THE SWEENY OBSERVATORY 1891-1906

Thomas U. Sweeny, one of the wealthy landowners in the “sand District”, offered to build a stone observatory at the summit of Strawberry Hill, provided that he could place his name on the building. Permission was granted, completely reversing former park policy that the park was to be rustic in nature and that all forms of personal advertisement and self-aggrandizement were to be prohibited.

The original structure had only one story, but a year later a second story was added.

Looking out over the Richmond Distict to the Golden Gate.

Looking east over North Road (JFK) and the Concourse in the upper right.

Click to see the impact of the 1906 earthquake on the structure.