This is part two of a gallery of "then & now" photographs of the Sunset District of San Francisco. Part one may be viewed here.
Click on an image to view the full-size photograph.
NOW The West Portal Station was reconfigured in the 1970s to accommodate a new streetcar system in use today. The view is looking north.
THEN This photo was taken in 1917. Twin Peaks Tunnel is still under construction, and the work is expected to conclude within a short period. This is part of a car convoy consisting of City of San Francisco employees and the people involved in constructing the tunnel. They have the opportunity of being driven through the tunnel before it goes into service. Image courtesy of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
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| THEN The Parkside Theatre, located on Taraval Street near Nineteenth Avenue, opened in 1928. This photograph was taken in 1959. This image is courtesy of Tom Gray. |
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NOW The theatre closed in 1988, and the building was converted into apartments and a preschool. Most of the buildings that surrounded the theatre are still standing. The view is looking southeast.
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THEN This photo, circa 1940, shows some of the streetcar damage caused by two streetcars colliding at an intersection. The streetcar seen on the right is on the No. 17 line; it is stopped on Twentieth Avenue at Taraval Street. A Safeway market occupied a street front location in the corner building. This image is courtesy of Tom Grey.
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| NOW The corner building has been demolished, and a bank now occupies a portion of the site. Most of the other buildings still remain. The view looks northwest. |
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| THEN This picture is circa the 1940s; the view looks west, down Taraval Street. |
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| NOW Most of the buildings are still standing. The location is Taraval Street at Twenty-first Avenue. The treed area on the right is a part of McCoppin Square. The Pacific Ocean is visible in the distance. |
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| THEN This photograph was taken in 1915. The house is located on Seventeenth Avenue, near Rivera Street. The horse-drawn cart's purpose is identified by: the "Street Cleaning Department, Board of Public Works," which is painted on the side of the carriage. |
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| NOW The house is standing amongst many homes on Seventeenth Avenue. The view is looking southeast. |
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| THEN This photo was captured in 1898; it is a view of the Sunset District, looking northwest. This area was called the "Outside Lands." It consisted of barren sand dunes, and a chicken ranch is visible in the photo. This image is courtesy of Bancroft Library. |
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| NOW The sand dunes have been leveled, and the ground is now covered with housing. The western portion of Golden Gate Park can be seen on the right side of the image. The chicken ranch is now history. |
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| THEN This photograph was taken in 1923. The view is looking southeast from Taraval Street at Twenty-seventh Avenue. |
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| NOW The building seen in the above 1923 photo is visible. It is the fifth building from the corner. |
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| THEN This building was constructed in the early Twentieth Century. The building is located on Taraval Street at Thirty-second Avenue, and this view looks south. This image is courtesy of the Chas and Ada Williams family. |
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| NOW This is the same building. It was remodeled and expanded in the 1920s. |
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| THEN The Ocean Park Motor Court is located on Forty-sixth Avenue at Sloat Boulevard. It opened for business on 20 April 1937. This image is courtesy of Marc and Vicki Duffett. |
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| NOW The motel is still in business; it appears well maintained. The view is looking northeast. |
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| THEN This is a view of Sloat Boulevard as seen from the Great Highway. In the distance is Mount Davidson. The photograph was taken in 1921. |
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| NOW San Francisco Zoo is located in the treed area on the south side of Sloat Boulevard. The view is looking east. |
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| THEN This picture was taken in 1927. The Chickery restaurant was located on the Great Highway at Vicente Street. This image is courtesy of Glenn D. Koch. |
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| NOW The building still stands, and it is currently being used as an apartment building. The view is looking east. |
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| THEN This photo of Ring's Market was taken in 1951. The view is looking south from Taraval Street at Thirty-third Avenue. This image is courtesy of the Western Neighborhoods Project. |
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| NOW The building is still standing, minus the tower. |
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| THEN This image is circa 1900. The view is looking south from within Golden Gate Park. Mount Sutro is ahead. In 1895 Affiliated Colleges of the University of California received a thirteen-acre building site donated by Adolph Sutro, then-mayor of San Francisco. The early buildings of the college are visible. This image is courtesy of Lorri Ungaretti. |
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| THEN This is the Taraval Police Station. The building was constructed in 1924; it is located on Twenty-fourth Avenue at Taraval Street. This image is courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department. |
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NOW The Taraval Police Station was restored and renovated in 1996. This view looks southwest.
The distance traveled was approximately 7.8 miles (12.5 kilometers). The cumulative elevation gain was about 718 feet (219 meters). Mile markers are displayed on the GPS-generated track.
GO HERE to view part one of The Sunset District, Then & Now.
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"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." Dorothea Lange
"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson
"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams
The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view these photo galleries.
