San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog

31 December 2017

San Francisco then & now, part five: December 2017

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THEN: El Presidio Theatre opened on 1 July 1937; the theatre is located in the Marina District at 2340 Chestnut Street. Film star Constance Bennett's line of 'Beauty Aids' provided an inducement for moviegoers to see Greta Garbo in Ninotchka. This photo is circa 1940.

NOW: The theatre changed its name to Presidio in 1951. After having been closed for several months, the Presidio was reopened as a four-plex on 25 December 2004. Click Here to view a map of this location.

THEN: The Four Star Theatre opened in 1913. It is located at 2200 Clement Street in the Outer Richmond District. The original name of the theatre was La Bonita. The theatre was renamed the Star Theatre in 1927, and then in 1946, the name was changed to its current iteration, Four Star Theatre. This photo was taken in 1919, and the movie playing at that time was Cecil B. De Mille's "For Better, For Worst" starring Gloria Swanson.

NOW: By the late 1960s, a false front hid the original facade of the building. The theatre closed in 1990, and it reopened in 1992 showing films produced in Hong Kong. Click Here to view a map of this location.

THEN: The Great China Theatre opened in 1925 at 636 Jackson Street. The theatre has been home to Chinese opera productions since that time. A film projection booth was added in 1940, and films were also shown in the theatre. The theatre was renamed the Great Star Theatre in 1960. This photo is circa the 1950s.

NOW: In 2015, after being closed for several years, a group of investors took stewardship of the Great Star Theatre and proceeded to upgrade the building. In September 2015 a 31-year-old woman was found dead in the theatre, and one of the investors was arrested and booked into San Francisco County Jail "based on probable cause and the totality of the circumstances." The theatre has closed as of 30 January 2018.

THEN: The Haight Theatre opened around 1910; it was located at 1700 Haight Street; the cross street being Cole Street. The building ceased operation as a film theatre in 1964; it then became an all-purpose venue for the Haight-Ashbury counterculture. Go here to read the fascinating history of the rise and fall of the Haight Theatre. This photo was taken in 1948.

THEN: The Haight Theatre is boarded up. This picture is circa the 1970s.

THEN: The theatre was demolished in 1979.

NOW: The theatre site is currently occupied by an apartment building with two retail businesses located at street level. Click Here to view a map of this location.

THEN: The Coronet Theatre opened on 2 November 1949 at 3575 Geary Boulevard. The theatre had a state of the art sound system, seating for 1,350 people and a gigantic screen. It was a first-run theatre, and many blockbuster movies were first shown in San Francisco at the Coronet Theatre. This photo is circa 2001.

THEN: The Coronet Theatre was closed on 10 February 2005, and it was demolished during the summer of 2007. This photo is circa 2006.

NOW: The site of the Coronet Theatre has been occupied by the Institute on Aging senior-care-facility since April 2011.

THEN: This is a picture of Polytechnic High School. The school enrolled its first students in 1914. It was located on Frederick Street, across the street from Kezar Stadium. The boy's gymnasium, on the right, was built in 1929. The girl's gymnasium built-in 1936 was located to the left of the school building and is not visible in this photograph. This photo shows a high school football game taking place at Kezar Stadium. The date of this picture is unknown.

THEN: This photo was taken in 1987 as the school building was in the process of being demolished. The boy's gymnasium is seen on the right side of the picture.

NOW: Both the girl's gym and the boy's gym are still standing and remain in productive use. Affordable housing condominiums were constructed on the site of the school building. Click Here to view a map of this location.

THEN: This was the original Bank of California building, it was located at 400 California Street, and was established at this site in 1864. This illustration was drawn in 1875.

THEN: This is the Bank of California building circa the 1930s. In January 1906, the bank moved to temporary quarters while preparations for the construction of a new bank building began at this location. Progress was abruptly halted on 18 April 1906 by the earthquake and fire. Work recommenced six weeks later and this building opened for business on 8 September 1908.

NOW: The Bank of California merged with Union Bank in 1996. The building was designated a World Heritage Site in 1968. Click Here to view a map of this location.

