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A collection of 26 posts

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #55

Babylands, acid-scarred roses, and three formidable women on a San Francisco vacation.

Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach Airfield

In the 1910s, the Christofferson brothers flew high in San Francisco before tragedies brought them down.

Castro

Bringing in the Light

An homage to Orphan Andy's diner in San Francisco's Castro District

Silver Terrace

Selling Silver Terrace

Photographer Eadweard Muybridge had a job to do in southeast San Francisco in 1869.

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #48

Woody goes artifact-hunting in San Francisco's past.

Jackson Square

International Settlement

The exotic restaurant row that was the last gasp of San Francisco's Barbary Coast.

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #46

San Francisco history grab bag with kissing, blessings, dancing, and star-gazing.

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #44

Downtown

Telenews Theatre

San Francisco had an all-news theater from 1939 to 1967. Admission gave you the whole world and a quiet retreat from the same.

Cliff House

Stuck in Zero Gear

I used to walk to work daily, mixing in the 38-Geary bus now and then. But job responsibilities have had me mostly behind the wheel this year and I’m trying to find a way to get back walking. Driving is the American norm, of course. The most recent AAA

1906 earthquake

Captive Airship

How did George R. Lawrence take his amazing aerial panoramas after the 1906 earthquake?

Gold Rush

Gold Rush Prefab

"Portable houses" were one solution to San Francisco's 1849 housing crisis.

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #34

I come to praise San Francisco, not bury it, plus news on old stuff getting older.

Lake Merced

Lake Merced Roadhouses

San Francisco's Lake Merced was the home of roadhouse resorts from the 1850s to the early 1880s.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #33

Woody's 100th San Francisco Story heads to Eureka Valley.

Mission District

Mixed-Use Mission Street

What changed and what didn't on one San Francisco block after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #028

San Francisco History Guy goes all stream-of-consciousness on the Broadway tunnel, buried ships, and petting parties in alleys.

Mission District

Maguire's Houses

Life on one Mission District block on February 22, 1887 at 11:35 a.m.

North Point

The Cobweb Palace

Abe Warner's cobweb-filled saloon in San Francisco's North Point neighborhood was captured on film before demolition and now we know when.

Mission District

A Day Trip on the Mission Road, Part 2

Sunday pleasure resorts like Woodward's Gardens made San Francisco's Mission District more family-friendly in the 1860s and 1870s.

Mission Dolores

A Day Trip on the Mission Road, Part 1

In the 1850s, San Francisco Sunday recreation meant getting across sand dunes and marsh to the Mission.

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Grab Bag

Woody Grab Bag #007

A history of where you can put your car...and more.

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Grab Bag

Woody Grab Bag #006

Strange adventures of young men in San Francisco, market memories, a walnut elephant, and recognizing City Cemetery.

Ocean Beach

Seeing the End of Playland

Playland at the Beach, San Francisco's version of Coney Island, closed for good on September 4, 1972. Photographer Dennis O'Rorke artfully captured the final days.

Telegraph Hill

Telegraph Hill Castle: Layman's Folly

In the early 1880s, a transit car line ran to the top of San Francisco's Telegraph Hill where passengers could visit a strange observatory/concert hall/castle.