Streetwise: Fading Downtown Memories

by Frank Dunnigan

For a quarter-century from 1970 until the mid-1990s, this author was among the tens of thousands of San Francisco residents whose workdays found them in the downtown area between Market Street and Union Square. Recently, there was time to pause and reflect on what daily life was like back in those simpler times, so let’s take a short walk from Powell & Market up to Union Square while looking around to see some of the sights from the past and what has become of them today.
 

Marian and Vivian Brown posing at Powell and Market next to the cable car turntable, 1975.Marian and Vivian Brown posing at Powell and Market next to the cable car turntable, 1975. (wnp72.1189; © Greg Gaar Photography – Greg Gaar Street Photography 1970s-90s / Courtesy of Greg Gaar)
 

The Brown Twins, Marian and Vivian, shown here in 1974 in front of the former Bank of America building at #1 Powell Street, were a quintessential part of downtown San Francisco. Settling in the City in 1970 from their native Michigan, they worked for different companies in the Financial District, and maintained their twinship by dressing alike—right down to carrying identical bags if they had been shopping. For many years, they shared an apartment on Nob Hill and were a popular sight on city streets, eventually becoming featured performers in several print and television advertising campaigns. They were friendly and outgoing to locals and tourists alike, and their wardrobes became bolder over the years, often featuring dramatic matching hats in vivid colors in later years. Sadly, both of them passed away just 22 months apart in 2013 and 2014, and now rest peacefully at the Columbarium in the Richmond District. The bank building at #1 Powell, built 101 years ago, now has apartments on the upper floors, with a frequently changing ground-floor retailer—everything from phones to clothing over the years. Read a 2021 Chronicle retrospective and see additional photos of the incomparable pair.
 

Powell Street cable car turntable, May 16, 1964.Powell Street cable car turntable, May 16, 1964. (wnp25.4639.jpg; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

For more than 45 years, from October of 1952 until July of 1997, Woolworth’s occupied the ground floor and the basement of the historic 1904 Flood Building at Powell and Market Streets—shown here in 1964. The largest store in the chain, it dispensed enormous quantities of notions, sundries, candy (allegedly the largest single location for retail bulk candy sales, by tonnage, in the U.S), and countless other items that people needed on a daily basis—bargain-priced cosmetics, “fashion” clothing and jewelry, picture frames, phonograph records (later, 8-track and cassette tapes), pet supplies, and even pets themselves, including parakeets and goldfish. There were also shoelaces, dishes and glassware, cleaning products, and those ubiquitous orange-and-black cans of NO-MOTH that sold for 88 cents. The store included three different lunch counters, a deli, bakery, pizzeria, and on the middle aisle in housewares, there was always someone demonstrating the latest version of the “Veg-a-matic” kitchen slicer. Today Woolworth’s old ground-floor space is home to multiple smaller retailers. Read more in a 1997 Chronicle article on Woolworth’s closure.
 

Three street preachers at Powell & Market, circa 1974.Three street preachers at Powell & Market, circa 1974. (wnp72.162; © Greg Gaar Photography (Greg Gaar Street Photography 1970s-90s / Courtesy of Greg Gaar)
 

The corner of Powell & Market had a steady supply of street preachers promoting a wide variety of beliefs in the mid-1970s. The old Lincoln Building in the background, with multiple stores, is now the Westfield San Francisco Center, built in 1991.
 

Streetcar on Market near Powell, 1964.Streetcar on Market near Powell, 1964. (wnp14.4872; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

The Emporium opened at 835 Market Street in 1896. Selling moderately priced goods, it also had a “bargain basement” for most of its years in business. Lunch counters were popular and the store prided itself on selling everything “from a needle to an anchor”—note the prominent signs for TOYS in this photo from the holiday season in the early 1960s. Following various corporate reorganizations, the grand old place closed in 1995, just one year short of its 100th birthday. The outer wall and the massive dome were preserved and incorporated into a new retail structure that is linked to the adjacent San Francisco Shopping Center (now the Westfield San Francisco Center) at the corner of Fifth & Market Streets that was built in 1991 to replace the old Lincoln Building shown at far right. Bloomingdale’s and other tenants occupy 835 Market Street today.
 

View east on Market Street from Mason, November 1967.View east on Market Street from Mason, November 1967. (wnp25.5376; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

The BART system, narrowly approved by voters in the 3-county district in the November 1962 election, brought tremendous changes to downtown San Francisco when construction began five years later. Here, only a few signs and sawhorses are in place to mark the 1967 beginning of open-trench, cut-and-cover construction that lasted for a full six years. The theatres and small shops shown at left were eventually demolished to make way for Hallidie Plaza and the entrance to the BART/MUNI Powell Street Station. BART began East Bay revenue service in the fall of 1972, then the first San Francisco trains began running between Montgomery Street and Daly City in November of 1973, with full service through the Transbay Tube beginning in September of 1974.
 

