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 Golden Gate Park, one of the largest man-made parks in the world, was developed on a site consisting mostly of sand dunes. In 1870, when the 1017 acre area was selected, few people were in favor of its location. At that time San Francisco was only a fraction of its present size, and the park lay far beyond the city's developed limits.The lush landscaping that characterizes the park today bears little resemblance to the former state of drifting sand and stiff winds. An entirely new ecological system had to be developed and sustained within the dunes; a monumental task thought by many to be impossible. The initial design for Golden Gate Park was created by a young civil engineer named William Hammond Hall. He had been retained to prepare a survey and topographic map of the park site in 1870. The following year he became its first superintendent and remained in that position for five years. Innovative sand reclamation techniques were applied to the dunes and gradually they were brought under control. By 1876 when William Hammond Hall resigned, Golden Gate Park had already become very popular and its developed areas were heavily used, even though transportation to the park was still difficult. During the following ten years Golden Gate Park had three superintendents. Funding was extremely short during this period and the parks, roads, buildings, and planted areas suffered from neglect. Finally Hall was requested by the Parks Commission to make an evaluation of the condition of the park and appoint a new superintendent. For a brief period he took over the direction of the park again, and, before his fi nal departure, selected John McLaren as his successor.
Source — SF Parks and Recreation
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