California DAR

Visit the Arch of Colonial Trees, Dedicated to the Founding of our Country, in Golden Gate Park

Located in Golden Gate Park, the fifth most-visited park in the country, is the Arch of Colonial Trees. Planted in 1894 by the Sequoia Chapter, NSDAR. La Puerta de Oro-San Francisco Chapter, NSDAR, lovingly restored the trees in 1976 and 2011.  

To find more information about Golden Gated Park and the Arch of Colonial Trees visit the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department website.  A key to the Arch of Colonial Trees in Golden Gate Park is included below.  

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“...at an early day, in Golden Gate Park, the natural beauties of which are unsurpassed, a Liberty Tree, which shall perpetuate the name of the Society in California, and the objects for which it was organized, throughout the coming ages.”   The day was described in the book, Ceremonies at Planting the Liberty Tree in Golden Gate Park, Sequoia Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, April 19, 1894, The 119th Anniversary of the Battle of Lexington.

On October 19, 1896, the anniversary of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, under the supervision of John McLaren, trees sent from the original 13 states were planted in Golden Gate Park, along the State Tree Walk in the Pioneer Garden.  The trees were planted in a curved allée 450 feet in length, by the Sequoia Chapter, NSDAR. 

The idea came from Mrs. Adolphus Hubbard, our first state regent, 1891-93, and Sequoia Chapter, NSDAR, member Mrs. Peter Hughes of Pennsylvania.  Although the park gardeners planted the trees, the Daughters added earth from historic sites with a silver trowel, the handle of which was made from the wood of a magnolia tree by George Washington at Mt. Vernon.  The cedar from Pennsylvania was placed in the center of the walk as the keystone, with the trees from the southern states south of it and those from the northern states to its north. The catalpa tree for Georgia was planted at the far south end, and the maple from New Hampshire and the elm tree from Massachusetts at the north end, now near the beginning of Stow Lake Drive.

On May 19, 1920, a granite boulder was placed with a bronze plaque; the boulder had been delayed in Truckee because of a rail strike.  The Right Reverend William Ford Nichols, Bishop of California, again said the prayer he had offered at the 1896 ceremony.

The following was written by Chapter Historian Gertrude A.  Burnett, in 1938.  

"Sarah Isabelle Hubbard conceived the idea of planting an historic arch in Golden Gate Park. On Yorktown Day, October 19, 1896, our “Historic Arch,” composed of representative trees from historic spots in the thirteen original states of the Union, was planted, in earth taken from famous Revolutionary localities, near the Pioneer Cabin in Golden Gate Park.  The trees were planted in the form of a crescent 450 feet in length, with Massachusetts’ elm at the northern end, Georgia’s catalpa at the southern, and Pennsylvania’s cedar in the center to represent the keystone. Ellen Merrill Wetherbee, the chapter regent, was chairman for the day.  An address was delivered by Zenus U. Dodge. There were over two thousand persons present. At the foot of the Pennsylvania tree was placed soil from the grave of Lafayette in Cemetery Picpus, Paris, France, soil from Wakefield, the birthplace of Washington, and soil from beneath historic trees.  While the planting was being done, the band played the Marseillaise and the Star Spangled Banner. Connecticut was represented by a young oak, a year old, a grandchild of the famous Charter Oak, raised from an acorn by Mabel Burgess Hough, a girl of 12 years of age, of Norwich, Connecticut, and presented to the newly organized Valentine Holt Society, C.A.R., of San Francisco.  The tree was planted by Miss Helen A. Hallowell, registrar, and Master Herbert R. Baker, color-bearer of the said Society. The tree itself was a gift from a Connecticut C.A.R. society.”

On May 29, 1976, in honor of the Bicentennial, the State Tree Walk was re-dedicated, and five of the trees that had not survived were replaced. Officiating at the 1976 ceremony was Mrs. John B. Thomson, Jr., Sequoia Chapter, NSDAR, Regent.  Mrs. Thomson was a member of our chapter until her death on February 12, 2012, at age 102.

Soil from important historic sites was used in the 1976 re-planting:

• Rhode Island – soil from the grave of William Ellery, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence
• North Carolina – soil from the grave of Absolom Tatum, Major in the Revolutionary War
• Georgia – soil from the Kettle Creek Battlefield, site of a decisive  battle in 1779
• Virginia – soil from Thomas Jefferson’s grave
• Pennsylvania – soil from Valley Forge