Door to Drunken Dolphin bar at Bernstein's Fish Grotto at 123 Powell Street, circa 1981.Door to Drunken Dolphin bar at Bernstein’s Fish Grotto at 123 Powell Street, circa 1981. (wnp32.2275; Courtesy of Emiliano Echeverria)
 

“The Ship That Never Goes to Sea” was home to Bernstein’s Fish Grotto at 123 Powell Street from 1907 to 1981. The restaurant’s bar, The Drunken Dolphin, had its own entrance to the left of the pillar. The once-popular spot closed in 1981, and a non-descript retail outlet occupies the site today.
 

Marquard's Little Cigar Store at Powell & O'Farrell, 1974.Marquard’s Little Cigar Store at Powell & O’Farrell, 1974. (wnp72.912.jpg; © Greg Gaar Photography (Greg Gaar Street Photography 1970s-90s / Courtesy of Greg Gaar)
 

From the 1950s, Marquard’s Little Cigar Store held down the southwest corner of Powell & O’Farrell, shown here in 1974. Essentially a newsstand and smoke shop that was open from early morning until late at night, the store also sold vast quantities of postcards to tourists and dispensed various packaged beverages—often in pint and half-bottles—to thirsty customers. Neighboring businesses to the right along O’Farrell Street included Cooper’s Shoeshine Stand, a hofbrau restaurant, and the classic Bardelli’s Restaurant. All have vanished into the mists of time, with Marquard’s having been the last to close just a few years ago, replaced by a shop selling sports hats.
 

View to southeast corner of Powell & O'Farrell, 1970s.View to southeast corner of Powell & O’Farrell, 1970s. (wnp100.00054; Morton-Waters Co. – SCRAP Negative Collection / Courtesy of SCRAP)
 

Directly across from Marquard’s in the SE corner of Powell & O’Farrell was the classic 1907 structure known as Elevated Shops—a rabbit-warren of small Mom-and-Pop businesses that included hair salons, coin and stamp dealers, jewelry repair, travel agents, and others. For decades, the ground-floor merchants included a Japan Air Lines ticket office and the tiny Swedish Bakery that dispensed hundreds of servings of raspberry Danish pastries and coffee on a daily basis, plus Tro Harper Books. More than 15 years ago, the interior of the building was gutted, though the exterior shell was preserved and rebuilt. The two small neighboring buildings to the left along O’Farrell were demolished and replaced with a new structure that connected to a renovated Elevated Shops building with new upper floor condos and a single ground-floor retail space that has recently been vacant.
 

Peacock and fountain stained glass window at 243 O'Farrell, 1970s.Peacock and fountain stained glass window at 243 O’Farrell, 1970s. (wnp25.11203; Judith Lynch, photographer / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

Bardelli’s was a classic downtown restaurant on O’Farrell Street just west of Powell, with crisp white tablecloths and napkins, uniformed servers, and a magnificent wooden bar and stained glass interior décor. The site housed a number of different dining establishments before Chef Charles Bardelli took over in 1949. He and his staff served hundreds of daily lunches and dinners and quenched the thirst of many more customers at the bar, with spirited beverages alongside appetizer platters of deep-fried zucchini sticks until the restaurant’s closure in August of 1997. The site was later occupied by different restaurants, but it has recently been shuttered.
 

Country Joe McDonald in Union Square, 1970s.Country Joe McDonald in Union Square, 1970s. (wnp73.4561; © Greg Gaar Photography (Courtesy of Greg Gaar)
 

The St. Francis Hotel, dating back to 1904, was expanded with another wing in 1913, and with a 32-story tower—containing one of the best free elevator rides in town—opening in 1972. The hotel has played host to numerous civic and private events in its nearly 120 years in business—from the Fatty Arbuckle scandal in the early 1920s in which a young actress was found dead to 1975 when Sara Jane Moore fired two shots, one of which narrowly missed President Gerald Ford and passed through the wall of the hotel above the Post Street door from which Ford had just exited the building. Now, nearly half a century later, that small bullet hole remains. Union Square in front of the hotel has also hosted numerous events, speakers, political rallies, and protests, including a 1970s music performance by Country Joe McDonald, shown here with his guitar. McDonald, now age 80, still lives in the Bay Area.
 

