San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog

16 April 2019

Part Two: A Profusion of Flowers in Albany & Berkeley California - April 2019

The 2018-2019 San Francisco Bay Area winter rainy season turned out to be wetter than normal; the plants really enjoyed the heavy rainfalls. These pictures were taken from the streets of Albany and Berkeley during the first week of April.

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

Go here to view Part One of A Profusion of Flowers in Albany & Berkeley.

"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 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 that were 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

06 March 2019

San Francisco – History Days at the Old United States Mint: 2 & 3 March 2019

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

Two women visiting San Francisco History Days wearing clothing similar to what was worn in the late 1800s.

This is the Old San Francisco United States Mint. It is sited in downtown San Francisco on 5th and Mission Streets. It is the location for the annual San Francisco History Days meetup. The Old San Francisco United States Mint is California Registered Historical Landmark No. 875.

The Old San Francisco United States Mint.

California Registered Historical Landmark No. 875.

This is the first floor of the Old San Francisco Mint.

On the first floor of the mint.

Some of the displays located on the first floor of the Old Mint.

The Solano County Historical Society.

The Western Neighborhoods Project aka outsidelands.org is a San Francisco community asset.

This is Claudine Chalmers; she is a member of the French Mutual Benevolent Society which was established in San Francisco on 28 December 1851. The French Hospital was located on Bryant Street. The hospital provided medical assistance to its members. Ms. Chalmers is the author of French San Francisco.

Market Street Railway works in conjunction with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to provide excellent public transit in San Francisco. Alison Cant, shown here, helps to ensure that the nonprofit Market Street Railway achieves its goals.

A woman dressed in clothing which is similar to the clothing styles common in the late 1800s.

This is Woody LaBounty, he is the executive director of the Western Neighborhoods Project. Mr. LaBounty is also the author of Carville-by-the-Sea: San Francisco's Streetcar Suburb.

Claudine Chalmers of the French Mutual Benevolent Society.

The San Francisco Historical Society.

This stairway heads down to the basement, the former location of the gold storage vaults and the gold coin manufacturing equipment.

This is a five-stamp gold ore mill that was used in the California gold country.

This is part of the five stamp gold ore mill which was manufactured in San Francisco by the Joshua Hendy Iron Works.

Here is another view of the five stamp gold mill.

The basement area of the Old San Francisco Mint is where the gold vaults are located. The vaults were used to store gold bullion and gold coins.

This is gold vault #5

This is gold vault #9.

This is gold vault #8.

This is gold vault #6.

This is an unnumbered gold vault.

Here are ten water lines that were used in the manufacturing of gold coins and gold bullion bars.

This basement location was the site of the gold coin manufacturing machinery.