Percy Broell

The First Horticultural Identification, 1937

F inanced by George Marston, Park Superintendent Percy Broell (1901-1982) planted, documented and mapped his horticultural work from the late 1920s through the 1930s. His influences include Kate O. Session and John Nolen. His document was not published and is held today by the San Diego History Center in their library. In this manual, which he affectionately dedicated to George W. Marston, he details the history of Presidio Park, provides a list of plantings that he had made, as well as offers us eight maps with a corresponding set of plant names (legend) on a separate page for each map. This document is the single most important historical document available related to Presidio Park early horticultural development. It allowing us to look into the past and understand what was there in 1937 and understand what George Marston's vision for the park was. It gives us an accurate historical reference to the original horticultural plantings which have forever transformed Presidio Park.

For this project nine maps were created from the data provided by Percy Broell in the 1937 document. In the original document there were eight plates, or maps, with eight separate legends associated with each plate or map. Each original 1937 black and white map was geometrically corrected using ESRI ArcMap G.I.S. software and was digitally placed over a current aerial image. A new legend was created and was color-coded to make the original plant locations easier to find. Additionally, the original 1937 horticultural nomenclature was maintained in the new map renditions, and are shown as transcribed by Broell himself. These maps can be found nowhere else.

Presidio Park: A Brief History and Guide and Old San Diego: Its Origin and Points of Historic Interest by Percy Broell in collaboration with George Ballard Bowers. Unpublished (San Diego History Center) pps. 207

Click the maps below for more information and to see larger.
See the Broell's 1937 Plant List HERE

2014 Overlay Map

Chestnut Street

The Bastion

The Museum

The Exedra

Cosoy Way

The Pergola

The Golf Course

Jackson Street

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