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Gallery -
The Golden Hydrant in the Mission, which saved everything south of 20th from fire after the 1906 earthquake. Click photo for full story.
The Orpheum Theater. Click photo for full story.
Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, where you will want to be at 4:20 on 4/20. Click photo for full story.
101 Sansome, where the Sierra Club was founded. Click photo for full story.
The “Blue Marble” photo taken from Apollo 17 and used as the insignia on the Earth Day flag. Click photo for full story.
What remains of Fleishhacker Pool. Click photo for full story.
Lombard Street: Everyone has to drive down it once, whatever the vehicle. Click photo for full story.
Hibernia Bank Building. Click photo for full story.
Whale siting in the San Francisco Bay, bringing back memories of Humphrey. (Photo curtesy of SF Whale Tours) Click photo for full story.
The Columbarium. Click photo for full story.
There have been three protests over racial injustice that led to riots and curfews in San Francisco. Click photo for full story.
This duplex at 6114 California was once the site of the Church of Satan. Click photo for full story.
On April 14, 1974, Ward Anderson and Terry White were both shot and wounded, two victims of the Zebra Murders, as they stood at the bus stop at the corner of Hayes and Fillmore. Click photo for full story.
The San Francisco City Flag. Click photo for full story.
Brick circles found at many major intersections indicate underground cisterns.
The Zebra Murders, written by former Police Chief Prentice “Earl” Sanders. Click photo for full story.
Waverly Place in ChinaTown. Click photo for full story.
1144 Pine, the site of Sally Stanford’s 1940s brothel. Click photo for full story.
My grandfather, William “Brand” Filmer, in a promotional shot for the Olympic Club. Click photo for full story.
Up in the righthand corner is my only siting of the Farallon Islands. Click photo for full story.
The Asian Art Museum has a troubling legacy. Click photo for full story.
Julius’ Castle. Click photo for full story.
The Brannan Street Wharf, named after Samuel Wharf. Click photo for full story.
The Dewey Monument in Union Square, modeled after Alma Spreckels. Click photo for full story.
The Maritime Museum, established by Alma Speckels
The Mechanics’ Institute Library and Chess Club. Click photo for full story.
The entrance to the Warfield. Click photo for full story.
The Warfield
Shreve & Co. at Union Square. It is the oldest commercial establishment in San Francisco. Click photo for full story.
A San Francisco Freeway. Click photo for full story.
The William Alexander Leidesdorff statue and plaque. Click photo for full story.
Leidesdorff Alley
2323 Hyde, built for Robert Louis Stevenson’s widow. Click photo for full story.
Portsmouth Square in ChinaTown, where public executions took place in 1851 and 1856. Click photo for full story.
The stretch of Sunset between Ulloa and Wawona, once the site of soap box derbies. Click photo for full story.
The corner of Green and The Embarcadero, which memorializes the life of one of the City’s more scandalous citizens. Click photo for full story.
The Golden Gate Bridge. Click photo for full story.
A veteran toasting the Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge, another angle
Willie Mays statue and plaza, celebrating his 90th birthday. Click photo for full story.
The Chinese New Year Parade is one of the many annual parades held in the City each year. Click photo for full story.
The summit of Mount Davidson Park, which is not owned by the City. Click photo for full story.
The Mount Davidson Cross can be seen from many San Francisco neighborhoods
Poppies on Mount Davidson
1661 Post Street where Maya Angelou lived with her mother and brother. Today it is part of Hotel Kabuki. Click photo for full story.
St. Paul’s Church, the jewel of Noe Valley Click photo for full story.
Tne Merchants Exchange Building. Click photo for full story.
The entrance to the Merchants Exchange Building.
Lake Street, part of the San Francisco Cross Town Trail. Click photo for full story.
Holy Virgin Cathedral in the heart of Little Russia. Click photo for full story.
Bank of America Building with The Banker’s Black Heart sculpture in the foreground. Click photo for full story.
Another view of 555 California.
Harold Gullberg’s decomposed body, the 5th of the six known people killed by the the Doodler, was found in this section of Lincoln Park next to the 16th tee. Click photo for full story.
