Photo by Hot Mayo

Happy Tuesday to everyone! Here’s a few local links to attract your mouse:

• A report from an online survey run by SFSU found that the Outside Lands concert in Golden Gate Park generated $60 million in revenue last year. “The sales impact of Outside Lands 2011 on San Francisco’s economy was $60.6 million, with another $6.6 million for the rest of the Bay Area.” Another factoid: 73% of concert attendees live outside the city.
• Untapped Cities put an architecture spotlight on the Conservatory of Flowers.
• Like birds? Don’t miss the Birding the Greenbelt: Sutro Baths and Sutro Heights Park free tour on March 10.
• Tablehopper reports that a Cassava Bakery & Cafe is opening this week at 3519 Balboa at 36th Avenue. “The sample menu mentions some simple breakfast items (although there is also “Japanese Breakfast” with stuffed rice balls, miso soup, onsen tamago, and housemade pickles), while lunch brings soups (potato and ham, lentil), salads, and panini (like meatloaf on challah), plus fresh-baked cookies, empanadas, and quiches.”
• Still haven’t seen the Sutro Baths documentary (trailer)? Attend a free screening at the Sunset Branch Library on Monday, March 5 at 7pm. Director Tom Wyrsch will be there for a Q&A afterwards.
• Two tempting deals for ya: Spend $20 and get $40 worth of framing services at Cheap Pete’s on Geary. Or spend $10 to get $20 worth of delicious grub at Pizza Orgasmica on Clement.
• San Francyclo, the new bike shop on Arguello, had its first celeb sighting on Sunday. Comedian Robin Williams came in and purchased an ear flap Chuey Brand cycling hat.

Sarah B.

Taken October 13, 1961. From the SFMTA Photo Archives

Click to enlarge

Road crews uncover old streetcar tracks during sewer work.

As we move around in our modern world, we tend to forget how things used to be. But every now and then, during the most meaningless of moments, we are reminded.

That’s what happened on Monday, when cub reporter David H. came upon a road crew on California between 15th and 16th Avenue. The street had to be opened up for some sewer work and as crews dug in, they stumbled upon a piece of San Francisco’s transit history – old streetcar tracks.

“The wooden ties were a bit rotted but the rails and spikes were as good as new,” David said. He even snagged a couple of the spikes for his collection.

After seeing pics of this accidental archaeological dig, I contacted Richmond District historian John Freeman to get more background on the streetcars that used to run along California Street.

California Street had the first rail line that went completely through the Richmond, as the steam train of the Ferries and Cliff House Railway. It opened September 30, 1888 to take passengers from the end of three cable car lines that terminated at Central Avenue (now Presidio Avenue) at the Laurel Hill Cemetery, to Sutro Baths and the grand chateau Cliff House which opened in 1896.

The C streetcar at 2nd Avenue & Clement, 1948. Courtesy outsidelands.org

John says the rails uncovered on California Street could date as far back at 1905. The #1 Sutter and California streetcar may have traveled on them. According to outsidelands.org, the C Geary-California streetcar line began running in 1915 out to Park Presidio / 13th Avenue as the Municipal Railway’s seventh route. The line was then extended to 33rd Avenue and California in 1915.

But with progress comes changes, and on July 3, 1949, all rail service on the California Street trolley tracks ended, to be replaced by buses. The Richmond District did have the B-Geary streetcar line up until December 1956, when it was replaced by the #38 bus line.

John says that simply covering over the streetcar rails was a common practice. Just a few years ago, he saw a similar scene on Balboa when they were doing roadwork.

“You would think the rails had salvage value, but in a post-WWII world, scrap steel was not very valuable and it was cheaper to cover the rails than to remove them for their scrap value,” John told me.

Special thanks to David H. for snapping pics and to John Freeman for providing the background on what was uncovered.

Sarah B.

Photo courtesy of the SF Public Library archive

Next Tuesday night, California historian James R. Smith will be at the Conservatory of Flowers to give a special lecture “San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Early Years 1914-1945″.

Smith will share rare photos and stories from his book about the once bustling amusement park that sat across from Ocean Beach on the Great Highway.

You’ll start your evening with a private viewing of the Conservatory’s delightful garden railway exhibition, “Playland at the Conservatory.” While you’re there, try your hand at vintage arcade games and chat with former Playland carny Marvin Gold who will be on hand to answer questions and tell you about the memorabilia. Then sit back and enjoy the ride as Smith explores the phenomenon that was Playland at the Beach.

We’re giving away a pair of passes to the event. To enter, simply send us an email via our contact form by Friday, February 3 at 12noon. We’ll draw a winner randomly from the entries.

The lecture begins at 7pm, doors open at 6pm for viewing the Playland exhibition beforehand. And even if you don’t win the free pair of passes, tickets are only $5 per person.

