fire

A collection of 16 posts

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 #56

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

Telegraph Hill

Telegraph Place

Having a crush on some long-gone San Francisco houses and wondering what happened to Good Children.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #54

The last house, the widest sidewalk, and the coldest winter San Francisco stories.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #51

Three years of San Francisco Story means an over-long Grab Bag with German churches, Danish tug-of-war teams, bowling, and Woody wool-gathering.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #49

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

Western Addition

Tales from the Hotel Jefferson

Beginnings and ends in San Francisco’s Western Addition.

Downtown

The Monkey Block

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

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #40

Exploding cannons, secret water tanks, and funeral pick-pockets from ye olde San Francisco.

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.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #34

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

1906 earthquake

Last Night in Old San Francisco

Things to do on the eve of the 1906 earthquake.

Union Square

Hallowed Ground on Sutter Street

From the time of its dedication on March 23, 1866, the old Temple Emanu-El was a landmark of 19th-century San Francisco.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Woody Grab Bag #004

Living with the fog in San Francisco, figuring out the identity of Vin the doghouse-maker, and a moving dormer window on a Haight-Ashbury apartment building.

Grab Bag

Woody Grab Bag #001

Debut of the Woody Grab Bag, a San Francisco history hash.