Dewey Monument and Sir Francis Drake Hotel at Geary and Stockton, May 1962.Dewey Monument and Sir Francis Drake Hotel at Geary and Stockton, May 1962. (wnp25.4861; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

Much has changed on the north side of union Square along Post Street, shown here in 1962. The decades-old ticket office for United Air Lines at the corner of Post & Powell was closed long ago when tickets went paperless. The multi-tenant Fitzhugh Building, dating back to the early 1920s, was demolished for a new Saks Fifth Avenue store, circa-1979-80. Just prior to that, Quantas Airlines demolished an adjacent smaller building, putting up a new structure (now occupied by Tiffany and other tenants) that approximated the color and height of the Fitzhugh Building, unaware that Fitzhugh would soon be demolished. The Plaza Hotel, at far right, was demolished in 1969 to make way for what was then known as the Hyatt on Union Square, now the Grand Hyatt. The Sir Francis Drake Hotel in the background at center, has been closed since March of 2020, and is now undergoing refurbishment and rebranding. Only the 450 Sutter Medico-Dental building in the background at right, remains essentially unchanged in appearance. Several of the palm trees and yew trees, long a feature of Union Square, were removed during a remodel early in this millennium.
 

Mime Robert Shields performing in Union Square, December 1976.Mime Robert Shields performing in Union Square, December 1976. (wnp72.2777; © Greg Gaar Photography (Greg Gaar Street Photography 1970s-90s / Courtesy of Greg Gaar)
 

Mime Robert Shields at his favorite spot, the southeast corner of Union Square in 1976. For several years, Shields performed there daily, mimicking the expressions and the walks of passersby, sometimes in tandem with his spouse, Lorene Yarnell. Shields is now retired and living in Arizona at the age of 71. Read their biographies.
 

I. Magnin Department store on Stockton near Post, circa 1957.I. Magnin Department store on Stockton near Post, circa 1957. (wnp28.2346; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

Once known as the Butler Building at the corner of Geary & Stockton, the site, shown here in 1957, was acquired by I. Magnin after World War II and remodeled with plate glass windows and clad in white marble, operating as the chain’s flagship store from 1948 until it closed in 1994. Acquired by Macys, the upper floors were eventually annexed to Macy’s existing adjacent buildings. Twenty-five years later, Macy’s vacated the premises and sold the 233 Geary building to an investors group. The San Francisco Planning Commission recently approved a proposal for a new mixed-use development, including retail on the lower floors, offices on the middle floors, and 21 condominium units on the upper floors.
 

The City of Paris store at Geary and Stockton, July 1974.The City of Paris store at Geary and Stockton, July 1974. (wnp25.10296; Judith Lynch, photographer / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

The City of Paris building at Stockton & Geary opened in 1896, was restored in 1909, and demolished in 1981, following the store’s 1972 closure. A new Neiman-Marcus store was built at the site, with the old store’s original glass dome incorporated into the new structure. The City of Paris store and its iconic Christmas tree were an integral part of the holiday shopping season until the early 1970s. Read more about San Francisco holiday traditions.
 

Street musician playing flute on Geary near Stockton, April 1977.Street musician playing flute on Geary near Stockton, April 1977. (wnp72.4162; © Greg Gaar Photography (Greg Gaar Street Photography 1970s-90s / Courtesy of Greg Gaar)
 

The 1970s also saw a number of street musicians performing classical music, including this man in 1977 at the Liberty House store (1974-1984) that was located at the SE corner of Stockton & O’Farrell. It was built as a replacement for the building that had once housed parts of City of Paris, including the Children’s Department. Following the closure of Liberty House in 1984, the building was acquired by Macy’s (its main building is reflected in the Liberty House display windows) and was labeled the Men’s Store from 1984 to 2019 when it was vacated and sold. It has since been extensively remodeled and converted to office/retail uses, which you can see here.
 

The Changing Landscape: View South from the Cliff House

by Arnold Woods

The Cliff House opened in 1863 and ever since has provided a grand view of Ocean Beach and the properties fronting upon it. As a destination spot for both San Franciscans and tourists, that view has been photographed repeatedly over the last 150 years. In fact, that view drew photographers even before the Cliff House was built as we will see as we begin our review of pictures from that spot over the years.
 

