I enjoy learning about San Francisco history. Perhaps because my history with San Francisco is so episodic, yet has created such strong memories; perhaps because I just like history. Perhaps because as we grow older we have longer personal histories and a greater perspective on change.
So I was thrilled when I stumbled (as one does on the Internet) the vast pictorial resources at
Found sf: Shaping San Francisco's Digital Archive. "Comprised of over 1,400 pages, and 2,500 historical photos, the wiki-based archive FoundSF.org is the product of hundreds of contributors, regular people who were compelled by the chance to investigate some piece of this City's past." And don't expect a scholarly approach in all articles. There is a definite San Francisco liberal bent.
If we don't get totally lost and overwhelmed with all those resources we can learn a lot more about all the places we intend to visit. Documents are indexed by Decade, Neighborhood, Population, Theme and Tours (including a food tour!!) And if we want we can even contribute to the archive when we're back home after our trip.
Want to see how North Beach has changed?
Want to know how much downtown has expanded into the bay?
And how?
We were talking about stereographs. The site has a collection of images, and they are fascinating because they shimmy, and you can imagine yourself in an earthquake....1906 or 1989?
Oh my, Oh my......I could spend the whole day here! Year? And I mean to return to this site for a look at Coit Tower and New Deal murals so stay tuned.
So I was thrilled when I stumbled (as one does on the Internet) the vast pictorial resources at
Found sf: Shaping San Francisco's Digital Archive. "Comprised of over 1,400 pages, and 2,500 historical photos, the wiki-based archive FoundSF.org is the product of hundreds of contributors, regular people who were compelled by the chance to investigate some piece of this City's past." And don't expect a scholarly approach in all articles. There is a definite San Francisco liberal bent.
If we don't get totally lost and overwhelmed with all those resources we can learn a lot more about all the places we intend to visit. Documents are indexed by Decade, Neighborhood, Population, Theme and Tours (including a food tour!!) And if we want we can even contribute to the archive when we're back home after our trip.
Want to see how North Beach has changed?
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| 1856 view of North Beach from near Telegraph Hill, the prison ship Euphemia is visible, docked along the far edge of the cove |
Want to know how much downtown has expanded into the bay?
 |
| 1851 cove map closeup. The shadowed area is roughly the outline of Yerba Buena Cove when the city was founded and there are more than 70 old wooden ships buried in the old cove that is now part of the city. |
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| Collage depicting ships piled into Yerba Buena cove by Satty, from "Visions of Frisco" edited by Walter Medeiros, Regent Press 2007
During the height of the gold excitement, there were at least five hundred ships stranded in the harbor, some without even a watchman on board, and none with a crew sufficiently large to work her. Many of these vessels never sailed again. Some rotted away and sank at their moorings. (Herbert Asbury in "The Barbary Coast") |
We were talking about stereographs. The site has a collection of images, and they are fascinating because they shimmy, and you can imagine yourself in an earthquake....1906 or 1989?
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| Golden Gate from Telegraph Hill (Photographed by J. J. Reilly) |
The San Francisco Guides has some History tours, some of which are at the San Francisco Public Library, but I think they are dated. I think the San Francisco Eats was in 2011.
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