THEN: This is a view from the top of Nob Hill shortly after the devastating earthquake and fire of April 1906. Only two buildings on Nob Hill survived the earthquake and fire. The Flood Mansion is seen on the left, and the Fairmont Hotel is seen in the background. Both buildings were burned out, but they survived complete destruction because their exteriors were built with stonework.

THEN: The Flood Mansion survived the earthquake and fire because of its exterior brownstone construction.

NOW: This is the Flood Mansion. It was built in 1866 for James C. Flood, a 19th-century silver baron who made his fortune in the silver mines of Virginia City, Nevada. The building was the first brownstone building constructed west of the Mississippi River. The brownstones were shipped around Cape Horn from the same quarry in Connecticut that was the source for the brownstones used in constructing buildings in New York City. The building is now the location of the Pacific-Union Club. The building is San Francisco Landmark #64 and National Historic Landmark #66000230. Click Here to view a map of this site.

NOW: This is a view of the Fairmont Hotel; it is located on the top of Nob Hill at 950 Mason Street. It was named for James G. Fair by his two daughters, who built the hotel in his honor. The construction of the hotel was almost completed before the 1906 earthquake. The structure survived the earthquake and fire, but the interior was heavily damaged. The hotel began accepting guests in 1907. Click Here to view a map of this location.

THEN: This is a view of the Mason Street Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse. The picture was taken sometime between 1887 and 1906.

THEN: This is a view of the destroyed Mason Street Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse after the 18 April 1906 earthquake and fire. The view is looking north, down Mason Street. Angel Island is visible in the distance.

THEN: The burned-out shells of the Fairmont Hotel and the Flood Mansion are visible, as is the destroyed Cable Car Barn. This view is looking south.

NOW: The original Cable Car Barn & Powerhouse was built in 1887 as a three-story building; it was rebuilt as a two-story structure after the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed the original building. In addition to being a vital operating component of the three currently operating cable car lines, the building also contains a cable car museum. The remnant of the smokestack from the original cable car barn & powerhouse is a stark reminder of the Great Earthquake & Fire of 18 April 1906. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: A view of the cable flywheel rotators located inside the Cable Car Barn & Powerhouse.

THEN: This is Coit Tower, it was built in 1933, and it is situated on the summit of Telegraph Hill. The tower was constructed thanks to a financial donation made to the City of San Francisco by the estate of Lillie Hitchcock Coit. The architect was Arthur Brown Jr. This picture is circa the1930s.

NOW: A statue of Christopher Columbus was added to the Coit Tower site in 1957. Click Here to view a map of this location.

THEN: The Lincoln Park Steps were constructed in the early 1900s. This photo was taken circa 2014 as workers prepare the steps for the thousands of ceramic tiles that will dramatically alter the visual appearance of the Lincoln Park Steps. The steps are located at the western terminus of California Street.

NOW: A gorgeous transformation of the Lincoln Park Steps has occurred. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: This is San Francisco Municipal Railway's streetcar 1009. It was built in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1948. The streetcar is painted the same colors as the streetcars that operated in Dallas, Texas from 1945 to 1956. The streetcar is running on the E-Embarcadero Line and is rolling west on the Embarcadero towards Fisherman's Wharf. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: Here is a view of Waverley Place, located in Chinatown. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: This is a view of Z&Y Restaurant; the restaurant is located at 655 Jackson Street. Z&Y Restaurant has a well-deserved reputation as a Szechuan cuisine restaurant that serves deliciously spicy food. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: This is an unusual sight, a drawing of a Russian Soviet-era steam train occupying the garage door of a house located on California Street near Thirty-first Avenue in the Outer Richmond District. All aboard! Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: This apartment building is located on Telegraph Hill, adjacent to the Filbert Steps. The building is known as the Malloch Building, and it was constructed in 1937. The building and the Filbert Steps were used as filming locations in the 1947 movie Dark Passage starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: A view of Haight Street in the Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: Here is a view of Nob Hill as seen from the Joe DiMaggio Playground located in the North Beach neighborhood. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: This is a view of downtown San Francisco as seen from the Embarcadeo; the view looks southeast. The newly constructed Transbay Tower, also known as Salesforce Tower, is the building on the right. It is now the tallest building in San Francisco. Click Here to view a map of this location.

