OpenSFHistory

Historical images of San Francisco and city happenings curated by Nicole Meldahl. OpenSFHistory is a program of Western Neighborhoods Project (@outsidelandz).

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

We have an announcement: to keep our small org focused, we're streamlining our social media presence and will no longer be updating this profile or our parent account @outsidelandz. You can follow us on Bluesky (@wnpsf), if you're over there! Thanks for being with us, friends.

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

With rain in the forecast, here's a view of the Ferry Building from Sacramento and Drumm on a rainy night #OnThisDay in 1935. [📸 courtesy of a Private Collector / wnp27.5544] #SFHistory #Photography #SanFrancisco

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

TOMORROW, 11/19, at the 4 Star Theater (see n here in 1949): WNP Film Club presents "Experiment in Terror" (1962) directed by Blake Edwards. Join us for a chat about west side locations in the film, and get the best popcorn in town. Grab your seat now: https://t.co/G8u1GsnJFV

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

You're looking at passengers waiting for the streetcar on Market at Stockton #OnThisDay in 1925. Note the streetcar safety zone in the middle ot the street.

[📸 by Horace Chaffee for the SF Dept. of Public Works courtesy of a Private Collector / wnp36.03294] #SFHistory

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

It was #OnThisDay in 1936 that San Francisco celebrated the opening of the Bay Bridge! Here you see cars parked on the upper deck and people taking in the view.

Peruse more photos from the festivities that weekend on OpenSFHistory: https://t.co/3NoZwGKVYn

[San Francisco Cable Car Museum @SFCCM]

Alas for the red cable cars of the old MSCRY Haight St line! Here is the Haight St. carbarn after 1906; the doorway had to be made larger to accommodate electric streetcars.

[Western Neighborhoods Project @outsidelandz]

Nothing but sand dunes, telephone lines, and some isolated residences on 33rd Avenue in November 1914.

[📸 courtesy of a Private Collector / @opensfhistory, wnp26.1793] #SFHistory #SanFrancisco

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

You're looking at the removal of cable car tracks as the Haight Street line transitions to an electric streetcar near Divisadero #OnThisDay in 1906.

[📸 by John Henry Mentz for United Railroads courtesy of a Private Collector / wnp27.5396] #SFHistory #SanFrancisco

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

Feels like the right time for some fluffy history.

Please enjoy this photo of a girl in a fashionable "goat chaises" circa 1915, and learn more about them in this OpenSFHistory article by Woody LaBounty from 2017: https://t.co/pYA3OwQ7Kc

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

Crowds gathered on Market & 3rd to watch election returns together in front of the San Francisco Examiner building #OnThisDay in 1930. [📸 courtesy of a Private Collector / @opensfhistory, wnp27.6122] #SFHistory

Whatever way you vote today, VOTE TODAY!

[Western Neighborhoods Project @outsidelandz]

Billboard on an undeveloped 19th and Ulloa corner asking voters to defeat a proposition that banned billboards on Bay Bridge approaches in 1937. [📸 by Horace Chaffee for the SF Dept. of Public Works / @opensfhistory, wnp26.005]

Whichever way you vote today, VOTE TODAY!

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

You're looking at the view from Telegraph Hill toward the Embarcadero #OnThisDay in 1933. That's the PG&E gas storage tank (gasometer) at the foot of Powell.

[📸 from the Wyland Stanley Collection courtesy of a Private Collector / wnp27.3772] #SFHistory #SanFrancisco

[Western Neighborhoods Project @outsidelandz]

This week the "Outside Lands San Francisco" podcast tracks down Gold Rush legacies in the western neighborhoods, where land was as good as liquid gold. Listen on Spotify or wherever you get your pods, OR get it straight from the source on our website: https://t.co/FbEoh5xdtc

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

You're looking at the newly graded parking lot still under construction in Pioneer Park (now home to Coit Tower) atop Telegraph Hill #OnThisDay in 1923. [📸 by Horace Chaffee for the SF Dept. of Public Works courtesy of a Private Collector / wnp36.03138] #SFHistory #SanFrancisco

[Western Neighborhoods Project @outsidelandz]

You're looking at the "Triumph of Light" statue on Mount Olympus #OnThisDay in 1927. Read more about it in this great article by @peterhartlaub: https://t.co/XBTpK923EV

[📸by Horace Chaffee, SF Dept. of Public Works courtesy of a Private Collector /@opensfhistory, wnp27.0595]

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

Three men mending nets near a fishing boat called Salvatore at original Fisherman's Wharf #OnThisDay in 1899.

[📸 by D.H. Wulzen from the Wulzen Family Papers at the Golden Gate NRA Park Archives / @opensfhistory, wnp71.10092] #SFHistory #SanFrancisco

[Western Neighborhoods Project @outsidelandz]

It you time traveled to 1954 #OnThisDay, you could be watching the @49ers play the @ChicagoBears at Kezar Stadium right now! #SFHistory #SanFrancisco #AreYouReadyForSomeFootball

[📸 courtesy of a Private Collector / @opensfhistory, wnp14.2854]

[OpenSFHistory @OpenSFHistory]

You're looking at M-Line streetcar #209 on Market between Valencia & Gough #OnThisDay in 1955. That's the McRoskey Mattress Company building on the right.
[📸 courtesy of a Private Collector / @opensfhistory, wnp27.6797] #SFHistory #Photography #SanFrancisco

[Western Neighborhoods Project @outsidelandz]

Firefighters responding on Page & Broderick (just west of the WNP boundary at Divisadero) #OnThisDay in 1961. This image is from the Chet Born Collection, which WNP scanned for Guardians of the City and added to the @opensfhistory archive in 2018.

[📸 wnp69.00885] #SFHistory

[Western Neighborhoods Project @outsidelandz]

On Nov. 14th, we're hosting our final fundraising event of the season: a Family Dinner with artist Paul Madonna at Gaspare's on Geary (seen here as Vince's Pizza House in 1970)! Tix are going fast; see Eventbrite for more info:
https://t.co/Zfo4jvW7WH