At the turn of the 20th century there were no municipal golf courses in San Francisco or, for that matter, in any of the surrounding communities. However by 1902 golf was fast gaining popularity, and many private golf and country clubs were starting. The general public, who did not have access or were unable to afford the country club setting for golfing recreation, began to press the City to set aside some public land to be groomed as a public golf course.
In 1902 the parcel of land now referred to as Lincoln Park was a cemetery, which was named Potter’s Field. Like many cemeteries of that era, it was ethnically divided into various sections. What is presently the eighteenth fairway of the golf course was a burial ground, primarily for the city’s Italian community. The area that now constitutes the first and thirteenth fairway was the Chinese section of the cemetery and the high terrain at the fifteen fairway and thirteenth tee was a Serbian resting place.
At the beginning of 1902 two men, Jack Neville (designer of Pebble Beach) and Vincent Whitney, approached John McLaren, San Francisco’s steward of public parks in the early century, about the prospect of constructing a municipal golf course. Jack Neville at the time was a member of the recently formed Claremont Country Club in Oakland and was considered one of the finest amateur golfers in the country in the early part of the century.
John McLaren suggested that the Potter’s Field site would be a good place for the city and for Neville and Whitney to try their hand at constructing some golf holes. At the time golf was still considered a game to be played on links land as near to the ocean as possible, and Potter’s Field, despite it being an existing cemetery, was considered a good site. By the end of 1902 a three hole layout was completed on the hilly, wind swept, and almost treeless land. These three holes occupied what is presently the first, twelve and thirteenth holes of the modern day course.
How odd that the tombstones remain in place!
I never knew there was a cemetery there or tombstones are still visible. I wonder if people were up in arms back in those days to convert a cemetery into a golf course.
Very interesting.
Good story, and great landscape with tombstones.
This is news to me. There is a military cemetery at the Presidio and a small Catholic cemetery inside the Mission Dolores walls, but the only other burial site I knew was still in the city is for Rev. Thomas Starr King by the Unitarian church on Franklin street. I thought everyone else had been moved to Colma in the 1920s to 1940s.
Oh, and there’s the Columbarium.
It seems almost disrespectful to have a round of golf over several grave sites. But then people have picnics in cemeteries, so why not?
I hope no damage occurs from errant golf balls!
I feel quite surprised about this. The remaining grave markers look like they belong among the trees. Any idea what happened to the other graves?
The name ‘Potters’ Field’ is not so much a name as a term. A ‘potter’s field’ is mostly clay and not of much use for agriculture, hence used for other things. In biblical times, the term meant an area of useless land, used for the burial of poor and unidentified people. The name is straight from a number of biblical passages.
Perhaps this ‘Potter’s Field’ was easy to change from cemetery to golf-course because there were few grave-markers and no-one who visited and felt ‘ownership’ of the departed who rested therein.
I suspect that if this area were subject to geophysical imaging, bodies would still reside beneath the greens. Which is no bad thing, in my opinion. I like the respectful way in which they have incorporated the few remaining markers into the golf-course.
I have found this post fascinating, and I welcome you to Taphophile Tragics. I look forward to your next post.
Interesting mix of uses for this piece of land. I can think of a few people I know who would welcome the opportunity to be buried on a golf course!
I have a love hate thing with golf courses..they take up a lot of land, and it is preserved sort of….but then again that is the problem they take up a lot of land, here in SC our coastal areas are littered with golf courses….and Im sure some have destroyed old burial grounds in the process.
Fascinating post. Incorporating the gravestones into the course is far better than destroying the old graveyard completely. Looks looks like a really interesting place. I too had heard of a “potters field” before but in relation to somewhere completely different in another country. I’m glad Julie has explained it for me.