Exploring Alan Canterbury’s Downtown San Francisco

With some of his work featured in my last post, in the summer of 1964 a photographer named Alan Canterbury took a large number of photographs around San Francisco. I found a collection of his pictures on the SF Library Digital Archives. I mentioned previously that I couldn’t find out much about Alan, but I hoped he’s still with us. However, a friend of Alan named Judy told me in a post on the Facebook page ‘Baghdad by the Bay’ that Alan died two years ago. Like my last post, these pictures were also taken in June of 1964. I thought it might be fun to walk in his footsteps for awhile, and update some more of the pictures Alan took over 61 years ago. In addition, it was also kind of sad noting all of the long gone businesses he’s captured in most of his photographs. (Thumbnail images)

  

The old Emporium Department Store on Market Street:

 

The 121 year old Flood Building, Market Street at Powell, when it was the location of the Woolworth’s Department Store:

  

Powell Street at O’Farrell, and the legendary Omar Khayyam’s Restaurant:

 

Maiden Lane:

  

The beloved City of Paris Department Store:

  

Looking toward the Palace Hotel and the extended Lotta’s Fountain: Lotta’s fountain was in a slightly different spot in 1964, so this is as close of a lineup as I can get.

  

Market Street at Stockton:

  

The Pacific Building on the corner of Market Street and 4^th:

  

Sam’s Original Brauhaus on the corner of Mason and Turk Streets: I’ll bet that was a great place to have lunch.

  

Alan Canterbury might not be with us anymore, but the Warfield Theater on Market Street still is. ‘Black Sabbath’ is a 1963 horror trilogy narrated by Boris Karloff. The Crest theater next door was showing Elvis Presley in ‘Kid Galahad’. I don’t know, as much as I like Elvis, I probably would have gone with ‘Black Sabbath’.