This is Ohlone land

The human history of this land did not begin when colonists arrived. We acknowledge Lafayette Park is located on the un-ceded and occupied territories of the Ramaytush Ohlone. We have a responsibility to acknowledge the history and legacy of colonialism and the privileges gained by it. Please learn, engage, and act for justice.

This page presents a history of how the city of San Francisco established and developed Lafayette Park. It is not the only history of this place, nor the most important.

In 1912 the Park Commission funded construction of a “convenience station” (bathroom) at Lafayette Park, and stone sidewalks with granite curbing were constructed in 1913. The Holladay mansion and its gardens remained standing, but grew increasingly eerie as the vacated property deteriorated from neglect.

By 1897, Holladay sold off a parcel of his land fronting Gough Street. Since 1908, the St. Regis Apartment Building, designed by master architect C. A. Muessdorffer, has occupied this site (now 1925 Gough Street). A second house was constructed at the northwest corner of Gough and Clay, where prominent San Francisco resident, and journalist and proprietor of the San Francisco Bulletin, Robert A. Crothers lived from 1918 until about 1930.

Developer Louis Lurie bought the remaining Holladay property in the 1920s, but eventually sold to the City and County of San Francisco in 1935. Except for the St. Regis building, the entire 4-block park was now owned by the City.

Lafayette Park more or less achieved its current design during the Great Depression, when the Recreation Department partnered with the federal Works Progress Administration to undertake significant public improvement projects throughout the city and fund jobs for tens of thousands of unemployed individuals.

All of the existing paths on the west side of the park were resurfaced, as was the children’s play area. New work in this section of the park consisted of converting the original convenience station into a utility shed, building a tennis court directly to the shed’s east, and constructing a new, larger convenience station to the east of the tennis courts.

On the eastern half of the park, the city merely maintained the areas it had owned since the nineteenth century. Holladay’s mansion and water tower were demolished; however, all of the pathways and stairs associated with the old estate were retained. The Crothers residence on Gough Street, just north of Clay, was also demolished (though this may have occurred earlier). WPA-funded work on Lafayette Park continued through 1942.

Other than gaining a new playground and picnic tables in the early 1980s, Lafayette Park remained relatively unchanged until the renovations of 2012.