One of the earliest pictures I’ve seen pf the east side California drop from Nob Hill; probably, in the 1870’s, looking down from Powell to Stockton Street. Old St. Mary’s can still just barely be seen today behind the red building in the center.
The premier thing to see on Nob Hill is the view from the Top of the Mark at the Mark Hopkins Hotel.
A 1940’s look at the Top of the Mark, I think from the Images of America series, explaining the origin of “Weeper’s Corner” on the northwestern side of the room where wives, lovers, mothers and sisters watched their loved ones sail away to combat theaters in the Pacific during World War Two, many who didn’t return. Bottom right is the view from “Weeper’s Corner” with fog obscuring the Golden Gate Bridge. Top right, two modern weepers in “Weeper’s Corner” today. Eh, they’re always whining about something!
This is a terrific vintage picture from ‘San Francisco: As it Is / As it Was by Paul Johnson and Richard Reinhardt. At the left is the doorway to A. N. Towne’s mansion destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake. The doorway is now the Portals of the Past site in Golden Gate Park. Two of today’s survivors from the disaster are the James Flood Mansion, now the Pacific Union Club, on the left, and the Fairmont Hotel at right.
The crest of Nob Hill from Grace Cathedral. I’ve always thought the top of Nob Hill to be one of the most peaceful spots in San Francisco. There’s a lot of interesting sites in this picture; far left is the Pacific Union Club, to the right of that, the Fairmont Hill. In the center is the Bank of America Building. On the right of the B of A Building is the Mark Hopkins Hotel with its Top of the Mark windows. Behind Christie is Huntington Park.
A scene from the 1964 movie ‘Good Neighbor Sam’ at the start of a wild car ride through San Francisco where Jack Lemmon tries to prevent his passenger from seeing billboard signs with his picture on them throughout the city. This is at California Street approaching Powell. The actress on the left side of the billboard is Romy Schneider who, sadly, died of a heart attack at 43. The most interesting thing about this scene to me is the. KSFO Radio Station sign. They had probably the prettiest station identification commercial. Click on the link here to hear it.
In ‘Good Neighbor Sam’ Jack Lemmon turns left onto Powell in his Thunderbird past an old Flying ‘A’ parking location that is still there, and goes back to the 1920’s when it was a service station.
The less famous western side of California Street on Nob Hill in a photograph by Phil Palmer from Harold Gilliam’s ‘The Face of San Francisco’: They sure ruined the view of Grace Cathedral at the top! Tourists line up at the Powell Street, California at Market Street, Bay and Taylor Streets, and Aquatic Park terminus for the cable cars, but this lonely one behind the Magic of Home sign at Van Ness doesn’t got much attention. Van Ness, at the bottom of the picture, was known as ‘Auto Row” and, maybe, still is for all of the car dealership locations that were there. You can see the Ellis Brooks Chevrolet at the lower right of the old photo.
Always great fun is the Monster Bash on board the historic USS Hornet aircraft carrier in Alameda.
This year is the second annual Halloween attraction in the old Armory Building on Mission Street .
Built in 1914 to store munitions, some scenes from the original ‘Star Wars’ were filmed in the Armory Building.
I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’ve heard that this house on the corner of Scott and Fulton Streets is where ghosts go while their waiting for a vacancy at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.
The Bay Bridge Motel: “Oh, we have 12 cabins, 12 vacancies.” Oh, wait, that’s a different motel.
Hmmm, it’s funny I didn’t notice that when I took the picture!
The Ferry Building at midnight: 12 “Bongs!” and a scream.
Next time your at Fisherman’s Wharf try the Uncle Fester electric arcade machine. Three thousand volts will light up anyone’s Halloween!
A mother and child on Dupont (Now Grant Avenue) and Sacramento circa 1900, and a mother and child on the same corner today: I have a little bit of brag here; this picture is usually identified as being at Jackson and Dupont, three blocks north. I’ve seen photos of this picture categorizing this shot as Dupont and Jackson by printing that appears to be by Genthe himself, so that was where I did my first then and now. Then I noticed something interesting, the cable car coming down Jackson. To the best of my knowledge, cable car lines never ran down Jackson as far as Dupont (Grant). I checked all of the old cable line maps I could find. It had to be Sacramento or Clay! I sent an email to a fellow named Rick Laubscher from the Market Street Railway who wrote back that he wasn’t sure, but he would check. He kindly emailed me back, “Did some checking, it’s Sacramento and Dupont.” Arnold must have been tired the day he labeled this picture, and I can appreciate that.
