by Frank Dunnigan
During my recent two -year sabbatical from writing STREETWISE for Western Neighborhoods Project on Outsidelands.org, many changes were taking place in San Francisco. Thanks to WNP Executive Director Nicole Meldahl, STREETWISE is back and we’re launching a complimentary series of blog posts that will highlight some of the nearly 52,000 historical images available here. As of 2021, STREETWISE is no longer limited to the western neighborhoods!
To start us off, here are some changes from the past two years across many San Francisco neighborhoods.
ALFRED’S STEAKHOUSE—After 92 years in business, San Francisco’s oldest steakhouse closed down permanently in October 2020. This wasn’t a Covid casualty, however. Owner Al Petri temporarily closed the steakhouse in May 2019 for renovations and it never reopened.
AMBASSADOR TOYS—Facing a declining population of local children since the year 2000, the toy store (opened in 1997) closed both its locations permanently—Embarcadero Center and West Portal Avenue—in pre-Covid January 2020.
Don Lee Cadillac dealership building, at O’Farrell and Van Ness, circa 1925. (wnp4.1445; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
AMC VAN NESS 14 THEATRE—Originally built as the Don Lee Cadillac dealership at 1000 Van Ness Avenue in 1921, Van Ness Avenue’s Auto Row was fading from the scene as new businesses came to the area prior to the turn of the millennium. The old dealership’s ornate lobby provided an entrance to a new theatre complex in 1998. That multiplex closed in February 2019 and is currently being remodeled to 4D-format—still 14 screens, but with a slightly reduced overall seating capacity in order to accommodate new food service.
ANGKOR BOREI—One of the only Cambodian restaurants in San Francisco had been in business on Mission Street at the border of the Mission/Bernal neighborhoods since the 1980s. Covid restrictions left the business with only take-out and delivery options and the long-time owners decided to close/retire in June 2020.
Avenue Theater on San Bruno Avenue near Burrows, May 1968. (wnp67.0005; Jack Tillmany Collection / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
AVENUE THEATRE—This landmark of the Portola District’s San Bruno Avenue was built in 1927, closed in 1984, and saw a revitalization in 2017. This is when its Art Deco neon sign was restored and re-lighted nightly as part of a neighborhood upgrade that included moving utility lines underground. In June 2019, Churn Urban Creamery became a new tenant in the space once occupied by Hagi’s Coffee Shop.
BADLANDS NIGHTCLUB—Operating on 18th Street since 1975, the location closed permanently in July 2020, several months into Covid.
BEACH BLANKET BABYLON—The world’s longest running musical revue (1974-2019) closed pre-Covid, and is well-remembered by appreciative audiences. The City preserved its memory when the 600 block of Green Street, between Columbus and Powell, was renamed Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard in 1996.
CABLE CARS—San Francisco’s entire cable car system has been temporarily shut down since March 2020 due to Covid, with no official re-opening date yet announced. There is occasionally a car on display at the Powell and Market cable car turnaround thanks to the Union Square Business Improvement District with support from the SFMTA and the Market Street Railway.
CAESAR’S—The beloved Italian eatery at Bay & Powell Streets, operating from 1956 until 2012 (home to long Friday lunches, after-work gatherings, and memorable retirement dinners), remained a ghostly vacancy for eight years until a crew arrived in mid-2020 to demolish the old structure for construction of a six-story condo building.
Cake Gallery cake for book signing, 2014. (Courtesy of Frank Dunnigan)
CAKE GALLERY—Operating for 38 years South-of-Market, producing high-quality cakes with photo images in frosting (X-rated versions upon request!). The Gallery announced a permanent closure in September 2020, but then updated its website to reflect a new location in the Potrero.
View across Ghirardelli Square at The Mandarin restaurant, May 27, 1973. (wnp12.00654; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
CHANG, CECILIA—Founder and long-time manager of The Mandarin Restaurant, who introduced authentic Chinese cuisine to San Francisco in the 1960s, died in October 2020 age the age of 100.
CLAY THEATRE—Upper Fillmore Street’s 110-year-old Clay Theatre was closed permanently by owner Balgobind Jaiswal, pre-Covid, in January 2020, after longtime operator Landmark Theatres pulled out. This might not be the end, though. In March 2020, Supervisor Catherine Stefani introduced legislation that would require conditional use permits to be approved by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors to change the operation of a single-screen theater. Plus, The Neighborhood Theater Foundation might be interested in purchasing it.
