San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog

06 February 2020

San Francisco – Mission Bay, the Financial District, Chase Center, and the Bay Bridge: January & February 2020

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

The current version of San Francisco's City Hall opened in 1915 after the previous City Hall was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.

Here is a picture of the remains of San Francisco's City Hall after the 1906 earthquake.

This winsome image of a seal is located in front of the San Francisco Ferry Building.

A Golden Gate Ferry arriving at San Francisco's Golden Gate Ferry Terminal.

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is a complex of two bridges spanning San Francisco Bay. Construction of the bridge began on 9 July 1933, and the bridge opened on 12 November 1936. Twenty-eight men died during the building of the bridge.

This is San Francisco Municipal Railway cable car #26. It was built in 1887 by the Ferries & Cliff House Railway. It was subsequently rebuilt twice, in 1906 by United Railroads, and in 1982-84 by the San Francisco Municipal Railway. The cable car is seen at the Cable Car Turnaround on Powell Street at Market Street. A cable car operator is turning the car around for its trip to the Hyde Street turnaround at Fisherman's Wharf.

This is the grand entryway to the Mills Building. Construction of the building was completed in 1892. The building survived the 1906 earthquake and was named for Darius Odgen Mills, an early San Francisco financial tycoon.

Here is a picture of Lotta's Fountain, which is located on Market Street. It was commissioned in 1876 by actress Lotta Crabtree as a gift to the people of San Francisco. In 1974 Lotta's Fountain was temporarily relocated so that BART and Muni train tracks could be constructed under Market Street. The underground construction was completed in 1975. Lotta's Fountain was then reinstalled on Market Street, and at that time, it also received the distinction of being named San Francisco Landmark #73. In 1999 the fountain was refurbished to its original appearance.

This is a view of streetcar #1056 traveling outbound on Market Street on its way to Castro Street. This vehicle was built in 1948 by the St. Louis Car Company for the Philadelphia Transportation Company. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency acquired this streetcar in 1992.

Here is a two-car N-Judah light rail streetcar picking up passengers at the Cole Street intersection stop. The vehicle is on Carl Street, and it is traveling inbound to downtown San Francisco.

The San Francisco Police Department moved its headquarters to the Mission Bay neighborhood on 16 April 2015.

Hotel Zelos is a 202-room hotel located on Market Street.

The Stockton Street Tunnel was primarily built for the now-defunct F-Stockton streetcar line. Construction started in 1912, and streetcar travel through the tunnel began on 29 December 1914.

This is the University of California San Francisco Precision Cancer Medicine Building. It is located in the Mission Bay area.

Here is a two-car light rail streetcar in the Mission Bay area traveling north on 3rd Street.

Another light rail streetcar maneuvering through the Mission Bay neighborhood.

This painting is located on a building in the Little Italy neighborhood. It is at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Via Bufano.

This eye-catching building is located in San Francisco's Design District. It is at the intersection of 16th Street and Carolina Street.

This Wells Fargo Bank building was constructed in 1910 as the Union Trust Bank building. The Union Trust Bank merged with Wells Fargo Bank in 1923. This structure is San Francisco Landmark #131.

On 29 January 2020, the City of San Francisco transformed Market Street, the city's busiest street, to better accommodate people walking, biking and riding public transit. Market Street became car-free eastbound from 10th Street to Main Street and westbound from Steuart Street to Van Ness Avenue.

The Transamerica Pyramid is located at 600 Montgomery Street. Construction of the building began in 1969 and was finished in 1972. The Transamerica Pyramid was until recently the tallest building in San Francisco. Salesforce Tower now holds that distinction.

This office building is located on Berry Street, near the mouth of Mission Creek.

The Lefty O'Doul Bridge is also known as the Third Street Bridge or the China Basin Bridge. It is a drawbridge that crosses over Mission Creek and is adjacent to Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. The bridge opened on 12 May 1933.

Here is another view of the Lefty O'Doul Bridge.

Oracle Park baseball stadium, the home of the San Francisco Giants.

