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A few months after the fighting of WWI ended, 12,000 locals gathered on Memorial Day, 1919 to dedicate a small forest of coastal redwoods close to the De Young Museum to those lost in battle.
In a clearing, a large, three-sided boulder known as the Gold Star Mothers Rock is inscribed with the names of 748 local men and 13 women who died in the war. Originally planned for a spot near the War Memorial Opera House, the stone was added to the grove in 1932. The Gold Star Mothers organization was created shortly after the war, specifically to remember the fallen and provide support to surviving parents, taking their name from the symbolic window hanging of a gold star, displayed by grieving families during wartime.
