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Maiden Lane and the Pot-holes of History

2026-04-16T00:22:11Z

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''' Historical Essay '''

''by Peter Field''

''This article is part of a research project by the author tracing the history of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District from its origins in the 1840s to the present.''

[[Image:Morton-alley-1853-coastal-survey-map.jpg]]

'''Morton Alley in red on 1853 US Coastal Survey map.''' ''This map of the 1852 Coast Survey of San Francisco shows the two blocks east of the future Union Square before they were graded and St. Mark’s Place was cut through the middle of the blocks. Just one structure can be seen on the lower block along where the alley would be. The map showed actual streets, but these were actually dirt paths going up, down, and around the sand dunes. In particular, Market Street wouldn’t even exist until 1860. The only way to get these blocks was to hike, ride, or drive south on Kearny, and even this route was available only because it was the main path to Mission Dolores.''

[[Image:Morton-street-1857.jpg]]

'''By this 1857 US Coastal Survey map, the area had urbanized substantially.''' ''Note the 80-foot sand dune blocking Market just west of Kearny/3rd. This map of the 1857 Coast Survey of San Francisco shows clearly that the two blocks east of the future Union Square had been graded and developed, including St. Mark’s Place, and that the alley was an actual street along the length of its two blocks, while Geary and Post Streets were cut and graded almost to what was then called the Public Square. But everything west of this was still sand dunes and dirt paths. ''

''Maps courtesy [http://www.davidrumsey.com David Rumsey]''

I

Several pages in Herbert Asbury’s and Oscar Lewis’ wonderful books ''The Barbary Coast''(2) and ''Bay Window Bohemia''(3) trace what they presented as the history of Morton Street, one of 19th century San Francisco’s notorious brothel alleys, now a chic shopping street called Maiden Lane that runs east two blocks from Union Square. But are Asbury’s and Lewis’ accounts, which were published respectively in 1933 and 1956, the actual history of Morton Street? Or are they another addition to the corpus of San Francisco urban legend? In particular, Asbury’s stories about this street have been repeated so often in books,(4) in articles,(5) on web sites,(6) and by tour guides(7) that his version of Morton Street’s past has achieved a life of its own, even among historians, and the dissemination of its story has been widespread. Who among the legions of San Francisco history enthusiasts hasn’t read Asbury’s and Lewis’ books?

Asbury wrote that Morton Street had the worst cribs (i.e., the cheapest and most disease ridden brothels)(8) in San Francisco, and that it was “thronged by a tumultuous mob” every night. He also said the prostitutes leaned from their open windows “naked to the waist, adding their shrill cries of invitation to the uproar, while their pimps haggled with passing men and tried to drag them inside the dens.” He went on to say, “If business was dull, the pimps sold the privilege of touching the breasts of the prostitutes.” In addition, he wrote that the Morton Street cribs were popular “partly because the police seldom entered the street unless compelled to do so by a murder or a serious shooting or stabbing affray. Ordinary fights and assaults were ignored.” Asbury also reported that Morton Street prostitution was diverse: “These dens were occupied by women of all colors and nationalities; there were even a few Chinese and Japanese girls.”

Moreover, he asserted that when “a respectable woman came through Morton Street on a slumming tour . . . the prostitutes greeted her with ribald jeers and curses, and cries of ‘Look out, girls, here comes some charity competition!’ and ‘Get some sense and quit giving it away for free!’ ” He indicated that their prices ranged from twenty-five cents to a dollar and he summarized the careers of two of the street’s more interesting inhabitants. One of them was a prostitute turned madam named Iodoform Kate who bought about a dozen brothels on Morton Street in “about 1895 . . . and after a few years she retired with a comfortable fortune.” The other one was Rotary Rosie, “an appellation which perhaps sufficiently described her,” who “fell in love with a student at the University of California” a year or so before the earthquake and fire of 1906. According to Asbury, she would service him and his fraternity brothers for free on the condition that they would read poetry to her for half an hour. Her ambition was to quit prostitution and get a college education. He ended his account by stating, “Except for a brief period in 1892, when they were closed as the result of a crusade by the Civic Federation, the unholy dens in Morton Street maintained a continuous existence for more than forty years. They were finally destroyed in the conflagration of 1906 and were not rebuilt, principally because the land on which they had stood was too valuable for business purposes.”(9)

[[Image:Morton-Street-at-Grant-Avenue.gif]]

'''This photo of the entrance to Morton Street from Dupont Street (later Grant Avenue) was probably taken in 1879, the same year Marchand's restaurant moved to the building on the lower right (note the sign at the top of the roof) or in 1880.''' ''The roof of Carrie Mackley's brothel at 205 Post can be just seen next to Marchand's. What makes the date of the photo likely is the new-looking Deppen's Embroidery Atelier sign on the side of the building at 213 Post, two lots to the left and above Macklay's. Deppen's was listed at that address in the San Francisco city directories only in those two years.''

''Photo: courtesy Glenn Koch''

Twenty-three years later, Lewis wrote another brief version of Morton Street’s history. He apparently agreed with Asbury that it sheltered “harlots of all nations—including French, Chinese, Negroes, Mexicans, and Americans,” and that the street “continued to boom until the entire area was laid waste by the fire of 1906.”

Lewis also listed several features of the alley not mentioned by Asbury, including that it was also called Iodoform Alley. “It was the hangout, too, of pickpockets, dope peddlers, and thugs of every description.” Moreover, “it was scrupulously avoided by the town’s respectable women, for to set foot within its confines was considered a serious breach of decorum. To guard against that possibility there was usually a policeman stationed at each end of the street charged with warning away the curious.” Lewis also described a real estate scheme hatched by political boss [[Abe Ruef and the Union Labor Party|Abe Ruef]] after the turn of the century to buy all the Morton Street brothels. He was said to have done this by initiating a months-long cleanup campaign in which all the brothels were closed down, forcing the property owners to sell their holdings to Ruef’s agents, who then reopened the brothels under his ownership.(10)

But are these accounts credible? Asbury’s stories sound anecdotal because they were, as he was the first to admit when he prefaced his extensive bibliography by stating, “A great deal of the material in this book came from the personal recollections of old-time San Franciscans and has never before been published.”(11) None of these individuals were identified, but given The Barbary Coast’s 1933 publishing date, they would have been between 55 and 82 years old if they were presumed to be least 18 when they were witnessing or participating in the episodes they recounted. In other words, these memories would have been recollected from events occurring 37 to 64 years before the interviews.(12)

Moreover, some of these anecdotes are frankly questionable. One example is the reaction of Morton Street prostitutes to the presence of respectable women. Not only is it difficult to imagine a 19th century woman of any respectable class walking through Asbury’s version of Morton Street during its brothel years, but a review of several hundred newspaper articles (13) as well as other primary sources found only two incidents of this, and these reports said nothing about them being taunted.

One account was recorded by Harriet Lane Levy in her memoir, ''920 O’Farrell Street'',(14) in which she recalled her Saturday night walks with her father when they often went along Dupont where it crossed Morton Street.

<blockquote>“One side was completely occupied by one-storied cottages . . . each with a short flight of steps and a bay window. In each embrasure in back of the center pane a woman sat . . . her cheeks were painted, her eyes glazed; she wore a bright colored Mother Hubbard gown. (15) One sat in every window as far as the eye could see down the alley toward Kearny Street. They sat motionless, looking straight ahead . . . One night, a political procession was marching on Kearny Street. We were on Dupont Street when we heard the band. ‘Hurry, hurry,’ I begged, and Father rushed me through the alley . . . ‘You old fool, take that child away from this,’ I heard behind me and trembled.”(16) </blockquote>

This is the only account that has come down to us today of a prostitute yelling at a female walking down Morton Street. (17) But in this instance, she wasn’t yelling at Levy: she was trying to protect her by upbraiding Levy’s father for exposing her to a brothel alley.

While Lewis’ stories sound less anecdotal and implausible than Asbury’s, he didn’t cite any sources at all in Bay Window Bohemia, perhaps intending the book as another “informal history,” as Asbury subtitled his own work. But the lack of citations leaves a conundrum: are we to accept the account of an historian of Lewis’ stature ex cathedra?

Asbury’s and Lewis’ amusingly written anecdotes aside, a review of over four hundred newspaper articles and items, advertisements, census sheets, Sanborn fire insurance maps, and other primary sources (18) found evidence to support only the following assertions: prostitution proliferated on this street for a period of time, the prices ranged from twenty-five cents to a dollar, and the prostitutes sat in their windows to advertise their availability. And if Asbury’s description of the street being “thronged by a tumultuous mob” is interpreted to mean most of the brothels’ patrons had been drinking, then source materials also show that their customers were generally intoxicated. (19) In addition, evidence was found to support only one of Lewis’ assertions: “pickpockets, dope peddlers, and thugs of every description” did in fact populate Morton Street during its brothel years. So, how did Morton Street become a brothel alley, and what actually happened there?

II

The street’s original name was St. Mark’s Place, though when and why the street was first named are obscure. (20) Its development occurred in the decade before the Civil War in a small valley just east of the big sand hill covering the block that later became Union Square. (21) The first hint of the street’s existence was found on a topographic map of San Francisco from the U.S. Coast Survey of 1852, which showed one structure along the line of the future street’s two-block length, standing about equidistant between Kearny and Dupont Streets, (22) though as yet there was no actual thoroughfare. Further development of the alley must have commenced within a year or two of the survey, for the earliest finds of mentions of this street were in real estate and rental listings in newspapers in 1853 (23) and 1854. (24) The first rooming house ad for the street appeared in March of 1855. (25) The first city directory listings for St. Mark’s Place were in 1856. There were only 24 and they were innocuously residential, with some listings showing prosperous sounding occupations such as physician and business owner. (26)

A map of an 1857 topographic survey of San Francisco shows St. Mark’s Place was graded, the lots were leveled, and much of its two blocks were developed. (27) The 1858 city directory showed the number of listings had almost doubled to 42. (28) During its first 20 years, both blocks seem to have been developed in tandem because the increasing number of addresses on each block remained roughly equal. (29) A tally of the resident’s occupational listings taken from the city directories of 1856 through 1869 showed that blue collar occupations tended to congregate on the block closest to Kearny Street, which was becoming a fashionable shopping district, while white collar occupations tended to congregate on the block closest to Stockton Street where a middle and upper class residential neighborhood was developing into what became Union Square during the Civil War. This mix of middle and working class families and single blue-collar workers on the two blocks of St. Mark’s Place continued undisturbed until the brothels moved in. (30)

St. Mark’s Place continued to grow. The 1859 directory listed 66 individuals living there, again with unremarkable occupations, with just one exception: Ephraim S. Tyler was listed as a “clairvoyant physician” at 47 St. Mark’s Place. The 1860 city directory showed almost the same number of listings as the year before, (31) distributed among approximately 34 addresses, including a German school that opened on the corner of St. Mark’s Place and Stockton Street. (32) The year was chiefly memorable for the residents success in getting a street light installed on this corner, (33) and of the planking of the intersection of Dupont Street and St. Mark’s Place. (34) The U. S. Census of 1860 did not show any prostitution in the area. (35)

Until 1860, Market Street began at the Bay and ended a few blocks later at a giant sand hill just past its intersection with Kearny and Third Streets, a half-block from the beginning of St. Mark’s Place. In July, the building of the Market Street Railroad from the Bay all the way out to Valencia and then to 25th Street (36) opened Market Street and its surrounding neighborhoods to more accelerated development. Until then St. Mark’s Place had been a peaceful two-block residential alley with little to disturb its quiet. The following year, easier accessibility increased the street’s new city directory listings by almost a third. (37)

The earliest reports of crime on St. Mark’s Place were found in 1857. There were just two incidents, (38) and although they were relatively serious, no further mentions of criminal activity were found until April 1862 when Michael Hardigan, brother of a plasterer at number 28, was stabbed by a street contractor named Fitzpatrick in a St. Mark’s Place grocery store. (39) In August Manuel Garcia was arrested, probably in the same store, while trying to rob the till while the proprietor was dozing. (40) And Mrs. Mary Garvey was arrested for drugging and robbing Andrew Crotty, a fellow resident in their St. Mark’s Place lodging house. (41) This was also the year a Miss Buchanan appeared in the San Francisco city directory as having furnished rooms at 17 St. Mark’s Place. (42) But the listing was only a front, for the house had the distinction of being the street’s first brothel.

Prostitution came to St. Mark’s Place much the same as other businesses as they followed San Francisco’s southwestern growth. Before the 1860s, San Francisco brothels were mostly located in the streets and especially the alleys north of California Street around Portsmouth Square and Chinatown, and in the Barbary Coast. After Market Street was opened beyond Kearny and Third Streets, they expanded south across California Street along Kearny and Dupont into the area east of Union Square. There was even a house of assignation on the east side of Stockton between Sutter and Bush. (43) Most brothels were located in alleys instead of regular thoroughfares, primarily because of a quasi-official municipal policy of containment and concealment. This policy was continued south of California Street in alleys like St. Mary’s Place, Belden Place, and St. Mark’s Place. (44)

The earliest mention of Miss Buchanan’s brothel to be found in the press was an 1863 Sacramento Daily Union article reporting that Nellie Jones, a 25 year old woman living on St. Mark’s Place, died from burns received on January 16th when she fell asleep reading a newspaper which caught fire from a nearby candle and ignited her dress. (45) The more sedate Alta discovered two of her aliases, and corrected an earlier story by reporting her real name as Ellen Rowland. It also stated she was a prostitute, published the address of the house, and described the incident in greater detail than the Union article. (46)

In June there was a report of a man named Gorman, arrested in a St. Mark’s Place brothel for threatening the madam with a pistol. (47) The following year the Union reported the kidnapping of a prostitute from St. Mark’s Place. She was taken in a carriage to the then outlying neighborhood of Mission Dolores and raped before managing to escape. (48)

The brothel closed down after around two years, as shown by a May 8th, 1864 Alta advertisement for an auction of mirrors and elegant rosewood furniture at that address. (49)The luxurious furnishings suggest that St. Mark’s Place’s first brothel was a parlor house rather than one of the cribs (50) Asbury said was located on this street. Number 17 then became a legitimate rooming house. (51)

The next reports of prostitution on St. Mark’s Place were found in several March, 1869 newspaper articles five years after Kate Buchanan’s parlor house closed, when a hack driver was shot trying to collect a fare from “a party of demi mondes” after he drove them from their brothel on St. Mark’s Place to the Cliff House and back. (But the hack driver, a tough breed in those days, took the gun from the man who shot him – probably their pimp, beat him over the head with it, and hauled him off to the police station, where he pressed an assault charge against him . . . and did this with a gunshot wound to his own head.) (52)

This marked the start of a transition from residences to brothels that occurred on St. Mark’s Place between 1869 and 1881. Some of its residents had lived there since the mid-1850s, but 1869 was when they began to move away. The transition was seen in an advertisement that year announcing the auctioning of the contents of the family home at number 117, (53) the first of a series of similar ads to appear over the next decade. The Franklin brothers, two pawnbrokers who moved to number 109 with their families around 1859, (54) were another example of residents who began to leave. John Franklin’s wife and son both died within a month of each other in 1870, (55) and the brothers sold the house for $5,000 in 1872, (56) probably alarmed by the increasing numbers of brothels on the street. By 1876, Frederick Raue of number 35 was the last of the old time St. Mark’s Place residents still listed there, but he, too, moved away after that year. (57)

[[Image:The-Old-Mechanics-Pavilion.-West-side-of-Stockton-St.-bet.-Post-&-Geary-in-1870.-Now-Union-Square.jpg]]

'''The Mechanics Pavilion was built on Union Square in 1864, just across from the entrance to St. Mark’s Place.''' ''In 1870, a young boy living with his family on the alley was killed in front of the Pavilion when a cannon across the street in front of the [[A HISTORY OF UNION SQUARE|armory]] fired prematurely and impaled the boy with the ramrod. The cannon was one of a battery providing sound effects for a musical festival in the Pavilion. By the late 1860s, the residents around Union Square, which was then a toney residential neighborhood, were demanding that the Pavilion be moved elsewhere. But this didn’t happen until after 1871.''

''Photo: Jesse Brown Cook collection, [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf129005j4;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items online archive of California] I0051221A''

The Board of Supervisors voted to change St. Mark’s Place’s name to Morton Street on May 24, 1869, (58) the same year the brothels began to move there to stay, which is why Morton Street’s name was always associated with prostitution in the minds of San Franciscans. The renaming was probably in honor of, if not petitioned for by the founders of R. & J. Morton, one of San Francisco’s largest drayage firms, (59) who built the Morton Building, a swank hotel on Post Street between Kearny and Dupont with its rear on St. Mark’s Place. (60) Parts of the building were also leased to government agencies, particularly those in the legal professions. Thus for a time in the 1870s one of the city’s deputy sheriffs offices, located on Morton Street in the rear of the building on the first floor, looked across the street at several brothels, with the women in their windows. (61)

Morton Street started attracting other marginal and disreputable businesses in 1870, the year after the brothels return. For example, an astrologist named Madam Buck moved to number 105, announcing office hours from 10 in the morning to 9 in the evening. (62) A concert saloon at the corner of Kearny and Morton Streets was reported on June 15th as having just been closed. (63) It was called the Tammany and its patrons loitered outside the door while making lewd remarks to passing women and otherwise disturbing the peace. (64)

The 1870 census listings (65) showed the 2nd precinct of the Eighth Ward (which included Morton Street and the area east of Union Square along with most of what would later be known as the Tenderloin) as having ten brothels – two of them on Morton Street, seven of them on nearby blocks, and one about three blocks away on O’Farrell. (66) Data from this census don’t support Asbury’s and Lewis’ assertions concerning the diversity of age and race they claimed characterized the prostitutes of Morton Street. A tabulation of the census entries showed there were 19 prostitutes and five madams distributed among nine dwellings on or near Morton Street. Two-thirds of the prostitutes were between the ages of 18 and 24 with just two getting on in years at ages 36 and 40. This meant that the odds were about 9 ½ to 1 against the two older prostitutes being located in either of the Morton Street brothels. Hence, the women in those two houses were probably too young for them to have become “the worst cribs in San Francisco.” (67) As for race, 17 were white and two were black. Ten were born in the United States and the other nine were born in Western European countries. This also made the odds about 9 ½ to 1 against the two Morton Street brothels housing the two black women. Thus, the prostitutes’ ages and races listed in the 1870 census records showed that the two brothels on Morton Street probably hadn’t achieved the diversity described by Asbury in ''The Barbary Coast'' or by Lewis in ''Bay Window Bohemia'', or at least not at that time.

