California Palace of the Legion of Honor - San Francisco, CA
Posted by: 
bluesnote
N 37° 47.069 W 122° 30.048
10S E 543956 N 4182020
The California Legion Palace is located here, in Lincoln Park. It marks the official western terminus of the Lincoln Highway.
Waymark Code: WMRB21
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 06/02/2016
Views: 5
Taken from Wikipedia, "The Legion of Honor (formerly known as The California Palace of the Legion of Honor) is a part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF). The name is used both for the museum collection and for the building in which it is housed. On March 22, 2016, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco announced the appointment of Max Hollein as its director, taking over from Colin Bailey who left for the Morgan Library & Museum after a two-year term. Hollein's tenure begins on June 1, 2016."
Taken from the book, "216. On the formally landscaped summit in the northern section of the park stands the city's largest art museum, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (open daily 10-5; parking area; organ concerts Sat. and Sun. 3-4), a memorial to California's dead in the first World War, the gift (1924) of Adolph B. and Alma de Bretteville Spreckles. The cream colored palace, closely resembling the eighteenth-century classic Palais de la Legion d'Honneur (Paris, Franse) is approached thought a Roman arch flanked by two porticoes with double rows of Ionic columns. The porticoes abut the two wings of the palace to form a rectangular court. The wings are flanked by peristyles, each with 22 columns, and the main facade is fronted by a portico with six Corinthian columns. On of the five original bronze coasts of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker occupies the center of the court. The entire building is off set by a stone balustrade. Bronze equestrian statues (Ann Hyatt Huntington, sculptress El Cid, and Jeanne d'Arc, flank the path leading to the entrance. A marble plaque besides the doorway, the gift of France, reads: "Hommage de la France aux héros Californiens morts pour la défense du droit et la liberty" (France's homage to the California hero dead in defense of right and liberty)."
Originally built to house offices for the American Legion Headquarters, the building is now being used for a large art museum. Inside, countless artifacts from all over the world are on display including one of five original casts of Rodin's "The Thinker". The building also marks the official end of the Lincoln Highway, the first east to west modern road in the United States. The building is modeled after the Palais de la Legion d'Honneur in Paris France, which has an almost identical look.
Book: San Francisco
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 315
Year Originally Published: 1940
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