Mount Davidson is the highest natural point in San Francisco, California, with an elevation of .

Mount Davidson's most notable feature, aside from its height, is the concrete cross situated on the crest of the hill. It is the site of a yearly prayer service, performed on Easter, when the cross is illuminated, and a yearly commemoration of the Armenian genocide, held on April 24.

Mount Davidson Park tops the hill, excluding the land at the summit, which is privately owned. The parkland portion is located between Myra Way (east), Dalewood Way (southwest), and Juanita Way (north). Public transportation is provided by the 36 Teresita Muni line, which stops at the Dalewood Way and Myra Way entrance to the park.

The residential neighborhoods around Mount Davidson Park are Miraloma Park to the east and Westwood Highlands and Sherwood Forest to the southwest.

History

In April 1865 when news of Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox hit the city one patriotic citizen named Matilda Heron sent a messenger to the summit to raise the Stars and Stripes. Adolph Sutro purchased the land in 1881. After his death, the highest of the San Miguel hills was named "Mount Davidson" at the request of, and to honor, charter member George Davidson, of the Sierra Club. The appraiser for Sutro's heirs, A.S. Baldwin, bought the western slope of the mountain in 1911, along with much of the land immediately north and south of Mount Davidson. Mrs. A. S. Baldwin donated a further on the summit to the city at the same time.

Director Don Siegel filmed a scene from the 1971 movie Dirty Harry at the cross. Harry enters the park from Lansdale Avenue, an entry close to the Muni bus stop, before confronting Scorpio at the base of the cross. According to Warner Bros. literature, Siegel was pleased to discover the huge cross at Mount Davidson Park. However, the height of the cross and foggy weather made filming difficult. Every night for a month, cinematographer Bruce Surtees rode a crane to the top of the cross, only to be hampered by foggy weather. When the weather finally cleared, the shot was made in one night. In 1973 the site of the cross was used again in an episode of The Streets of San Francisco in an ending scene reminiscent of the Dirty Harry film, whereby a school bus is hijacked by a Scorpio like serial murderer that crashes it near the foot of the cross.

The cross itself has been the subject of much debate among the residents of San Francisco as they have tried to weigh its religious role against its status as an historic landmark. In 1991 the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Jewish Congress, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the city over its ownership of the cross. After a long legal battle and loss at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in 1997 the City auctioned of land, including the cross, to the highest bidder. The decision to sell the land was challenged by two members of the group American Atheists, but a federal appeals court ruled against them in 2002 and the Supreme Court declined to hear their case in 2003. which installed a bronze plaque at the base memorializing the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide. On Armenian Independence Day September 23, 2007, it was discovered that the plaque was missing. The original plaque was never found, and a replacement plaque was dedicated at a ceremony on April 20, 2008.

See also

  • Dirty Harry (1971), film directed by Don Siegel, featuring a famous scene filmed at the cross
  • List of San Francisco, California Hills
  • List of highest points in California by county
  • Mount Soledad Cross lawsuits, lengthy legal battle regarding the cross located near San Diego, California
  • Salazar v. Buono, United States Supreme Court case upholding constitutionality of the Mojave Memorial Cross
  • , legal challenge to the cross atop the mountain
  • Serra Cross (Ventura, California), cross on public land in Ventura, California, which was the subject of litigation

References

  • MtDavidson.org History of Mount Davidson Cross and Neighborhoods
  • Armenian Genocide Memorial
  • History of Mount Davidson
  • Mount Davidson Park: San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department