Photographer 2Composers adds, “The golfer is probably unaware of the fact, that both Maréchals de France, Joffre and Foch, visited The Legion and commemorated the war dead.”

Sarah B.

The full length documentary tells the history of San Francisco’s famous 10-acre seaside amusement park, Playland at the Beach. Located next to Ocean Beach, it was torn down in 1972 to make way for a condominium development. Gone now for more than 3 decades, it remains one of the city’s lost treasures.

Go back in time to see Laffing Sal, the Fun House, the Carousel, the Big Dipper, the Diving Bell, Dark Mystery, Limbo, Fun-tier Town, and much, much more, all through the eyes of the people who were there. The first and only documentary ever made about Playland, it features 12 interviews, 20 minutes of archival footage, 187 photographs and original music.

I’ve seen the film and highly recommend it. It’s a great look into our neighborhood’s entertaining past.

“Remembering Playland” filmmaker Tom Wyrsch will also be at the Library presentation to intro the film and take questions. The program room at the library is not very big, so be sure to arrive early if you want a seat.

And if you can’t make it, the “Remembering Playland” DVD is available for $15 (+$2.50 for shipping). Click here to order it online. The DVD also includes three short subject films on Playland.

Sarah B.

Ellen Murphy celebrates her 100th birthday. Photo by Marilyn Garry-Mulkeen from the Bay Citizen

The Bay Citizen today has a nice article by Martin Mulkeen about his 100 year old great aunt who has spent her entire life living in the Richmond District.

Having moved only once in her life – from 23rd and Lake to 27th and Balboa – Ellen Murphy must hold the record (or at least be in the top 3) for the longest residency in our neighborhood.

The article has some interesting reflections on her years in the city – riding the trolley cars, wooden sidewalks, and her memories of swimming at Sutro Baths.

She recently celebrated her 100th birthday at where else…the Cliff House! She recalled when the sea lions were constantly barking and she could hear them blocks away at her home. And she reflected sadly on the time when her brother drowned in the bay.

Read the full article here

Happy 100th birthday to Miss Murphy! I’ve only got about 90 more years to catch up with her Richmond District record, what about you?

Sarah B.

Sarah B.

Taking in the sunset from Adolph Sutro’s terrace

This was the original de Young Museum

Sutro Baths has long faded into the history books of San Francisco and the Richmond District, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a hot piece of property.

CurbedSF reports that Christie’s recently auctioned off a 79 x 82 inch color lithograph from 1896 for a mere $27,500. The auction house originally estimated it would sell for between $12,000 and $18,000.

With its vivid colors and wonderful detail, this rare color lithograph recalls the energy and excitement that surely pervaded this impressive complex. Grand in promotion as well as scale, the Sutro Baths were advertised by large billboards such as this monumental work, composed of six individually printed pieces, which have been assembled in registration and glued together to form the final work.

So if you’ve got old Richmond District memorabilia in your closet, hang onto it! You may be surprised at its value someday.

Sarah B.

The property at 2900 Fulton at 5th Avenue is under development.

After the Alexandria Theater, the dilapidated building at 2900 Fulton and 5th Avenue is an issue that Supervisor Mar hears about most from residents. That’s because since it went vacant in 2002, the run-down building has been a magnet for graffiti and garbage.

This week, many neighbors are breathing a sigh of relief because developers began demolition to make way for a mixed commercial and residential property.

The building’s bottom floor will accommodate a 700 square foot commercial space, while the top three floors will consist of four condominiums. The building will also include garage space for the residents.

Richmond District historian John Freeman first told me about the new construction. Having lived in the neighborhood most of his life, he remembers when a Safeway was located there.

“Safeway must have remodeled the building in the early 1930’s, but they closed and boarded it up during World War II,” John recalls.

In 1946 or 1947, John says that an independent grocer, Lucky Market, opened. They were a small chain that had other stores in the city. The market later became Shop-Rite, an early link in the 7-11 franchise chain. It closed in 1968.

The building was then vacant for a few years, but eventually became a laundromat/dry cleaners from 1972 to 2002 called Fulton FabriCare.

Who will occupy the new retail space on the ground floor remains to be seen, though when John chatted with one of the builders on site, they indicated they were open to a variety of commercial options, be it coffee shop, office space or retail store.

