Lately, there has been a rash of fake Facebook pages posting AI generated then and now images and moving films that are ridiculously inaccurate to the point of being stupid. In addition to this, they have lifted pictures from websites, including mine, and posted them on their junk pages, watermarked with their logo suggesting that they have either created the images or own them. This isn’t just stupid, it’s nefarious. The people who create these fake pages are not historians, photographers or artists, they’re just culprits trying to inflate their popularity on Facebook for ulterior motives. However, now and then you do find a Facebook page posting interesting vintage San Francisco photos with accurate descriptions. They don’t always name the source of the pictures, but I’m guilty of that sometimes too. ‘San Francisco City Guides – Free Walking Tours’ is one of those pages. This group is just trying to promote their business in an honest way, and I wish them luck. I took a walk along Market Street yesterday taking a few updated comparison pictures of some of the old photos they’ve posted on their page. I’ll leave the history notes short because City Guides has covered most of that on their posts. (Thumbnail images)
Market Street at Spear in the 1940s: The Southern Pacific Building is on the right, the Ferry Building in the center, and the Terminal Hotel on the left. I wonder if the Terminal Hotel’s slogan was, “When you stay with us, you’ll never want to leave.”
The Embarcadero Freeway going up: I wasn’t there to see that, but I saw it coming down.
Lotta’s Fountain, shortly after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire: The original Palace Hotel had burned down, and is not in the background of the vintage picture. The hotel was rebuilt in 1909.
The green Pacific Building at Market Street and Fourth Street: Since the COVID 19 Pandemic this has become one of the most popular intersections in San Francisco.
The entrance to the Emporium Department Store: In 2006 Bloomingdale’s took over the department store, and you can still make out their sign above the entrance. The entire complex is closed now.
The old Hibernia Bank Building, where McAllister and Jones Streets come into Market Street. Built in 1892, the Hibernia Building came through the 1906 Earthquake and Fire with relatively slight damage.
