Sam Kinsey

My project was building a 60′ long and 10′ wide entry trail leading to a circular area which is 25′ in diameter at the entrance to Bennington Oak Grove. It is filled with Class 2 Road Base material and lightly tamped.

This is a grove of 66 trees to remember the 66 men killed on the USS Bennington on July 21, 1905, when the gunboat’s boiler exploded in San Diego harbor. Nothing marks the significance of this grove of oaks in a corner of Balboa Park. The Daughters of the American Revolution, San Diego Chapter, wants to memorialize the men of the Bennington by installing the walkway through the oaks and adding a sign, a bench and a kiosk detailing the history of the Bennington. My trail was the beginning project for this beneficiary who has several other projects proposed for this area.

Moving the logs into place was challenging. They are unfinished redwood logs trimmed from another area of the Park. The branch stubs and rough bark on the logs and the rough terrain made it difficult to roll them across the uneven ground even with log bars. Also, pounding in the stakes right against the logs so they could be attached with 2″ screws was a bit tricky while using a sledgehammer. We did 3 stakes (36″) for each log for a total of 66 stakes.

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