Destination: Mission Dolores, San Francisco

Tour Mission Dolores, explore Clarion Alley, and play at Mission Dolores Park

This is part of a series of family-oriented day trip outings around the San Francisco Bay Area I look forward to enjoying with my kids once social distancing and shelter in place isn’t the norm any longer.

Muni Heritage Weekend 2017 excursion through Dolores Park on Historic Streetcar #1 by Cody Tolmasoff

Social Isolation — Day 36

Today is the 114th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake, so I picked Mission Dolores today to reflect upon it.

San Francisco holds an annual memorial to the earthquake on April 18th at 5:12 AM at Lotta’s Fountain (canceled this year). It’s hard to wake up early enough to attend, I went once years ago when there were still a few survivors in attendance. They made speeches until 5:12 AM when we would have a moment of silence, broken by sirens a minute later. Some volunteers went over to paint the Golden Hydrant, and local restaurants would offer breakfast specials.

Many people flocked here after the earthquake to watch the city burn in the resulting fire. The Golden Fire Hydrant is located here at 20th & Church street, at the southwestern corner of the park. It was the only working fire hydrant and reportedly saved the Mission District from burning down. Each year as part of the memorial celebration of the earthquake, volunteers come to give it a fresh paint in gold. In the days following the fire, Dolores Park became a refugee tent camp. Within 3 months, they filled the park with Earthquake Relief Shacks. Up to 1600 people lived here until the summer of 1908. 
Photos from FoundSF.org

Mission Dolores Park was in the process of transforming from an old Jewish cemetery to a city park at the time of the earthquake. The former inhabitants having been relocated to Colma ahead of the earthquake. It’s remarkable that this land was open and ready to house so many people in need.

Destination: Mission Dolores

1. Explore Clarion Alley

2. Tour Mission Dolores

3. Play at Mission Dolores Park

Explore Clarion Alley

• https://clarionalleymuralproject.org/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion_Alley_Mural_Project

Clarion Alley Mural Project by Sean Davis

Clarion Alley is located between Mission and Valencia streets, a little south of 17th street. This area of the Mission can have more crime, so be aware of your surroundings and your group walking around here. 

Walking down the alley is a feast for the eyes, one mural after the next, bright and colorful. It’s only one block long, and local volunteers often do updates and keep the alley as clean as they can manage. Inspired by Balmy Alley (on the other side of the Mission closer to Bernal Hill), this project had a focus on social inclusiveness and aesthetic variety. 

Tour Mission Dolores

• https://www.missiondolores.org/64

• https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ca/ca36.htm

• http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist5/misdolor.html
  

Postcard Mission Dolores, founded 1776 by Eric Fischer

Mission Dolores is the oldest surviving building in San Francisco. Say what you will about the Spanish and their efforts to settle in the Americas, the fact is that they are a part of our history. When visiting a place like this, I try to offer my kids an unbiased viewpoint for the good and bad things that happened here over time. 

Visiting the Mission, the architecture of the main church is unmistakable. Stepping into the old church is like stepping back into time, it has been remarkably preserved. I like to pair a visit with Mission Dolores with a visit to the main post at the presidio as there was a time when these were the only bits of western civilization around, everything else we know grew up around these two locations. 

The cemetery here is one of the few cemeteries still located in the city, there are some really old graves here. I like to take a tour to hear stories of people laid to rest here. And finally, the gift shop on the way out is a nice way to finish your visit. 

Play at Mission Dolores Park

• https://goldengatepark.com/dolores-park.html

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Dolores_Park

• https://sfrecpark.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Mission-Dolores-Park-188

• https://www.sfparksalliance.org/our-parks/parks/mission-dolores-park

• https://sfrecpark.org/648/Mission-Dolores---Helen-Diller-Playgroun

• https://sf.curbed.com/2018/2/5/16974848/dolores-park-old-pics-history-cemetery-shelter-past

Helen Diller Playground at Dolores Park by torbakhopper

Soon after the refugee camp closed following the 1906 earthquake, improvements began in the park. One of the first things they added was a children's wading pool where the playground is now (see photos in the sfcurbed.com link above). Generations of San Francisco kids have played there over the last century. 

---

Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book, 52 San Francisco Bay Area Weekend Adventures, Day Trips With Your Kids!

Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.

Originally published on Medium on 18 April 2020