The Court of Pacifica

In 1939, San Francisco’s Treasure Island would be home to the Golden Gate International Exposition (or what most people know as the world’s fair). Like the city that would host it, the Golden Gate International Exposition would be a mish-mash of buildings, attractions, and other amusements, from a Western-themed nudie show to the exhibition of fine European art and everything in between (fun fact: it would take the fine art exhibit months to make as much money as the nudie show). 

While the fair (which ultimately was a financial pit) would live on in the annals of history, one attraction would leave a permanent mark on one bay area city. Amongst the hodge-podge of structures and buildings was an 80-ft. statue created by artist Ralph Stackpole. Described as a “symbol of peace and progress,” the Pacifica Statue was situated in front of a large “Persian prayer curtain” and inscribed in the surrounding buildings were the names of Pacific coast explorers - Drake, Portolá, and Bering, among others. At the statue’s base was Pacifica’s “court,” a grouping of sculptures representing the peoples of the Pacific coast. According to Jack James and Earle Vonard Weller, authors of The Magic City: Treasure Island, 1939-1940, Pacifica’s court was also adorned with flowers, including ageratum, calendulas, marigolds, chrysantheums, marguerites, zinnias, yellow allyssum, centaurea cyaneous, anemones, Shasta daisies, and iris. This flower assortment would be a tribute to California’s state colors. 

The Court of Pacifica was an important venue at the fair, and it would be used for a variety of band performances, a march by the Moral Rearmament Movement, and a welcoming ceremony for Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly, among other events. The Golden Gate International Exposition would end on Sept. 29, 1940, and the U.S. Navy would acquire Treasure Island to build a base as World War II was ramping up. Unfortunately, in 1941, the Pacifica statue was destroyed with the rest of the world fair structures as the naval base was constructed. 

But the legacy of the Pacifica statue would live on.

In 1957, an area on the northern coastline of San Mateo County was undergoing incorporation, and residents from its myriad communities - Linda Mar, Manor, Sharp Park, Rockaway, and others - were invited to participate in a naming contest. Inspired by the world fair Pacifica statue, the new city was crowned Pacifica, California. 

Although the original colossus was destroyed nearly 80 years ago, it grandeur still lives large in the minds of some locals, so much so that a campaign was started in 2013 to build a life-size replica. Dubbed the Pacifica II Statue Project, the campaign even included a Kickstarter fundraising attempt to pay for the replica. 

Ultimately, this revival project fell through, so in the near-term, at least, admirers will have to rely on working models at Pacifica’s new court - city hall. That’s right! While the Pacifica statue was destroyed by the U.S. Navy, the artist’s two working models survive - one is above the stairs in the Pacifica City Hall and the other is in the Pacifica City Council chambers.