The Lily Pond, Mission Cliff Gardens, San Diego, California, circa 1935

About this postcard

A view across a still lily pond dotted with white and pink water lilies, their pads floating on the reflective surface; tall palms and dense shrubbery frame the water, and a low, tile-roofed garden building with beds of red and yellow flowers stands at the left. Mission Cliff Gardens was a privately developed pleasure garden laid out in the early 20th century on the bluffs above Mission Valley in San Diego, reached by the city's streetcar line and famed for its palms, lily ponds and views. The garden later declined and was subdivided, so such cards are among the main records of its appearance.