On a recent Spring walk through the Rose Garden I came across a sun dial and decided to dig into the history of this little known artifact tucked away in the North West corner of the gardens.
The first sun dial was a gift from Mrs. Charles C. Derby, the President of the Santa Clara County Rose Society and founder of the park in 1931.
All that remains is a beautiful concrete pedestal with the inscription "Gift in memory of Mrs Geo Carson" which features a sun dial on top.
Sun Dial's were a popular feature in many gardens at the time, as the concept of using your phone to dial Pacific Telephone and Telegraph for the time was just starting to take off.
Who was Mrs. Geo Carson?
Well the 1930's will tell you a lot about how married names went. Mrs. is the abbreviation of Mistress, which was the female counterpart to Mister, and is meant to translate as "wife of." Geo is the abbreviation for George.
So who was the wife of George Carson? Obviously a woman who was very much missed by her husband to the point of George wanting to mark the passage of time. The park's first love story?
I haven't found a definitive answer, but I believe Mrs. George Carson was the wife of Dr George Carson. Dr George Carson and his siblings James, Edward/Ellard, Mary, Hattie, Lulu and were the children of early San Jose pioneers George Carson and Nellie Carter.
The first sun dial was a gift from Mrs. Charles C. Derby, the President of the Santa Clara County Rose Society and founder of the park in 1931.
All that remains is a beautiful concrete pedestal with the inscription "Gift in memory of Mrs Geo Carson" which features a sun dial on top.
Sun Dial's were a popular feature in many gardens at the time, as the concept of using your phone to dial Pacific Telephone and Telegraph for the time was just starting to take off.
Who was Mrs. Geo Carson?
Well the 1930's will tell you a lot about how married names went. Mrs. is the abbreviation of Mistress, which was the female counterpart to Mister, and is meant to translate as "wife of." Geo is the abbreviation for George.
So who was the wife of George Carson? Obviously a woman who was very much missed by her husband to the point of George wanting to mark the passage of time. The park's first love story?
I haven't found a definitive answer, but I believe Mrs. George Carson was the wife of Dr George Carson. Dr George Carson and his siblings James, Edward/Ellard, Mary, Hattie, Lulu and were the children of early San Jose pioneers George Carson and Nellie Carter.
The actual sun dial has been replaced many times over the years, moving from a traditional gnomon like the YMCA Hart Garden sundial to one that is more vandal resistant. The current version requires that you look inside the ring at where the vertical line intersects the shadow of the number that appears inside.