The marble staircase within City Hall, the site of the 1960 City Hall Riot. Click photo for full story.
Vesuvio, a bar in the heart of North Beach. Click photo for full story.
The Thomas J Cahill Hall of Justice. Cahill had the longest running tenure as Chief of Police in San Francisco history. Click photo for full story.
San Francisco International Airport. Click photo for full story.
Alcatraz. Click photo for full story.
Alcatraz
The Janis Joplin Tree, where Joplin would sit and play her guitar during the Summer of Love. Click photo for full story.
The Janis Joplin House in Haight-Ashbury.
Beach Blanket Babylon. Click photo for full story.
Looking from Lafayette Park to the neighborhood where President McKinley’s wife Ida lay gravely ill. Click photo for full story.
The now-closed State Belt Railroad tunnel under Fort Mason. Click photo for full story.
The site of the original City Jail, but better known as the building where Finocchio’s once stood. Click photo for full story.
The “Comfort Women” statue in St. Mary’s Square. Click photo for full story.
The AIDS Memorial Grove. Click photo for full story.
Inside the AIDS Memorial Grove
Stern Grove Amphitheater. Click photo for full story.
Baker Beach, the southern end
Stone staircase at Stern Grove
Baker Beach, site of the first Burning Man Art Festival. Click photo for full story.
Andy Goldworthy’s “Spire” in the Presidio. Click photo for full story.
Batteries to Bluffs trail in the Presidio
Lovers Lane in the Presidio
The National Cemetery in the Presidio
The Pet Cemetery in the Presidio
The Peace Pagoda in JapanTown. Click photo for full story.
The United Nations Plaza at the Civic Center, built to commemorate the signing of the UN Charter in San Francisco. Click photo for full story.
The Pacific Stock Exchange. Click photo for full story.
My parents married at St. Dominic Church. Click photo for full story.
10 South Van Ness, once the site of Fillmore West. Click photo for full story.
101 California, site of the worst mass shooting in San Francisco history. Click photo for full story.
The Haas-Lilienthal House. Click photo for full story.
The Old UlS Mint. Click photo for full story.
The new US Mint Building in Hayes Valley
The Bourn Mansion. Click photo for full story.
Lotta’s Fountain on Market, where people gathered after the 1906 earthquake to get news, and where motor bicyclist George Wyman began his journey across the United States. Click photo for full story.
The plaque on Burnitt Place in honor of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon”. Click photo for full story.
Dashiell Hammett Place
Angel Island was not always open to the public. Click photo for full story.
The Ferry Building, designed by Willis Polk. Click photo for full story.
The Marketplace within the Ferry Building
One of the many mosaic tiles decorating the walls within the Ferry Building
The Hobart Building, designed by Willis Polk
The Tobin House, designed by Willis Polk
The Hallidie Building, designed by Willis Polk
The original Chronicle Building, where Michael deYoung was shot and killed. Click photo for full story.
Ocean Beach. Click photo for full story.
Statue of Phil Burton, responsible for the creation of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Cow Palace. Click photo for full story.
Forest Hill. Click photo for full story.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). Click photo for full story.
The Crocker Mansion (see story coming July 16th)
St. Ignatius Church. Click photo for full story.
Harry Bridges Plaza, named after a leading City labor leader. Click photo for full story.
Old St. Mary’s Cathedral. Click photo for full story.
555 Beach Street, owned by Tommy Wiseau, producer of the movie “The Room”. Click photo for full story.
This corner was the site of the 1916 Preparedness Day Parade Bombing. Click photo for full story.
The 1877 Anti-Chinese riots targeted businesses in ChinaTown. Click photo for full story.
Plaque honoring the Giant Powder Company, the first dynamite factory in America. Click photo for full story.
Glen Canyon Park
The flower stand with the green and white awning is the site of one of the Nalbandian brothers’ famous flower stands. Click photo for full story.
A WPA mural on the side of the Marina Safeway (story coming July 28th)
A panel of the mosaic mural on the side of the Marina Safeway.
Tadich Grill. Click photo for full story.