View over future Flower Market site toward Coca Cola sign, circa 1955. (wnp32.2038; Courtesy of Emiliano Echeverria)
COCA-COLA SIGN—The 112-foot-tall double-sided lighted sign atop a South-of-Market building was a familiar sight for Bay Bridge drivers since 1937—the year after the bridge opened. The twinkling lights went out and the sign was removed in October 2020 due to increased rental costs. Along with the old Union 76 clock tower (constructed in the early 1950s/demolished in 2005) the Coke sign greeted decades of City-bound drivers with a clear reminder that they were “home”.
CPMC-VAN NESS—San Francisco’s newest hospital, part of California-Pacific Medical Center, opened in 2020 on the site of the long-closed Jack Tar/Cathedral Hill Hotel (opened in 1960) that was demolished in 2013-14.
DOWNTOWN FLOWER STANDS—An endangered species for years, Covid and the resulting reduction in downtown pedestrian traffic has placed tremendous pressure on the few remaining outlets.
ELITE CAFÉ—After 38 years in business on upper Fillmore Street in a location that housed a restaurant for nearly 100 years, Elite Café closed its doors in pre-Covid April 2019.
FORT MASON FLIX—San Francisco’s first drive-in movie theater located completely within the city limits in 65+ years—since the closure of Alemany Boulevard’s short-lived Terrace Drive-in (1951-54)—opened in September 2020.
Gump’s Department Store on Post near Stockton, July 1958. (wnp25.1415; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
GUMP’S—One of San Francisco’s oldest downtown businesses opened as an art/frame shop in 1861. Expanding into china, crystal, silver, home furnishings, and fine jewelry, the store was a long-time fixture on Post Street. It closed in December 2018, though it re-emerged in 2019-20 on a smaller scale as an online/catalog operation.
HARRINGTON’S BAR & GRILL—Operating on Front Street in the Financial District since 1935, the classic watering hole announced a temporary closure on St. Patrick’s Day 2020—normally a time of high festivities when lines of waiting customers used to wrap around the block. In September 2020, third-generation owner Michael Harrington sadly announced that the closure was permanent.
Interior of It’s Tops Coffee Shop on Market Street, 2019. (Paul Martin, photographer / Courtesy of Frank Dunnigan)
IT’S TOPS COFFEE SHOP—The 85-year old diner was one of a dwindling few spots along Market Street to offer hot breakfasts and lunches in a sit-down atmosphere with comfortable booths and counter service. Temporarily shuttered in the early days of Covid, the owners removed the vintage outdoor neon sign and interior memorabilia in June 2020, announcing that the closure was permanent.
LUCCA RAVIOLI—Located at 22nd & Valencia Streets in the Mission, the shop had been stocking Italian groceries and much-loved ravioli with sauce since 1925. This was NOT a story of greedy landlords nor was it pandemic-related, but simply that the owner who had been running things for 50+ years chose to retire in April 2019. (Note: Lucca Delicatessen on Chestnut Street in the Marina is a separate entity that remains in business.)
LYON, PHYLLIS—The LGBT pioneer/activist died in April 2020 at the age of 95. She and long-time partner Del Martin were among the first same-sex couples to be issued a marriage license by the City and County of San Francisco in 2004.
MISSION DOLORES—The “new” Church at 16th & Dolores Streets turned 100 years old at Christmas 2018. An upcoming column will trace the long history of the buildings and adjacent cemetery at the site.
Northpoint Theater at Powell and Bay, May 1968. (wnp5.50392; Courtesy of Jack Tillmany)
NORTHPOINT THEATRE—San Francisco’s last-built single-screen movie house opened in 1967 at Bay & Powell Streets, and closed in 1997. The building remained vacant for 20+ years before re-emerging as a store/office location for Goodwill Industries in 2019.
PACIFIC TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH—An early downtown high-rise built nearly 100 years ago, the iconic building at 140 New Montgomery served as corporate headquarters for 75+ years, though various mergers led to an 8-year vacancy in this millennium. Plans for conversion to upscale condominiums did not materialize, and the structure has now been restored/upgraded for office use by multiple tenants.
PRESIDIO THEATRE—Located within the Presidio since 1938 (same name but different from the Chestnut Street movie house), the venue was renovated into a performing arts center by the National Park Service in October 2019.
