Precolumbian Coyote Point was originally an island in San Francisco Bay rising to a height of above mean sea level with a marsh connecting it to the mainland.
Spanish settlement Coyote Point, is mentioned on maps before 1895 as San Mateo Point or San Matheo Point, was part of the
Presidio and Mission lands until it passed to Mexico. The Governor of Mexico then granted the land, then known as
Rancho San Mateo, to Cayetano Arenas, from whom the name can probably be traced. The Arenas family sold it to the firm of Mellus and Howard, and
William Davis Merry Howard purchased it from the firm in 1850. Dubbed the "
Coney Island of the West", the park included a beach (with trucked-in sand), boardwalk, children's playground, scenic railway, merry-go-round,
Ferris wheel, dancing pavilion, and several food concessions. Although it was reputed to have had one million visitors in aggregate over the first season (1922), a fire during the second season destroyed about one quarter of the development, and it opened only briefly for a third season. The reasons given for the closure were strong afternoon winds and sewage contamination in the bay. The Pacific City Corporation (PCC), which developed the site, was led by a three-member board of directors composed of A.H. Dougall, Jr.; Arnold C. Lackenbach; and David J. Stollery. Stollery was serving as the secretary for PCC's largest creditor, the William H. Howard Estate Company. PCC was supported by the 3CCC, led by manager Daniel C. Imboden for the cities of San Mateo, Burlingame, and Hillsborough; 3CCC had been organized in 1921 with one of its stated priorities to be "the development of the San Mateo Beach" and was satisfied "that the building of Pacific City would well repay the membership of the Chamber for the money and time expended." At the time, the planned opening date was May 30, 1922,
Decoration Day. The land was acquired for from the
William H. Howard Estate Company in February 1922; The site of Pacific City stretched for north from Coyote Point, including of land and covered by water. The Pacific City Corporation bragged in April 1922 that an investment of in total had been made so far, including land, construction, and equipment. By late May, it was clear the new park would not be open in time for the holiday, although the work was nearing completion, including a entry gate with an illuminated sign, which would be visible to cars traveling on the
Bayshore Highway. D. Wooster Taylor resigned from his position as superintendent of the children's playground at
Golden Gate Park (now the Koret Children's Quarter) to manage Pacific City. Opening day was set for Saturday, July 1; that last week of June, workers hurried to put the finishing touches on the new park.
Attractions Visitors to Pacific City rode the Southern Pacific
Peninsula Commute trains to
Burlingame, where
Fageol shuttles would take them to the park for an additional 5 cents, the
San Mateo Interurban, or the
ferry from San Francisco, which tied up at the pier originally built by the Howard family, rebuilt and extended for Pacific City. The park was open daily until midnight. Parking for 5,000 automobiles was also provided. Rides at Pacific City included
The Whip,
Dodg-em cars, a
Dentzel menagerie
carousel, a 22-inch
narrow-gauge railway, a
Ferris wheel, a
shoot the chutes that ended with a splash in the Bay, and a "scenic railroad" (a wooden
roller coaster designed by
John A. Miller) called The Comet, which included an drop and was billed as the largest, fastest coaster west of Detroit. Ground was broken for Comet on April 21, 1922. When not on rides, visitors could choose from bathing on the beach or dancing in a large wooden pavilion; hunger was satiated by concessionaires vending hot dogs and pigs-in-the-blanket. An old ferry, the , was tied up to the pier to serve as a floating restaurant as well. and more than 100,000 attended on July 4. Prominent citizens of Burlingame, Hillsborough, and San Mateo wrote a series of three newspaper articles, published two weeks later in mid-July, outlining their plans to take advantage of the publicity from Pacific City. 3CCC manager Imboden described plans to build temporary housing nearby. San Mateo mayor Thomas J. Brady wrote of that city's plans to acquire the Kohl estate, which would later become
Central Park. By the time the season closed, more than one million had visited Pacific City.