The time frame of the movement of brothels onto Morton Street can be inferred with greater precision by looking at the 1886 Sanborn map(68) addresses labeled “Female Boarding” (69) and noting the years in which each address stopped appearing in the city directories. (70) If we assume that the years in which these addresses stopped being listed represent the years they became brothels, a startlingly clear picture emerges: number 117 opened as a brothel on the upper block of Morton Street next to Union Square in 1869, and number 33 opened the following year on the lower block. Beginning three years later in 1872, more brothels opened on upper Morton Street with increasing frequency, the openings peaking in 1875, and then declining until 1877, when all the residential addresses of that block had become brothels. In 1870, lower Morton Street had only the one brothel at number 33 until five years later when two more opened at numbers 17 (Kate Buchanan’s former parlor house) and 23. These establishments shared the block with the remaining residences until the rest of the residential addresses became brothels between 1879 and 1881.

[[Image:Sanborn-map1886-2 078.jpg]]

'''1886 Sanborn Insurance map.''' ''The Sanborn fire insurance maps showed the footprint of every building in San Francisco, along with its height, some architectural features, and its use. This latter feature is how we know exactly which buildings along Morton Street were brothels, for they were marked “Female Boarding”.''

In other words, upper Morton Street’s residences were replaced by brothels between 1869 and 1877, while lower Morton Street was partially occupied by brothels beginning in 1870 until the remaining residences were replaced by brothels between 1879 and 1881 when there was no longer any room in upper Morton Street. Thus, roughly speaking, in the 13 year period from 1869 through 1881,(71) prostitution returned to Morton Street and took over its two blocks. The actual frequency distribution looks like this:

[[Image:Maiden-lane FIGURE-1.jpg]]

The transition of Morton Street and other thoroughfares in this area into brothel alleys eventually caused the Board of Supervisors to adopt an ordinance “prohibiting messenger boys from answering calls from houses of bad character.” (72) Business firms wanted to keep their employees, especially younger ones, away from temptations likely to impair their efficiency, or likely to damage the companies’ reputations, and some had standing orders forbidding their employees from doing business at certain addresses on streets such as St. Mary’s Place, Berry Street, Belden Place, Quincy Place, and Morton Street, which were well known as brothel alleys. (73) Another likely reason for these prohibitions was a frequent ruse of the prostitutes during Morton Street’s later years: they would lean out of their windows and snatch the hats of male passersby to lure them inside. (74)

A feature of Morton Street during those years was described by newspapers when they reported that the prostitutes advertised themselves in a special way. Each of the houses had windows on the first floor (75) at the same level of the wooden sidewalks that ran up and down the alley. (76) The prostitutes sat inside the windows with the shutters open to display their availability to customers, (77) the same method used by their sisters in San Francisco’s other brothel alleys as well as by prostitutes in European cities (where this is still done today). Many of the women were in fact from Europe – usually from English or French speaking countries.

Morton Street also changed in other ways. During the 13 years it was being colonized by brothel madams and prostitutes, its remaining legitimate residences were being remodeled into rooming and lodging houses. The street’s one hostelry, the St Mark’s Hotel, was enlarged from a four room hotel to a twelve room lodging house and renamed the Germania. (78) In 1869, reports of fights, muggings, and pickpocketings along the alley began to appear with increasing regularity. Crime was especially frequent in the mid-1870s when the brothels had taken over most of the houses on upper Morton Street. (79) So it’s not surprising that the number of respectable residents fell precipitously between 1872 and 1884, leaving only one residential listing for all of Morton Street, a man named Costello at number 3. Another example of how Morton Street was changing was seen when Tomas Redondo, also known as Procopio, Red Dick, Dick of the Red Hand, Red–Handed Dick, and Tomas Murietta, a well-known killer, cattle rustler, horse thief, and stage coach robber who claimed he was a nephew of the legendary Californio bandit Joaquin Murietta, was arrested in a Morton Street restaurant in 1872. (80)

In the meantime, Morton Street’s respectable residents tried several times to get the city to close down the brothels. The first reported attempt was in 1872, when the number of these houses tripled. The Board of Supervisors was petitioned to “suppress the houses of ill-fame on that street,” because “there are more respectable houses there than others.” (81) The petitioners’ efforts were apparently only partially successful, because the newspapers continued to report incidents involving the prostitutes, albeit fewer of them. (82)

Meanwhile, saloons opened on Morton Street in that same year, like Charlie’s Hot Scotch at number 15. (83) Sarah Jane West and brothel madam Emily Edwards were arrested on Morton Street for fighting, (84) while a Spanish woman named Juan or Juana, who also called herself Lizzie Hall, shot a young man in the shin at her brothel at number 128 after he hit her. The case was continued several times until it was dismissed five weeks later when the shooting victim – one Henry Milton – disappeared. (85) Then there was a report of a Police Commission investigation of Special Officer Lawlor, “accused of levying blackmail on those women along his beat.” (86) However, several prostitutes, including Cummasse Densue and Juana Sobrero (possibly the same woman reported at number 128), both of Morton Street, testified in Lawlor’s defense about his

<blockquote>“uniform attention to business and courtesy towards them; he was paid by each of them from fifty cents to a dollar a week; he never demanded it, but invariably awaited their financial circumstances and pleasure; they paid him freely and voluntarily; he was always on hand when they were in trouble from loafers.” (87)</blockquote>

This last story is significant because Asbury wrote that one of the reasons for the street’s popularity was because police officers seldom ventured there except in the event of a major felony. (88) However, newspaper accounts, such as the one about Officer Lawlor, show that the police – special and regular officers as well as detectives and plainclothesmen – were on or around the two blocks of Morton Street often enough for arrests to be regularly reported, and after 1880 they were reported at least monthly and frequently even more often. There were also times when officers were stationed on the street itself. This was so even though at that time San Francisco had just 104 officers for a population of over 150,000 residents, or one officer for every 1,445 citizens – the lowest of any city in the world according to one report. (89)

Not only was there was a significant police presence, but the most frequent arrests reported by the newspapers weren’t the major felonies listed by Asbury. Instead, they were generally misdemeanors like fighting, soliciting, drunkenness, and vagrancy. More serious crimes were usually minor felonies, such as prostitutes picking the pockets of inebriated customers. (90) Morton Street must have been regularly patrolled by the police for the obvious reason that it was a brothel alley, that is, a potential high crime area, bordered on the east by Kearny Street, which was developing into San Francisco’s main shopping district, and on the west by the middle and upper class residential district around Union Square.

Another reason Morton Street and others like it were regularly patrolled was because of the San Francisco Police Department’s quasi-official policy of containment. For example, on March 2, 1895, Arthur McEwen’s Letter reported “Chief Crowley has been careful to prevent the spread of the residences of the Magdalens throughout the city . . . [but] the Chief of Police is given no credit [by the moral crusaders] for that watchfulness which has preserved the city in general from pollution.” (91) If the police couldn’t eliminate prostitution, which many 19th century thinkers believed to be the case, then they could at least keep the brothels, especially the cribs and the cow yards, out of sight in the alleys of Chinatown, the Barbary Coast, South of the Slot, and the Dupont–Kearny area east and northeast of Union Square. In spite of Oscar Lewis’ claim that police officers were usually stationed at each end of Morton Street’s two blocks to keep respectable ladies from blundering into these alleys, (92) the only time this level of official supervision was actually reported was during several unsuccessful campaigns to close down the brothels altogether.

But even regular police patrols didn’t always keep Morton Street’s denizens under control. In 1873 and 1874, a rising number of violent incidents and other problems plaguing Morton Street (93) apparently provoked its second police crackdown. This was suggested by a ''Chronicle'' description of the prostitutes’ method of evading capture: “Within the past few days, in a number of the houses, doors have been made, leading to the adjoining houses through which the inmates pass when in danger of arrest.” (94)

By 1874 the class of prostitutes on Morton Street was deteriorating. In February, the trial testimony of two high class swindlers established that one of them, Naphthaly, often visited the brothel at number 131, operated by Ida Clark, in addition to brothels on Dupont Street. The witness, a police officer whose beat included this area, testified that all the houses visited by Naphthaly had “the lowest class of women who reside in such houses,” including several on Morton Street, such as number 110 which was run by a Frenchwoman named Clement, number 107 which was run by Bertha Cahn, and another which was run by Annie Blaine. (95)

Further evidence of decline was found in December 1874, when the police arrested two Morton Street prostitutes for stealing from their customers. This was the earliest instance of this type of misdeed to be found in reports of Morton Street crime, and it suggested that prostitutes of a lower class were establishing themselves there. One of them, known as the Tomboy, was detained for stealing $80 from a customer, but was discharged after the victim disappeared. (96) The other woman, an independent operator named Mary Daily, was arrested on the complaint of Robert L. Hockman, a recent arrival “from one of the interior counties,” when she lifted $60 from his pockets. (97) This kind of theft was reported on Morton Street with increasing frequency over the following decades.

By 1875, fractional house numbers (such as 112¾) began to show up in the San Francisco city directories as Morton Street addresses (98) when property owners subdivided these former family dwellings in order to maximize rental income. A former single family residence might be subdivided into two, three, or even four units, each of them housing a brothel or renting rooms nightly to prostitutes.

A decrease in crime on Morton Street resulting from the raids of 1874 and lasting into 1876 was suggested by the finding of only two newspaper items mentioning Morton Street during this period. One was a mysterious ad in the ''Chronicle'': “JOSIE—MARY WANTS TO SEE YOU—105 Morton Street.” (99)

The other was a report of the arrest of a former Morton Street brothel owner for procuring underage girls. His name was Martin Mace, and he furnished an example of how the management side of the brothel business worked. He was indicted by a San Francisco Grand Jury in 1874 for grand larceny when he was known as John Martin Mace. (100) A former sailor, he apparently purchased one of the brothels on Morton Street (101) after being paid off for sinking a ship in an insurance swindle. He made money in his new venture, and learned to dress and act like a gentleman. He managed to marry a girl from a respectable family, but then moved her into the house and turned her out as a prostitute. Later on, she was rescued by a wealthy bachelor who “happened” into the brothel. After hearing her story, the gentleman arranged to help her escape and sent her back East. Mace filed a $10,000 lawsuit against the bachelor and his associates who helped him rescue the woman, and used this to extort a considerable amount of money in exchange for dropping the suit and its attendant notoriety. (102)

In 1877, the number of city directory listings indicating respectable addresses on Morton Street had shrunk to 38, with nearly all of them at the Germania Hotel at number 25. (103) This was where an unemployed German carpenter named William Shick committed suicide that year by shooting himself in the head while drinking heavily in his room. (104) In July, the police staged a wholesale raid of the Morton Street brothels for the first time in three years. This raid, according to the ''Sacramento Daily Union'', “captured a large number of the inmates, who had been making themselves more conspicuous than the law allows.” (105) This statement suggested what many of the paper’s readers already knew or assumed, that the police had permitted the brothels on Morton Street and elsewhere to operate, but only if the they didn’t attract too much attention. (106)

But by 1878, there was little evidence to suggest that prostitution on Morton Street had been eliminated or even much diminished, in spite of the police crackdown the previous year. However, the police do seem to have reasserted their control of the prostitute’s behavior since the only prostitution-related arrest that year was when a man was taken into custody merely for tossing firecrackers into one of the Morton Street brothels. (107)

In 1879 the police began to once again lose their grip on the situation on Morton Street, as the press reported a growing catalogue of tragedies and crimes. (108) For example, former police officer Edward P. Snively got drunk and committed suicide by shooting himself in a Morton Street brothel. (109) Several months later Michael Barrett was arrested for stealing $83 and some jewelry from a Morton Street prostitute named Louisa Dawson. (110) The following month a police officer was badly beaten by four men who entered a Morton Street brothel where the officer was investigating a reported theft of $500 from a customer. (111) Then there was a man who was arrested in one of the brothels for biting the nose of one of the prostitutes. (112) When the Police Commission investigated the alleged extortion of prostitutes by police officers, one officer admitted to the Commissioners that he had “been investigated before by the Commission for unofficer-like conduct in a house of ill repute on Morton Street.” (113)

Also of interest was an 1879 ''Chronicle'' report describing in great detail a masked ball and its attendees at the California Theater. The beautiful vivandiere (114) costume of Miss Lillie Lorraine of 205 Post Street was mentioned near the end of the article. Though there were dozens of participants listed, hers was the only one that included an address, (115) a not-so-subtle way of identifying her as a prostitute working at a parlor house run by Diamond Carrie Maclay. (116) This building, located next door to posh Marchand’s restaurant, (117) had a covered second-story passageway that ran across the backyard to the rear of 108 Morton, doubling the size of her business. What this meant was that Morton Street still had at least some vestige of higher class prostitution, even if it was only the rear entrance.

This was also the year the very respectable Olympic Club moved into the remodeled upper floors of the old Morton House hotel (now O’Connor, Moffatt & Co.’s dry goods store) with the club’s parlor windows looking down at the brothels on Morton Street, as did the club’s billiard and chess rooms on the floor above. (118) One wonders what the members made of this view. Did they speculate on the street’s activities between billiard and chess games? (119)

1880 was another busy year on Morton Street. Police Officer Thomas Price arrested Morton Street prostitute Victorine Bird for being an inmate of a brothel. She had requested a jury trial and the charge was dismissed when some of the jurors twice failed to show up and her lawyer demanded that the officer appear as a witness. The Chronicle article pointed out that Officer Price, whose beat included Morton and Dupont Streets, was also being sued by another prostitute’s husband for the return of property she had signed over to Price. He arrested Bird again on the same charge (120) and this time she got her day in court when she testified that the arrests started after she had reduced her protection payments to him to just $1, which he indignantly refused, being used to $2 or more. (121) The judge convicted her anyway.

Also, a William Hanrahn (sic) was arrested on Morton Street for impersonating an officer (122) (a dodge used by small time confidence men to extort money from other criminals), and Marks Gruschenski, a notorious Morton and Dupont Street pimp, was arrested in the alley for battery on one Emile Robein, (123) who was likely another pimp.

That same year Terence Clark, a laborer who had lived at number 113 (124) since at least 1862, (125) leased his house to Leon Avignon for four years at the inflated rental of $100 a month, (126) making it apparent that Avignon was opening a brothel, since brothels and gambling clubs were the only businesses with large enough profit margins to afford rents like this. As some Morton Street property owners pointed out years later after the police finally closed down the brothels, they had done the only reasonable thing they could when the city failed to dislodge the prostitutes after the owners first complained: they moved out of Morton Street and leased their properties to the only people who still wanted them. (127)

However, the most interesting thing to happen on Morton Street in 1880, at least for future historians, was the U.S. Census, for this was the first census to include street addresses. When enumerators encountered a brothel, they seem to have treated it like any other habitation, and listed the inmates, including the madam, prostitutes, servants, and anyone else who lived there, occasionally even children. The addresses on the census sheets show that the houses occupied by Morton Street prostitutes that year (128) were the same ones labeled “Female Boarding” on the 1886 Sanborn maps, (129) confirming that by this time the brothels had replaced the residences on Morton Street. (130) The census also yielded additional data: the brothels contained 70 prostitutes and 10 madams, and about half the prostitutes were in houses run by madams while the rest were one-woman operations, with the latter mostly on upper Morton Street near Union Square. Almost half of the women were from other countries, mainly France. Though Asbury and Lewis said prostitutes of any race could be had on Morton Street, (131) the 1880 census listed 64 white prostitutes, with only one Hispanic and 5 black practitioners. There were no Asians or other races specified.

[[Image:Morton-Street-19th-century 082.jpg]]

'''Morton Street, 1892.''' ''This scene on Morton Street (probably on the block between Dupont and Stockton Streets) shows two typical brothel frontages. The wooden shutters would be opened when the prostitutes sat behind the windows to advertise their availability. The Carpenter Gothic architecture and wooden sidewalks were typical features of this pre-Victorian thoroughfare. ''

''Image: San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1892, 10''

The 1880 census also showed that while some of the Morton Street prostitutes were younger women, the great majority were older than 25, many were in their thirties, and there were even a few in their forties. This was a marked change from the 1870 census (132) when most of them were between the ages of 18 and 24, suggesting a continuing deterioration in the class of prostitutes found there. Young women (or girls) who started out or reached their prime in parlor houses began to show signs of wear in a rather short time (numerous writers have documented how quickly prostitutes aged from the effects of disease, addiction, and ill-usage) (133) and moved, or were transferred, to other, cheaper houses again and again until they ended up in cribs (134) like the ones on Morton Street in 1880. This lent at least some support to Asbury’s statement that “the worst cribs in San Francisco were probably those which lined both sides of Morton Street,” (135) since they featured older and more used up prostitutes, at least during Morton Street’s middle years.

