[The following is a narrative that is posted at the site. A brief history can be found here, and the text of a contemporary brochure advertising the sanitarium can be found here.]
A step into the past
The year was 1919 and Miss Ida Ruth Belgum, the third grade teacher at Washington School, walked into the garden of the Grande Vista Sanitarium. The apple trees in the orchard were dazzling with their white blossoms. No one was about; her brother, Dr. Henrick Nelson Belgum, was busy attending his patients.Miss Belgum sat on the stone wall and quietly awaited her admirers. Meanwhile, two her students had set out early Saturday morning to do their routine chores. William refilled the family goat's water bucket and checked its tether before setting out. From Point Richmond's "nanny goat hill" to the Belgum Sanitarium was five miles, a sizeable hike, but being a fine spring day, the boys made good time.
The children considered Miss Belgum to be a beautiful as well as friendly woman. To be teacher's pet and allowed to stay after school to help her pound the erasers while she wiped down the blackboards, was the grandest prize of all.
The boys slowed as they climbed the hill, traveled Grand Canyon Park, followed Park Avenue (which was nothing but a dirt road), and came to the Belgum property. They followed the carriage path, lined with century plants, up to the hospital itself, stopping only briefly to pull long strips of peeling bark from the eucalyptus trees. As they approached, Miss Belgum rose from the wall and came to greet them. She called to a servant and treated the bosy to lemonade and cookies as they rocked in the wicker chairs beneath the giant palm tree. . . .
Below is a photo of the approach to the site via the Belgum Trail, with the two palm trees in the background (click the photo for a larger version).