A limited view of the playing field.

Chase Center is an indoor arena located in the Mission Bay neighborhood. The building is the home of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Construction of the arena began on 17 January 2017. The arena had its grand opening on 6 September 2019.

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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 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

22 January 2020

A ferry boat ride from San Francisco to Sausalito, with a ramble back to San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge: 22 January 2020

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These beautifully detailed houses are located in Sausalito on the Bridgeway Promenade.

A view from the San Francisco Ferry Terminal.

A map of the route. The portion of the journey from the San Francisco Ferry Terminal to Sausalito was via the M.S. San Francisco, a Golden Gate Ferry. Then it was a ramble from Sausalito to the southern terminus of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. After which two bus lines were used: A Muni 28 bus and a Muni 38R bus. A GPS receiver that was turned on a little late recorded the journey.

The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from the ferry during our trip to Sausalito. San Francisco is on the left, and the Marin Headlands are on the right. Eleven men died during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A view of the southwestern portion of Angel Island. The building seen at sea level is a remnant of Camp Reynolds. In 1863 the federal government established the Camp Reynolds military base because of government concerns about threats to the Bay Area from Confederate sympathizers.

Mount Tamalpais is straight ahead; it is 2,572 feet tall. The mountain was enveloped by fog when this picture was taken.

A view of Sausalito as the ferry begins its docking maneuver.

Vina del Mar Park is located adjacent to the Sausalito ferry terminal.

A mother and child are cycling north on 2nd Street in Sausalito.

Sausalito, as seen from South Street.

These houses in Sausalito are contiguous with Richardson Bay.

This is a view of coastal gun Battery Yates. It was an Endicott Period gun battery with six 3" rapid-fire guns. The battery is located on the site of Fort Baker and was active from 1905 to 1943.

Here is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge as seen from Battery Yates. The scene is looking southwest.

This is a picture of Fort Baker, as observed from Battery Yates.

This is Coast Guard Station Golden Gate, which is located at Fort Baker.

These are the entryways to below-ground facilities located at Fort Baker that were used to refresh the explosive charges in underwater mines. The underwater mines were used to protect the entry to San Francisco Bay. The mines contained granular dynamite, which has a somewhat short period of viability. The mines were periodically removed from the water for renewal. The mines were brought to this location to have the old granular dynamite extracted. Newly manufactured granular dynamite was then poured into the mines, and the refreshed mines were reinstalled underwater.

This is a Coast Guard Station dock located in Horseshoe Cove. There are three Coast Guard vessels moored at the dock.

The Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from Point Cavallo.

The metal struts that are seen jutting out of the lower part of the Golden Gate Bridge are a recent addition to the bridge, and they are part of a work in progress. They are being installed on the Golden Gate Bridge as part of a suicide prevention barrier. The approximate cost of the Suicide Deterrent System is $211 million. Between 1937 and 2018, an estimated 1,800 people have jumped off the bridge. The four-second, 245-foot drop from the bridge roadway to San Francisco Bay causes a person who is dropping at about 75 miles per hour to hit the water "with the force of a speeding truck meeting a concrete building." Jumping off the bridge has at least a 98 percent fatality rate. As of 2013, it is estimated that 34 people have survived after jumping from the bridge. Here are some accounts of a number of suicides that took place at the bridge. In 2014 the bridge's directors approved a proposal for a suicide prevention barrier to be installed below the bridge's deck, extending out on both sides of the bridge.

The northern terminus of the Golden Gate Bridge.

This is the North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The height of the bridge's towers is 746 feet above the water, and the Golden Gate Bridge's clearance above high water averages 220 feet. Each tower has approximately 600,000 rivets. The view is looking south.

A view from the Golden Gate Bridge. Ahead are Angel Island, the Tiburon Peninsula, and Battery Yates. On the right, in the distance, are the cities of Berkeley, Kensington, Richmond, and Albany, which are located on or near the Berkeley Hills.

San Francisco as seen from the Golden Gate Bridge.