Lemons at Tadich Grill
The Buddhist Church of San Francisco (story coming July 30th)
The Palace Hotel. Click photo for full story.
ChinaTown, harshly impacted by the Chinese Exclusion Act. Click photo for full story.
Ruth Asawa’s sculpture at the de Young Museum, decorated for the Bouquets to Art. Click photo for full story.
Wicker sculpture by Ruth Asawa
The Salesforce Transit Terminal. Click photo for full story.
Sales Force Tower
624 Commercial Street, where Emperor Norton once resided. Click photo for full story.
The coveted Croix de Candlestick pin, given out to only the most die-hard Giants fans. Picture curtesy of Joyce Richards. Click photo for full story.
The Jefferson Airplane house. Click photo for full story.
Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park. Click photo for full story.
Plaque at the Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park
The Gap, Inc. Headquarters. Click photo for full story.
The Mayor’s Mansion, once owned by James “Sunny Jim” Rolph, in Dolores Heights. Click photo for full story.
A closer look at the Mayor’s Mansion
The Chinese Telephone Exchange building in ChinaTown, where Tye Leung worked for two decades. Click photo for full story.
Where the Laurel Hills Cemetery Plaque once was on California. Click photo for full story.
The site of Laurel Hills Cemetery, part of Lone Mountain Cemeteries
16th Street Steps. Click photo for full story.
Hidden Garden Steps in Golden Gate Heights
Lincoln Street Steps in Lincoln Park
Stairway in the Presidio connecting Fort Point to the Golden Gate Bridge
Staircase in Golden Gate Heights
The old eastern span of the Bay Bridge, coming down. Click photo for full story.
The Bay Bridge
The National Guard & Armory Building. Click photo for full story.
Matson Shipping. Click photo for full story.
View of the City from Twin Peaks, the site where Daniel Burnham created his urban City Plan. Click photo for full story.
Daniel Burnham Street
Boudin Bakery, the source of the original sourdough starter. Click photo for full story.
The Cliff House. Click photo for full story.
Seal Rocks
Fort Funston. Click photo for full story.
Fort Funston
Marker showing the place of the Broderick/Terry dual near Lake Merced (story coming September 15th)
Lake Merced
The Haskell House in Fort Mason
The posts that used to hold the International Settlement sign are all that remains of the Barbary Coast’s short-lived replacement. Click photo for full story.
The Old Hippodrome at 555 Pacific, part of the Barbary Coast
Oracle training for the 2013 America’s Cup (story coming September 15th)
A replica of Mexico’s Liberty Bell in Dolores Park. Click photo for full story.
Dolores Park
A woman painting at Dolores Park
The site in Glen Canyon Park that was the entrance to the 1896 Glen Park and Mission Zoo (story coming September 17th)
2209 Polk Street, the site of Cecilia Chiang’s original Mandarin Restaurant. Click photo for full story.
Anchor Brewing Company. Click photo for full story.
St. John Coltrane Church. Click photo for full story.
Critical Mass in action. Click photo for full story.
The Wiggle, a zigzag bike path that minimizes elevation near Golden Gate Park.
Barry Bonds. Click photo for full story.
The Stanford Court on California in Nob Hill, site of the former Stanford Mansion where Jane Stanford was poisoned. Click photo for full story.
Karl the Fog. Click photo for full story.
750 Vallejo, once the site of Keystone Korner, a venue that takes its place in San Francisco music history. Click photo for full story.
Bloomingdales on Market, former site of the Emporium. Click photo for full story.
Clarion Alley in the Mission District. Click photo for full story.
37 Florence, once the house of Winifred Sweet and her family. Click photo for full story.
Fort Point. Click photo for full story.
Now the site for the Alameda/Oakland/San Francisco ferry line, Pier 2 is where “Don Gaspar de Portola” disembarked to kick off the 1909 Portola Festival. Click photo for full story.
450 Sutter Street, originally the site of Temple El-Emanu, the towers of which toppled during the 1868 Great Earthquake. Click photo for full story.
The Sir Francis Drake Hotel. Click photo for full story.
The Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Powell in Union Square with its iconic rooftop star.
