Twenty-Two Splendid Fan Palms for the Midwinter Fair

Fan Palm at the Midwinter Fair (might be a Trachycarpus, not Washingtonia)
SFPL SF History Center
Left to right:
Manufacturers Building, other, Firth Wheel

In May 1893, John Rock of San Jose gave twenty-two fan palms to Golden Gate Park. The trees were more than 25 years old, so they were planted in 1868, just 3 years after Rock's Nurseries was established. The Midwinter Fair opened in January 1894 running until July. Perhaps there are photos of the palms somewhere. Is this one? 

SOME SPLENDID PALMS (San Francisco Call, May 22, 1893) 

Given to Golden Gate Park by John Rock. Two carloads of fanpalms were presented to Golden Gate Park last week by John Rock of San Jose. Though the palms filled two large flatcars, there were but twenty-two plants. They are splendid specimens of palms, each one being at least thirty feet in height. The palms were removed from the earth, so that nearly four cubic yards of soil remains undisturbed about the roots. This was necessary to insure their living. The trees are more than 25 years old and could not have borne transportation had the earth been shaken from the roots. 

They will be planted along the avenue leading from the lake to the aviary. Superintendent McLaren was highly pleased with the munificent gift of Mr. Rock. "I have seen the time," he said, "when each of those palms would be worth $500. As it is, such palms could not be purchased at all." Mr. Rock not only gave the plants to the park, but also paid the freight charges to this city.

Are there still some fan palms in Golden Gate Park from the Midwinter Fair? They would be 121 years old! I haven't found them. 

I went to David Rumsey maps to find out where "along the avenue leading from the lake to the aviary" would be. Perhaps the aviary was put back in the same location as it was before the fair. If that is the case this map shows it could be from Stowe Lake, along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, up Nancy Pelosi Drive to the AIDS memorial Grove. Somewhere there.

I even asked Golden Gate Park expert, Christopher Pollack, and he did not know of any left.

References

• San Francisco with Midwinter Fair map of SF
• Official Guide
• SF City Guide
• David Rumsey Map - Golden Gate Park 1897  use the slider to go between 1897 to 2015.
• Souvenir of the California Midwinter International Exposition-- in photo-gravure
• Finding aid to Souvenir of the California Midwinter International Exposition, 1894
• Fresno's collection
• SFPL History Center
• Official Bird's-eye view and panorama photo
• Charles Howard Shinn's article Agriculture and Horticulture at the Midwinter Fair
• Awards given include George C. Roeding, California Nursery Company (first, cut roses; first, pelargoniums; first, clematis; second flowering shrubs)
• The catalog from 1895 that mentions awards from Chicago, SF, and 
• Stereophotos of exhibits
• Check OAC for photos

Entrance to the Fine Arts Building,
From OAC
I think that this is a better image of the palm from the first picture.
Definitely not a Washingtonia!

Another picture of the palms around the Fine Arts Building.
Another picture of the columns pointing the other direction.

Another palm that was lucky to be there.
SF History Center, SFPL