Just came across this a few days ago. In a nutshell. Palace of Legion of Honor was built by the daughter-in-law of Spreckels of the original Hawaiian and California sugar baron fame (funny, he was a German imagrant so baron is a fitting title). She, Mrs. Alma Spreckels was born on a farm in what is now the avenues of SF and apparently was quite the student (and subsequently a model) of the arts which was what caught the attention of Spreckles Jr (Adolph). She is responsible for building the Palace of the Legion of Honor and Rodin collection it houses. The statue on the pillar in Union Square is her or inspired/in-her-likeness too. The Spreckles Mansion in Pacific Heights was built for Adolph and Alma Spreckles - they had 6 victorian houses moved to clear the site - she did not want them destroyed because they were too beautiful. One of the houses, now at 1942 Pacific, was the residence of future president Teddy Rosevelt. Matson, the name emblazoned on numerous shipping containers today, was a cabin boy on the Spreckles family yacht and was bankrolled by the Spreckles to help ship supplies to Hawaii and sugar back to CA.
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Just came across this a few days ago. In a nutshell. Palace of Legion of Honor was built by the daughter-in-law of Spreckels of the original Hawaiian and California sugar baron fame (funny, he was a German imagrant so baron is a fitting title). She, Mrs. Alma Spreckels was born on a farm in what is now the avenues of SF and apparently was quite the student (and subsequently a model) of the arts which was what caught the attention of Spreckles Jr (Adolph). She is responsible for building the Palace of the Legion of Honor and Rodin collection it houses. The statue on the pillar in Union Square is her or inspired/in-her-likeness too. The Spreckles Mansion in Pacific Heights was built for Adolph and Alma Spreckles - they had 6 victorian houses moved to clear the site - she did not want them destroyed because they were too beautiful. One of the houses, now at 1942 Pacific, was the residence of future president Teddy Rosevelt. Matson, the name emblazoned on numerous shipping containers today, was a cabin boy on the Spreckles family yacht and was bankrolled by the Spreckles to help ship supplies to Hawaii and sugar back to CA.
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