Recently, Richmond District historian John Freeman won the above photo in an eBay auction. It’s a 1938 composite picture of the east side of 25th Avenue between Geary and Anza.
What makes the photo interesting are the drawn-in trees that were added to the sidewalk.
The photo, dated January 18, 1938, was part of the San Francisco Examiner’s reference library (which was later sold off when the paper changed ownership). On the back side of the photo are some additional clues to the photo’s purpose: “S.F. streets – 25th Ave. near Anza as it might appear during the fair with trees planted for beautification”.
The fair they’re referring to is the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, held on Treasure Island to celebrate, among other things, the city’s two new bridges – the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.
That same stretch of 25th Avenue as it appears today
So why would the city have been interested in beautifying an area miles away from the exposition’s location?
The Golden Gate Bridge had just opened in 1937 and the main approach to it, for the far end of the city, was via 25th Avenue. This was also true for visitors traveling on Highway 1.
Park Presidio Boulevard existed but it stopped at Lake Street, which is shown below in the Union Oil map from 1939.
Union Oil map showing the northwest portion of San Francisco. Courtesy of Kathryn Ayres
As a result, motorists would have approached the Golden Gate Bridge via 25th Avenue, turning into the Presidio onto Lincoln Avenue, and winding their way up to the toll plaza – just like you can today.
Since the bridge was so new and undoubtedly onhealthy silagra ed more and more visitors were coming through San Francisco to see and use it, it was likely The Examiner may have run a story about plans to beautify the roadway.
Back in 1938, there weren’t many trees planted in San Francisco neighborhoods outside of Sea Cliff and St. Francis Woods. So the idea of planting sidewalk trees would have been a new one for homeowners, and might have made for an compelling newspaper story about urban beautification. The city didn’t start benefiting from programs like Friends of the Urban Forest until 1981.
Doyle Drive, which runs parallel to the bay and carries bridge traffic to and from the Marina District, opened in 1937 along with the bridge. It wasn’t until 1940 that the Park Presidio Boulevard tunnel and connector to the Golden Gate Bridge was opened.
Check out the great photo below of a spiffy trio posing in front of the soon-to-be-opened Park Presidio/Highway 1 tunnel. The caption on the back says “Portion of new 19th Ave. Funston approach to G.G. Bridge which will be opened April 21, 1940.”
Source: SF Public Library archive
Photo showing the “Funston Avenue approach” being built. March 9, 1940. Source: SF Public Library archive
So the next time the Presidio Parkway project has to shut down the Park Presidio/Highway 1 approach to the Golden Gate Bridge, think back to when winding through the Presidio would have been the norm for motorists. At least now we have a lot more sidewalk trees to make the drive more attractive. 😉
Special thanks to John Freeman for providing the images and research for this story.
Sarah B.
A closeup of the 1938 photo, revealing the fake trees that were added for conceptual purposes.
Whoa. I grew up on that block. That car in the first photo would have been directly across the street from my building.
Nice old map. Note it does show Park-Presidio entering the park; but it only went to [JFK] Drive, a stretch of road now replaced by the rose garden. 16th Ave. entrance was already closed/erased due to construction of the new bypass.
Who is Sir Francis Woods?
Thanks for your insightful comment. 😉
Wondering about “Balloon Field” near Lobos Creek on that map – I know that corner of the Presidio well since I grew up on 26th Ave. Ft Scott used to host a US Army Balloon company. Wonder if there’s a connection.
Great write-up
Thanks for a very interesting article, photos & maps!
@SusanR – You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it. John F. is full of interesting tidbits about our history. I’m sure there will be more to come in the future. 🙂
Sarah B.
Carl- for what it’s worth, “Balloon Field” was a badly-kept baseball diamond in the 80s, when my St Monica’s CYO team practiced there. We got a lot of foxtails.
The Balloon Field was part of a Coast Artillery experiment, abandoned in 1923, to send 2 spotters up hanging in a basket below an Army balloon, to watch for the ordinance splash in the water and telephone back to the gunners to correct their accuracy. There once was a balloon hanger and open field for maneuvering the craft. Much later, it was used as the site of the Presidio motor pool.
Thanks very much for all the history and photos! It’s wonderful to learn more about the place where we live, even after 30 years of attending SF Historical Society meetings! I’m becoming a faithful reader of this blog.
Thanks John for the additional Balloon Field info. Check out the link to a photo below. It’s a photo from the National Archives of the Fort Scott balloon field, the tethered balloon and its basket, and hanger. That’s West Clay Park in the background. Photo supplied by John Martini.
https://richmondsfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/balloon.jpg
I was born in Letterman Hospital and still live here in the city! The Presidio was like a mini-city within as we had everything–post office, movie theatre, toy store, hair salon & barber, dry cleaning, teen club (yes, teen club! In the 60s!). Great memories and it’s still beautiful as ever!
Wonderful photos, so sad that their are less trees now than in 1940. Have we progressed backwards?