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Belmont Park
Belmont Park was well known in the latter part of the 19th century as a fine picnic spot. During its heyday, picnics took place weekly on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Trains made special runs to its location. The picnic grounds were the brainchild of Charles Janke, who was a native of Germany and who structured the park after his German experience.
The park could accommodate 300 people at its dance pavilion. Contests (three legged races, pony cart races, foot races, and marksmanship) were held regularly for the men. The ladies amused themselves in more docile ways: taking walks, dancing, or listening to the live music.
The park's main entrance was at Ralston near 6th Avenue. Participants at park events included various organizations from San Francisco. At times, the San Franciscan crowd became so rowdy that it was appropriate for them to have brought along their own policemen, which many groups did. At times, this did not prove sufficient enough to quell the resulting disturbance and a jail was built to address the problems. In addition to violence which necessitated the use of a private jail, tragic occurrences took place at the park. Specifically, there was a gang related shooting and kidnapping.
By the beginning of the 20th century, charters were no longer run by Southern Pacific. It is uncertain whether the termination of service resulted from complaints of wealthy residents from Burlingame/Hillsborough who did not appreciate the tourists traversing their property or attributable to the horrific costs associated with the damages the drunken picnickers invoked on the trains.
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