In contrast to this, the census sheets also show that Diamond Carrie Maclay’s brothel at 205 Post/108 Morton was probably operated as a parlor house, that is, a well-furnished brothel with young, attractive, expensively dressed women, even as the rest of Morton Street was in decline. She was open for business by 1880,(136) with 11 young women working for her that year. Her prostitutes were mostly in their late teens and early twenties and all were white with Anglo-Saxon names. The only two from outside the U.S. came from Canada and Ireland. As mentioned earlier, the houses were connected by a second-story passageway that spanned the back yards of both buildings and so were apparently operated as one unit.

What did Morton Street look like in the years that prostitution dominated its two blocks? Lewis didn’t describe it, while Asbury limited himself to saying brothels ran up and down both sides of the street. (137) But other writers – mostly newspaper reporters and editors and Harriet Lane Levy – did offer glimpses, (138) and the descriptions are of a piece: one story, two room cottages, each with a bay window, and each occupied by a prostitute who sat in the window waiting for customers. However, the Sanborn maps show them – with one exception (139) – to be two story houses built on 20 X 60 foot lots. Only two of the buildings had the bay windows reported by Harriet Lane Levy. The rest had flat fronts. (140) An 1892 newspaper drawing of a section of Morton Street shows a row of Carpenter Gothic frame houses with gabled roofs, icicle barge boards, wooden awnings with drips, small, decorative second-story balconies, and shuttered windows overlooking a board sidewalk. (141) Some 1896 newspaper drawings show several two story brick buildings. (142) Nor were they originally one story buildings with second story additions: newspaper real estate advertisements of the 1850s and 1860s (143) made clear that most of these structures were originally built as two-story single family houses.

The earliest reports of gambling found on Morton Street were in 1882 newspaper stories of raids on card clubs. These apparently started in August at number 15 in the back of the Geary House and at number 21 next door. (144) The card game at number 21, run by a Denny Haley, had 35 gamblers. (145) The one at number 15 was entered by way of the hotel’s back door and featured two faro games run by Wyatt Earp’s brothers, Virgil and Warren, of Tombstone fame. (146)

[[Image:Warren-earp2.jpg|left]] [[Image:Virgil-earp.jpg|180px|right]]

'''Warren Earp (left) and Virgil Earp (right).''' ''Virgil and Warren Earp, brothers of Wyatt Earp of Tombstone, Arizona fame, ran a faro game in the back of the Geary Hotel, with its entrance on Morton Street. Virgil was in San Francisco for surgery on his arm, which was missing several pieces of bone from a shootout in Tombstone.''

The raids were precipitated by a man named Charles Falk losing $2,800 at the Earps’ game, money he had embezzled from his socially prominent employers, the Bowie brothers. (147) The raid on the Earps’ game netted 15 gamblers, the faro layouts, and $1,422 in cash. (148) That the raids weren’t taken very seriously is perhaps shown by the Chronicle article’s opening line: “Last night occurred another one of those spasmodic raids which lately have been made on the gambling dens in this city.” (149) But it wasn’t just the newspaper being skeptical. Haley, the owner of the game at number 21, reopened the following night, necessitating a second police raid, just to show him they meant business – this time. (150)

In 1883 the March 11 ''Chronicle'' reported a raid on a faro game run by Ross and Carroll at number 21 that netted 19 gamblers, two faro layouts, and $1,171.75. (151) Another raid on the Earps’ game, still going at number 15, came up empty handed, the gamblers apparently having been tipped off. (152) The following month, the police raided numbers 15 and 21 again, but the gamblers managed to escape by the time the officers got inside. (153) In May the two games were raided yet another time and five men were arrested. (154)

The police raided another, though apparently much less expensive, faro game that operated above Patsy Hogan’s saloon at number 3, which netted three gamblers, the faro layout, and just $13 in dimes. (155) Hogan, whose real name was Patrick Keenan, (156) was a former boxer who plowed his winnings into operating a saloon called variously the Shades (157) or the Referee, (158) a hangout for pimps, prostitutes, swindlers, gamblers, and the other ''petit demimonde'' around Morton and Kearny Streets from 1882 through 1892. (His 1883 city directory listing reads “liquor saloon and gymnasium.”) (159)

Saloons had always operated on Morton Street, though usually at the corners, but the papers hadn’t reported problems with them until after the prostitutes took over the alley. Patsy Hogan’s saloon made the papers in January 1883 when a ne’er-do-well named McDonald was cheated out of $300 in a poker game there and was beaten up when he protested. (160) Edward Wild, a cowboy from Arizona who called himself Red Dick, (161) was taken to Hogan’s in December and robbed by two men. All three were arrested by the police when Wild threatened them with a six-shooter with a barrel over a foot long. (162)

The police raided the Ross and Earp games for the fourth time on August 30th. The Earps had enough time to hide the faro layout because the police found 15 men but no gambling equipment. However, the layout at Ross’ was confiscated after a lengthy search. (The papers reported that the dealer gave his name as “A. Stranger.”) (163)

This was also the first year that the old panel trick was reportedly used by the Morton Street women. (164) This was worked by a prostitute who put the customer’s belongings into a closet or cupboard or drawer for safe keeping while they transacted their business. In the meantime a confederate opened a hidden panel on the other side and removed the victim’s valuables, generally in the hope that he was too drunk to notice the loss until the prostitute had time to disappear.

By 1883 many residents and businessmen in the area around Morton Street had reached the limits of their endurance (165) and launched another attempt to shut down the brothels by submitting a petition to a Board of Supervisors’ committee asking them to order the city to move the prostitutes out of the neighborhood. (166) The committee referred the petition to Chief of Police Crowley who assured them that “such measures would be taken as will result in the abatement of the nuisance.” (167) The Board then adopted a resolution instructing the clerk to forward a copy of the current ordinances against prostitution to the Chief. (168) The police instituted a blockade of Morton Street that was effective enough to drive fifty of the women from the alley by the following week. (169)

While this was going on, the Police Commission was investigating one of its officers for accepting bribes from prostitute Margaret (or Maggie or Mollie) Kennedy at number 129. The evidence hinged on the testimony of two other officers who swore they saw him take a bribe from the woman while they were watching through a small hole in a door in the brothel. But when the Commissioners seemed to question the sworn testimony of the officers by asking to see the door and its hole to prove the allegation, the carpenter they sent to bring it to the hearing returned empty handed, saying he got the door but it was stolen while he was distracted. (170) However, the accused officer was dismissed from the force just days later. (171)

In the first three months of 1884, it began to look as though the Supervisors really meant what they said about shutting down Morton Street’s brothels. “The Morton-street blockade continues and many of the denizens (172) have been compelled to seek more congenial quarters,” wrote a reporter in the January 11th ''Chronicle''. (173) Other encouraging signs of a Morton Street cleanup were seen in February when a man was found guilty of passing a dollar bill “raised” to look like a ten-dollar bill to a French prostitute on Morton Street (174) and was sentenced to five years at hard labor. (175) The next month a man who had robbed a customer at Patsy Hogan’s the year before was put on trial. (176) But there were still at least some brothels operating during this time because the police arrested another Morton Street prostitute for stealing $180 from a customer. (177)

But just days later an injunction restraining the Chief of Police from blockading Morton Street was requested by a Morton Street property owner who received a large income from the rents he collected from prostitutes, at least until the police blockade was instituted. He argued that since other brothel alleys weren’t being suppressed it was “against the law” to single out Morton Street and he also complained that the blockade was “proving injurious to the property.” (178) A temporary injunction must have been issued, for a little over six months later it was reported that it was finally lifted and the blockade reinstated. (180) By that time it was back to business as usual, as seen by the number of court cases involving Morton Street prostitutes and their maquereaux, (182) as well as several arrests of prostitutes for stealing from customers. (181) A frustrated Chief Crowley finally gave up (or, more likely, responded to a lessening of public pressure), (182) and lifted the Morton Street blockade in August 1885, saying it wasn’t working. (183) Ironically, the 1885 city directory listed the California Supreme Court as having moved into the newly rebuilt 221 Post Street, (184) above the O’Connor, Moffatt and Co. dry goods store, (185) where the court’s rear windows gazed magisterially down at the resumption of activity on Morton Street.

In 1886, the Sanborn Company published the first fire insurance maps of San Francisco. The maps showed the footprint of each structure on each city block and identified it according to its use, and this included brothels, which were coyly labeled “Female Boarding” or “F. B.” The maps for the two blocks of Morton Street show that every residential structure was so labeled, (186) confirming that the street had fallen completely into the hands of the prostitutes and their madams and pimps.

[[Image:Sanborn-map1886-1 077.jpg]]

'''1886 Sanborn Insurance map'''

The maps also show that the effect of the transition from residential street to brothel alley was heightened by the arrangement of the buildings: instead of being randomly distributed among the alley’s commercial edifices, the residences were organized in blocks of houses. The largest group had thirteen adjacent structures covering almost the entire south side of upper Morton between Dupont and Stockton. Directly across the street were two more blocks of four and seven structures, the two groupings separated by a small coal yard but otherwise covering almost the entire north side of the street. And the fourth group had six structures on the south side of lower Morton near Dupont. In other words, there were 24 houses on upper Morton and six houses on lower Morton. (187) A conservative estimate of just two street level windows per house meant the unwary or otherwise disposed male passed 16 consecutive windows on lower Morton, each one with a woman inveigling him in one way or another, and 64 consecutive windows on upper Morton, with similarly behaving women in each one. Even if we rule out Asbury’s and Lewis’ lurid descriptions, the experience must have been memorable.

In 1887 the papers reported the same dreary tales of prostitutes arrested for stealing money from their customers. (188) But one of the most sensational stories was the finding of Henry Benhayon’s body in a room in the rear of the Geary House, the back of which faced lower Morton Street. Benhayon’s sister had been the third wife of J. Milton Bowers, a physician who killed her for her life insurance by administering phosphorous disguised as medicine. This caused the newspapers to dub her “the phosphorescent bride” because of rumors that her body glowed in the dark. Benhayon had been relentless in helping to convict Bowers and had been the chief witness against him. While Bowers was appealing his conviction, he had Benhayon killed by John Dimmig, a confederate. Dimmig rented a room in the rear of the Geary House and later brought Benhayon there through the back entrance on Morton Street and killed him by giving him liquor laced with poison. Dimmig tried to make it look like a suicide by leaving several empty poison bottles in the room, along with a forged letter purporting to have been written by Benhayon claiming that he himself had poisoned his sister. The death of the prosecution’s chief witness wrecked the case against Bowers, who was eventually acquitted and released. (189)

[[Image:Judith-Delaramond 081.jpg|240px|left|]] [[Image:Officer-Thompson 080.jpg|240px|right]] '''William S. Thompson and Judith Delerimonde.''' ''Rookie police officer William S. Thompson, drunk and dressed in civilian clothes, shot and killed a pimp named Charles Rosenbrock when Rosenbrock tried to stop Thompson from beating up a prostitute on Morton Street named Judith Delerimonde. Thompson was tried and convicted of manslaughter. ''

The next biggest Morton Street story was the December 1888 arrest of rookie police officer William S. Thompson for killing 23 year old Charles Rosenbrock when he tried to stop the officer from beating up a prostitute. Thompson and a veteran police officer had gotten drunk after a court appearance and wandered down Morton Street, still in their civilian clothes, where they insulted two of the prostitutes. The women responded in kind and were attacked by Thompson. (190) Rosenbrock, who was a pimp for a prostitute at 138 Morton, (191) happened to be passing by and tried to protect the women by knocking Thompson down, not knowing he was a police officer. Thompson then shot him. (192) Both officers were dismissed from the force (193) and Thompson was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to the maximum term of 10 years in prison, with the judge stating that he was sorry Thompson wasn’t convicted of murder so he could give him a longer sentence. (194) Also in 1888, a young man who suspected that his under-age sister’s boyfriend had placed her in a brothel followed them from their apartment. On the way, he enlisted the services of a beat cop and they watched them enter a Morton Street brothel, after which the officer took them to the city prison on Kearny Street and booked the boyfriend for pandering and the sister for admission to the [[San_Francisco's Magdalen Asylum|Magdalen Asylum]]. (195)

[[Image:The-Old-Magdalen-Asylum,-now-known-as-St.-Catherines-Home-for-wayward-girls.-Photo-taken-Feb.-1925-from-Potrero-Ave.-and-21st-St.jpg]]

'''Magdalen Asylum.''' ''This 1925 photograph shows the old Magdalen Asylum on Potrero Avenue and Twenty-second Street years after its name was changed to St. Catherine’s Home . The Magdalen Asylum was an institution for the rehabilitation of female juvenile delinquents, including prostitutes. It was run along more liberal lines than its European predecessors. ''

By 1889 there were three saloons on lower Morton Street: Patsy Hogan’s at number 3, Charles Buise’ at numbers 5 and 7, and another one at number 39. There was a fourth in 1890 during a brief spurt of prosperity or competition that lasted just three years. One of them, the Strand, was operated by a well-known black pedestrian racer (a competitor in walking races, a popular 19th century sport) who bought it with his winnings. It did well for a while, until his generosity and mismanagement caused it to fail. (196)

Around that time there was this mysterious item in the ''Chronicle'': “The large hat boxes which for some time past have stood on Morton street above Kearny, and afforded people a chance to make the vicinity obnoxious to those who were obliged to pass along Morton street” were removed by employees of the Superintendent of Streets to the city’s corporation yard. (197) Was placing hatboxes on the sidewalk in front of the brothels the prostitutes’ method of forcing passersby to walk next to their windows so they could lean out and snatch their hats? (198) There were also a number of arrests of brothel customers for robbing the prostitutes, (199) in addition to the usual arrests of the prostitutes for robbing their customers. (200)

The only newspaper mentions found of Asian prostitutes on Morton Street were several articles the following year. A police officer took a 12 or 13 year-old Japanese girl into custody who he found living in a Japanese brothel on Morton Street after he broke up a fight between the cook and one of the women. (201) A month later police arrested three Japanese prostitutes on Morton Street for “trying to entice men into their dens.” (202) The following year, police arrested another Japanese prostitute on Morton Street for keeping a nine year-old girl there. (203) This was also the last year that the California Supreme Court was listed on Post Street with its rear windows overlooking the brothels. (204) Had Morton Street become too much for the justices?

That same year, a 28 year old Fresno vineyard heir named Beauregard McMullin, who had been drinking heavily for two weeks, died by shooting himself in the mouth with a large bore pistol in Diamond Carrie Maclay’s brothel at number 108. He was jealously infatuated with Mattie Raymond, one of Maclay’s prostitutes, when one night he entered the brothel by the front entrance at 205 Post, went through the second story passageway across the backyard to Raymond’s room, and threatened to shoot her. She managed to escape, whereupon he turned the pistol on himself. (205)

A month later Diamond Carrie herself died in her brothel at age 36 from an opium overdose under circumstances that suggested a carefully planned suicide, (206) though the coroner ruled it was an accidental death. (207) Her estate was worth around $50,000 and she had made out her will only four months before. She left jewelry and clothing to some of her women friends, a number of small bequests to various relatives (her real name was Clara Cecelia Bedell), and most of the remainder to her mother, to be left to Maclay’s two sisters in the event of her mother’s death. The will, which was written in her own hand, went on to state that “the house at 205 Post street shall be conducted until the lease expires by Fannie Howard who shall receive for her services one-half of the profits; (208) the other half goes to the mother of the deceased.” She also left her library, two paintings, a silver tray and pitcher, and two silver goblets to her “dear friend” Judge Richard S. Mesick. (209) What made this last bequest so intriguing was the inscription of her initials on one of the goblets and his on the other. (210) Moreover, the executor named in the will was Mesick’s former law office clerk and later partner, Richard V. Dey, (211) who promptly asked the probate court to excuse him from this duty. (212) Meanwhile, he gave his approval for Maclay’s mother to apply to take his place. The mother then asked the court to appoint a law clerk named Edward W. Gunther (who worked for William F. Herrin, the chief counsel and political bagman for the Southern Pacific Railroad) in her place. (213)

Two months later Maclay’s father asked the court to appoint the Public Administrator as the executor in an apparent attempt to leverage a share of the estate – he hadn’t been mentioned in the will and was divorced from Maclay’s mother – alleging undue influence by one of Maclay’s sisters while Maclay was of unsound mind because of her opium addiction. (214) This was fought out over the next 12 months all the way to the California Supreme Court until the father finally settled for $2,250. (215) Meanwhile, the executor auctioned off the brothel to Sadie Young, (216) one of Maclay’s nearby competitors. (217)

Maclay’s 1893 estate appraisal listed 23 pieces of expensive diamond jewelry – hence her sobriquet. (218) There was also the $10,000 life insurance policy of her former ''inamorato'', Judge Mesick, who signed it over to her in late 1887. (219) He now sued to get it back, but the insurance company said it was legally assigned to Maclay and they couldn’t renege on the reassignment. (220) When Mesick died later that year the newspapers published details about his life, (221) describing him as a high-living Virginia City lawyer (and later judge) during the Comstock silver rush. He charged high fees, worked hard for his clients, and lived expensively and generously, continuing this lifestyle after he moved to San Francisco. (222) The newspapers reported a number of bills from French restaurants and brothels, especially champagne bills, which surfaced after his death. (223)

