The concept may seem crazy now, but the Mission District used to be home to a combination of park, museum, zoo, amusement park, with the country's first aquarium tucked inside.

A five-acre park known as Woodward's Garden was bordered by Mission and Valencia streets to the east and west, and 13th and 15th streets to the north and south. A tunnel ran underneath 14th Street connecting the two walled-in areas of the park, which could both be experienced for 25 cents admission.

The attraction was created by Robert B. Woodward, a successful grocer and owner of the What Cheer House hotel on Sacramento Street. The park opened on May 1, 1866 and closed in 1891, after the owner's death.

Woodward was sometimes called "the Barnum of the West," and it's said that P.T. Barnum himself once visited the San Francisco park. There was a definite circus component to the place. Woodward presented a performer of short stature as "General Tom Thumb." The park also featured an 8-foot-3-inch Chinese "giant" named Chang Woo Gow. They joined Japanese acrobats, clowns and trained animals to give the place a carnival feel.

According to The Chronicle, which reviewed a book by local collector and historian, Marilyn Blaisdell, very little has written about the gardens and park, which dominated the city's leisure scene until the opening of Golden Gate Park. The title of the book is "San Francisciana Photographs of Woodward's Gardens." According to Ms. Blaisdell, the park, which hosted the nation's first aquarium, would draw 10,000 visitors for its May Day celebrations.

Ms. Blaisdell stated that "a live bear shared space with a dog in a pit-like exhibit with five platforms. Entertainment for children included carts pulled by goats and an aquatic merry-go-round. There was an impressive conservatory, art museum and the aquarium, which offered thousands of locals their first eye-to-eye view of an octopus and a hammerhead shark."

While few wrote about the place, the photographer, Eadweard Muybridge, famous for his Falling Man series, took many photos of the landmark. While rare, they can be found in the form of stereoview cards at flea markets and online auctions. The slideshow above contains some of his images, along with glimpses of the camel rides and art displays that drew people to the gardens.

One piece of the former site, a brick building at 1700 Mission Street which was built after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, features a California Historical Site plaque. Except for the plaque, there's not a hint of the leisure mecca that attracted thousands over 25 years in operation.

Bob Bragman is a producer for SFGATE. His writing reflects his love of the Bay Area, in addition to his passion for vintage pop culture, ephemera and vernacular photographs. To see more of his content, please click here.