ROTUNDA RESTAURANT—Operating beneath the historic stained-glass City of Paris dome at Neiman-Marcus since the early 1980s, the restaurant closed temporarily at the start of the pandemic. There was an attempt to reopen by the holiday season, but new restrictions on indoor dining emerged. The future remains uncertain because of the retailer’s corporate bankruptcy.
SAM JORDAN’S BAR—One of San Francisco’s oldest African-American-owned businesses—a fixture on the 4000 block of Third Street in the Bayview since 1959—closed permanently in November 2020. Founder Sam Jordan settled in San Francisco in 1947 following Navy service in World War II. His name will continue as a neighborhood presence because the City renamed a one-block section of adjacent Galvez Avenue in his honor in 2019.
Costumed women at California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute, April 18, 1939. (wnp28.0262; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE—Founded in 1871, the school announced in April 2020 that it was no longer accepting applications from prospective first-year students—leading to speculation about a possible closure. The 800 Chestnut Street campus, with its Mission-tile roof and iconic tower, built in 1926, remains closed, though the Fall 2020 semester began with online learning. In an effort to clear its debt, SFAI was looking to possibly sell the famous Diego Rivera mural, ‘The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City,” at the Chestnut campus, allegedly to George Lucas’ Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. Recent efforts to landmark it might prevent the sale.
ST. FRANCIS FOUNTAIN—San Francisco’s oldest ice cream parlor has celebrated over 100 years as part of the 24th Street commercial corridor in the Mission. In 2020, the owner cited many difficulties in running a small business in San Francisco, alluding to the possibility of a future closure. It’s worth noting that the fountain opened in 1918, a year marked by world war and the Spanish Flu. Hopefully its status as a legacy business will help it withstand another pandemic in 2020, even though it’s limited it to take-out orders only.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE HOTEL—In 1976, teenager Tom Sweeney put on a red Beefeater uniform and began working as a doorman at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. Smiling and personable, he was a familiar figure to locals and tourists for the next 43½ years until his retirement in January 2020 at the age of 62. Another big change at the hotel? Harry Denton’s classic Starlight Room received a drastic makeover at the end of 2019. Now it’s known as Lizzie’s Starlight nightclub and has a Queen Elizabeth I theme.
TARANTINO’S—The Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant, operating since 1947, closed permanently, pre-Covid, in early February 2020.
Temple Sherith Israel at California and Webster, 1906. (wnp37.01230; Marilyn Blaisdell Collection / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
TEMPLE SHERITH ISRAEL—Temple Sherith Israel at California and Webster Streets was completed in 1905. In January 2019, the congregation celebrated repayment of the final $1 million on its recent $16 million, 7-year retrofit.
THE STUD—Long-time South-of-Market leather bar that opened in 1966 and welcomed people of all backgrounds—Dianne Feinstein even campaigned there in the 1980s—closed permanently in June 2020.
VAN NESS BUS RAPID TRANSIT—The project, involving dedicated lanes for MUNI buses/boarding platforms down the middle of Van Ness Avenue from Market Street to Lombard Street, plus utilities upgrades that removed historic street lamps installed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, was approved by the Board of Supervisors in September 2013. The massive undertaking is ongoing, with final completion anticipated in 2021-22.
The Parallel Disaster: A Closer Look
by Arnold Woods
It was the explosion heard ’round the Bay. A half hour after midnight on January 16, 1887, San Francisco was awakened by a blast so big and powerful that people reported feeling it as far away as San Jose and Sacramento. Many thought it was an earthquake. However, while the world was indeed shaken, it was not a quake but a powder keg. A schooner called the Parallel, with a cargo of forty tons of gunpowder had blown up at the foot of the Cliff House.
Cliff House, Cliff Cottage, and stables viewed from ocean, circa 1886. (wnp4.0341; Isaiah West Taber, photographer / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
On January 15, 1887, all was serene at Point Lobos. At the time, the area consisted of the Cliff House, a stables/carriage sheds area for people who rode their horses there, and the Cliff Cottage, where J.M. Wilkins, then proprietor of the Cliff House, and his family lived. Wilkins had leased the Cliff House from Adolph Sutro two years prior.