Temple Israel, used as a temportary courthouse for the Graft Trials directly following the 1906 Earthquake and Fires. Click photo for full story.
The concrete base for the Nike Ajax and Hercules missiles at Fort Funston. Click photo for full story.
The Atherton House, purportedly the most haunted property in San Francisco. Click photo for full story.
This stretch of Haight between Cole and Clayton was once the site of the Chutes on Haight, and exhilierating water ride that entertained San Franciscans in the late 1800s. Click photo for full story.
The I-Hotel, once the site of a brutal eviction that forever damaged the career of Sherriff Dick Hongisto. Click photo for full story.
The Casebolt House, owned by architect William Mooser. Click story for full story.
The Whittier Mansion at the corner of Jackson and Laguna. Click photo for full story.
It was on this corner of Washington and Cherry in Pacific Heights that the Zodiak Killer executed a cab driver. Click photo for full story.
The Buena Vista Cafe. Click photo for full story.
The WWI Memorial in Golden Gate Park. Click photo for full story.
St. Anne of the Sunset (see story coming November 13th)
A look down Montgomery Street, the heart of FiDi. Click photo for full story.
This post office on Geary was once the site of Jim Jones’ People’s Temple. Click photo for full story.
Leland Yee was a respected City and State politician until he was inprisioned for racketeering. Click photo for full story.
This corner at Sutter and Grant was once the site of the Palais Royale Saloon. Click photo for full story.
This house on Beach Street was once Joe DiMaggio’s home. Click photo for full story.
City Hall, where Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated. Click photo for full story.
This house on Fillmore was where Police Chief William Biggy kept defendant Abe Ruef in protective custody for a year. Click photo for full story.
“Three Dancing Figures” in front of the Moscone Center. Click photo for full story.
“Pneumatic Dreamer” at 3rd and Howard
The Corporate Goddesses
Angel Sculpture on Market, created by artist Stephen DeStaebler
The sculpture Venus
The foo dogs at Dragon’s Gate in ChinaTown
Sculptures in front of the Salesforce Transit Center
Sculpture on Market Street
Mechanics sculpture on Market Street
Language of the Birds in North Beach
Cupid’s Arrow
A sculpture garden in the Marina.
Mission Dolores Chapel, the oldest structure in San Francisco. Click photo for full story.
World War II Memorial in the Presidio. Click photo for full story.
My mother Anne’s family home on 28th Ave in the Sunset. She was 5 years old during World War II, and remembers the air raid sirens, the blackouts, and the air raid drills. Click photo for full story.
One Rincon Hill. The one on the left has a weather station at its crown. Click photo for full story.
Caffe Trieste, the first espresso house on the West Coast and the haunt of some of the country’s greatest poets, authors DECEMBER 13, 1933: Jack Hirschman was born in New York City. He became one of the most influential political poets of our time and a fixture at San Francisco’s Caffe Trieste. and screenwriters. Click photo for full story.
732 Broadway, once the site of Des Alpes, a Basque restaurant and boarding house. Click photo for full story.
The Marble Palace, one home to I Magnin (story coming December 15th)
Hunters Point Shipyard. Click photo for full story.
Picture frame at Hunters Point
The sarcophagus of Thomas Starr King, who was credited with keeping California in the Union during the Civil War (story coming December 17th)
Congregation Emanu-El. Click photo for full story.
Muni. Click photo for full story.
St. Francis Yacht Club. Click photo for full story.
Saints Peter and Paul Church. Click photo for full story.
Statues of the four evangelists decorating the front entrance of Sts Peter and Paul Church
The Getty Mansion. Click photo for full story.
John Geary. Click photo for full story.
Bay to Breakers. Click photo for full story.
The Donaldina Cameron House. Click photo for full story.
Golden Gate Park’s Polo Fields. Click photo for full story.
The Blue Angels, the highlight of Fleet Week that was introduced in 1981 by Mayor Dianne Feinstein. Click photo for full story.
The original dome in the City of Paris. Click photo for full story.
The reminents of the Statue of Liberty on Mount Olympus. Click photo for full story.
The US Federal Building, site of the trial of Tokyo Rose. Click photo for full story.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Click photo for full story.