Around this time, Gunther, who by now had replaced Dey as the executor of Maclay’s estate, (224) submitted his final accounting to the Probate Court (225) which revealed the estate paid over $11,000 for Maclay’s medical bills. (226) This fact, along with writing her own will just four months before her demise (227) at the young age of 36 (228) (and naming one of the prostitutes working for her to run the house after her death), (229) having a party with close friends the night before her death, (230) and then dying of an overdose from opiates in spite of being an experienced addict, all suggest that she killed herself to avoid the debilitating final stages of some chronic or fatal illness.(231)

During this period, the reform movements that swept across the United States into San Francisco in the last decade of the 19th century made the rising level of crime on Morton Street attract so much attention that the San Francisco Grand Jury included it in a recommendation made in November of 1891 that the cribs and cow yards in the Barbary Coast, Chinatown, and the alleys running off of Kearny and Dupont Streets be either shut down or legalized and taxed to pay for the police, court, jail, and public health services so heavily used by the prostitutes, and to actively regulate them, as had been done in several other cities. (232)

However, indignation among reformers at the immorality of institutionalizing prostitution through taxation and regulation made certain this suggestion was never enacted. Instead, the Board of Supervisors responded the following month by passing an ordinance making it a criminal offense for Morton Street property owners and their agents to rent their premises for immoral purposes. (233) As a result, at least one property owner went to court to enjoin his tenants against conducting brothels in his building, (234) and at least one property manager was arrested for collecting rents from brothel owners. (235) But their charges were quickly dismissed by Judge Love (!), who advanced the novel argument that the new law violated the separation of powers by giving the Chief of Police the power to pass moral judgment on the tenants’ activities. (236)

More public pressure to suppress Morton Street prostitution emerged that year, when a diminutive and aggressive Salvation Army captain, a woman named Pauli of the C Corps (made up of 30 men and 8 or 9 women) invaded Morton Street and several other brothel alleys one night and did their best to disrupt business and call attention to their activities by singing and praying to the prostitutes and their customers. (237) Also, the members of a Grand Jury toured the Barbary Coast and the “tenderloin,” including Morton Street, (238) followed by police enforcement of an ordinance that required the prostitutes on Morton Street and other alleys to keep their window shutters closed. (239)

But things didn’t improve. In 1894 Marguerite Bormann, a prostitute at number 31, was slashed in the neck by a customer named Thomas Bowen who ran away while he was still half dressed. He was caught two blocks away at Post and Montgomery by a responding police officer when Bowen tripped over his still-loose clothing while trying to evade him.(240) Bormann died days later(241) and Bowen was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment at Folsom State Penitentiary.(242)

Also that year, a man named Ruddock, whose underage daughter ran away to live with an older man, found her in a Morton Street brothel where the man had placed her. She was returned home by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children but ran away again with the same man. This time they got married before he returned her to the same brothel. Ruddock tracked them down again, had them both arrested, and pressed charges against the man. (243)

By this time the public was getting fed up with political corruption in San Francisco and a number of reform movements were strengthened and new ones started by growing public support, including initiatives to ban prostitution, much to the annoyance of the police. (244) These groups were able to parlay this growing dissatisfaction into the election of reform candidate [[Mayor Adolph Sutro|Adolph Sutro]] as Mayor. Sutro took office in the beginning of 1895, (245) and two-and-a-half months later a Grand Jury returned eight indictments and a dozen presentments (statements of offenses observed by the jury) against the owners of properties on Morton and Quincy Streets who were renting their buildings to brothel operators. (246) This was followed by the arrests of several of the owners, (247) including at least two who had been among the early residents of Morton Street when it was still named St. Mark’s Place. In June, at the end of the Grand Jury’s six month term, the jurors submitted a report to the court pointing out that property owners were the direct beneficiaries of the huge rents being charged brothel owners, “and were the greatest obstacle in the way of regulating these women . . . these people, many of them of standing in the community, bring all the pressure and influence at their command to bear on the police authorities to exempt their places.” (248)

That year, the Supervisors responded to a request for regulation of the brothels, especially the ones on Morton Street, by concluding (perhaps hopefully) that what the public really objected to was the women sitting in full view at their open windows. They decided to consult with Chief Crowley about how best to put a stop to this. (249) Meanwhile, public pressure continued to grow when the Women’s Federation staged a large rally at the Metropolitan Temple at 5th and Jessie in which the featured speaker, a minister, said, “Let the respectable portion of San Francisco take a mighty stand against indecency. Let us stamp out Morton Alley and Dupont Street and every other damnable section of San Francisco.” (250) Yet another grand jury recommended that the brothels on Morton Street should be moved to some other location and that all public poker games should be closed.(251)

In 1896, it had been 26 years since the brothels had begun moving permanently onto Morton Street. But a series of events made this the prostitutes’ last winter there. It began with the Board of Supervisors asking the District Attorney for advice on how to close down the “social evil” on Morton Street. The Board was told that current laws were entirely adequate for this purpose – all that was needed was to enforce them. (252) Later that month the Civic Federation, one of several political reform groups, met and agreed to confer with reform-minded Mayor Sutro on starting a campaign to strengthen his executive powers. (253) The organization also commended the police for trying to close the Morton Street brothels. (254) The Federation of Women, a consortium of women’s clubs, also met and discussed the difficulties they faced in trying to close the Morton Street brothels, with a Mrs. French claiming “Some of these houses are owned by captains of police . . . others are owned by members of the Board of Supervisors, and others again by . . . pillars of the church.” (255)

The next month, a prostitute who called herself May Smith but whose real name was May McDermott, was strangled to death in her room at number 135½. (256) This was followed two weeks later by the apparent murder-suicide of May Conboy at number 108½. Conboy, the adopted daughter of a police sergeant, had moved away from home and become an alcoholic prostitute. She was reportedly shot by her boyfriend, who then shot himself. And while it was reported at first as a murder-suicide, evidence quickly emerged suggesting it was more likely a double suicide. (257)

[[Image:Site-of-double-suicide 085.jpg]]

'''Site of double suicide on Morton Alley.'''

The Smith/McDermott murder created a sensation in the press, but the death of Sergeant Conboy’s adopted daughter is what finally drove the brothels from Morton Street. The next day an order went out for beat officers to tell every Morton Street prostitute to pack her things and move or face arrest for vagrancy. (258) Reform groups immediately supported the order, and campaigned for the Board of Health to prosecute property owners renting buildings to brothel owners. (259) The Grand Jury and the Chief of Police were “assured by leading merchants, property owners and representative men generally that arbitrary and extreme measures under the law to abolish [the Morton Street brothels] will be fully sustained by public sentiment.” (260)

[[Image:Mamie-McDermott 083.jpg|240px|left]]

'''May Smith aka Mamie McDermott.''' ''Mamie McDermott, whose professional name was May Smith, was strangled to death by an unknown assailant. Months later the police discovered they had the probable killer in custody, but he was released through a “straw bail” bond arranged by a corrupt court clerk and was never caught again. ''

Many of the women moved elsewhere, (261) though seven of them filed damage suits against the police on February 28th and requested an injunction prohibiting the police from blockading their brothels.(262) Not surprisingly, the court dismissed the request.(263) The next day the Police Commission announced that the remaining Morton Street prostitutes had to vacate their premises by March 4th or they would be arrested,(264) and by that date they were all gone,(265) while police officers were kept stationed on Morton Street to make sure the prostitutes didn’t return.(266) The police had finally proven what most people in San Francisco already knew, that they could have closed the brothels any time they wanted, but hadn’t done so until now, mostly for reasons of policy. (267)

[[Image:Hobart-estate-on-post 089.jpg|left]] '''The Hobart Building.''' ''The Hobart Building was erected on Post Street with its rear on Morton Street in 1896, and was the first project to be launched on that thoroughfare after the police closed down the brothels, two of which were demolished to make way for the new structure. The redevelopment of a number of Morton Street properties resulted in the demolition of most of the old houses, especially on the block between Dupont and Stockton. ''

The following month real estate transactions involving Morton Street properties began to appear in the newspapers as property owners, no longer getting any income from their buildings, offered them for sale or transferred them to relatives. (268) Businessmen began to make plans to build commercial structures on the street, (269) and a Hobart estate project was completed in December. (270)

There were a handful of attempts to reopen Morton Street to prostitution over the next several years. In July 1896 the grand jury learned that some Morton Street property owners were circulating a petition signed by many nearby Kearny and Grant Avenue businesses that depended on the Morton Street brothels to attract customers to the area. (271) The petition asked that the police blockade be lifted and that they be allowed to reopen their properties as “lodging houses.” (272) It was presented to the Board of Supervisors in September where it was referred it to the Health and Police Committee. (273) John Baumann, one of the early St. Mark’s Place residents who had been driven out by the prostitutes after 1875, told the Committee that the street closure was a scheme by a grand jury member named O’Farrell to drive Morton Street real estate prices down so he could buy them cheaply. (274) Baumann also claimed that no respectable tenants would rent their properties at any price as long as the police kept the street under surveillance. The committee ducked the issue by placing the petition on file and referring the protesting property owners to the Chief of Police. (275)

But events conspired to keep the brothels closed. In November 1896 it was learned that a petty thief had broken into the empty houses along Morton Street, torn up the carpets, and sold them, (276) making the houses less habitable and more expensive to renovate. In January 1897 the ''Chronicle'' reported that the lots at numbers 122 and 124, recently purchased by Vittorio Menesini, (277) would be used to extend his Post Street business building all the way back to Morton Street, (278) thereby eliminating one of the old buildings and its cribs. In March of that year the abandoned brothels at number 129 and 131 were damaged from a fire in a nearby cape factory on Geary Street, rendering them uninhabitable. (279) In May the houses at numbers 110 and 112, both former brothels, were sold to real estate developer Isabella Levy who planned to redevelop the properties. (280) And in April the grand jury managed to shut down the straw bail operation (281) of James Keating, one of the owners of the Hub, (282) Morton Street’s last remaining saloon, (283) thus scoring a less direct, but still significant blow against Morton Street prostitution.

In July 1897, the Health and Police Committee of the Board of Supervisors blocked another apparent attempt to bring back the prostitutes when they refused a second request by owners of the Morton Street properties to remove the police blockade. (284) That month a lawyer representing the property owners along lower Morton Street asked the Supervisors to substantially reduce their property tax assessments because their buildings weren’t generating any revenue since the closing of the brothels. The Call noted dryly that “the matter was taken under advisement.” (285)

In August the Chief of Police learned of a plan to rent out the remaining Morton Street buildings as saloons and for “other business purposes” to accommodate prostitutes who were being chased out of Dupont Street. (286) The Board of Health headed this off by inspecting the structures and condemning them in November as unfit for human habitation, while also citing the owners to either repair or remove them, or the city would tear them down and bill the owners for the cost of demolition. (287)

However, there were still occasional troubles, for in September 1897 two men were arrested in The Hub saloon at the corner of Grant and Morton when one took out his pistol and shot at the other, who was throwing cobblestones at him. (288) Two days later a man stabbed another man outside the Hub over an argument about the merits of various boxers. (289) A noted former prizefighter, a black man named Bill Price, was taken to the county hospital in November after he was found lying on the floor of one of the abandoned brothels, starving to death after he lost his job as a one-eyed bouncer at a Barbary Coast saloon. (290) Meanwhile, legitimate businesses stayed away for the first three years following the closing of the brothels. (291)

In March of 1898, James Keating still owned the Hub saloon, Morton Street’s last remaining dive. He and his wife Mabel, an opium addict who the press called “the queen of the pickpockets,” were shot by Jerry Sullivan, a City Hall janitor, while inside the Hub. (292) Sullivan, who was also an addict, did this after accusing Keating of being a police informant. He said later, “I admit I shot the guys, and I’m sorry I didn’t kill them.” (293) Later reports stated that Mrs. Keating, a woman of many aliases, actually made her living robbing inebriated slummers, and the shooting had been the result of a lover’s triangle involving the three of them. The Hub closed soon after the shooting. (294)

Meanwhile, a new Grand Jury found that closing down the brothels on Morton and Glasgow Streets, as well as on St. Mary’s Place, was perhaps too much of a good thing: the displaced prostitutes, no longer contained in their downtown locales, had scattered and were operating in the city’s residential neighborhoods. The Grand Jury quickly recommended “that ‘no more of these alleys be closed.’ ” (295)

But in spite of the apparent cold feet of the business community, in 1898 developer Sanford Sachs accumulated a block of several properties (numbers 115 through 119) for a building project. (296) Around the same time, property owner Vittorio Menesini began construction of a six story extension to his Post Street building on the site of one of the old brothels. (297) The ''Chronicle'' reported Isabella Levy, another real estate investor, had assembled a 45 foot frontage along the south side of upper Morton Street between Grant and Stockton next to Sachs’ block which they both planned to develop into business buildings. (298) And Moses A. Gunst moved the main location of his cigar store chain to the storefront on the northwest corner of Kearny and Morton Street. (299)

Levy, Sachs, and other Morton Street property owners, as well as “a large number of business men in the vicinity” petitioned the Board of Supervisors to change the street’s name from Morton Street to Union Square Avenue, in honor of the nearby park, to rid the alley of the associations of its former name. They complained that the houses along the alley were vacant for the previous twenty-eight months and that “The property in consequence has so depreciated in value that several sales have been made at less than the assessed value.” In addition, the banks refused to loan any money on the land since no rents were being collected. Moreover, no one would rent the properties because of the street’s reputation as a former brothel alley. (300) The Board complied with this request a month later. (301) One newspaper article also noted that Sachs’ and Levy’s acquisitions represented a trend: small property owners were selling out to developers along these two blocks. (302) That same month the first block of the newly renamed street was one of many thoroughfares included in an order by the Board of Supervisors to replace the old cobblestones with asphalt paving. (303) And a proposal was unveiled by a local businessman to remodel Union Square Avenue (which was still being called Morton Street by the press) into a covered arcade like those in European cities. (304)

Meanwhile, a sort of ''ex post facto'' object lesson on the wages of Morton Street sin was reported in several articles by the ''Chronicle''. Walter Ross, who had been sent to Folsom Prison for assaulting and robbing his mistress, a Morton Street prostitute named Grace Walls, was stabbed to death in a prison dining room brawl in 1898. (305) That same year Patsy Hogan, the former owner of the Referee saloon on Morton Street, shot and killed his estranged wife and attempted to shoot and stab himself. He was later acquitted by a male jury that sympathized with his story of temporary insanity and self-defense. (306) In 1900, Matthew Collins, the police officer who was dismissed after he was accused of accepting bribes through a hole in a door in a Morton Street brothel and was now a special officer in the produce district, was arrested for pistol whipping a businessman when he was drunk while on duty. (307) Around that time, the police found and arrested the likely killer of May McDermott, (308) only to see the courts release him on a straw bail bond accepted by a corrupt court clerk. (309)

In 1899, legitimate businesses finally began moving onto Union Square Avenue. These were the Elite saloon at number 8 and “KOCH THE PAINTER” at number 23. (310) In July the ''Chronicle'' reported that the Francis-Valentine Co., at that time the oldest printing business in San Francisco, (311) had moved to numbers 103 through 109, (312) where the brothels nearest Grant Avenue used to be housed. (313) A Central California banker saw an investment opportunity in the cleaning up of Morton Street and bought two lots in September on which to build a manufacturing concern. (314) Real estate developer Anna Whittell started construction of the three-story Whittell Building at numbers 33 through 35½ after razing one of the old brothel structures. (315) Work began on a five story structure at another former brothel site at number 110. (316) It was announced in December that the old Sherman House lodgings at the southwest corner of Grant and Morton, the site of one of the old basement concert saloons, was to be torn down and a four story business building erected to take its place. (317)

Two more legitimate businesses moved to Union Square Avenue in 1900, (318) a wholesale florist in number 23, and a builder in number 133. A. Aronson bought two other former brothel sites at numbers 118 and 120, and secured a permit to build a six story warehouse on the site. (319) The press, while still not warming up to the new street name, did start referring to it as “formerly Morton Street.” (320) And, though the Olympic Gun Club moved out of its rooms on the northwest corner of Kearny and Union Square, (321) the toney Monticello Club moved in a week or two later. (322)

Law and order continued to prevail along Union Square Avenue in 1901 when two burglars were scared off while trying to break into the Elite saloon at number 8. (323) The owner of the former brothel building at number 114 did not contest a Board of Health order telling the city to demolish the structure as a health hazard, (324) and the “evidently mentally unbalanced” man who had been squatting there was arrested by the police. (325)

There were now 11 businesses on the street, five of them printing businesses on upper Union Square Avenue, (326) as the old brothel block showed signs of becoming a small printing industry center. (327) That year the street acquired its first residential tenant since 1895, a French widow named Rose Faure who was listed in the city directory at one of the old brothel addresses at 127B, (328) which must have been remodeled to make it habitable, since she operated it as a legitimate lodging house. (329)

In 1902 (330) and 1903 there were 15 businesses, the widow, and her lodgers as the growth spurt continued. (331) There was an incident in 1903 that was reminiscent of the Morton Street days when a Samuel Nute was buncoed into buying a worthless saloon and crap game on Union Square Avenue after he came to San Francisco with an inheritance and went on a tear. (332) But that same year real estate developer Matilda Esberg bought one of the recent improvements on the Avenue between Grant and Stockton and had architect Sylvain Schnaittacher draw up plans for a two story brick storefront and loft to be built on the site. (333)

