In 1868, what is now Lincoln Park was reserved by the City of San Francisco for a city cemetery known as Potter’s Field or Golden Gate Cemetery. The Board of Supervisors banned all burials in the City of San Francisco in 1901 and by 1909 Golden Gate Cemetery was ordered to move.
The Board of Supervisors turned approximately 150 acres of the former cemetery over to the Parks Commission that created Lincoln Park, named in honor of President Abraham Lincoln. Part of the land was also given to the US Army for an expansion of Fort Miley.
Lincoln Park was officially dedicated as the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway in 1915 and the Palace of the Legion of Honor was added to the Park nine years later. Today it is a much loved and widely used municipal asset that provides a beautiful setting for the Lincoln Park Golf Course and the Legion of Honor.
Learn more about Lincoln Park by exploring the topics below. (The links open Adobe Acrobat pdfs 410 KB or less – Get Adobe Reader)