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The Fabulous, Lost Woodward's Gardens
Before Golden Gate Park, the greatest source of outdoor entertainment in San Francisco was Woodward's Gardens in what is now the Mission District. Inspired after a trip to Europe, Robert Woodward built a huge public park in 1862 on his private estate property. The gardens and their fanciful buildings featured rare flowers, plants, stuffed and live animals, exotic birds, fossils, freaks of nature, huge gold nuggets, and antique relics shipped in from all over the world, each individually item tagged and identified. Woodward soon became known as the 'Barnum of the West.'

In addition, his Gardens featured Japanese acrobats, Indian fire-eaters, African tribesmen, Chang, an eight-foot Chinese man and Dot, a twenty five-inch midget. Visitors could ride camels or ostriches, stare at the kangaroos and llamas, or visit the country's first salt-water aquarium. The Gardens declined after Woodwards death and eventually closed in 1894. Today there remains no trace of the once finely-sculpted gardens and exotic buildings that were Woodward's Gardens.
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