In 1904 the eight-story Dana Building, designed for medical and dental offices and reportedly the first ''art nouveau'' structure to be built in San Francisco, was completed on the southeast corner of Stockton and Union Square Avenue (the site of the 1896 Smith/McDermott murder). (334) That same year the Francis-Valentine Printing Company at 103-109 had grown to the point that “A new building will soon be constructed for the firm.” (335) There were two isolated pickpocketing incidents that year, but one was just on the corner, at Union Square Avenue and Kearny Street. The other occurred on the corner of Market and Kearny, with the thieves going up Union Square Avenue while being pursued by police officers. (336) Meanwhile, a newly published book of views of Stanford University was being sold at printer Edward H. Mitchell’s at 144, (337) who renewed his lease for another six years in 1905. (338)

Also in 1905 a primitive Marconi receiver mounted on a flag pole at the top of a tall building near Union Square monitored experimental radio telegraph transmissions from the battleship Ohio almost a hundred and fifty miles away to a military installation on Goat Island, and sent them by wire to a nearby laboratory at number 100 where they were recorded on tape (presumably paper tape like on a telegraph machine). (339) Meanwhile, a branch office of the California Special Messenger Service opened in Diamond Carrie Maclay’s old building at number 108 (340) while her connecting building at 205 Post became the Oriental Art Rooms, selling “the most beautiful and unsurpassed collection of rare Antique Persian Rugs.” (341) The Islam Temple of the Ancient and Accepted Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine had its meetings in its headquarters at number 6. (342) The Head Building on the southwest corner of Grant and Post, extending back to Union Square Avenue, was rebuilt as a twelve story office tower with the Livingston & Co. department store on the first three floors. (343)

A scaled down version of the earlier scheme to turn the old alley into a European-style shopping arcade was revived by J. W. Raphael of Raphael’s dry goods store and Moses A. Gunst, owner of a chain of cigar stores, both stores located on the corners of Kearny Street and Union Square Avenue. They began persuading owners of shops on Geary and Post that had back delivery entrances on the Avenue to construct larger back entrances and install store windows on the alley, as well as place street lights every ten feet to transform the thoroughfare from a back alley into a shopping street. (344) The proposal was so enthusiastically received (345) that the plan evolved back into the original arcade idea. (346) There was just one incident that year when a man was held up by a gunman for $8 while walking along the alley late at night. (347)

Though the 1906 earthquake and fire put an end to the arcade plans, rebuilding continued its transformation into a small business alley. (348) It also had its fourth and fifth name changes (to Manila Alley in 1909 (349) and Maiden Lane in 1922, its present incarnation). (350) By now it was clear that the prostitutes and other lowlifes were gone for good and that the city had had a rare success in cleaning up a bad neighborhood.

III

As for Asbury’s anecdotes and Lewis’ stories, primary sources revealed a very different Morton Street from the one they described. For starters, brothels existed continuously on Morton Street for just 26 years, almost 20 years less than Asbury and Lewis reported. (351) They didn’t run from the end of the 1850s to the 1906 earthquake and fire as Asbury stated. Their actual continuous existence was from 1869 to 1896. They weren’t a product of the excesses of the end of the Gold Rush, as Asbury’s dates implied. Rather, they were outgrowths of San Francisco’s post-Civil War prosperity fueled by the Comstock silver rush and civic corruption.

Nor were the brothels briefly closed by a Civic Federation campaign in 1892, as Asbury reported. The police partially clamped the lid down on Morton Street several times during its existence, but it was never completely closed until the police finally evicted the prostitutes in 1896. Nor were they eradicated by the sin-cleansing 1906 earthquake and fire, (352) as Asbury and Lewis both wrote. They were run out ten years before by a police department that contained, tolerated, and to a lesser extent exploited them for two and a half decades until it turned on them, mostly for reasons of political expediency, when a member of a police sergeant’s family, herself a prostitute, was killed in her Morton Street lodging. Moreover, the proximate impact of a newly elected municipal reform administration on Morton Street’s closing in 1896 was mostly coincidental. The only real support it lent to the campaign to move the prostitutes out of Morton Street was to legitimize the Police Department’s decision to close the brothels and help prevent their return. (353)

Asbury’s and Lewis’ reports of Morton Street’s range of ethnic diversity also failed to be confirmed by the evidence. The 1870 census counted just two black prostitutes in the area around Morton Street – all the others were white. And the 1880 census showed only slightly greater diversity with one Hispanic and five black prostitutes: the other 64 were white. Asbury’s and Lewis’ claims of ethnic diversity might have referred to Morton Street’s later years, but there is no way to verify this: the 1890 census sheets for California are lost.(354) However, 19th century San Francisco newspapers almost always reported a newsworthy person’s race if the person wasn’t white. The fact that Morton Street prostitutes’ ethnicities were seldom specified in 1890 as well as in other years(355) suggests that most of them were white throughout the street’s years as a brothel alley. The newspapers did report the presence of a Japanese brothel on Morton Street in 1891, but this is the only instance found of Asian or other non-white prostitutes working in Morton Street after the 1880 census.(356)

The wider range of ages among Morton Street prostitutes’ in the 1880 census did lend support to Asbury’s statement that their houses were the worst cribs in San Francisco (though the narrower range of ages in the 1870 census did not). Judging by the young ages of the prostitutes and the relatively low crime rate on Morton Street before the 1880s, the brothels apparently didn’t start to seriously deteriorate until near the end of the 1870s. But once they did, the increasing number of crimes over the years suggest a decline from the parlor houses that were there first to the cribs that were there last when the street was finally shut down.

Yet, Asbury’s statement as a whole still seems questionable. There were several alleys reputed to be filled with cribs, such as St. Mary’s Place, Quincy Place, Berry Street, and Waverly Place, to name just a few. Also, the activities Asbury described on Morton Street were relatively benign when compared to the level of depravity he reported on the Barbary Coast itself.

As for Asbury’s biographical sketches of Iodoform Kate and Rotary Rosie, searches of the available data bases (357) failed to turn up a single mention of either of these individuals.(358) Moreover, Asbury’s time frames for these individuals were incorrect in that he placed them on Morton Street in the decade after the police shut down the brothels.

Nor were the noisy crowds of drunken men on Morton Street, with the men being herded into orderly lines by the women’s pimps as they waited their turns in front of the houses, found in any primary sources. The only mentions of crowds were the ones that gathered at the occasional major crime scene. And not a single instance was found of the prostitutes’ pimps hustling business for their women. It was the women themselves who used various means to attract the men into their houses. As for the noise, not only did the author’s literature search fail to document this, but Harriet Lane Levy, in her description of her many looks down the lower block of Morton Street during walks with her father, said that the street was always silent and deserted, except for the prostitutes sitting in their windows staring straight ahead.(359)

Whether Morton Street was the most popular brothel alley in San Francisco – as Asbury’s informants seem to have told him – can’t be determined from the available records and remains an open question. However, one of the reported reasons for that popularity has been disproven. The police did not avoid going into Morton Street any more often than they avoided any other high crime area, nor were ordinary misdemeanors and minor felonies ignored.

Asbury’s report of brothel prices ranging from twenty-five cents to a dollar depending on age, nationality, race, and general level of attractiveness are comparable with reports of brothel prices elsewhere in 19th century San Francisco. Asbury was also right about the drunks: most articles about the brothels’ customers(360) – and there were many of these – said they were inebriated. Likewise, the prostitutes did sit behind their windows.(361) However, newspaper and other accounts failed to verify Asbury’s claims that they were half naked.

Lewis’ assertion that political boss Abe Ruef took over ownership of the Morton Street brothels after the turn of the century was not reported in the numerous primary sources consulted for this article, (362) nor did it appear in ''Boss Ruef’s San Francisco'', Walton Bean’s searching history of Ruef’s leading role in the political corruption of that time.(363) Too, evidence shows that the Morton Street ''bagnios'' were finally and permanently shut down in 1896, long before Ruef’s scheme was alleged to have occurred.

[[Image:Maiden-Lane-towards-US-day-of-quake.gif]]

'''This photo is looking up the alley towards Union Square from Grant Avenue on April 18, 1906, the day of the earthquake and fire.''' ''The damaged brick building that used to house Carrie Macklay's brothel and later the California Special Messenger Service is next to the corner saloon. What used to be a row of one and two story residential structures has been replaced by multi story business buildings. Note the signage on the side of the fifth building up from the corner. This was the Sunset Building, one of the structures housing the various printing industry businesses that moved to this block after the brothels were closed down. ''

''Photo: courtesy Glenn Koch''

Moreover, Asbury’s assertion that the Morton Street brothel structures weren’t eliminated until the 1906 earthquake and fire is an exaggeration: a number were condemned and razed by order of the Board of Health in 1897.(364) Others were torn down in the following years through redevelopment by new owners.(365) The few remaining structures were remodeled and leased to legitimate businesses and to one or two legitimate citizens as dwellings, all before 1906. As for Lewis’ report that Morton Street was also known as Iodoform Alley, the author’s research failed to find a single reference to this appellation other than in Lewis’ book. In sum, primary sources supported just five of Asbury’s and Lewis’ reports about Morton Street: there were prostitutes, their prices ranged from twenty-five cents to a dollar, they sat behind their windows, the customers were frequently drunk, and petty criminals loitered there.

In spite of the immense amount of research done by Asbury for ''The Barbary Coast'', he romanticized Morton Street’s history by relying heavily on his collection of interviews and anecdotes for his pages on Morton Street. Little of the primary source material that was potentially available to him, such as census records, Sanborn maps, city directory listings, or several hundred newspaper items documenting the actual events of Morton Street’s history, were alluded to in his narrative. Whether he rejected these sources in favor of better sounding stories from his informants, or never did the research to begin with, is unknown.(366)

With Lewis it is harder to say: there were no citations at all, making it difficult to even speculate about his sources.

More legitimately, Asbury warmed up the tone of his prose with his use of a wryly humorous and sympathetic style. One of the main features of Asbury’s oeuvre was his relentless criticism of the hypocrisy of middle- and upper-class morality. In his writing he seems to be a genuinely understanding advocate of the unfortunates he wrote about, while never making excuses for them.(367) But when the doubtful accuracy of his sources and his reportage come to light in his several pages on Morton Street, they bring into question the scholarship of the rest of his work. His stories are at least human and appreciatively ironic in his descriptions of the denizens of San Francisco’s underworld. But, no matter how entertaining, questions remain.(368)