After eight years, it’s nice to finally say goodbye to another eyesore in the neighborhood. Now we just need to make headway on that other market on Clement Street and 32nd Avenue…

Special thanks to John Freeman for providing the information and photos for this article.

Sarah B.

The Fulton streetcar passes in front of the Safeway at 2900 Fulton, 1938. Photo courtesy of John Freeman.

But look more closely and you might begin to realize something is awry. Faintly painted on the driveway is a black arrow pointing directly at the house.

Look at the house numbers and it gets even stranger. The 6, or the first number of each of the three units is missing. Just gone, like someone yanked them off. If they were there, they would form a “666″.

There’s a reason for these strange behaviors at this non-descript building. It used to be home to Anton Szandor LaVey, the founder and original High Priest of the Church of Satan.

LaVey’s home, which was also church headquarters from 1967 until 1997, was painted all black inside and out. He was known for holding satanic rituals inside the home including a Satanic wedding ceremony of radical journalist John Raymond to New York socialite Judith Case in February, 1967. LaVey also peformed Satanic funerals and baptisms, including one for his second daughter, Zeena.

In 1969, LaVey published his Satanic Bible, which followers say has sold close to 1 million copies worldwide. In 1968, he also claims to have served as a technical adviser for the movie “Rosemary’s Baby” and played the role of the devil in the film as well.

LaVey was also well-known by neighbors for his pet lion which he kept in a cage in the house. On the Outside Lands website, one former neighbor writes, “He would drive around in a station wagon with a lion….yes a real live lion…in the rear of the car.” That is until the neighborhood could no longer stand the animal’s bellowing roars. He was eventually shipped off to the zoo and then to a private animal farm.

LaVey actually lost ownership of the home in 1991, when a San Francisco judge ordered him to sell the property, along with his satanic memorabilia, and split the money with his estranged wife, Diane Hegarty. Included among the devilish artifacts were a shrunken head, a reproduction of King Tut’s sarcophagus, and a stuffed wolf.

Despite losing the house, LaVey, sometimes called “the Black Pope”, was able to remain in the black house by selling the property to a friend, who then let LaVey live out his final years there. He passed away in 1997 from heart disease.

According to court filings, some of his possessions were to be divided among his children and church members. Church of Satan High Priestess Blanche Barton was due to receive a Rasputin chair, bed of nails and a vintage Gramophone, while his daughter Zeena was to receive LaVey’s Vampire boy painting, devil horned cap, Tyrone Power “Nightmare Alley” movie poster and one-third of LaVey’s cremated remains.

After his death in 1997, the Chronicle was there to cover a press conference held by his daughter, Karla LaVey, a high priestess in the church who vowed to carry on her father’s legacy. “Black velvet curtains kept the autumn sunlight out of the living room in the Richmond District Victorian. Daggers hung on the wall. A skull perched on top of the organ,” wrote the Chronicle.

By 1999, LaVey’s family and church members were fighting over the house and it quickly went into disrepair. In January 1999, the Chronicle wrote that “the property at 6114 California Street looks like the Addams Family home after a Saturday night frat party. Smashed furniture and a soiled mattress lay amid a mountain of garbage in the small front yard, behind a tall chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.”

The missing “666″ house numbers on the front of the building

Church of Satan members tried to raise enough funds to buy back the Victorian style house, which was originally built in 1905 and estimated to be 2,205 square feet. But they did not succeed and The Black House was finally demolished on October 17, 2001. The three-unit building that stands there now was built in its place.

Even though the original Black House is no longer there, long-time neighbor David H. tells me they still see “worshippers” drop by on occasion, sometimes drawing wax pentagrams and other symbols on the driveway. From the looks of it, the black arrow currently on the driveway was done in wax.

As for the missing house numbers, David says that as soon as the current owners put the 6’s back up, they get torn down so they don’t even bother anymore. It’s a mystery who actually removes them each time.

There’s a lot of information about Anton LaVey online and my brief bio in this article barely scratches the surface. How much is fact vs. hyperbole in the name of good copy remains to be seen; LaVey was clearly versed at using the media to further his devilish cause. The occult was big business in the 1960s and 70s, and from my research, it looks like LaVey knew how to make the most of it.

Despite all the online information, I did not come across any detailed photos of the Black House. So if anyone out there was brave enough to snap pics when it was still around, let me know! I’d love to add it to the story of the Richmond’s satanic past.