Several days earlier, the Parallel left San Francisco headed to Astoria, Oregon with gunpowder for a railroad company.1 However, weather and tides kept the Parallel from getting through the Golden Gate and they were forced to turn back and wait at anchor for better weather.2 On January 15, 1887, Captain Miller ordered the crew to head for the Golden Gate again. However, heavy swells began pushing the Parallel toward the San Francisco shoreline. Knowing they were carrying dangerous cargo, the crew literally jumped ship, abandoning the Parallel in a rowboat around 8:30 p.m. About an hour later, Wilkins at the Cliff House notified John Hyslop at the Point Lobos Signal Station that there was a light approaching the shore. Hyslop investigated and saw the Parallel drifting broadside toward Point Lobos.
Wreckage in Cliff House area after explosion of Parallel, January 1887. (wnp13.087; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
The Parallel came aground on the rocks below the Cliff House. The Life-Saving Station scrambled to arrange a rescue of the crew, but found nobody aboard. Given the darkness, they decided to wait till morning before doing anything further, but posted a couple of guards near the ship. The Parallel would not wait for the morning, however. Getting pounded by waves against the rocks evidently caused some friction that ignited the Parallel’s cargo. The resulting explosion blew out most of the Cliff House’s stables and carriage sheds and destroyed the north wing of the Cliff House.3 The entire Cliff Cottage was pushed five feet by the blast. Adolph Sutro’s estate above the Cliff House had its windows blown out and its outer buildings and conservatory were badly damaged. A clock in his bedroom stopped at 12:34 a.m., fixing the time of the explosion. Down the hill, the Ocean House and Ocean Beach Pavilion also suffered wreckage.
Damaged Cliff Cottage after explosion of the Parallel, January 1887. (wnp13.084.jpg; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
The explosion of the Parallel severely injured Henry Smith and John Wilson, the two members of the Life-Saving Station that had been left on guard. Some members of Wilkins’ family at the Cliff Cottage were also injured. Fortunately, there were no deaths. Although the crew of the Parallel was initially feared lost in the water when they did not show up on the San Francisco shoreline, it turned out that they had rowed to the Marin shoreline. They were brought back to San Francisco aboard the Saucelito, a steamer, later that day.
Crowds on the Cliff Road viewing the wreck of the Parallel, January 16, 1887. (wnp4.0781; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
After dawn on January 16th, the curious began to arrive. Trains and carriages brought the crowds and by mid-morning the Cliff Road and Ocean Beach was packed with people seeking a view of the carnage. By 1:00 p.m., it was estimated that 50,000 people had visited. Despite damage to the Cliff House, Wilkins recognized an opportunity when he saw one and kept his bar open. Scavengers spent the day rummaging through the wreckage.
Cliff House from Sutro Heights, circa 1890. (wnp15.995; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
Sutro would rebuild the damaged Cliff House. An aquarium he was already building in the cove below the Cliff House would be completed later that year. Litigation would ensue against the owners of the Parallel for the damage to the Cliff House. The newly reconstructed Cliff House would only last another seven years before disaster struck again at Christmas 1894.
Notes:
1. “A Terrible Disaster,” San Francisco Examiner, January 16, 1887.
2. “The Cliff Wreck,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 1887, p. 3.
3. “A Big Explosion,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 1887, p. 8.
Point Lobos Avenue Makeover: A Closer Look
by Arnold Woods
In the days before automobiles, roads were sometimes an iffy proposition. In the early days of the Outside Lands, traveling to the ocean meant making your way through miles of sand dunes. In the early 1860s, a group of people formed the Point Lobos Toll Road Company and built a road out to Point Lobos, where the Cliff House was attracting visitors. The toll road originally started at Kearny and Clay Streets, but when streetcar service reached the Lone Mountain cemeteries, the beginning of the toll road was switched to that point.1 It was not the type of road you would find today. Rather, it was dirt and wooden planks across sand. Still it was easier than trudging across sand dunes.
As the Richmond District grew and other roads and streetcars reached the ocean, the Point Lobos Toll Road was not as profitable and it was sold to San Francisco for $26,587 in 1878.2 The portion of now Point Lobos Avenue east of 42nd Avenue was eventually renamed Geary Boulevard. Point Lobos Avenue now ran from 42nd Avenue west to the Cliff House where it turned south and continued down to Balboa Street to meet the Great Highway. This small stretch of road was very popular, however, with the Cliff House, Sutro Baths and other small shops and concessions. Still, it was a dirt road which sometimes became tricky to travel, particularly during the rainy season and occasional rock slides from Sutro Heights. So San Francisco decided Point Lobos Avenue needed a makeover.