Financial peril The first signs of financial ill-health began in September 1922, when PCC was sued over the failure to pay back a small promisorry note. In December 1922, the Howard Estate filed suit to foreclose on the property over non-payment of a US$90,000 promissory note that had been signed by Dougall and Lackenbach; the first payment of $5,000, due the previous March 22, had not been made as scheduled and the only payment that had been received was $1,000 the preceding October. 3CCC brokered an agreement in which a three-member committee was appointed to investigate and report on the financial status of PCC in February 1923; 3CCC President John J. McGrath, who was one of the appointees, warned "that we will not stand for one local creditor or stockholder in Pacific City to lose a penny ... if they jockey and humbug, we are in position to make their investment worth about ten cents [on the dollar]." Lackenbach fired back days later: "... you have unwittingly placed the management of Pacific City in a very unfavorable light by reason of this article. It is not only unjust, but has absolutely no foundation. The management of Pacific City has at all times strenuously held that any reorganization or refinancing of Pacific City must first contemplate the payment of creditors in full with interest from the maturity of their claims." To calm the situation, 3CCC stated they supported both the Howard Estate and PCCC, but if the foreclosure suit was successful, it would antagonize many investors, who likely would lose their stakes. The resort opened on May 19, 1923, due in part to the uncertainty about the resort's future. Despite the cold weather, approximately 135,000 visitors had been recorded by June 2. A fire destroyed "The Canyon", a restaurant, and the "Pig-in-the-Blanket" lunch stand on July 28, 1923. The fire, which started in the lunch stand, blazed out of control as low water pressure on-site and disconnected telephone lines hampered the initial response. Significant confusion regarding the proper jurisdiction also delayed the arrival of firefighters: a messenger was sent to the Burlingame fire department, which informed the messenger that Hillsborough might be responsible; Hillsborough in turn directed the messenger to San Mateo, and by the time firefighters arrived, both structures were fully engulfed in flames. By late March 1924, the creditors of Pacific City had assumed control and announced the company would be reorganized under the leadership of Edmond Levy. Plans were made to open the resort on July 1, 1924, but the opening was delayed until July 4. Admission to the park itself was made free that year, with a small fee for automobile parking. In March 1925,
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge George H. Buck granted the Howard Estate's foreclosure petition, forcing the site to liquidate its assets.
Legacy The carousel which operated there, as well as the "little puffer" miniature train ride, can still be enjoyed at the
San Francisco Zoo. The
Dentzel Carousel Company built the menagerie carousel for Pacific City, and it was moved to what was then Fleishhacker Zoo in 1925; it has since undergone restoration in 1978, 1994, and 2000. Historians have traced the train back to a class built and operated originally at the
1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition by the
Miniature Railway Company. This particular train was known to have run along the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as the
Bay Shore Limited between 1907 and 1915 before it was sold for scrap to a Ford dealer in San Francisco. After running at Pacific City, it was hidden in Burlingame for two years to avoid being impounded, then sold to
Herbert Fleishhacker for his eponymous zoo in 1925, where it ran until 1978, when it was stored to clear space for a new gorilla exhibit. The train was restored in 1997 by volunteers at the
Golden Gate Railroad Museum and resumed passenger service at the zoo. The Pacific City beach is known presently as the Coyote Point Promenade. An informational plaque with a summary of Pacific City history was placed by
E Clampus Vitus in October 1999 near the present-day boardsports rental shop. Rehabilitation of the beach is being performed in two phases; the first phase, covering the western half, was completed in 2014 and rebuilt the portion of the
San Francisco Bay Trail that ran along the shoreline, along with placing rock
revetment to protect the trail and rebuilding the public access ramps to the Bay. The second phase is scheduled to be completed in spring 2022, and will include parking reconfiguration and a new beach. During the eastern promenade work, the remnants of 35 wooden piers that once supported the Pacific City Boardwalk were removed, as they posed a tripping hazard to beachgoers.
Educational use In 1936, the Howard Company proposed to sell the to the cities of San Mateo, Burlingame, and Hillsborough for ; although the proposal was rebuffed, it led to negotiations to acquire the wooded knoll of Coyote Point itself in addition to the ex-Pacific City land. The first steps were taken in 1940 to convert the area to a park, when San Mateo County's Parks and Recreation Department purchased from the Howard family, of which were underwater. The purchase included of shoreline. The merchant marine training program had been shortened from 48 to 18 months, in three stages: • Basic School (lasting 3 months, serving as Fourth Class Cadet-Midshipmen at Kings Point, San Mateo, or Pass Christian) • Shipboard experience (6 months, Third Class aboard merchant vessels) • Academy (9 months, Second and First Class at Kings Point) The Pacific Coast Merchant Marine Cadet Basic School had started aboard the ex-riverboat
Delta Queen on 1 July 1941; enrollment quickly outgrew the ship, and the school moved to land-based facilities on
Treasure Island. The campus was built in a cleared area of the Knoll. The Basic School at San Mateo Point opened on August 15, 1942 and was officially dedicated on August 21, 1943 with a capacity of 528 cadets. Under an agreement with the county, when enrollments had decreased to a certain level, the land and buildings would revert to the county. the anchor was later moved to a spot near the Marina. In 1974, a new Merchant Marine Memorial was installed at an overlook facing north from the Knoll; it was extensively restored and re-dedicated on December 2, 2011. Improvements included new stone walls, new plaques, a replacement eagle statue, and the addition of a section of chain and anchor, donated from a
Victory ship of the
Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. == Facilities ==