Notes

1. This article is part of a research project by the author tracing the history of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District from its origins in the 1840s to the present. 
2. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933) 258-260. 
3. Oscar Lewis Bay Window Bohemia (New York, Doubleday, 1956) 19-23 
4. For example, see James R. Smith, San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks (Sanger, California, Word Dancer Press, 2005), 79. 
5. For example, see Robert O’Brien “Riptides,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 1946, 10; Margot Patterson Doss “A Stroll Down Maiden Lane,” San Francisco Chronicle, Bonanza Magazine, June 24, 1962, 13; Mary Duenwald, “Maiden Lane,” Pacific, July 1980, 30-31 or “Dr. Weirde” in “San Francisco’s Sleaziest Street – Yesterday and Today,” (foundsf, Neighborhood, Tenderloin, undated). 
6. For examples, look up the phrase “Maiden Lane in San Francisco” and choose almost any of the resulting listings. 
7. For example, notes by John Ferreira for his City Guides’ “Bawdy and Naughty” tour, June 24, 2013. 
8. Nineteenth Century San Francisco newspaper editors used a variety of euphemisms of greater or lesser charm to refer to the business of prostitution. The buildings themselves were houses of ill fame or ill repute, bagnios, or disreputable or disorderly houses. Sometimes they were simply called brothels or houses of prostitution. A prostitute was a Magdalen (after Mary Magdalene, the New Testament disciple of Christ who was described in the Bible as a reformed prostitute but who feminist historians say was one of Christ’s chief lieutenants), a demimonde, an inmate, a fallen woman, a courtesan, a woman of the town, an abandoned woman (as in seduced and abandoned as well as abandoning oneself to a life of shame), a siren, a Cyprian (from the ancient belief that Venus, the goddess of love, had sprung from the foam of the sea at Cyprus–see The Reader’s Encyclopedia, William Rose Benét, ed., New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1948, 267), and a white slave, to name just a few. Prostitution as an institution was referred to as the social evil. Interestingly, newspapers never used the slang term parlor house (a high class brothel), so-called because it had a parlor in which the customer was introduced to the prostitute. 
9. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933), 258-260. 
10. Oscar Lewis Bay Window Bohemia (New York, Doubleday, 1956), 19-23. 
11. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933), 315. 
12. These numbers were calculated by using the year the newspapers first reported the prostitutes permanent presence on Morton Street – 1869 – and the year they reported the last prostitutes had left – 1896. 
13. The author reviewed over 400 newspaper items found in the California Digital Newspaper Collection, Proquest’s San Francisco Chronicle Historical I database, and Chronicling America, as well as San Francisco city directories, microfiche and microfilm records in the San Francisco Public Library, and additional materials from the California State Library at Sacramento that mentioned or alluded to St. Mark’s Place, Morton Street, and Union Square Avenue. 
14. Harriet Lane Levy, 920 O’Farrell Street (Berkeley, Heyday Books, 1996) 186-187. 
15. This was a loose, ankle length gown with a square bodice that was easy to take off and to put on again. 
16. Harriet Lane Levy, 920 O’Farrell Street (Berkeley, Heyday Books, 1996) 186-187. Levy knew a young lady from a respectable family who “roamed the city with an older woman with a bad reputation” who she saw turn up Morton Street one day, but her narrative says nothing else about this occurrence. (Ibid, 187-188) 
17. There was one other documented instance of a woman who at least aspired to respectability who walked at least a few feet on Morton Street, namely, Sarah Althea Hill. She was in the middle of a trial in which she tried to prove that her former lover William Sharon was in fact her husband, and thus owed her spousal support after their separation. While in court Hill had snatched back from an expert witness letters she claimed were addressed to her from Sharon with the salutation “Dear Wife” that she had just been ordered to surrender so an ink sample could be taken, apparently to help establish the authenticity of the letters. She then fled the courtroom. The judge ordered her arrest for contempt of court after waiting for several days to give her time to think it over. Deputy U. S. Marshals staked out her home on the southwest corner of Larkin and Golden Gate and her lawyer’s lodgings at the Rassette House on the southwest corner of Kearny and Morton. She was apparently with her lawyer– no other than ex-Supreme Court justice David Terry, the killer of David Broderick in a duel in 1856, because she evaded the deputy marshal by slipping out through the servants’ entrance on Morton Street while the marshal stood in front of the entrance on Kearny, and, heavily veiled, walking past the marshal to a street car. (“A Search For Sarah,” Daily Alta California, April 6, 1885, 1; Sanborn Map Company, 1886, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995, microfilm) 
18. See endnote number 13. 
19. Herbert Asbury The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933) 258-260. 
20. It wasn’t named for nearby St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on Geary Street. According to the San Francisco city directories between 1850 and 1864, St. Mark’s (or St. Marcus as its German congregation called it) wasn’t organized until 1860 and it didn’t move to Union Square until 1864. 
21. City of San Francisco and its vicinity, U. S. Coast Survey, 1853, in San Francisco: The Grid Meets The Hills (Marseilles, France: Editions Parentheses, 199, 61; San Francisco History Room, San Francisco Public Library, Maps of 1853, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
22. Ibid. 
23. The earliest mention of St. Mark’s Place found so far is in an advertisement in 1853 offering building lots on St. Mark’s Place for rent for one to five years. (“Building Lots For Lease,” Daily Alta California, October 7, 1853, 2) 
24. “For Sale–To Let,” Daily Alta California, January 16, 1854, 3. 
25. “A Few Gentlemen . . .” Daily Alta California, March 16, 1855, 2. 
26. Harris, Bogardus and Labatt City Directory for the Year Commencing October, 1856 (San Francisco, Harris, Bogardus and Labatt, 1856); Samuel Colville San Francisco Directory for the Year October, 1856 (San Francisco, Samuel Colville, 1856). 
27. City of San Francisco and its vicinity, California. U. S. Coast Survey, 1857, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History Room, Maps of 1858. [U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey]. 
28. Henry G. Langley Directory for the Year 1858 (San Francisco, S. D. Valentine & Son, 1858) 
29. San Francisco City Directories, 1856-1875 
30. In those days, there was probably very little noise on this residential thoroughfare when someone walked, rode, or drove on its dirt paving. When board sidewalks were built and the street itself was planked, probably by 1865 (“Auction Sales,” Daily Alta California, December 21, 1865, 3; Daily Dramatic Chronicle, December 27, 1865, 2; “Morton Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1892, 10, drawing), residents heard the clumping of boots and hooves and the rolling of wheels on wood. When still later it was paved with cement sidewalks and cobblestone streets, the residents heard the clicking of heels and the noisy rattling of iron shod wagon wheels on cement and stone. 
31. Sixty-two, or four less than the previous year. Henry G. Langley Directory for the Year Commencing July, 1860 (San Francisco, Valentine & Co., 1860). 
32. Ibid. 
33. “Board of Supervisors,” Daily Alta California, July 3, 1860, 1. 
34. “Report of Superintendant of Streets,” Daily Alta California, August 2, 1860, 1. 
35. Ancestry.com. Interestingly, a search of the U. S. Census records for San Francisco during the supposedly prudish Victorian era revealed that census enumerators typically labeled brothel inmates occupations as prostitutes. It wasn’t until the seemingly more liberal 20th century that census enumerators started using euphemisms. 
36. Walter Rice, Ph. D., and Emiliano Echeverria When Steam Ran On The Streets Of San Francisco (Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, Harold E. Cox, 2002) 11-12. 
37. Henry G. Langley San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing September, 1861 (San Francisco, Valentine & Co., 1861) 
38. The first report was an August 20, 1857 Alta article about the chief cutter in the San Francisco Mint’s coining department, who was stealing gold cuttings from the Mint, melting them into bars in his room in a German lodging house on St. Mark’s Place, and selling them to Wells Fargo, which unwittingly sold them back to the Mint. When this enterprising German immigrant’s room was searched, a trunk was found with a false bottom filled with gold coin blanks and coining tools. (“Robbery In The U. S. Mint,” Daily Alta California, August 20, 1857, 2; “Robbery Of The San Francisco Mint,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 22, 1857, 1) The other report was a November 20, 1857 Alta article describing when Henry Wendell was arrested in his home on an eponymously named alley running from St. Mark’s Place to Post Street after police found numerous stolen items in his room. (“Increasing His Store,” Daily Alta California, November 20, 1857, 2) But these two incidents were outliers because no further articles were found reporting crimes on St. Mark’s Place until 1862. 
39. “The Late Stabbing Affray,” Daily Alta California, April 4, 1862, 1; “San Francisco News,” Sacramento Daily Union, April 4, 1860, 2. 
40. “Till Thief,” Daily Alta California, August 2, 1862, 1. 
41. “Serious Charge,” Daily Alta California, October 8, 1862, 1. 
42. Henry G. Langley San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing September, 1862, (San Francisco, Valentine & Co., 1862), 42. 
43. “Scandal in San Francisco,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 17, 1860, 3; “Scandal in San Francisco,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 18, 1860, 1; “Beautiful Characters,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 20, 1860, 2. 
44. Neil Larry Shumsky and Larry M. Springer “San Francisco’s zone of prostitution, 1880-1934” Journal of Historical Geography, 7, 1, 1981, 71-89. 
45. “By Telegraph To The Union,” Sacramento Daily Union, January 16, 1863, 3. The Union was always fond of printing sensational stories about San Francisco – and not infrequently scooped the San Francisco papers. For those who are skeptical at the idea of a 19th century woman being burned to death by her clothing, recall that fashions of the time were more complicated and time-consuming to get in and out of than they are today. 
46. “Burned to Death,” Daily Alta California, January 16, 1863, 1; “By Telegraph To The Union,” Sacramento Daily Union, January 16, 1863, 3; “Coroner’s Inquest over the Burned Woman,” Daily Alta California, January 17, 1863, 1. 
47. “Drawing a Deadly Weapon,” Daily Alta California, June 28, 1863, 1. 
48. “A Horrible Outrage,” Sacramento Daily Union, June 13, 1864, 3. 
49. “Auction Sales,” Daily Alta California, May 8, 1864, 5. 
50. On Morton Street, a crib was generally a room rented nightly by prostitutes who hung a small sign with their first name on the bedstead. 
51. Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing October, 1868 (San Francisco, Bacon & Company, 1868), 151. Its legitimacy was confirmed by the random mix of mostly male roomers at that address in that year. 
52. “A Row On St. Mark’s Place and Arrest For Assault To Murder,” Daily Alta California, March 16, 1869, 1; “Shooting Affray This Morning,” Sacramento Daily Union, March 16, 1869, 3; “Shooting Affray On St. Mark’s Place,” Daily Morning Chronicle, March 16, 1869, 1. 
53. “Auction Sales,” Daily Alta California, September 12, 1869, 3. 
54. Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory for the year commencing October 1860 (San Francisco, Valentine & Co., 1860) 135. 
55. “Died,” Daily Alta California, February 1,1870, 4; “Fearful Accident,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 1870, 3; “San Francisco News,” Mariposa Daily Appeal, February 25, 1870, 2; “Inquests,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 2, 1870, 3. Franklin’s young son was impaled by the rod of a sponge shot from a cannon that prematurely discharged in front of the Post Street armory across from Union Square. The cannons were being fired as part of Camillo Urso’s benefit concert for the Mercantile Library being held inside the Mechanics Pavilion. 
56. Daily Alta California, May 4, 1872, 4. 
57. Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory for the year commencing April, 1876 (San Francisco, Francis & Valentine, 1876), 674. 
58. “Board of Supervisors,” Daily Alta California, May 25, 1869, 1; “St. Mark’s Place,” San Francisco Call, November 19, 1895, 6. 
59. Lewis Publishing Co. The Bay Of San Francisco: the metropolis of the Pacific Coast and its suburban cities: a history. Vol. 2 (Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co., 1892) 401-403. The Morton brothers lived in nearby St. Ann’s Valley, (San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing December 1869, San Francisco, Bacon & Co., 1869, 455) which was later part of San Francisco’s Tenderloin from the 1890s until the 1906 earthquake and fire, after which it was called the Uptown Tenderloin up until the beginning of World War I. (Peter M. Field, “The Tenderloin’s First Brothels: 223 and 225 Ellis,” The Argonaut, 22, 2, Winter 2011, 64-90) The brothers owned large amounts of property on Ellis, O’Farrell, and Taylor Streets. (Peter M. Field, “A Tenderloin District History Part I: 1847-1859: The Pioneers of St. Ann’s Valley,” MS; ibid, “A Tenderloin History Part II: 1860-1876: From Hamlet To Neighborhood,” MS) Reuben was president of one of San Francisco’s earliest street railroads, the Central Railroad Company, in the 1870s and 1880s.Another brother, politically ambitious Sargent S. Morton, was active in the San Francisco Republican Party (see endnote number 13) and was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1887 where he served a two year term. (W. H. L. Corran, Compiler, Langley’s San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing May 1887, San Francisco, Francis, Valentine & Co., 1888, 57, and W. H. L. Corran, Compiler, Langley’s San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing May 1888, San Francisco, Francis, Valentine & Co., 1888, 57) 
60. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm; Henry G. Langley San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing December, 1869 (San Francisco, Bacon & Co., 1869) 708 
61. “The Outside Land Case,” Daily Morning Chronicle, February 21, 1869, 3. 
62. “Astrology,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 5, 1870, 1. 
63. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, saloons were called concert halls or concert saloons when they had stages featuring scantily clad women who sang and danced when they weren’t cadging drinks from the customers. 
64. “Police Court Record,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 15, 1870, 3. This sort of harassment was common in downtown San Francisco. For example, the pimps and other petty criminals who loitered around cigar stores along Kearny Street were called “statues” and they would “insult passing ladies with rude stares and vulgar remarks.” (“He Is A Statue,” The Morning Call, 7/1/1890, 1) 
65. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA 
66. This information was obtained by cross correlating census listings in brothels (ibid) with corresponding entries in the 1871 San Francisco City Directory. (The 1871 edition was used because there was no edition published in 1870.) (Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing April, 1871 (San Francisco, Bacon & Co., 1871) 
67. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933), 258-260. 
68. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm. 
69. The Sanborn maps identified each structure on a street according to use. Female Boarding (sometimes abbreviated as F.B.) was a euphemism for a house of prostitution. 
70. San Francisco city directories spanning the years 1868 through 1882. 
71. The 1880 Federal Census showed that all of Morton Street’s residential addresses were actually occupied by prostitutes by 1880, so this period of transition may have been closer to 12 than 13 years. 
72. “Violated the Ordinance,” Daily Alta California, September 7, 1888, 1. 
73. “Messenger Boys,” Daily Alta California, June 6, 1888, 2. 
74. “The Same Old Game,” Daily Alta California, July 8, 1886, 8; “Robbed by a Woman,” Daily Alta California, November 6, 1886, 2. 
75. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm; Harriet Lane Levy, 920 O’Farrell Street (Berkeley, Heyday Books, 1996) 186-187. 
76. “Morton Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1892, 10. They were paved with cement sidewalks by 1896. (“Two Men Arrested By The Police,” San Francisco Examiner, February 11, 1896, 9) 
77. Harriet Lane Levy, 920 O’Farrell Street (Berkeley, Heyday Books, 1996) 186-187. Though the newspapers made no mention of the prostitutes attire, or lack of it, recall that Levy remembered them as wearing dresses–described as “brightly colored Mother Hubbard’s,” and said nothing about nudity. This garment would have been easy to slip out of and back into, a practical consideration for busy prostitutes who didn’t want to deal with the time consuming complications of 19th century women’s’ fashions. 
78. Henry G. Langley, San Francisco directory For the Year commencing March, 1872 (San Francisco, Bacon & Co., 1872). 1872 was the year the City Directory carried its largest number of names with residential address listings on Morton Street, a total of 123 listings. But this total was deceptive because what it really showed was a concentration of more names at fewer addresses as the single family homes that weren’t converted into brothels were remodeled into private rooming houses or lodging houses. The total number of city directory listings began to decrease after 1872 as these remaining dwellings became brothels. 
79. See endnote number 13. 
80. George A. Beers “Vasquez; Or The Hunted Bandits Of The San Joaquin,” in The California Outlaw, compiled by Robert Greenwood (Los Gatos, California, The Talisman Press, 1960), 21, 164, 166; Angus MacLean Legends of the California Bandidos (Sanger, California, Word Dancer Press, 2004), 133; Eugene T. Sawyer Tiburcio Vasquez: The California Stage Robber (Oakland, California, Biobooks, 1944), 9. 
81. “Disgusted Residents,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 16, 1872, 2. Although there were 36 fewer city directory listings than in 1871, there were still 87 respectable residents or families living on Morton Street that year. (Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing March, 1872, San Francisco, Bacon & Co., 1872). 
82. “Jottings About Town,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 17, 1872, 3; “Personals,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 1872, 4; “Jottings About Town,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 4, 1872, 3; “Lost And Found,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 24, 1872, 1. 
83. “Personals,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 1872, 1. 
84. “Arrests Made Yesterday,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 11, 1873, 3. For Emily Edwards’ amazing story, see endnote number 371. 
85. “Shot In The Shin,” Daily Alta California, December 14, 1873, 1; “The Police Court,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 21, 1874. 
86. Special officers, or specials as they were called colloquially, were the 19th century version of San Francisco’s present day Patrol Special Police, the private patrol force made up of moonlighting San Francisco police officers that is paid by neighborhood merchant associations to patrol local shopping districts. In the 19th century, special officers caused frequent complications in this more permissive era because they were often hired to provide security for quasi legal businesses such as gambling clubs or saloons and cabarets that allowed prostitutes to solicit on the premises. 
87. “Special Lawlor’s Protegees (sic),” Daily Alta California, October 24, 1873, 1. The voluntary payments to Special Officer Lawlor make more sense with the information that Specials were not paid by the city. Rather, the Specials themselves collected their fees in the form of subscriptions from the various businesses along their beats – in this case the prostitutes on Morton Street. However, they were apparently supervised by the San Francisco Police Department at least insofar as the Police Commission was responsible for their oversight. 
88. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933) 258-260. 
89. “The City Watch,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 1873, 1) While it was true that newspapers editorialized about the low number of police patrols, this was primarily a problem west of Stockton Street, which at least in this decade was the western limit of police patrol routes. (“An Increased Police Force,” Daily Alta California, August 24, 1865, 2; “Garroters at Large,” Daily Alta California, March 25, 1871, 1; “The City Watch,” San Francisco Chronical, November 26, 1873, 1; “Patrol The Outside Districts,” Daily Alta California, November 1, 1875, 1) 
90. See endnote number 13. 
91. Arthur McEwen’s Letter, Second Series, No. 22, March 2, 1895. 
92. Oscar Lewis Bay Window Bohemia (New York, Doubleday, 1956) 22. 
93. “Brutally Killed,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 5, 1873, 3. 
94. “Jottings About Town,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 1874, 5. On the other hand, Morton Street’s respectability had not declined enough to prevent the Eighth Ward polling place for the Republican primary election of February 5, 1873 from being established on the corner of Stockton and Morton, even though by that time there were around ten brothels on that block of Morton Street alone. (“Republican Primary Election,” The Elevator, February 1, 1873, 2) 
95. “Two Unclean Birds,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 13, 1874, 3. Herbert Asbury reported a madam named Bertha Kahn who operated a parlor house on Sacramento Street during this time. (Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933, 248-249.) Was this the same woman? As for 110 Morton, there was a report of prostitution there as early as mid-1873. (“Local Melange,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 1873, 3) 
96. “Jottings About Town,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 2, 1874, 3. 
97. “He Lost His Money,” Daily Alta California, December 19, 1874, 1. 
98. Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing March, 1875 (San Francisco, Francis & Valentine, 1875). 
99. “Personals,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 1876, 1. 
100. “The Grand Jury,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 1874, 3. 
101. Interestingly, there is an 1860 city directory listing for a Sarah Mace on St. Mark’s Place, Morton Street’s original name. Is there a connection? The writer was unable to find this name in San Francisco in either the 1870 or 1880 federal census sheets or in any San Francisco city directory for any of these years. 
