Ocean Beach

A collection of 19 posts

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #62

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

San Francisco Zoo

Mothers Building 100

A historic landmark waits to be restored at the San Francisco Zoo.

Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park Ghost Rider

In 1912, a man of science encountered a ghostly rider in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

Paid-members only

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.

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #52

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

Ocean Beach

Going Out

Life Saving at San Francisco's Ocean Beach

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #41

World Series parade, gas stations, and Great Highway history—a San Francisco grab bag.

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

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #38

Weird bits of San Francisco history from Fisherman's Wharf to Ocean Beach.

Kelly's Cove

The Naming of Kelly’s Cove

What or who inspired the name for a magical stretch of San Francisco's Ocean Beach?

Lake Merced

Lake Merced Roadhouses

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

San Francisco Zoo

Storyland

From 1959 to the 1990s, kids could step into fairy tales at the San Francisco Zoo.

Ocean Beach

Enter Sandman

When sand sculptor James J. Taylor came to San Francisco’s Ocean Beach.

Ocean Beach

The Legacy of Uncle Cliff

Cliff Kamaka ruled Fleishhacker Pool and influenced a generation of Kelly's Cove surfers.

Ocean Beach

The Girl from Wyoming

Crossing the continent to San Francisco with $2, a horse, and a dog.

Paid-members only

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.

Ocean Beach

Carville-by-the-Sea in 10 Slides

San Francisco's bygone bohemian community made of recycled transit cars at Ocean Beach.