Designed by Joseph A. Leonard and dedicated on October 10, 1913, the Ingleside Sundial, also called the Urbano Sundial, is a giant 28 foot tall, 33 foot wide sundial hidden in the center of Entrada Court in a small, circular park appropriately named Sundial Park.
Sundial Park is a grassy circle surrounding the Ingleside Sundial that is divided by concrete pathways in four sections:
Each section features a column in one of the four Greco Roman architecture styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Tuscan.
Topping each column are basins depicting the four seasons, the four periods of day, and the four stages of man.
The Ingleside Terraces Sundial, synchronized with the summer solstice, was built in 1912 and dedicated in 1913 by the Urban Realty Improvement Company as a marketing ploy to help attract modern, upper-income buyers to their new Ingleside Terraces residential development. At the time, it was the largest sundial in the world, but now it isn’t even the largest sundial in San Francisco. That honor now goes to the Hunters Point Sundial.
Today it is a little worn and slightly beat up, but beautiful at the same time. Depending on the time of day you visit, you may see local children at the park climbing on the sundial and sliding down its gnomon. But rest assured that you wont find crowds or many tourists here as the sundial isn’t visible from any of the surrounding main roads.
The Ingleside Sundial sits in the center of the Ingleside Terraces neighborhood, so please be respectful of the residents and homes.