View southeast from future site of Cliff House, circa 1855.View southeast from future site of Cliff House, circa 1855. (wnp4/wnp4.0756; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

In this mid-1850s image looking southeast from the future site of the Cliff House, we see a desolate land of sand with only a few buildings at the north end of Ocean Beach. There is no Seal Rock House yet–it will be built in 1857. There is also no Golden Gate Park yet as it is still over a decade away from work beginning on it. In fact, nearly all the land you see is outside San Francisco city limits, which at that time ended in the area of Divisidero Street today.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1865.View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1865.. (wnp4/wnp4.0767; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

Moving forward about a decade to the mid-1860s, we now see the Seal Rock House at the north end of Ocean Beach. There is still a small cluster of buildings nearby, but Golden Gate Park has still not been started yet, so there are just miles and miles of sand dunes, rocks, and scrub brush to be seen in the distance.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1885.View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1885. (wnp24.0140a; George Gardner, photographer / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

A couple of decades later in the mid-1880s, this view is now dominated by the appearance of the Ocean Beach Pavilion. It opened on June 14, 1884 and would last for nearly 90 years, going through many iterations. The Seal Rock Inn still stands just to the north of the Ocean Beach Pavilion. Though largely unseen in this view, Golden Gate Park is beginning to take form just beyond the pavilion.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1900.View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1900. (wnp27.2708; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

At the turn of the century, this area has grown to include more establishments and a lot of trees throughout Golden Gate Park. Besides the previously seen Seal Rock House and Ocean Beach Pavilion, we now see the Olympic Saltwater Pump Station (with the large chimney structure) and the Olympic or Lurline Pier that stretches into the ocean with the pipes that the ocean water is being pumped through. Further to the south are the Cycler’s Rest, Sheehan’s Tavern, and the original Beach Chalet on the west side of the Great Highway. Of course, this is the Sutro grand Cliff House era, which would only last until 1907.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1910.View southeast from Cliff House, circa 1910. (wnp37.02036; Marilyn Blaisdell Collection / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

Approximately ten years later around 1910, the view is largely the same, but with two noticeable additions. Golden Gate Park now has two windmills fronting the northwest and southwest corners of the park. The Dutch Windmill at the north end was completed in 1903 and the Murphy Windmill at the south end was finished in 1908. The Beach Chalet still sits on the other side of the Great Highway from what we are now used to and they have yet to start building the seawall. Clearly, Ocean Beach is a very popular spot.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, August 27, 1922.View southeast from Cliff House, August 27, 1922. (wnp4/wnp4.0787; DPW Horace Chaffee, photographer – SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

A dozen years later in 1922, some significant city improvements to the area are now seen. Point Lobos Road down past the Cliff House to the Great Highway is now paved. Down on Ocean Beach, the northern part of the seawall has been constructed with the esplanade and plenty of parking. It ends near the Beach Chalet, still sitting on the ocean side of the Great Highway. Meanwhile, the Playland predecessor, Chutes at the Beach, is beginning to grow. You can see the Shoot the Chutes ride just beyond the Ocean Beach pavilion in this view.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, 1938.View southeast from Cliff House, 1938. (wnp27.7933; J.K. Piggott, photographer / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
 

In this 1938 view, the expansion of Playland can be seen. It now covers the whole area from the Ocean Beach Pavilion at Balboa down to Fulton and the Dutch windmill in Golden Gate Park. The Shoot the Chutes ride can still be seen at the north end of Playland, while the Big Dipper rollercoaster can be seen at the south end. Additionally, the Ocean Beach seawall and esplanade have now been built all the way down to Lincoln Way at the south side of Golden Gate Park. They were able to construct this extension in part because the old Beach Chalet had been moved and the new one was erected on the east side of the Great Highway. It opened in 1925.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, March 1956.View southeast from Cliff House, March 1956. (wnp25.4493; Courtesy of a Private Collector.)
 

Let’s inject a little color into our view with this image from March 1956. The Ocean Beach Pavilion is now being operated as the Surf Club. Much of the rest of the area remains the same, but the Shoot the Chutes ride has disappeared from view, having been torn down in 1950. You can also see people sitting toward the bottom of the seawall. That’s because there are bleacher style seats at the bottom of the seawall that are now largely covered up by sand.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, June 1968.View southeast from Cliff House, June 1968. (wnp25.1036; Courtesy of a Private Collector.)
 

By June 1968, the Ocean Beach Pavilion had been transformed again, this time as the home of the Model Car Raceway. There is not a whole lot left of Playland by this time. The Big Dipper and most other rides are gone. The Fun House was still there though. The rest of Playland would close after Labor Day in 1972 and torn down. Another departure is the Lurline Pier which supplied salt water to the Olympic Club downtown. It was torn down a year or two prior to this picture after the Olympic Club switched to fresh water.
 

View southeast from Cliff House, January 17 2021. (Courtesy of Arnold Woods.)
 

Over 50 years later, we get our final look at this view in January 2021. Much of what was once at the north end of Ocean Beach is gone. The Seal Rock House, Ocean Beach Pavilion, and Playland have all been removed and replaced with condos and a Safeway. We still have the windmills and the Beach Chalet though. How will this view change in the next 50 years? Only time will tell.