historical photos

A collection of 50 posts

Sunset District

Scrubland Living

In the 1860s, Cornelius Reynolds and his family took on San Francisco's scrubby west side.

Rincon Hill

Going Down

House-moving in 19th-century San Francisco went in all directions

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.

Mission District

Mission Miracle Mile

In 1949, Mission merchants sweet-talked San Francisco's mayor into a special status.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #55

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

Telegraph Hill

Telegraph Place

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

Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach Airfield

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

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #54

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

Ingleside

Cottages of Care

When San Francisco's Ingleside was a home to Homewood Terrace.

North Beach

The Beach at North Beach

San Francisco's North Beach may not have been where you thought it was.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #52

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

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #50

Apartments in a park, baseball in a pasture, parents in a nightclub, and one goat.

Russian Hill

Living Off the Grid

San Francisco's 1840s Laguna Survey gave the city some growing pains

Silver Terrace

Selling Silver Terrace

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

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #48

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

Stern Grove

Trocadero Rebirth

San Francisco's last roadhouse is resurrected in Stern Grove.

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.

Panhandle

Wheelmen’s Panhandle Palace

The 1890s rise and quick fall of the Velodrome bicycling track next to Golden Gate Park.

Sunnyside

Mudslide on Foerster

Rainy Februaries bring thoughts of a dark day on San Francisco's Mount Davidson.

Yerba Buena Island

Torpedo Point

An explosive point of interest tucked under the eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Rincon Hill

The Unkindest Cut

The 1860s Rincon Hill project that put the cut in San Francisco's East Cut neighborhood.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #44

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #43

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