102. “Another Procurer,” ''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 20, 1876, 3. One might surmise that this was actually a successful variant of the old badger game. Mace moved to Oakland where he took over a brothel known as the Hotel de France. A newspaper described it as “the most orderly house of bad repute in Oakland.” But in spite of his pains, he made the pages of the ''Chronicle'' in December 1875 when it reported him being fleeced in his own brothel when a group of hoodlums broke into his hotel on Christmas Eve and started ransacking the place. Mace blew his police whistle and in seconds the hoodlums vanished and were replaced by three men claiming to be police specials, a captain and two patrolmen. The captain took him around a corner of a room to interview him while the two “patrolmen” made themselves drinks at the bar and stole boxes of cigars. Then the hoodlums reappeared and started to ransack the place again. By now Mace had had enough and threatened to shoot them, and this time they fled–only to return a couple of days later to try the same trick. Mace got some real officers, but not before the thieves had disappeared again. (“Oakland Hoodlumism,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 29, 1875, 3; “Oakland,” Daily Alta California, December 29, 1875, 2) He was finally convicted of procuring in September of 1876 and paid a $2,000 fine to avoid a jail sentence. (“Two Thousand Dollars Fine or One Year’s Imprisonment,” Sacramento Daily Union, September 23, 1876, 2) 
103. Henry G. Langley San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing March, 1877 (San Francisco, Henry G. Langley, 1877), 358; Supplement to the Annual Directory of the city of San Francisco for 1877 (San Francisco, B. C. Vandall, 1877), 481 
104. “Telegraph By Coast Lines,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, January 29, 1877, 3. 
105. “Second Dispatch,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, July 10, 1877, 3. 
106. The phrase “more conspicuous than the law allows” presumably referred to the San Francisco Police Department’s quasi-official policy of concealment and containment. 
107. “A Pleasant Sort of Sport,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 5, 1878, 3. 
108. See endnote number 13. 
109. “Pacific Slope News,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, January 4, 1879, 1. 
110. “A Charge Not Sustained,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, 1879, 1. 
111. “Attempted Suicide–Proposed Pedestrian Contests–An Officer Assaulted,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, June 9, 1879, 4. 
112. “A Felonious Bite,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 29, 1879, 2. 
113. “Officer McGuire Dismissed for an Attempted Extortion,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 9, 1879, 3. 
114. A vivandiere was a woman who provisioned French troops in the 18th or 19th centuries, or who sold wine and/or food to them from a canteen, in which case she was a cantiniere. (See Roger Fenton’s photograph of a Crimean War vivandiere in her costume in Wikipedia, where this definition was found.) 
115. “Ballroom Revels,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 8, 1879, 3. 
116. Though now forgotten, Diamond Carrie Maclay was one of the most well known parlor house madams of her time. (“Opium Kills Carrie Maclay,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 1891, 10) 
117. Henry G. Langley, San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing April, 1879 (San Francisco, Francis, Valentine & Co., 1879) 562; Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm. Marchand’s was one of San Francisco’s most expensive French restaurants – strictly for the carriage trade. 
118. “The Olympic Club,” Daily Alta California, January 14, 1879, 1. 
119. This was a not uncommon juxtaposition. The rear of the Dashaway Society building also faced Morton Street during its transition into a brothel alley. The Dashaways were a temperance society of recovering alcoholic men. A San Francisco branch was started in 1859 and they completed their headquarters building, Dashaway Hall, on Post between Kearny and Dupont, in 1862, with its rear facing what was then a less inebriated St. Mark’s Place. This was the same year Kate Buchanan opened her parlor house at number 17, more or less across the alley from the rear of the society hall. They got their name from their determination to “dash away” the cup that cheers. The famous chorus line to their society anthem was “Dash, dash the cup away! Dash, dash the cup away! In brotherhood ‘tis understood, We’ll dash, dash the cup away.” (John Bernard McGloin, S. J., Ph. D Eloquent Indian: The Life Of James Bouchard, California Jesuit, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1949, 124-125) And in 1881, the Masons of the Golden Gate Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar, consecrated their new quarters in Crocker’s new building at 131 Post Street, the Golden Gate Block, in the rear of the fifth floor rooms overlooking the risqué doings on Morton Street. (“Knights Templar,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 29, 1881, 4) 
120. “A Case in Which He Is the Complaining Witness,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 1880, 2. 
121. “An Official Nemesis,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 5, 1880, 3. In this case, Price was referred to in the articles as Officer Price, not Special Officer Price, suggesting that these were, in fact, extortion payments instead of legitimate subscription payments to a private duty special officer. 
122. “At Port Townsend,” Daily Alta California, October 13, 1880, 1. 
123. “Police News,” Daily Alta California, May 15, 1880, 1. Gruschenski had been around for a few years. In 1873 he was one of half a dozen men who tried to drag a woman into a notorious saloon on the northeast corner of Geary and Dupont before they were stopped by a passerby. It was reported he had been arrested several times before this incident. (“Stabbed In The Neck,” San Francisco Chronicle, 7/30/1873, 3) He was arrested again in 1881 for threatening to kill a Morton Street prostitute who had run away from his constant abuse. (“A Brute’s Behavior,” San Francisco Chronicle , December 23, 1881, 1) Interestingly, he was also elected secretary of a neighborhood Democratic Club in 1875. (“Brevities,” Alta, 4/16/1875, 1) 
124. The newspaper transposed the address to 133. 
125. Henry G. Langley San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing September, 1862 (San Francisco, Valentine & Co., 1862) 103. 
126. “Real Estate Notes,” Daily Alta California, January 28, 1880, 2. 
127. “Want The Eye Of The Law Closed,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 10, 1896, 11. However, one barber named William Wiebe made a go of it at number 4 from 1880 through 1895, after which the business reverted back to the lottery ticket forging barber he leased or bought it from – one Emanuel Kaeintz – who had it before him. (“The Lottery Evil Dying,” San Francisco Call, August 12, 1895, 12) 
128. Ancestry.com. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA 
129. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm. 
130. The census sheets fine-tuned the author’s estimate of the time period when the prostitutes took over Morton Street. (See end note number 71.) 
131. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933) 258-260; Oscar Lewis Bay Window Bohemia (New York, Doubleday, 1956) 19-23. 
132. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA 
133. Howard B. Woolston, Prostitution in the United States, (Montclair, N. J., Patterson Smith, 1921), 52-57. 
134. Ibid. 
135. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933), 258-260. 
136. Number 108 was a small rooming house before 1874 (San Francisco city directories), the year this address likely became a brothel, as there were no city directory listings for this street number after that year. Miss Maclay was ferrying girls to San Francisco from back East, probably to her new brothel, in 1880. (“Westward-Bound Passengers,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, September 29, 1880, 2; “Passengers Passing Carlin for San Francisco,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, October 2, 1880, 1.) Since no earlier mentions of her in the San Francisco press were found, she may have bought an already established brothel that year from another madam. 
137. Herbert Asbury, The Barbary Coast (Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1933) 258-260. 
138. See endnote number 13; Harriet Lane Levy, 920 O’Farrell Street (Berkeley, Heyday Books, 1996) 186-187. 
139. “Two Men Arrested By Police,” San Francisco Examiner, February 11, 1896, 11. The one exception at number 135 ½ was displayed in a newspaper drawing in 1896 and showed a building in keeping with the cottage description – but with a two story building on each side. 
140. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm. 
141. “Morton Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1892, 10. This architecture is pre-Victorian because the residences on Morton Street were nearly all built in the mid and late 1850s and the early 1860s, when it was still St. Mark’s Place, before Victorian architecture became fashionable in the 1870s in San Francisco. 
142. “Two Men Arrested By Police,” San Francisco Examiner, February 11, 1896, 9; “Sent A Bullet Into Her Brain,” San Francisco Examiner, February 23, 1896, 20) 
143. See endnote number 13. 
144. “Raids On Gambling Dens,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 2, 1882, 3; “The Raid on Faro,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1882, 2. 
145. “Raids On Gambling Dens,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 2, 1882, 3. 
146. Virgil Earp was in San Francisco in 1882 and 1883 for surgery on his left arm, which was missing several pieces of bone after a shootout in the Arizona Territory when he was a U. S. marshal. (“Brief San Francisco Items,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, May 30, 1882, 4; “Passenger Lists,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, February 10, 1883, 1) As marshalling, gambling, and protection of stage coach robbers were reportedly how he made his living, and as he was currently disabled and there weren’t any stage coach robbers in San Francisco to extort, he seems to have resorted to running a faro game to make ends meet. Another Earp connection to San Francisco was that Wyatt’s wife, Josie Marcus, was from the city and her parents still lived there. Wyatt’s notoriety was renewed in 1896 when, as referee of the Sharkey-Fitzsimmons heavyweight boxing championship at the Mechanics Pavilion, he gave the decision to Sharkey on a foul after Sharkey was knocked down by Fitzsimmons with a punch to his midsection that Earp claimed was “below the belt” but that observers said was no such thing. (“ ‘Sharkey Wins By A Foul’ Said Referee Earp,” San Francisco Examiner, December 3, 1896, 1.) 
147. “Gone To The Springs,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 1883, 1. 
148. “Raids On Gambling Dens,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 2, 1882, 3. 
149. Ibid. 
150. “The Raid on Faro,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 1882, 2. 
151. “A Raid On Faro,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 11, 1883, 8. 
152. Ibid. 
153. “A Raid On Faro Games,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 1883, 3. 
154. “Five Faro Players Caught,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, 1883, 8. 
155. “A Raid On Faro Games,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 1883, 3. 
156. “Patrick Keenan Fatally Shoots His Wife Anna And Stabs Himself,” San Francisco Call, October 10, 1898, 12. 
157. “A Cowboy Robbed,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 3, 1883, 2. 
158. “Pay Gravel In Morton Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 1892, 24. 
159. The Directory Publishing Company Langley’s San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing April, 1883 (San Francisco, Francis-Valentine & Co., 1883) 609. 
160. “McDonald’s Game of Poker,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, 1883, 8; “Arrests on Charges of Robbery,” Daily Alta California, February 3, 1883, 1. 
161. See the incident described earlier involving Tomas Redondo in 1872. 
162. “A Cowboy Robbed,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 3, 1883, 2; “A Cowboy Robbed,” Daily Alta California, December 3, 1883, 1. 
163. “Hunting The Tiger,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 31, 1883, 3. 
164. “The Panel Game,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 1883, 3; “Another Panel Victim,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 17, 1883, 3. 
165. That is, the residents and businesses that didn’t depend on the prostitutes, their pimps, and their customers for employment or patronage. 
166. “The Morton-Street Shame,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 7, 1883, 1. 
167. “The Supervisors,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 9, 1883, 8. 
168. “Passed Over The Mayor’s Veto – The Morton-Street Matter,” Daily Alta California, October 9, 1883, 2. 
169. “Showing Up Bad Characters,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 1883, 3. 
170. “Where Is The Door?” San Francisco Chronicle, December 11, 1883, 5; “Officer Collins’ Case,” Daily Alta California, December 11, 1883, 1; “That Missing Door,” Daily Alta California, December 12, 1883, 1; “A Door Disappears,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, December 13, 1883, 1. 
171. “San Francisco Items,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, December 19, 1883, 4. 
172. They were citizens if they were respectable and denizens if they were not. 
173. ‘Jottings About Town,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 11, 1884, 3. 
174. “Court Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 1, 1884, 2. 
175. “Shover of Queer Money Sentenced,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 5, 1884, 5. 
176. “The Criminal Courts,” Daily Alta California, March 12, 1884, 2. 
177. “A Fresno Man Robbed,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 23, 1884, 7. 
178. “The Morton Street Blockade,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 27, 1884, 2. Presumably what the property owner argued against was the selective enforcement of the prostitution laws. 
179. “The Morton-Street Blockade,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 12, 1884, 1; San Francisco Chronicle, October 11, 1884, 8. 
180. “A Thieving ‘Lover’,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 20, 1884, 4; “The Maquereaux,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 25, 1884, 4; “A Rich Vagrant’s Sentence,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 20, 1884, 1; “The Vagrant Crew,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 29, 1884, 8; “Proved an Alibi,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 30, 1884, 4; “The Vagrants,” Daily Alta California, July 30, 1884, 1. Maquereaux was French slang for pimps (singular maquereau). It translates literally as mackerels or fish. The word mack, American slang for a pimp, is derived from it. Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill must have thought of this when they gave MacHeath his nickname, Mack The Knife, while they wrote and composed Die Dreigroschenoper. According to Wikipedia, mackerels are predators known for their fighting abilities. 
181. “Robbed in a Bagnio,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 23, 1884, 3; “Thieving Courtesans,” Daily Alta California, July 16, 1884, 4; “Robbed by a Siren,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 18, 1884, 3; “”A Syren Caged,” Daily Alta California, September 10, 1884, 4 
182. The police were in an impossible situation with respect to San Francisco’s brothel alleys. If they closed them down, the prostitutes moved to other neighborhoods and caused an outraged citizenry to protest. If they contained the brothels in a small number of more or less unobtrusive locations, the prostitutes did what prostitutes do and caused an outraged citizenry to protest. If the police arrested them en mass, the machinery of the law slowly cranked out its version of justice and caused an outraged citizenry to protest. And anyone suggesting something as practical as taxing prostitution to pay for a system of regulation (“Foul And Reeking,” The Morning Call, November 18, 1891, 2) caused an outraged citizenry to protest. 
183. “Raising the Siege,” Daily Alta California, August 6, 1885, 1; “San Francisco Items,” Sacramento Daily Record-Union, August 7, 1885, 1. 
184. W. H. L. Corran, Langley’s San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing April, 1885 (San Francisco, Francis-Valentine & Co., 1885), 1098. 
185. “A Half-Million Fire,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 21, 1883, 2; “New Advertisements,” Daily Alta California, July 1, 1883, 1; “New Advertisements,” Daily Alta California, December 30, 1883, 7. 
186. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm. 
187. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm. 
188. See endnote number 13. 
189. Charles F. Adams Murder by the Bay (Sanger, California, Word Dancer Press, 2005) 74-90.
190. “Shot By An Officer,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 6, 1888, 8; “A Police Assassin,” Daily Alta California, December 6, 1888, 1; “Pacific Coast,” Sacramento Daily Union, December 6, 1888, 4; “Rosenbrock Dies From His wounds,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 1888, 8. 
191. “Thompson’s Defense,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 1888, 8. 
192. “Shot By An Officer,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 6, 1888, 8; “A Police Assassin,” Daily Alta California, December 6, 1888, 1; “Rosenbrock Dies From His wounds,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 1888, 8. 
193. Ibid. 
194. “Ten Years For Thompson,” Daily Alta California, May 12, 1889, 1. Four years later, a Morning Call article reported that Thompson’s pistol used to belong to Joseph Hayes, a waterfront boarding house runner who had come to San Francisco from New York after he killed a man. Hayes was in a duel in the Club Stables on Taylor between O’Farrell and Geary on the northern edge of the future Tenderloin just months before he himself was shot and killed in 1888, apparently only a short time before Thompson somehow got possession of Hayes’ pistol. (“A History Of Crime,” The Morning Call, March 12, 1892, 7) Thompson was eventually pardoned and released from San Quentin – Democratic political boss Christopher A. Buckley was one of the references for his appointment to the police force. He ran a sailors’ boarding house for a couple of years before dying in 1895. The cause of death was tuberculosis, which he had had for the last three years and which he probably contracted in prison. Three months before his death, he took out a life insurance policy in an apparent attempt to defraud the company after managing to pass the physical with a claim that he had pneumonia . (“Thompson’s Life Policy,” San Francisco Call, July 17, 1895, 11) 
195. “A Wayward Girl,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 5, 1888, 6. The [[San Francisco's Magdalen Asylum|Magdalen Asylum]] was an institution for the rehabilitation of female under age prostitutes and juvenile delinquents that was started by the Sisters of Mercy in 1865 on Silver Avenue and Mission Road. It moved to its permanent location on Potrero Avenue and 22nd Street in 1871 on the block just north of San Francisco General Hospital. Recent journalism questions earlier assertions that the sisters exploited the inmates of the Asylum or that they were unduly punitive in managing their behavior. Reportedly, American Magdalen asylums were run along more liberal lines than their older European counterparts. While the girls had to work many hours a day cleaning, washing, cooking, and farming to keep the Asylum running, the sisters worked right along side of them. Moreover, the work was designed to train the girls in useful occupations to make them eligible for jobs and/or marriage. (Don Lattin, “The Magdalen Grotto Still Draws Faithful,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 24, 2003) San Francisco Community Mental Health’s MHRF (Mental Health Rehabilitation Facility) was built on the site of the Magdalen Asylum, and the old Asylum’s grotto can still be visited next to the MHRF’s front entrance. (“The Magdalen Grotto Still Draws Faithful,” ibid) 
196. “Locked Up The Saloon,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 16, 1889, 8. 
197. “”A Sunday Raid,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1889, 8. 
198. If so, it may have been singularly effective, for 19th century hat boxes were very large, since they had to contain the huge hats that many women wore during that period. 
199. “A Pugnacious Sailor,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 25, 1889, 8. 
200. See endnote number 13. 
201. “A Fair Japanese,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 6, 1890, 20; “A Dissolute Japanese Girls (sic),” Daily Alta California, July 6, 1890, 1; “Bail Was Given For Her,” The Morning Call, July 7, 1890, 3. 
202. “Three Wicked Japanese Women,” Daily Alta California, July 29, 1890, 2. 
203. “Mother and Daughter Arrested,” The Morning Call, November 10, 1891, 7. There was a small traffic in Japanese prostitutes smuggled into the U. S. through San Francisco and Seattle, (“This Looks Bad,” The Morning Call, August 12, 1893, 3) and later across the Canadian border, to service the growing number of Japanese workers in the West. About a dozen were said to be in Morton Street brothels. (Japanese Women,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 1891, 9; “Immoral Japanese,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 1893, 5) But these numbers declined in the United States after World War I as anti-Japanese immigration legislation was passed and Japanese – American relations deteriorated. See Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama, The Four Immigrants Manga, translation and notes by Frederik L. Schodt. (Berkeley, Stone Bridge Press, 1998), 147. 
204. Edward M. Adams, (Langley’s San Francisco Directory For the Year commencing May, 1890 (San Francisco, Geo. B. Wilbur, Receiver of Painter & Co., 1890), 1265. 
205. “Quarrel And Death,” The Morning Call, September 19, 1891, 1; “A Bullet In The Brain,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 19, 1891, 1; “M’Mullin’s Suicide,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 20, 1891, 20.
206. “Died from an Overdose of Laudanum,” The Evening Bulletin, October 16, 1891, 2; “Opium Kills Carrie Maclay,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 1891, 10) 
207. “Opium Kills Carrie Maclay,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 1891, 10. 
208. Miss Howard was probably one of Maclay’s prostitutes, likely the house favorite. 
209. “Carrie Maclay’s Will,” The Morning Call, October 18, 1891, 10; “ ‘Diamond Carrie’s’ Will,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 1891, 16; 
210. “The Wages Of Sin,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 16, 1893, 5. 
211. “Court Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 20, 1891, 7. 
212. “ ‘Diamond Carrie’s’ Will,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 1891, 3. 
213. “ ‘Diamond Carrie’s’ Estate,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 1891, 12; “Contested Letters,” The Morning Call, March 26, 1892, 3. 
214. “ ‘Diamond Carrie’s’ Will,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 13, 1892, 12. 
