects the Festival's commitment to exceptional programming and to serving diverse audiences. A beloved Bay Area tradition, every summer Sunday for nearly seven decades, family and friends gather to relax, picnic, and enjoy performances by some of the world's greatest artists in this glorious natural setting.
While Stern Grove itself is still owned and operated by the City of San Francisco, and Mrs. Stern's descendents remain actively involved, today the Festival is truly a community institution.