NOW: This is one of ten stagecoaches built-in 1867 for Wells Fargo by the Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire. These stagecoaches were each capable of carrying eighteen people - nine inside, three on the driver's seat, and six people on top of the coach. This stagecoach initially served on Wells Fargo's overland mail route. Afterwhich, it ran between Santa Clara and Santa Cruz, California, in the 1870s. Wells Fargo then sold the coach. In 1928 Wells Fargo repurchased the coach, and the coach now has a prominent position in the Wells Fargo History Museum. The museum is located on Montgomery Street. Click Here to see the location of the Wells Fargo History Museum on a map.

GO HERE to view part one of San Francisco then & now.

GO HERE to view part two of San Francisco then & now.

GO HERE to view part three of San Francisco then & now.

GO HERE to view part four of San Francisco then & now.

GO HERE to view part six of San Francisco then & now.

"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." Dorothea Lang

"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 important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

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 those photos.

A Sony camera was used to take these photographs.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com

14 December 2017

San Francisco then & now, part four: December 2017

Click on an image to view the full-size photograph.

THEN: The Alhambra Theatre is located at 2330 Polk Street. The theatre opened on 5 November 1926; it has two distinctive Moorish minarets, making it a landmark in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco. This picture was taken in 1926.

NOW: The Alhambra Theatre closed in 1998, and a workout gymnasium now occupies the building. The theatre is San Francisco Landmark #217. Click Here to see the location of the Alhambra Theatre on a map.

THEN: In 1848, Orson Squire Fowler claimed that an octagon house was the most efficient shape for a home since it enclosed more space with less material, it provided more light, and was more efficient to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Several thousand octagon houses were built in the United States and Canada; two survive in San Francisco. This house was constructed by William C. McElroy in 1861 and is now located at 2645 Gough Street. The house was initially built across the street from its present location. It was a private residence until the 1920s. By 1951 the house was abandoned and in terrible condition. The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America purchased the building for one dollar and moved it across the street onto donated land. An apartment building now occupies the original building site. This picture was taken in 1952.

THEN: The octagon house was restored after it was moved across the street, and it opened as a museum in 1953. This picture is circa 1953-54.

NOW: The house is San Francisco Landmark #17 and National Register No. 72000250. Click Here to see the location of the octagon house on a map.

THEN: The Baldwin Hotel and Theatre formerly occupied the site of the Flood Building. The Baldwin Hotel and Theatre was destroyed by fire in 1898. In 1902, James L. Flood purchased the empty parcel of land and had a building constructed on the site in honor of his father, James Clair Flood, who died in 1889. This is a picture of the Flood Building under construction. This image is circa 1903.

THEN: This is an engraving of the Baldwin Hotel and Theater. The print was produced by the T. J. Pettit Company between circa 1878 and circa 1890.

THEN: This is a photograph of the Baldwin Hotel and Theatre. The photo was taken in 1879.

THEN: The Baldwin Hotel and Theatre after a fire destroyed the wooden structure on 23 November 1898. The building was beyond repair, and the structure was demolished, leaving an empty parcel of land.

THEN: This is a picture of the completed twelve-story Flood Building. It is located at 870 Market Street. The building cost $1.5 million to build, and construction was completed in 1904. The photo is circa 1905.

THEN: The San Francisco Great Earthquake and Fire occurred on 18 April 1906. The Flood Building was damaged by the earthquake and fire but survived the calamity due to its steel frame construction and brick exterior walls covered in sandstone.

THEN: This photo of the Flood Building was taken approximately two to three months after the earthquake and fire. A Market Street Cable Railway cable car is traveling outbound on Market Street. The Ferry Building can be seen in the distance.