The Chinese Historical Society of America building (formerly the YWCA), designed by Juilia Morgan. Click photo for full story.
Bimbo’s 365. Click photo for full story.
Alioto’s Restaurant in Fisherman’s Wharf, part of the Alioto dynasty. Click photo for full story.
Uncle Vito’s on Nob Hill near Union Square, the Brown Twins’ favorite hangout. Click photo for full story.
Fisherman’s Wharf
The San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Aboretum. Click photo for full story.
The Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theater. Click photo for full story.
The Concourse in Golden Gate Park was originally created as the centerpiece for the 1984 California Midwinter International Exhibition. Click photo for full story.
Engineering students once hung a VW Beetle off the side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Click photo for full story.
There have been 393 shipwrecks in and around the San Francisco Bay. Click photo for full story.
The bus stop at the corner of Masonic and Oak, where Kevin Collins was abducted in 1984. Click photo for full story.
The Del Martin/Phyllis Lyon House. Click photo for full story.
City College of San Francisco. Click photo for full story.
The former Gran Oriente Filipino Hotel. Click photo for full story.
Cesar Chavez. Click photo for full story.
The South Park oval from yesteryear
Kit Hing Hui lived in the cave just below Sutro Baths for two years. Click photo for full story.
The Episcopal All Saints Church, where The Diggers baked bread to give away during the Summer of Love. Click photo for full story.
The Occidental Hotel, once one of the most luxurious City hotels, stood at this site at the corner of Bush and Montgomery. Click photo for full story.
Lincoln Beachey. Click photo for full story.
Ewing Terrace, former site of Ewing Field. Click photo for full story
Ewing Terrace
The FCHR railroad depot at Golden Gate Park. Click photo for full story.
My father’s childhood home, designed by Henry Doelger on 23rd in the Sunset. Click photo for full story.
Alta Plaza Park. Click photo for full story.
The Hells Angels House in Haight-Ashbury. Click photo for full story.
Saint Patrick statue at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in SoMa: he is honored in the oldest annual parade in San Francisco. Click photo for full story.
The San Francisco Main Public Library. Click photo for full story.
Wells Fargo, one of the targets of a 1982 anti-nuclear protest. Click photo for full story.
The corner of Haight and Buchanan, former site of the San Francisco Foundling Asylum. Click photo for full story.
City Lights Bookstore on Columbus. Click photo for full story.
Via Ferlinghetti
San Francisco Art Institute. Click photo for full story.
It was near this corner at Kenwood and Fairfield that the body of Jessie Hughes, murdered at the direction of Public Defender Frank Egan, was dumped in the attempt to make it look like a hit and run (story coming March 29th)
My great grandfather, Captain William CTS Filmer. Click photo for full story.
The 4th floor of 730 Polk houses the St. James Infirmary Clinic, the first safety and occupational clinic dedicated to sex workers in the nation. Click photo for full story.
City Hall. Click photo for full story.
City Hall
Columbus Tower/Sentinel Building. Click photo for full story.
The Frank Lloyd Wright building in Maiden Lane. Click photo for full story.
Maiden Lane
Maiden Lane
8 Sanchez in Lower Haight, where Francis Van Wie lived with Wife #8 (story coming April 12th)
Bernal Heights Summit. Click photo for full story.
University of California San Francisco, Parnassus Campus (story coming April 16th)
Macondray Lane in Russian Hill, and the inspiration for the fictitious Barbary Lane in Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City”. Click photo for full story.
The New Chronicle Building (see story coming January 16th)
The Old Ship Saloon, parts of which came from one of the many ships buried beneath the Embarcadero
Fort Mason (story coming October 1st)
Surviving canon at Fort Mason
Fort Mason
View from Fort Mason
Kezar Stadium (story coming May 2nd)
The Shell Building (see story coming March 18th)
Grace Cathedral (see story coming March 28th)
Reflections of stain glass in Grace Cathedral (see story coming March 28th)
The St. Francis Hotel, a closer look (see story coming March 21st)
The Transamerica Building (see story coming April 25th)
The Transamerica Beacon (see story coming April 25th)
The St. Francis Hotel
The Flood Building (see story coming October 25th)
One of the many species of San Francisco birds (see story coming January 31st)
Herman Plaza and the Ferry Building
The Telegraph Hill parrots (see story coming October 8th)
Pelicans flying home at dusk
Blue heron
The Wave Organ (see story coming September 16th)
The painted ladies from Alamo Square (see story coming October 27th)
The Palace of the Legion of Honor (See story coming September 10th)
What remains of Sutro Baths (see story coming March 14th)
Ornamentation within the Beach Chalet (see story coming October 3rd)
A Heart
A heart sculpture.
