Downtown

A collection of 21 posts

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.

Union Square

Street Cameraman

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

Downtown

Atlas Displaced

Searching for surviving pieces of a unique 1874 San Francisco building.

Downtown

House Cleaning Day

On March 3, 1907, San Francisco gave its rubble-strewn streets a good sweeping.

Union Square

Castle on the Square

The mini-citadel which once faced Union Square.

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.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Woody Grab Bag #007

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

Downtown

1868: The First “Big One”

The "great San Francisco earthquake" of 1868 and the next one on the way.

Downtown

Reclaiming Admission Day

Can September 9th be a yearly commitment to an inclusive California?