The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-26
FOR LAFAYETTE SQUARE.
Promise of Funds for the I'M
prOVement of the His
tOriC Hill.
A LONG TIME IN LITIGATION.
Efforts Of Henry Croker and
Others to Clear the City's
Title.

Inc LdIdyoCCe fdrK improvement CfuU
is still laboring to have something done by
the City toward the improvement of the
land which brings Clay street to a sudden
halt at Cough, and which is marked
down on the City maps as Lafayette square,
consisting of four blocks bounded by
Cough, Sacramento, Laguna and Washing
ten streets.
An agitation with this end in view was
begun several years ago. The club itself
has been organized six years. Henry j.
Croker, its secretary, has been, perhaps,
its leading spirit. The membership has
included the names of such well-known
taxpayers as J. B. Crockett, Henry 7.
Scott, w. A. Dimond, Russell ]. Wilson,
John D. Tallant, Manrico Casey, manager
of the Mclaughlin estate, w. F. Goad, FL.
Schwabacher, M. FL. Hecht, q. w. McAfee,
E. F. Preston, A. L. Baldwin, Webster
Jones, E. W. Hopkins, John A. Wright, D..
W. Earle and M. II. de Young.
Altogether five appropriations have been
made by the City, but not cent has been
spent on the park for the reason that the
property has been in litigation. Recently,
however, a decision has been handed down
by the State Supreme Court giving the
people of the State of California clear
title to the Delaney claim. This makes
what is equivalent to three blocks of the
square entirely free from litigation, and
Mr.. Croker considers that through the
efforts of his club the City has been bene-
flied to the extent of $1,000 worth of
property. The only piece of the square
still left in dispute is the Holiday claim
of six 50-vara lots fronting on Cough
street, and through which Clay street, if
opened, would run. The status of this is
now awaiting a decision of the United
States Supreme Court, having been car
ried up to the Federal tribunal on an APP
peal by the attorneys for the Lafayette
Park Improvement Club namely, Messrs.
Craig, Meredith and Matthews.
Mr.. Croker has recently prepared map
of the City showing Lafayette square con-
spicuously, so that the Board of Superyi-
sors could see its value as park to the
City. A copy of this map and a circular
letter, asking that some appropriation be
included in the tax levy, he has sent to
each of the Supervisors, and the club now
has the promise OF an appropriation OF
$4,000 for the park. In his letter to the
Supervisors Mr.. Croker wrote, respecting
the condition of the park:
For the last forty years it has remained in It's
state of nature. The sand drifts are uncon-
trolled by proper bulkheads. The City has
been any sidewalks; there has been no curb
ing or street corners put in. The sagebrush
still tiourishes, and the surrounding property
owners are shocked daily by the action of
tramps who make this their home. The fact
that this land has been in litigation for SO
many years has caused this neglect
We respectfully su bmit that we are among
the largest taxpayers in the City. We banded
ourselves together for the purpose OF ending
the litigation on this park, and for eight years
we have hired attorneys at our own expense to
fight tor the City and her title. Some three
months ago q decision was handed down from
the State Supreme Court clearing the City
title to three of the squares. The squatters
were removed and the City took possession of
over $500, 900 worth of property.
The circular, which was signed by all
the names above mentioned, concluded by
calling attention to the fact that these
gentlemen, besides bearing the expenses
of litigation for the City's benefit, had
paid for surveys and maps out of their
own pockets.
The history of the litigation over this
property dates back to 1868, when S. W.
Holiday began suit against the City and
obtained a judgment in his favor, from
which City Attorney Saunders took no
appeal. When William Craig became City
Attorney he began proceedings to eject Mr..
Holiday and the Delaney claimants, and
this he continued after his term of office
expired and up to the present time at the
solicitation of the property-owners inter
ested in having park, his partner, Mr..
Meredith, being associated with him in the
prosecution of the City's claims, and Judge
Sullivan and William Matthews assisting
in the Delaney and Holiday cases, re-
spectively.
According to Mr.. Craig the Delaneys,
having simply squatted on the land, never
had any real title to it. BY the terms of
the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo the title
to the property became vested in the
United States, and in due course of time in
the people of the State OF California. The
Van Ness ordinance, passed in 1858, by
which the land west of Larkin street was
incorporated in the City limits, laid out
Lafayette square as park, and its status
as such was recognized by the Legislature