Construction work on Point Lobos Avenue/Great Highway, March 2, 1922. (wnp36.02636; DPW Horace Chaffee – SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
With the passage of the 18th Amendment on January 16, 1919 and Prohibition taking effect one year later, the Cliff House had a problem. No longer able to serve alcohol, business lagged despite the promotion of coffee service. In addition, Point Lobos Avenue in the Cliff House area was in “deplorable” condition with ditches, holes, and rocks that caused damage to automobiles.3 With reduced traffic to the Cliff House, San Francisco began planning to widen and pave Point Lobos Avenue to make it safer.
Construction work on Point Lobos Avenue/Great Highway seawall, December 27, 1921. (wnp36.02684; DPW Horace Chaffee – SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
On September 23, 1921, a contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, Clarence B. Eaton, for the work.4 One of the first things to be done was to widen the road down the hill from the Cliff House. To accomplish this, a seawall had to be built to protect the road from the sea near the bottom of the hill where Point Lobos Avenue meets the Great Highway.
Construction of Point Lobos Avenue viaduct, April 28, 1922. (wnp36.02857; DPW Horace Chaffee – SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
Further up the hill, a viaduct had to be built to increase the width of the road. Did you know that you were driving over a bridge as you come down the hill from the Cliff House? You might not know that unless you have spent some time walking in the sand in the Kelly’s Cove portion of Ocean Beach. This work involved the pouring of concrete for the viaduct supports and the base of the roadway.
Point Lobos Avenue construction work by Cliff House, April 6, 1922. (wnp36.02708; DPW Horace Chaffee – SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
In the area around the Cliff House and Sutro Baths, the road was widened for traffic, parking, and a sidewalk. The Sutro Heights cliff area on the east side of Point Lobos Avenue, was chiseled into, both for the widening of the road and to stabilize the cliff to protect against rockfalls.
Point Lobos Avenue construction work near Merrie Way, April 20, 1922. (wnp36.02835; DPW Horace Chaffee – SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
At the top of the hill above the Sutro Baths, work was easier. There was the widening and paving of the road, but there was no cliff above to be dealt with. The sidewalk being constructed extended all the way up to the streetcar depot up at 48th Avenue.
Point Lobos Avenue below Cliff House, June 23, 1922. (wnp36.02880; DPW Horace Chaffee – SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
The work on Point Lobos Road was completed by June 1922. The Chronicle described the new roadway as “a wonderfully scenic path for the motoring public.5” The center of the road contained vitrified brick–a brick fired at a higher temperature and longer time to reduce the absorption of water–to diminish skidding on the road during rains. The outer part of the road was bituminized to reduce dust and corrosion.
Completed viaduct portion of Point Lobos Road, August 11, 1922. (wnp36.02887; DPW Horace Chaffee (SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
In addition to the road, the sidewalk they built extended from 48th Avenue down past the Cliff House all the way to the beach. Despite the new roadway though, the Cliff House, then run by Richard “Shorty” Roberts, wasn’t making it as a coffee shop. With his lease up, Roberts gave up and closed his version of the Cliff House in the Fall of 1925.6 Prohibition was blamed for the Cliff House’s downfall. It would remain shuttered until August 5, 1937, when the Whitney Brothers reopened it after extensive remodeling.7
View west on Point Lobos Avenue from above Sutro Baths toward Cliff House, February 1, 1925. (wnp4/wnp4.0705; Jesse Brown Cook, photographer / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
From a dusty dirt road, Point Lobos Avenue had been transformed into a modern paved parkway. However, it was over a decade after the makeover before this once popular area returned to its former glory. To learn more about how the businesses along this stretch of Point Lobos Avenue evolved over time, listen to our Outside Lands Podcast on the evolution of Point Lobos Avenue.
Notes:
1. “Old Point Lobos Road,” San Francisco Call, May 6, 1895, p. 7.
2. “Board of Supervisors,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 1878, p. 3.
3. “Bids for Repair Work on Highway Will Be Opened,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1921, p. A1.
4. “Award Of Contract: Resolution No. 70545,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 1921, p. 18.
5. “Cliff Roadway Now Open To Outing Public,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 6, 1922, p. 7.
6. “Lights Out at Cliff House,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 3, 1925, p. 3.
7. “Famous Cliff House Reopens After 13 Years,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 1937, p. 14.