Sarah B.

Playland, 1962. Courtesy SFPL.

Playland, 1949. Courtesy of SFPL

RichmondSFBlog reader Rob sent me some great old videos of San Francisco, showing life in the 1920s, 1930s and even earlier in some shots. If you’re into this kind of thing, be sure to catch the free screening of Lost Landscapes of San Francisco, Part VI coming up at the Internet Archive on January 24.

Sarah B.

These first three are worth watching for the humorous narration alone. Shots of cable cars, Chinatown (“Where ancient East and modern West serenely blend”), the Marina harbor, Seal Rock, the Bay Bridge (“The City that knows how, did it!”), great footage of of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge (“The bridge that couldn’t be built!”), and the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition (which apparently cost $50M to build).

This next video is 13 minutes in length but has no soundtrack. It’s labeled 1939 but also contains earlier footage. You’ll see great shots of the Conservatory of Flowers, the Japanese Tea Garden, Musee Mechanique?, footage after the 1906 earthquake including a rubble-filled Market Street, a ferry unloading, the Great Highway, City Hall, Golden Gate and Bay bridges, what appears to be footage of the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island, SFO, panoramic views of the city, and lots of old cars.

This next 8 minute video is set to lovely Rachmaninoff piano concertos and features life scenes from the early 1920s. More cable cars, the Ferry Building, Chinatown, the piers, overhead aerial footage (incl. ones of the Richmond District + Golden Gate Park!), dock laborers, a great steam locomotive running along the Embarcadero, a shot of a stadium (not sure where?), and Golden Gate Park.

This last video has a brief history and historic stills of the Cliff House and Sutro Baths, some 1897 film footage of Sutro Baths from the Library of Congress Edison films catalog (previously posted) plus film of Ocean Beach.

This Wednesday, the Richmond District branch library will host a free screening of the new documentary “Sutro’s: The Palace at Lands End”, directed by Tom Wyrsch. He was also the director behind the “Remembing Playland” documentary that came out last year.

The film is a nostalgic trip back in time told by historians and the people that experienced Sutro Baths and its museums through interviews, film footage, and hundreds of photographs. The entire film will be shown (84 minutes), followed by a Q&A with Director Tom Wyrsch afterwards.

The event begins at 6:30pm at the Richmond Branch Library, 351 9th Avenue.

If you can’t make it to the free screening, both of Wyrsch’s films are playing at the Balboa Theater as a double feature this Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 21-22). On each day, “Remembering Playland” plays at 11:15am, followed by “Sutro’s: The Palace at Lands End” at 12:30pm.

Sarah B.

The Internet Archive (Clement and Funston) will be screening two “Lost Landscapes” films in the coming weeks featuring San Francisco and Detroit.

The films are compilations of old footage of each city, compiled by archivist Rick Prelinger of the Prelinger Archives. The films are feature-length compilations of home movies, industrial films, outtakes and newsreels showing each city as it was. All of the footage is pre-1970 and is a fascinating look at an earlier time in these urban landscapes.

First up on January 24 at 7:30pm is “Lost Landscapes of San Francisco Part 6″. I saw this at the Castro Theater in December and I highly recommend it. If you’re interested in San Francisco history or just enjoy seeing old footage of the city, you’ll really enjoy it. See footage of San Francisco’s cemeteries just before their removal, unique drive-thru footage of the Old Produce Market (now Golden Gateway) in the late 1940s, cruising the newly-built Embarcadero Freeway, grungy back streets in North Beach, and newly-rediscovered Cinemascope footage of Playland, the Sky Tram and San Francisco scenes, all in Kodachrome. One of my favorite parts was watching bi-planes take off over the dunes of the Sunset District.

On February 22 at 7:30pm, there will be a screening of “Lost Landscapes: Detroit Part 2″. Most of the material has never been shown publicly, and this year’s show will include a great deal of new footage, including women workers at World War II Chrysler plant, Detroit public school students (1947-48) in class, on the streets, and
on a field trip to the Diego Rivera murals, Detroiters making a pilgrimage to the newly opened Northland Center in 1956, driving down Woodward during the 1950s, in Kodachrome and much more.

To attend one or both screenings, send an email to rsvp@archive.org to reserve your spot. Include your full name, the number in your party and which screening(s) you want to attend.

And don’t miss the 1955 Cinemascope footage of San Francisco at the top of this post. It’s an example of the fascinating kinds of clips that Prelinger has assembled for “Lost Landscapes: San Francisco”.

Sarah B.

Here’s the latest history minute video from Woody and David of the Western Neighborhoods Project. In this installment, they share some history about unfortunate vessels that met their fate on the rocks below Lands End; you can still see some of their remains at low tide.

Sarah B.