Van Ness at California Street: “Now, you and the lovely lady in the back seat be sure to tell your friends about “Honest Harry” and his used car deals. Okay?”
Author: SF Film Locations
Hello friends! My name is Tim Welsh. I’m the owner and operator of Welsh Income Tax Service in Hayward, California. When I was fifteen, I fell in love with San Francisco. It wasn’t a first in the family; my mother at seventeen had traveled by train from North Dakota, where I was later born, to see the Treasure Island World’s Fair, and fell in love with “The City” long before I did. You can see pictures from her trip in the November 19th, 2014 ‘Summer of 1939’ postings. It’s been a love affair that’s never broken my heart. Here, with pictures from books, movies, the internet, and personal collections, I’ve had a chance to share my affection for San Francisco with comparison and location pictures that I’ve taken. I’ve had help from family and friends, and even my dog ‘Danny’ who sniffed out the trail of Buffalo Bill at Ocean Beach on a November 15, 2014 post. My blog is for non commercial and non profit purposes only, and it’s always a lot of fun to work on. Many of the pictures from November, 2014 to November 2015 are thumbnail images. Pictures from posts after that can be enlarged by viewing the image. I hope you enjoy the posts, and please feel free to follow my blog, or make suggestions, comments or corrections if you like.
“Find your own road.” (3) (Thumbnail image)
I wonder who that is being greeted at City Hall? Must be “Wrong Way” Corrigan! It might be, kind of, fun to drive your car up the steps of City Hall today.
“Find your own road.” (4) (Thumbnail image)
621 Commercial Street in 1940:
“Here come the bulldozers, Pa.”
“Just sit tight, Son; they ain’t-a gonna be tearing our building down! No, Sir!”
Well, they didn’t tear the old building down; they just built a new one on top of it!
Back on the Base (1)
The old Lombard Street entrance to the Presidio, looks like the late 1940’s. Today, kids with backpacks pass through what was once a secured area. It was while I was appreciating the military history here last Thursday, that I heard about the July 16th attacks at the military locations in Tennessee. (Thumbnail image)
Back on the Base (2)
Soldiers gearing up for battle during the 1898 Spanish-American War. “Bully!” (Thumbnail image)
Back on the Base (3)
That’s the army for you, putting up a barracks and spoiling my Moraga at Mesa picture! The Parade Grounds are still behind the old barrack building. The red-roofed building with the funnels on top, just left of the barracks, is the 100 year old building that houses the Presidio Bowling Center. They serve a good cheese burger there, with a ton of fries. (Thumbnail image)
California Street (Thumbnail image)
California Street, where “little cable cars” DO “climb halfway to the stars.”
Chinatown
Historic Chinatown. I don’t know why, but whenever I see a neat old picture of Chinatown, I want to go and take a picture of the spot today. I think it’s OCD. (Obsessive Chinatown Disorder) (Thumbnail image)
#9 Fishermen’s Grotto
#9 Fishermen’s Grotto at Fisherman’s Wharf, one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco. You have to get up pretty early in the morning, like these two hooligans, to find it this quiet. (Thumbnail image)
Grant Avenue at Market Street
An American Werewolf in San Francisco! There were some interesting people wandering along Market Street in the 1940’s. (Thumbnail image)
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 