NOW: The Flood Building is located at the intersection of Powell Street and Market Street. The building is adjacent to the Powell Street cable car turnaround. During the early Twentieth-Century, the Pinkerton Detective Agency has an office on the third floor of the building and employed Dashiell Hammett, a well-regarded author of detective novels such as The Maltese Falcon, as an operative. This is San Francisco Landmark #154. Click Here to see the location of the Flood Building on a map.

THEN: William Bowers Bourn II was born in San Francisco in 1857. He became a very successful and extremely wealthy entrepreneur. In 1896, he commissioned Willis Polk to design this 27-room mansion at 2550 Webster Street. Polk also designed Filoli, Bourn's magnificent estate in the city of Woodside on the San Francisco Peninsula. 2550 Webster Street is San Francisco Landmark #38. The date of this photograph is unknown.

NOW: 2550 Webster Street has had a bizarre history . The mansion was eventually sold at auction in 2010. Click Here to see the location of the Bourn Mansion on a map.

THEN: El Rey Theatre is located in the Ingleside neighborhood of San Francisco at 1970 Ocean Avenue. The theatre opened in 1931; the first film to be shown in the theatre was "The Smiling Lieutenant," starring Maurice Chevalier. In 1969 the retail sales portion of the theatre became the first location of the Gap clothing store. The theatre closed in 1977; shortly after that, a church purchased the building. This picture was taken in 1931.

NOW: In December 2015, a lender foreclosed on the property after the church defaulted on a loan. The theatre was then sold to a Marin County investment group for $1.06 million. On 18 July 2017, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to award landmark status to the long-neglected theatre. As of 17 August 2017, redevelopment plans moved forward for the El Rey Theater. As of 13 June 2022, the theatre is still boarded up, with no work taking place. Click Here to see the location of the El Rey Theatre on a map.

THEN: The Haas-Lilienthal House is located at 2007 Franklin Street. It is a Queen Anne style Victorian-era home that is now a museum open to the public. In 2012 it was named as one of 31 national treasures by the National Trust for Historical Preservation. The house is owned by San Francisco Heritage. The building is 11,500 square feet with twenty-four rooms, including a ballroom. The kitchen was last updated ninety-years ago. The date of this photograph is unknown.

NOW: The house was built around 1886 for William Haas, a prominent businessman in early San Francisco. He was born in Bavaria and came to the United States in the 1870s. His daughter, Alice, married Samuel Lilienthal. The Lilienthal family lived in the home from 1917 to 1972, when Alice passed away. San Francisco Landmark #69, National Register #73000438. Click Here to see the location of the Haas-Lilienthal House on a map.

THEN: Henry Casebolt came to San Francisco in 1851. He arrived from Virginia with his wife and their eleven children. He manufactured horse carriages and grip mechanisms for cable cars., He opened his horse carriage factory in the Cow Hollow section of San Francisco. In 1865 Pierce Street was a country road; it was here that he decided to build this Italianate manor house at 2727 Pierce Street in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco. The house is 5,875 square feet; it has seven bedrooms and four bathrooms. He sold the house in 1851; the property remains a private residence. It sold in December 1973 for $155,000. The date of this photograph is unknown.

NOW: Here is a picture of 2727 Pierce Street taken in December 2017. San Francisco Landmark #51. Click Here to see the location of the Casebolt House on a map.

THEN: This Italianate-style three-story house is located at 2355 Washington Street in Pacific Heights. A striking feature of the house is the Mansard roof. The house was built in 1870, and it was initially located at 528 Sutter Street. In 1900 the owners, Dr. Emma Sutro and Dr. George Merritt moved the house about a mile and a half from 528 Sutter Street to its current location. They both practiced medicine from offices within the home. The date of this photograph is unknown.