Special thanks to David H. for helping me with this story.

Sarah B.

Resources:
Wikipedia: Anton LaVey
Wikipedia: Church of Satan
The Church of Satan website
Satan’s Den in Great Disrepair, SF Chronicle, January 25, 1999
Satanist’s Daughter To Keep the `Faith’, SF Chronicle, November 8, 1997
Anton LaVey, America’s Satanic Master of Devils, Magic, Music and Madness | Washington Post, February 23, 1986

Outside the house in 1991. Photo by psychedelicsister

Last Sunday, I stopped by the Cliff House to check out the infamous “Giant Camera” that sits below it. I hadn’t been there in years and the last few times I’d tried to gain entry, it was closed due to poor weather conditions.

But this time, the doors were wide open and I was greeted by Robert who runs the small attraction. After paying my $3 ($2 for seniors), I was ushered into a black room that had a white, concave table in the middle. Robert made some noises and voila, a crystal clear view of Ocean Beach and Seal Rocks lay on the table in front of me.

The building is one giant camera obscura. Sitting atop it is a series of mirrors that rotate (or can be held still). The outside image hits the front facing mirror which then reflects down through a series of lenses. The image is ultimately reversed and projected down onto the viewing table inside the dark building.

Watching the image is mesmerizing. As the fixture atop the building rotates, so does the crystal-clear image, giving you a 360 degree view of the area including Ocean Beach, Seal Rocks, the Great Highway and the southern end of the Cliff House.

The giant camera was used by Leonardo da Vinco in the 15th century and was adopted by other artists who would project their image onto a canvas and paint over it to create their pieces.

Check out the video below which includes narration from Robert, who runs the giant camera. What kind of maintenance is required on a giant camera? Regular cleaning of the mirrors atop the building plus painting of the viewing table with a fresh coat of white paint twice a year.

The giant camera was built in 1946 as an extension attraction for the Playland-at-the-Beach amusement park. The Cliff House, Sutro Baths, and Playland were all owned by George Whitney at the time. Outsidelands.org has a great article on the history of the giant camera, which recently celebrated its 9th birthday as a National Landmark.

The giant camera is open to visitors year round from 11am to 5pm, but only on days when the weather is nice and clear. Visit giantcamera.com for more information. Don’t miss seeing the camera in person – it’s very cool!

Sarah B.

The free Memorial Day event is dedicated to the 100 Sailors and the 7 Marines killed in action during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 12-13, 1942. The USS San Francisco, aka “Frisco”, first saw action at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and then went on to participate in most all of the Pacific engagements, including the final battle of World War II at Okinawa, Japan.

This year’s 60th event will also honor San Francisco native Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan, who led the assault on the Japanese Navy at the Battle of Guadalcanal. Callaghan was killed by an enemy shell while in command on the bridge of the USS San Francisco, during a surface action against a larger Japanese force off Savo Island (Wikipedia).

The event will be held at the USS San Francisco Memorial Monument at Land’s End from 12noon until 1:30pm. The monument is located just off Point Lobos Avenue, in the parking lot above the Land’s End trail (map). Look for the sign on Point Lobos Avenue on Sunday.

Sarah B.

There’s a new photo exhibition in the lobby of the Balboa Theater (3630 Balboa Street). Stop in to see “100 Hours in the Dark”, a portfolio of photos by Kate Kline May. The images from the show were shot off the movie screen while vintage movies were shown at the Telegraph Repertory Movie Theater shortly before it closed.

May is a Bay Area photographer and filmmaker whose photographs have been shown at SFMOMA, at Zeit Foto Gallery in Tokyo, and at Bank of America World Headquarters here in San Francisco.

In book news, both the Balboa Theater and the 4-Star are included in a new release, Left in the Dark: Portraits of San Francisco Movie Theatres, which chronicles the history and cultural impact of San Francisco’s independent movie houses. The book is a collection of full-color art photographs and personal essays about local theaters like the Castro, 4-Star, Bridge, Clay, Balboa and many others.

Left in the Dark is available for pre-order ($39.95) at leftinthedark.info. Only 2,000 copies will be made available beginning in October.

Sarah B.

Balboa Theater Sidewalk Lights. Photo by R.A. McBride

4-Star Theater Screen. Photo by R.A. McBride