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Community History Links

Dozens of efforts are underway to provide access to the history of San Francisco on the web.

Here are some of the more useful sites we've discovered (thanks to Ron Henggeler for a number of these).

Please write us with your url if you have something that should be on this list.


Primary resources:

Shaping San Francisco Talks: online archive

Shaping San Francisco upcoming Bicycle History Tours

History Pin's photo crowdsourcing project "Year of the Bay"

Shaping San Francisco channel at History Pin

Thinkwalks on foot and bike with Joel Pomerantz

David Rumsey Map collection, 1859 US Coastal Survey Map geosynchronized with Google Maps!

The Photo Archives at the History Center

San Francisco Library History Center

Online Archive of California

California Digital Newspaper Collection

San Francisco City Guides--Neighborhood historical walking tours

Internet Archive

Prelinger Archives

Maritime Museum National Park--Maritime History

San Francisco Maritime Museum - J. Porter Shaw Library

SFSU American Poetry Archives An historic register of the past 50 years of poetry and related writing as it happened in San Francisco

San Francisco Media Archive

History of Bay Area radio

Museum of the City of San Francisco (particularly the '06 quake and fire dept.)

San Francisco Historical Maps

San Francisco Geneology

San Francisco Museum & Historical Society

San Francisco Architectural Heritage


Specific Neighborhoods, Areas, or Neighborhood Historical Associations

Western Neighborhoods

Telegraph Hill Dwellers

Bernal Heights history

The Uptown Tenderloin Historic District

Mt. Davidson and its Historic Neighborhoods

San Francisco and Haight-Ashbury history

The Historic Shipyard at Pier 70

Islais Creek

Potrero Hill Archives Project

Bayview History Preservation Project

Presidio History

California Missions: Mission Dolores

San Francisco Garden Registry: A Survey of Urban Food Production Zones

San Francisco History Association


Specific Groups

GLBT Historical Society

Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Information

Thomas Fleming on Black History

California's (and San Francisco's) business and management history

DeBoom Family History


Curious and Entertaining Local History Sites


Using San Francisco History a fine historiographical collection of blog entries relating to San Francisco history

Burrito Justice, one of the best local bloggers, full of history and sharp insights

San Francisco History Podcasts from Sparkletack

Bill Roddy's America Hurrah!

Kenneth Rexroth's San Francisco

Memories of San Francisco

Who's Who of "Haight Ashbury Era"

1915 Exposition Fair

Malcolm Barker's San Francisco Memoirs

San Francisco Cable Cars

California Landmarks: San Francisco

Hank Donat's Mister SF

Thomas Bachand's 360 degree animation of San Francisco in 1851

The Barbary Coast trail

Anchor Steam- Telegraph Hill

Digging in downtown SF c. 1978