• View of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken from the Marin Headlands, looking across the bay back towards San Francisco, seen in the distance.

    Golden Gate

    National Recreation Area California

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  • Tunnel to Marin Headlands Closed

    The tunnel on Bunker Road from Alexander Avenue in Sausalito towards the Marin Headlands is closed for construction. Please follow the detour signs to Conzelman Road (just above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge) to go up over the hill. More »

  • Muir Beach (but not nearby Muir Woods) parking lot closed June-November 2013

    Muir Beach parking lot will be closed from June-November 2013 due to construction. Restrooms or nearby parking will not be available at Muir Beach during this period. Pacific Way is closed except to residents. Check back for updates or call (415)561-3054 More »

  • CAUTION: Post Storm Damage to Coastal Trail

    The Presidio Coastal Trail segment just north of the Pacific Overlook and adjacent to Lincoln Blvd remains CLOSED indefinitely. We have posted signage to alert bicyclists and hikers and with information for safe trail alternatives. More »

The 1915 World's Fair

The 1915 World's Fair took place in San Francisco at what is today the Presidio and the Marina District. Officially called the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the fair celebrated the successful 1914 completion of the Panama Canal, which connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Locally, the 1915 World's Fair was San Francisco's opportunity to prove that the city, by then fully recovered from its devastating 1906 earthquake, was open for business.

 
Photo of the Avenue of the Palms at the 1915 World's Fair
The scale and design of the fair were exceptional. The Tower of Jewels, shown here at the center of the photograph, reached 40 stories skyward and held 102,000 pieces of multicolored glass that were illuminated by electric lights at night.
PARC, Golden Gate
 

For Further Reading:

The Last Great World’s Fair; San Francisco’s Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915. Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, 2004.

San Francisco Invites the World; The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915; by Donna Ewald and Peter Clute; Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1991

 
 
  • Historic Crissy Airfield Historic Crissy Airfield

    Learn about the history of this significant airfield. Read More

  • The 1915 World's Fair brochure The 1915 World's Fair brochure

    To download the park's brochure (208 KB pdf file). Read More

Did You Know?

Photo of a comorant drinking seawater.

Seabirds such as gulls, cormorants, and other seabirds can drink salt water? Excess salt is then excreted through a “salt gland” located near their eyes.