For more than a hundred years, a towering Monterey cypress stood sentinel over Hellman Hollow, its sweeping branches shading generations of parkgoers.
On Thursday, that chapter came to an end.
The 90-foot tree, perched on the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park, was taken down after its massive trunk split earlier this month, according to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.
“From the Roaring ’20s to the Summer of Love to this month’s Hardly Strictly, its branches shaded generations of San Franciscans,” the department wrote in a Facebook post. “Though it can no longer stand, its story isn’t over. Its wood will be repurposed in our nature exploration areas, where it will continue to bring joy.”
Gardener Alexandra DiBianca says goodbye to a 90-foot cypress in Golden Gate Park’s Hellman Hollow, which was removed Thursday after more than 100 years of standing watch over San Francisco. (San Francisco Recreation and Park Department)
Tamara Barak Aparton, the department’s spokesperson, said the removal was an emotional moment for staff who had cared for the park’s trees for decades.
“It’s a little emotional for our Rec and Park gardeners who have spent many years taking care of Golden Gate Park,” she said. “All the debris will be gone by the end of the day tomorrow. It’s watched over thousands and thousands of summer camp kids and generations of picknickers. It’s also attended many a concert, standing stoically in the back.”
Over the decades, that vantage point offered the cypress a front-row seat to the city’s evolving culture. It shaded picnic blankets and car shows, polo matches and charity walks. It stood through the Outside Lands festival, birthday parties, kickball tournaments, corporate retreats, and many other community events. Few trees in the park have seen so many versions of San Francisco in one place.
A 90-foot cypress in Golden Gate Park’s Hellman Hollow was removed after more than 100 years of standing watch over San Francisco. (San Francisco Recreation and Park Department)
The fallen cypress was part of a lineage tracing back to the park’s founding. William Hammond Hall, Golden Gate Park’s first superintendent, chose cypress trees for their resilience and ability to thrive in the park’s coastal climate. Their tall, sculptural forms became a defining feature of the landscape, uniting meadows, groves, and gardens across its 1,000 acres.
Hellman Hollow, originally a horse-and-buggy racetrack built in 1894, has evolved through more than a century of San Francisco history – from a refugee camp after the 1906 earthquake to a beloved meadow renamed in 2011 to honor philanthropist Warren Hellman.
The site remains home to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, where the old tree’s branches swayed to the sound of guitars and fiddles.
This article originally published at San Francisco says goodbye to a century-old cypress in Golden Gate Park.