NOW: Dr. Emma Sutro was one of seven children born to Adolph Sutro and his wife, Leah Harris. She was the oldest daughter. Adolph Sutro purchased this Victorian mansion from R.B Dallam for his daughter Emma and her husband, Dr. George Merritt. Adolph Sutro died on 8 August 1898 at the age of 68. His daughter Emma was named as the executor of his estate. It took ten years for his estate to be settled. Click Here to see the location of the Dallam-Merritt House on a map. National Register #84001185

THEN: This is the grand opening day of the Ingleside Race Track: 28 November 1895. This image is courtesy of FoundSF. The last horse race was on 30 December 1905. The track served as a camp for many San Franciscans after the 1906 earthquake and fire. The track also hosted patients from Laguna Honda Hospital as the hospital recovered from the quake. In 1910 Joseph A. Leonard (1849-1929), after building hundreds of homes in Berkeley and Alameda, purchased the racetrack's and created Ingleside Terraces.

THEN: Horse racing on the one-mile track. This image is courtesy of FoundSF. This picture is circa 1895.

THEN: The car racetrack and the grandstand. This image is courtesy of OpenSFHistory. This picture is circa 1905.

THEN: The cars are speeding around the one-mile track. This image is courtesy of OpenSFHistory. This picture is circa 1905.

THEN: The racetrack's clubhouse and grandstand. This image is courtesy of FoundSF. This picture is circa 1900.

THEN: The horse racing and car racing days are now over at the track. A sundial was built in the middle of the former track, and prospective home buyers are being given a tour of the area, now known as Ingleside Terraces. This picture is circa 1914. This image is courtesy of OpenSFHistory.

NOW: The location of the former racetrack as seen on an aerial map of Ingleside Terraces. The one-mile track now is named Urbano Drive. The location of the sundial is noted on this aerial map.

THEN: The sundial is located in the new and developing Ingleside Terraces neighborhood. This image is courtesy of OpenSFHistory. This picture is circa 1913.

NOW: The sundial was dedicated on the evening of 10 October 1913, at a lavish event with 1,500 people in attendance. After children dressed as nymphs unveiled the sundial and four surrounding columns, a midnight supper was served, and couples danced until dawn. Two significant engineering accomplishments, one local one international, were also celebrated: the Twin Peaks Tunnel and the Panama Canal. The sundial initially had a circular reflecting pool, with a fountain, two bronze seals, colored lights, and a ringlet of yellow and purple pansies. The 34-foot-wide clock face still has large Roman numerals that accurately provide the hour, barring fog or daylight saving time. The sundial was installed by the Urban Realty Improvement Company to lure buyers for its Ingleside Terraces development. The 148-acre residence park offered a lawn tennis court, a clubhouse for social gatherings, and about 750 houses priced from $6,000 to $20,000. Here is an advertising brochure published circa 1914 on the new housing development. Click Here to see the location of the Ingleside Sundial on a map.

NOW: This is the Daniel Gibb & Company Warehouse, which is located at 855 Front Street. The building is one of the two oldest surviving warehouses in San Francisco; it was constructed in 1855 during the California Gold Rush. Daniel Gibb was a British citizen who returned to Scotland in 1861. San Francisco Landmark #91 and National Register #97001189. Click Here to see the location of 855 Front Street on a map.

THEN: The Paige Motor Car building was built in 1912 at 1699 Van Ness Avenue. National Register #83001234. This picture is circa 1920.

NOW: The building is one of the few remaining lavish motorcar company buildings on Van Ness Avenue's automobile row. The building is currently occupied by a real estate company and a bank. Click Here to see the location of the Paige Motorcar Company on a map.

NOW: This photo was taken from Pier 7. The view is looking south. Ahead is the graceful and unique Transamerica Pyramid. It had the commendable distinction of being the tallest building in San Francisco until early 2017. At that time, the Transbay Tower, which is currently under construction, became the city's tallest building. Click Here to see the location of Pier 7 on a map.

NOW: This is a view looking east from the top of Russian Hill. Ahead is Yerba Buena Island and the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The summit of Mount Diablo is visible in the distance. Click Here to see the top of Russian Hill on a map.

NOW: This is a view of Richmond Inner Harbor as seen from Point Isabel in Contra Costa County. Ahead in the distance, across San Francisco Bay in Marin County, is the magnificent and serene Mount Tamalpais. The view is looking west. Click Here to see the location of Point Isabel on a map.