Crissy Field (story coming October 8th)
The Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts (see story coming February 20th)
Belle and Blue Boy, the swans at the Palace of Fine Arts (see story coming February 20th)
Belle, the swan at the Palace of Fine Arts
Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park: the perfect setting for a ghost story (see story coming April 4th)
A tunnel at the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park
Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park (see story coming September 12th)
The frisbee course in Golden Gate Park
The Redwood Grove in Golden Gate Park (see story coming April 4th)
The lifesize statue of John McLaren in Golden Gate Park
Pier 39 (see story coming October 4th)
Sea lions at Pier 39
Delancey Street (see story coming April 10th)
Coit Tower (story coming October 8th)
The Barbary Coast Trail, which actually has nothing to do with the Barbary Coast, but rather takes you through the history from the Gold Rush Years to the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exhibition.
Korean War Memorial in the Presidio (see story coming August 28th)
Lotta’s Fountain (see story coming June 20th)
The site of the former Compton Cafeteria, the sight of the first riot over transgender rights (see story coming August 3rd)
The Tenderloin (see story coming November 3rd)
Hermann Plaza, named after the person who led the City’s urban redevelopment (see story coming November 15th)
The PG&E Building (see story coming February 11th)
St. Patrick Church in SOMA (see story coming September 3rd)
The Call Building (see story coming December 1st)
San Francisco’s cable car (story coming September 6th)
Alamo Square (see story coming October 27th)
Ghiradelli Square (story coming February 21st)
Annie Keenan Matlock (see story coming October 22nd)
The Labyrinth at Lands End (see story coming March 20th)
Land’s End (see story coming March 20th)
Staircase at Land’s End
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park (see story coming August 25th)
A fairy door (see story coming February 14th)
Fairy door in Golden Gate Heights
The Fairmont Hotel (see story coing January 9th)
Gumps (see story coming December 15th)
Market Street (see story coming July 26th)
The Mark Hopkins Hotel (see story coming August 6th)
Washington Square (see story coming December 3rd)
Another view of Washington Square (see story coming December 3rd)
Treasure Island, site of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition (see story coming February 19th)
The Fillmore Jazz Festival (see story coming February 28th)
Laguna Honda Hospital (see story coming October 31st)
Ross Alley (story coming October 18th)
ChinaTown (see story coming October 18th)
The Grateful Dead House in Haight-Ashbury (story coming August 9th)
Bank of California (story coming April 1st)
University of San Francisco (story coming October 15th)
San Francisco’s Outdoor Emergency Broadcasting System (story coming November 8th)
The San Francisco Zoo (story coming December 22nd)
The Dolphin Club (story coming July 11th)
The floating San Francisco fire station
Buena Vista Park (story coming August 13th)
The Rainbow Flag, flying in honor of San Francisco’s LGBTQ community (story coming June 25th)
The Pink Triangle at the top of Twin Peaks, in honor of San Francisco Pride.
Timothy Pflueger Place (story coming November 17th)
Sutro Tower (story coming August 8th)
Laughing Sal, one of main attractions at Playland at the Beach (story coming August 16th)
Doggie Diner head, one of the City’s many iconic signs (story coming August 11th)
1090 Page Street, an apartment building once occupied by music promoter Chet Helms (story coming August 2nd)
The Third Baptist Church (story coming November 15th)
Rice A Roni, the San Francisco treat (story coming September 29th)
Bay at Mason, looking towards Powell, once the entrance to Meigg’s Wharf (story coming October 6th)
Macy’s (story coming February 2nd)