Ross Alley then and now: Chinatown alleys aren’t as mysterious nowadays, yet this alley was once noted for Tong wars, opium dens, and frequent Shanghaiing. This is an interesting spot today, where the the Fortune Cookie Factory is. You cam write your own fortune, and they’ll bake it in a cookie for you. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily increase the odds your fortune will come true.
This photograph has sometimes been called one of the ten best news photos of all time. I suppose you could argue that, but I think it’s a masterpiece! Genthe centered this dramatic picture perfectly filling almost the whole frame with something important. It was taken down Sacramento Street from Powell as San Franciscans watched the approaching fires that would, eventually, destroy most of the city.
I got this picture from the January 03, 2014 posting of a fine website called History in Photos. They identify it as “probably by Arnold Genthe”. It certainly has his flair. It was taken toward San Francisco from the southeast corner of Lafayette Square.
Nothing changes in Chinatown except the cars! Genthe came back to Chinatown in the 1920’s to take this picture of Grant Ave. at Sacramento where his turn of the Century mother and child photo was taken, but looking north, instead.
Madame Chaing Kai-shek passes through the Chinatown gate escorted by police and bodyguards. This gate interests me, it’s not where today’s Chinatown gate at Bush and Grant is. I had to do some building match ups, but it was at the north side of the Clay and Grant Ave intersection. I can’t get much information about it, so I don’t know if it was put up for the occasion or if it was part of Chinatown back then, but it’s gone now. 
The other side of the gate as her entourage passes by. 
A parade in her honor moves up Grant Avenue from Clay with the gate visible at the far right. 
Madame Chaing, in the center, visits Beniamino Bufano’s statue of Sun Yat-sen in St. Mary’s Square. 
The crowd gathers around Old St. Mary’s Church at California and Grant.
Castle Street in North Beach:
A long gone pagoda telephone booth at Old St. Mary’s in Chinatown, and where the phone booth once was:
Fred Lyon’s picture of “Mr. San Francisco” Herb Caen on a cable car at Powell and Market Streets:
Day and night: The old Palace of Fine Arts in the 1950’s and today: It’s a pretty thing to see at night.
Three views of Pacific Street on the old Barbary Coast: Fred Lyon’s image at night in the heyday of the International Settlement, the San Francisco History Center’s picture of when the area began to get run down toward the end of the 1950’s, and where Spider Kelly’s and the Barbary Coast were today.
Be sure to buy one of the miniature illuminated orange Coit Towers they sell every Halloween in San Francisco. Aw, you guys are too smart for me! This was the night the Giants won the game that sent them to the 2014 World Series last year, and landmarks showed their appreciation by lighting up orange. The Playoffs are in full swing and the Giants aren’t in it this year, but, oh, the memories!
The end of the game that started it all, the final winning game of the 2010 Season that sent the Giants to the Playoffs, and on their way to three, (and counting) World Series wins.
I was happy with two, but three’s even better; although, that A’s fan on my left might need talking to!
An exciting night in October of 2014 as the Giants got their 3rd win in the Pennant race.
Nothing more beautiful than an orange Ferry Building at Halloween time.
In honor of Fleet Week, a visit aboard the USS Hornet: Two USS Hornets saw service during World War Two; CV-8, that the Doolittle Raiders took off from, (They left from right here in Alameda, by the way.) and CV-12, commissioned in November, 1943 after CV-8 was sunk in October of 1942. These photos are all of CV-12, the museum docked at Alameda today. This was also the carrier that picked up the Apollo 11 astronauts in July of 1969 after their historic trip to the moon.
Fighters on the stern of the Hornet during World War Two, and the stern of the Hornet today:
A plane from Torpedo Squadron Two crash lands near the superstructure in 1944 during the battle for Saipan. The plane came down right where those people were shading themselves on this visit.
This damage to the bow here was not caused by enemy action, but by a typhoon that the Hornet sailed through in 1944.
A fighter lands on the flight deck of the Hornet after a raid on Saipan in June of 1944. We’d have lost World War Two before this hot dog figured out how to get into his plane!
The superstructure and flight deck looking toward San Francisco on a beautiful day! Those vapor streaks at right center are from the Blue Angels performing one of their Fleet Week shows. The superstructure of a carrier is always on the starboard side.
“I’m going below to see what the men want.”
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 