San Diego’s Balboa Park is the largest cultural complex west of the Mississippi River. The park encompasses over 1,200 acres and is larger than San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (1,107 acres) and New York's Central Park (843 acres). Established in 1868, the park came into prominence with the arrival of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. The park has everything for everyone from museums, theaters, animals, architecture, flora and sports facilities.
Recently the park has undergone a major renovation to prepare for the centennial celebration of the Panama-California Exposition that the park hosted in 1915 and 1916 to honor the completion of the Panama Canal. It was that exposition that put San Diego on the map (at the time the population of San Diego was only 40,000 as opposed to San Francisco’s 420,000) and established Balboa Park as a treasured landmark.
The park you see today almost did not happen. For the Panama-California Exposition in 1915 only four permanent structures were built while the rest were just merely facades, temporary structures built from hemp, staff plaster and horsehair, to be torn down after the exposition. Fortunately the city leaders were wise to heed the advice of former President Theodore Roosevelt when he stated: “It is so beautiful that I wish to make a plea: that you keep these buildings here permanently.”
I took this blue hour shot of the Plaza de Panama, which was the hub of the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition and today still is hub of activity for the park. I think this photograph is a great way to “reflect” back on 100 years of Balboa Park’s beauty and culture.
Happy New Year my Flickr friends!
Happy Travels in 2015!
One more photo in the comment section.
All Rights Reserved. Photos and Text ©Sam Antonio Photography 2015
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