Downtown

A collection of 32 posts

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #62

Pancake palace, the big orange bridge, a new book, and bowling (again).

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #61

A gaseous San Francisco history grab bag of hats, instant photos, and one famous recipe.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve and a Pepsi, 1943

Ringing in the new year in the middle of World War II at San Francisco's Pepsi-Cola Center.

Christmas

Tetrazzini's Christmas Gift

In 1910, the world's greatest soprano gave San Francisco a present.

Downtown

Still Lucky

In 1898, "Lucky" Baldwin lost a big bet with one of San Francisco's most notable fires.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #58

A night owl reporter wanders across San Francisco in 1887.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #57

Salty diner memories and Jack the Ink Thrower's reign of terror.

Union Square

The White House

Remembering a store and a man that every San Franciscan once knew.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #56

Parades, grizzlies, and a new San Francisco time-machine destination.

Downtown

Lotta’s 150th

A birthday for San Francisco's most liked landmark.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #53

Bars, hogs, mansions, and memories: a typical San Francisco Grab Bag from Woody.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #52

Signs of the times and San Francisco views here and gone.

Vigilance Committee

Return of the Vigilantes

On May 14, 1856, a public shooting catalyzed a vigilante (and political) movement in San Francisco.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #49

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but before the fire, and one man trying to get home.

Jackson Square

International Settlement

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

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #47

Portsmouth Square in the 1850s, old photos found, and memorializing motherhood.

Western Addition

Moved by Faith

The 1850s San Francisco church that kept moving west.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #43

Emporium roof rides, the Human Jukebox, and Dianne Feinstein: a classic San Francisco Grab Bag, right?

Downtown

The Monkey Block

How San Francisco's Montgomery Block, built in 1853, survived every disaster, but lost to one man.

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.

1906 earthquake

Captive Airship

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

1906 earthquake

Last Night in Old San Francisco

Things to do on the eve of the 1906 earthquake.

California Street

Runaway Cable Car

The worst accident in San Francisco cable car history.

Pacific Heights

One Million Bricks

Was San Francisco's massive Calvary Presbyterian church moved more than 20 blocks in 1901? Yes and no.

Union Square

Street Cameraman

One man, one million photos taken on the streets of San Francisco.