wnp33.04238

O'Farrell & Mason

January 1, 1880

Clarke Institute, with many little boys posing in front. The Clarke Institute originated as the City Female Seminary, founded by Rev. Charles Russell Clarke in 1861 in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church (when the church was on Bush Street). It moved to this building (then newly constructed) on the southeast corner of O'Farrell and Mason in 1864, and was renamed in 1872 after Clarke's death in 1869. After the Clarke Institute's last listing at this location in 1883, the next occupant listed was the Knights of the Red Branch Hall through 1899, after which the building was demolished and the LeePalmer Hotel erected in its place. (PF)

The City Female Seminary was one of the most prestigious private girls' schools in SF, graduating luminaries like author Gertrude Atherton. Judging from the photograph, it appears to have become co-ed sometime after its renaming. Rev. Clarke's wife, Charlotte Clarke, in addition to helping run the school, became one of the neighborhood's major real estate operators, buying, selling, and building in a number of Tenderloin locations for many years after her husband's death. (PF)