A curated collection of photo galleries from our archive
It ran from January 27 to July 9, 1894. Most of the fair buildings, except for the Fine Arts Building which later became the de Young Museum, were demolished. Some buildings and many of the rides were purchased by Adolph Sutro and moved to other areas on the west side.
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Once the site of City Cemetery, the area was converted to Lincoln Park Golf Course in the early 1900s. In 1924, the Palace of the Legion of Honor, a memorial museum dedicated to California's wartime dead, was completed at the summit of the park's highest hill. A scenic boulevard called El Camino Del Mar once snaked along the cliffs below the Legion of Honor until it washed out in the 1950s.
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in Golden Gate Park, the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America. Originally intended as a private conservatory for James Lick, the structure made its way to Golden Gate Park following Lick's death in 1876. An instant sensation when it opened in 1879, the conservatory remains one of San Francisco's most photographed landmarks. The building has endured several accidents and natural disasters, and images from over the years document changes to the structure as well as the surrounding landscape.
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Willard E. Worden (1868-1946) was a photographer and later gallery owner at Union Square. His most prolific period falls between 1905 and 1915. He was one of the PPIE's official photographers and captured the fair both day and night. His personal interest seemed to be with the natural world. His images of the unbuilt Sunset District and Lands End are notable documents of a lost environment. Extensive collections of Worden's images reside in the San Francisco Public Library, de Young Museum, and other institutions. All images here scanned from glass negatives.
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The 81 negatives were donated to Western Neighborhoods Project by Nancy McCormick in September 2017. These views show unique views of streets, businesses, and transit. Many more United Railroads images can be seen at the <a href="https://sfmta.photoshelter.com/index" target="blank">San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority website.</a>
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The tremor which had the title of "the Big One" before the disaster of April 18, 1906.
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The first streetcar through the tunnel was a landmark event in the decentralization of the City of San Francisco, spurring development and making the city what it is today. The process of getting there, however, was far from easy. More on the anniversary and the construction in an <a href="http://outsidelands.org/twin-peaks-tunnel.php" target="blank">article on OutsideLands.org</a> and on the <a href="http://outsidelands.org/podcast/WNP262_Twin_Peaks_Tunnel" target="blank">Outside Lands San Francisco podcast.</a>
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On June 30, 1974, photographer Greg Gaar captured scenes from the fifth Gay Freedom Day parade. The parade ran from Pine and Montgomery Streets to O'Farrell Street, then west to Polk Street, ending at the Civic Center. There, a crowd estimated of about a thousand people gathered for a street fair and concert.
Led by a fife and drum, the parade had a theme of "Gay Freedom by '76." Organizer Michael Bumblebee said, "We hope to end all discrimination against gay people by 1976 - discrimination in jobs, housing and other areas."
After several name changes, the parade is now known as San Francisco Pride (<a href='http://www.sfpride.org' target='_blank'>http://www.sfpride.org</a>), the largest gathering of LGBTQ people and allies in the nation. In 2019, it will consist of more than 200 contingents, twenty stages and venues, and near two million participants and attendees.</p>
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The first dream of spanning the Golden Gate Straits belongs to the railroad Robber Baron Charles Crocker in 1872. It took 44 years before the first bridge concepts were proposed in 1916 and additional 17 years before the official start of construction in January 1933. Following only 4 1/2 years of construction, the week long Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta was held from May 27-June 2, 1937 to mark the opening of the Bridge
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Here we present some selections of the earliest stars of 49er history.
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From the early days at the Haight Street Grounds, to the Mission District's Recreation Park and Seals Stadium, through the now demolished Candlestick Park.
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The first European ship to enter the bay, the Spanish vessel San Carlos in 1775, smashed into rocks on the north shore attempting to maneuver out of the Gate. Since then, dozens of ships have found themselves stranded along the coast, many on the sands of Ocean Beach or beneath the cliffs of Lands End. These wrecks often drew huge crowds, especially the Coos Bay, Lyman Stewart and Frank Buck, which wrecked within yards of a popular streetcar line.
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After the earthquake and fire of April 1906, thousands of refugees existed in San Francisco. The largest public relief effort to date was mounted to alleviate the suffering of these now homeless people. Over 5000 cottages were built in city parks. Camps in public parks around the city existed until mid to late 1907 after which they were taken by their residents to private lots. This is a sampling of cottages both in the parks and in locations to which they were moved. A handful still exist today around the city and bay area.
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Rushed to completion in 1861 at the start of the Civil War, its cavernous interior and thick brick walls housed up to 400 soldiers who guarded the Golden Gate. Living conditions were dismal, though, and the army removed the troops in 1868. The fort was almost demolished for the Golden Gate Bridge, but instead the bridge was redesigned to preserve the fort. Fort Point National Historic Site was created in 1970, and restoration continues up to present day.
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A large amusement zone on the Great Highway north of Golden Gate Park, it existed in many forms with various names from about 1914 until it was demolished in 1972.
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