Sausalito elephant #1 (From Don Covington)

Sausalito elephant #15, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Hi Buckles, Jan and I just got back from a trip to San Francisco. While there, we made a day trip to Sausalito, just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. We were surprised to find these impressive elephant statues in Vina del Mar Park just across from the ferry landing in the center of town. I did some research with the Sausalito Historical Society and discovered that the elephants were originally designed as decorations for the Court of the Universe at the 1915 San Francisco Panama - Pacific Exposition. Architect William Faville, a Sausalito native, utilized elephant statues at the base of twelve 100' flagpoles surrounding the building. At the end of the fair, he had two of the elephant statues and a decorative fountain ferried across the Bay to his hometown where they were placed in the town square. By 1935, the orginal statues, made of plaster and lathe since the entire fair was designed as a temporary event, had deteriorated. Mr. Faville then personally funded their replacement. Sausalito residents had nicknamed their town elephants Jumbo and PeeWee. Two castings were made of PeeWee so that concrete replacements could be returned to the Park. The results, fitted with elaborate street lights, are what you see today. The entire Park was restored in 2000 and remains the pride of the town today. All the best, Don