215. “Court Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 12, 1893, 22; “Diamond Carrie’s Estate,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 1892, 12; “Court Notes,” The Morning Call, June 17, 1892, 3; “A Harlot’s Gains,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 1892, 12; “ ‘Diamond Carrie’s’ Estate,” The Morning Call, June 18, 1892, 3; “Court Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 1, 1892, 5; “Carrie Maclay’s Will,” The Morning Call, November 2, 1892, 1 
216. “Court Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 1892, 4. Just how did Gunther go about arranging an auction of a brothel? Was this one of those private, invitation-only affairs with embossed invitations on expensive stock mailed to just a few select parlor house madams? Did the madams attend and bid personally, or did they send representatives? Or was this handled more discreetly, perhaps by requesting sealed bids to be mailed to Gunther at his offices? 
217. “The Wine Flowed,” San Francisco Call, January, 1896, 3. But Young didn’t operate 205 Post Street longer than two or three years because it was listed as the Club Metropole in the 1895 City Directory, an apparently legitimate operation. Painter & Co., Langley’s San Francisco Directory (San Francisco, J. B. Painter & Co., 1895), 387. 
218. “The Wages Of Sin,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 16, 1893, 5. 
219. “Judge Mesick’s Life,” The Morning Call, January 10, 1894, 3. 
220. “An Insurance Tangle,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 30, 1893, 2. 
221. “Stories Of Mesick,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 28, 1893, 7. 
222. Ibid. 
223. “Mesick Lived High,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 6, 1894, 16; “Mollie And The Frog,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 5, 1895, 14. 
224. “Carrie Maclay’s Estate,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 1892, 4. 
225. “The Bedell Estate,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 1894, 6. 
226. “Diamond Carrie’s Estate,” The Morning Call, April 24, 1894, 9. 
227. “ ‘Diamond Carrie’s’ Will,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 1891, 16. 
228. “Carrie Maclay’s Will,” The Morning Call, October 18, 1891, 10. 
229. Ibid. 
230. “Opium Kills Carrie Maclay,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 1891, 10 . 
231. Maclay had probably seen the results of such an illness when her friend Dolly Adams made her last visit to San Francisco in 1886, physically a shadow of her former self from opium addiction and syphilis. (Peter M. Field, “The Tenderloin’s First Brothels: 223 and 225 Ellis, The Argonaut, Volume 22, No. 2, Winter 2011, 64-90; Curt Gentry The Madams of San Francisco, Garden City, New York, Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1964, 167-168) One wonders if her memory of the visit influenced Maclay to take her own life in order to avoid a similar fate. 
232. “Foul And Reeking,” ibid. The report also recommended against regulating parlor houses as it was felt they adequately monitored themselves. But since the press reported a significant number of misdemeanors and felonies committed in these houses as well as the more numerous offenses at cheaper brothels, this likely meant that the more expensive bagnios were simply better protected by the influence of their sponsors (who were usually well off champagne importers), a sort of class-based Victorian double standard. 
233. “The Supervisors,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 15, 1891, 15; “Board of Supervisors,” The Morning Call, December 15, 1891, 8; “The City’s Morgue,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 19, 1891, 8; “The Supervisors,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 22, 1891, 4; “The Supervisors,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 5, 1892, 10; “Board of Supervisors,” The Morning Call, January 5, 1892, 2. 
234. “A Morton-Street Cleansing,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 27, 1892, 3; “A Morton-Street House,” The Morning Call, January 27, 1892, 3. 
235. “Enforcing the Morton-Street Order,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 1892, 10; “Enforcing an Ordinance,” The Morning Call, February 23, 1892, 7 
236. “It Is Unconstitutional,” The Morning Call, March 9, 1892, 3. 
237. “Captain Pauli’s Assault,” The Morning Call, May 22, 1893, 12. 
238. “The Grand Jury,” The Morning Call, September 7, 1893, 8. 
239. “A Neglected Law,” The Morning Call, December 18, 1893, 10. 
240. “Her Throat Cut,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 16, 1894, 3; “Thomas Bowen’s Mishap,” The Morning Call, February 16, 1894, 2. 
241. “The Wound Was Fatal,” The Morning Call, February 21, 1894, 3. 
242. “Prison For Life,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 19, 1894, 4; “Taken to Folsom,” The Morning Call, June 5, 1894, 3. 
243. “After His Son-In-Law,” The Morning Call, August 22, 1894, 4. 
244. The press reported that Chief Crowley complained that “since the reform movement struck this city several instances have been called to his attention of women [reformers] who have tried to get policemen in their power by offering bribes and making promises of money and ‘gifts,’ ” in apparent attempts to entrap them or to turn them into informers. (“The Chief Is Angry,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 25, 1895, 9) 
245. Gladys Hansen, San Francisco Almanac (San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1995) 120-121. 
246. Work Of The Grand Jury,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 12, 1895, 14. But things got complicated when the wayward son of one of the grand jurors tried to extort money from a prostitute at number 112 by posing as a police officer catching her with stolen property after he got one of his younger brothers to give her a cheap gem, in a version of the old badger game. (“Two Brothers At War,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 28, 1895, 9; Henry Mayer Is Blameless,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 30, 1895, 9) 
247. “Local News Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 17, 1895, 2. 
248. “Final Report Of The Grand Jury,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 13, 1896, 12; “The Grand Jury Files Its Final Report,” San Francisco Call, June 13, 1895, 9. 
249. “The Supervisors Meet,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 21, 1895, 16; “After Public Evils,” San Francisco Call, September 21, 1895, 7. 
250. “Mrs. French, Inspector,” San Francisco Call, November 26, 1895, 9. 
251. “Grand Jury Is Groping For Light,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 13, 1895, 8. 
252. “How To Stop Poker Games,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 10, 1896, 11; “To Suppress Poker Games,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 1896, 16. 
253. At that time the San Francisco City Charter specified a form of municipal government with a weak Mayor and a strong Board of Supervisors. 
254. “Civic Federation To Aid The Mayor,” San Francisco Call, January 29, 1896, 11. 
255. “Woman’s Federation,” San Francisco Call, February 18, 1896, 16. 
256. “:Choked To Death With A Towel,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 10, 1896, 2; “Strangled And Robbed,” San Francisco Call, February 10, 1896, 8; “Strangled Her In The Night,” San Francisco Examiner, February 10, 1896, 1. 
257. “Sent A Bullet Into Her Brain,” San Francisco Examiner, February 23, 1896, 20; “They Agreed To Die Together,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 1896, 7. 
258. “To Vacate Their Dens,” San Francisco Call, February 24, 1896, 14; “Must Vacate Morton Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 1896, 12. 
259. “Woman’s Federation,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 25, 1896, 11. 
260. “Dens Of Morton Street,” San Francisco Call, February 25, 1896, 9. 
261. “Morton Street And Water Rates,” San Francisco Call, February 27, 1896, 8. 
262. “Abandoned Women Sue,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 28, 1896, 7. 
263. “Court Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 1896, 11; San Francisco Call, April 4, 1896, 7. 
264. “Doom Of Morton Street,” San Francisco Call, February 29, 1896, 11. 
265. “”Obeyed The Chief’s Order,” San Francisco Chronicle March 4, 1896, 5; “Exit Morton Street,” San Francisco Call, March 4, 1896, 5. 
266. “Shutting Up Vile Dens,” San Francisco Call, March 7, 1896, 9. 
267. In November the following year, the Chief of Police admitted to the Board of Supervisors Committee on Public Morals that they closed down the Morton Street brothels for good by stationing men at the entrances to turn away customers and “that this was an arbitrary action on our part without any authority of law.” “Vice Must Go From The Streets,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 7, 1897, 21. 
268. “Real Estate Transactions,” San Francisco Call, April 22, 1896, 12; “Real Estate Transfers,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 11, 1896, 14; 
269. “Realty Market Review,” San Francisco Call, July 13, 1896, 9; “Geary Street Next In Line,” San Francisco Call, December 22, 1896, 8. 
270. “An Architectural Ornament,” San Francisco Call, December 25, 1896, 34; “A Big Lease,” San Francisco Call, August 26, 1896, 10. 
271. “Want To Reopen Morton Street,” San Francisco Call, July 15, 1896, 9; “The Grand Jury,” San Francisco Call, August 29, 1896, 11. 
272. The term lodging house was often used by brothel owners as a front and/or as a city directory listing in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. 
273. “Questions For The Supervisors,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 29, 1896, 7; “Want To Open Morton Street,” San Francisco Call, September 29, 1896, 8. 
274. One can’t help but wonder if over the decades this report morphed into the stories Asbury was told about Abe Ruef trying to gain control of the Morton Street brothels for his own profit by using essentially the same method. 
275. “Want The Eye Of The Law Closed,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 10, 1896, 11; “Will Remain Closed,” San Francisco Call, October 10, 1896, 12. 
276. “Burglar Phelan Fond Of Millinery,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 1896, 9; “Two Authors Of Many Burglaries,” San Francisco Call, November 26, 1896, 14. 
277. “Real Estate Transactions,” San Francisco Call, July 11, 1896, 12. Number 122 was a former wood and coal yard. 
278. “City Real Estate And Buildings,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 29, 1897, 5. 
279. “Work Of The Flames,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 7, 1897, 31; “Three Fires Yesterday,” San Francisco Call, March 7, 1897, 7. 
280. “Real Estate Transfers,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 1897, 12. 
281. When a someone tried to post bail with fraudulent sureties worth less than their claimed value or which had no value at all, or which didn’t even actually exist, it was called straw bail or straw bonds. 
282. “Two Shots Fired,” San Francisco Call, May 10, 1897, 7. 
283. “Foley’s Bonds And The Grand Jury,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 1897, 22. 
284. “Must Remain Closed,” San Francisco Call, July 24, 1897, 7. 
285. “Ups And Downs Of Assessments,” San Francisco Call, July 15, 1897, 5. 
286. “Morton Street Under The Ban,” San Francisco Call, August 13, 1897, 9. 
287. “Vice Must Go From The Streets,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 7, 1897, 21; “Morton Street Under The Ban,” San Francisco Call, August 13, 1897, 9; “The Morton-Street Rookeries Condemned,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 1897, 7; “Morton Street Doomed,” San Francisco Call, August 19, 1897, 7. 
288. “Raggett Shot To Kill His Man,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 6, 1897, 10; “Fired Three Shots,” San Francisco Call, September 6, 1897, 6. 
289. “Local News Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 8, 1897, 5. 
290. “ ‘Bill’ Price Dying,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 13, 1897, 11; “Was Awaiting Death,” San Francisco Call, November 13, 1897, 11. Price had been without food for several days. He had lost an eye in a barroom brawl several years before and could no box for a living. 
291. See endnote number 13. 
292. “Fires Twice To Kill Two,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 7, 1898, 10; “Sorry He Did Not Kill Them,” San Francisco Call, March 7, 1898, 12. 
293. “Sorry He Did Not Kill Them,” ibid. 
294. “Both Keatings Will Recover,” San Francisco Call, March 8, 1898, 9. 
295. “Disreputable Alleys,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 8, 1898, 12. See also endnote number 180. 
296. “Real Estate Transactions,” San Francisco Call, March 10, 1898, 12; “Real Estate Transactions,” San Francisco Call, April 22, 1898, 10; “Court Notes,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 1898, 7; “Real Estate And Buildings,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 1898, 11. 
297. “Real Estate Transfers,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 23, 1898, 11; “Real Estate Transfers,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 1898, 30; “Builders’ Contracts,” San Francisco Call, May 22, 1898, 30; San Francisco Call, May 25, 1898, 9, “Fire Committee Rulings,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 1898, 8. 
298. “Real Estate And Buildings,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 1898, 11. 
299. “Gunst Backed Dennery,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 1899, 14. Gunst was investigated the following year for his role in the state senate campaign, but nothing ever came of it. 
300. Ibid; “To Change The Name,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 17, 1898, 9. As such, it represented an effort to rehabilitate the alley’s reputation by identifying it with the Union Square retail district. 
301. “Union Square to be Created,” San Francisco Call, September 23, 1898, 10; “City Fathers Make a Big ‘Clean-Up,’ ” San Francisco Call, September 27, 1898, 6. 
302. “Real Estate And Buildings,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 1898, 11. 
303. “Many Streets Ordered Paved,” San Francisco Call, September 23, 1898, 20. This apparently didn’t get done for at least fourteen more months. (“Adopt Plans For Hospital,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 14, 1889, 7) 
304. “Eyesore To Beauty Spot,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 1898, 4; “Discuss Plans For An Avenue,” San Francisco Call, June 13, 1905, 9. 
305. “Killed Within Prison Walls,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 1, 1898, 4. 
306. “Patrick Keenan Fatally Shoots His Wife Anna And Stabs Himself,” San Francisco Call, October 10, 1898, 12. 
307. “Clubbed A Man With A Pistol,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 6, 1900, 5. 
308. “Is He The Strangler?” San Francisco Call, April 24, 1899, 12 
309. “Hand Of The Forger Wrote Out The Bond,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 1899, 8; “Contradictions In The Straw-Bond Case,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 6, 1899, 12. 
310. H. S. Crocker Company San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing May, 1899 (San Francisco, H. S. Crocker Company, 1899) 596, 993. 
311. Founded in 1851. ”Francis-Valentine Company,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 9, 1899, 32. 
312. Ibid. 
313. Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm. 
314. “Real Estate News,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 1899, 5. 
315. “Builders’ Contracts,” San Francisco Call, October 8, 1899, 15; “Builders’ Contracts,” San Francisco Call, October 10, 1899, 13; San Francisco Chronicle, October 14, 1899, 12. 
316. “Builders’ Contracts,” San Francisco Call, November 19, 1899, 18 
317. “New Structure For Sherman House Site,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 10, 1899, 32. 
318. H. S. Crocker San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing May 1900 (San Francisco, H. S. Crocker, 1900) 1981, 1925. 
319. “Purchase Of Valuable Realty On Post Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 31, 1900, 12. Aaronson rebuilt the structure in 1911 after the earthquake and fire. In 1949 it was drastically remodeled by architect Frank Lloyd Wright into the V. C. Morris gift shop. “In the final decade of his life,” when Wright frequently visited San Francico, “more often than not, he would stay at the St. Francis, perhaps stopping by the exquisite gift shop he designed at 140 Maiden Lane for V. C. Morris to rearrange the displays (invariably changed back after his departure).” (“City of dreams,” San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Datebook, October 30, 2016, 30) Wright’s design of the interior was restored in 1998. While its most recent occupant, the Xanadu Gallery, was closed at the time of this writing, Wright’s redesign of the building’s exterior can still be viewed from the street. 
320. “Post-Street Property Sold,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 27, 1900, 7. 
321. “Trap Season Nearly Ended,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 11, 1900, 14. 
322. “Monticello Club Smoker,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 5, 1900, 9. 
323. “Burglars Enter Cigar Store,” San Francisco Call, June 8, 1901, 7. 
324. “Health Board Condemns Building As Unsafe,” San Francisco Call, October 31, 1901, 9. 
325. “Union-Square Avenue Fortress Is Raided,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 2, 1901, 7. 
326. H. S. Crocker San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing May 1901 (San Francisco, H. S. Crocker, 1901), 2143. While businesses started moving to the alley in 1899, by 1901 most of them – eight out of eleven – were located on the upper block of Union Square Avenue next to the Union Square retail district, away from Kearny Street and the recently opened Elite Saloon at number 8, the old site of Lang & Co.’s wholesale wine and liquor business (which had moved away in 1878 when the brothels had taken over Morton Street). Meanwhile, lower Union Square Avenue became a street of the rears of buildings located on Geary and Post Streets. 
327. For example, the Sunset Photo Engraving Company built their Sunset Building on the site of Diamond Carrie Maclay’s brothel at number 108. 
328. H. S. Crocker San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing May 1901 (San Francisco, H. S. Crocker, 1901), 643. However, Mrs. Faure was not new to brothel alleys in general nor to Union Square Avenue in particular. She bought the property from one Ann Murrin in 1891 for $12,000 (“Real Estate Transfers,” Daily Alta California, April 25, 1891, 7) when it had been a brothel for a number of years. (It had been gifted to Murrin in 1885 by a widow named Catharine Hargarden, who was part of the family that lived there from when it was built around 1856 until the address’ last city directory listing in 1875. ) (“Real Estate Transactions,” Daily Alta California, August 1, 1885, 7) Faure was one of several property owners who were arrested in 1895 for “renting houses for purposes of ill fame” and released on bail. (“Work Of The Grand Jury,” San Francisco Call, March 14, 1895, 14) She moved into the building around 1900 and ran it as a lodging house (United States Census, 1900, ancestry.com) and transferred the property to a relative living with her named Julie Faure in 1902 (“Real Estate Transactions,” San Francisco Call, May 5, 1902, 13) though she remained at that address to at least 1903. That the Faures were no strangers to the brothel real estate business was also shown in the report of the transfer of a lot on Belden Street, another nineteenth century San Francisco brothel alley, again from Rosalie Faure to Julie Faure. (“Real Estate Transactions,” San Francisco Call, May 3, 1902, 13) One wonders if the loss of income from her properties after the 1896 brothel closings reduced her circumstances to the point of deciding to cut expenses by moving into the Union Square Avenue house and opening a lodging house. Julie Faure finally sold the property to developer Anna Whittell in 1903, perhaps after Rosalie died., (“Real Estate Transfers,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 23, 1903, 15; “Real Estate Transactions,” San Francisco Call, June 25, 1903, 14) 
329. United States Census, 1900, Ancestry.com. Also in 1901, the tailors of Morton Street, having left after 1879 when the brothels took over the alley, made a comeback to number 102 in the person of one Bernard Kuttner. 
330. The shoemakers and barbers, who had left Morton Street in 1879, made a comeback this year with John H. Baltimore at number 165 and Henry F. Garbe at number 104. 
331. H. S. Crocker San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing May 1901 (San Francisco, H. S. Crocker, 1901); H. S. Crocker San Francisco Directory for the Year Commencing May 1902 (San Francisco, H. S. Crocker, 1902). 
332. “Samuel Nute Is An Easy Target,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 7, 1903, 7. 
333. “The Realty Market And The Building Trades,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 14, 1903, 7; “Demand For Dwellings Unusual For The Season,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 20, 1903, 13. 
334. “September Situation Of The Real Estate Market,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 12, 1903, 13; “Dana Building To Be New Style,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 21, 1904, 48; “Selling, Purchasing And Improving Land Holdings,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 27, 1904, 13; “Ye Sign Of Ye Peacock,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 3, 1904, 9. The restaurant was started on Geary Street by the present owner’s mother, where it was very profitable. But her son moved it to its current location in the Dana Building “where he fitted up a luxurious place at an enormous expense. High rent and excessive expenses soon exhausted his means, and he conveyed all his belongings,” including the restaurant, to his creditors in late 1905. (“Creditors Will Sell Peacock Restaurant,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 23, 1905, 12) 
335. “Famous Over Land And Sea,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 1, 1904, 14. 
336. “Clever Pickpockets Placed Under Arrest,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 1904, 4; “Pickpocket Caught As He Robs Victim,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 7, 1904, 13. 
337. “Books of the End of the Year,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 11, 1904, 8. 
338. “Realty Market and Building News,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, 1905, 7. 
339. “Battle-Ship At Sea Talks With Goat Island,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 1905, 7. 
340. H. R. Crocker Company Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory for the year commencing May 1905 (San Francisco, H. S. Crocker Company, 1905), 394. 
341. “Grand Opening,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 25, 1902, 3. 
342. “Meeting Notices,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 8, 1905, 10. 
343. “Realty Market and Building News,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 11, 1905, 13. 
344. “Would Create A New Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 2, 1905, 18. 
345. “Merchants Take Kindly To Plan,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1905, 18; “Interested In Union-Square Avenue Plans,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 4, 1905, 29; ”To Discuss Improvement Of Union Square Avenue,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 10, 1905, 11. 
346. “Union Square Arcade Receiving Attention,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 1905, 5; “To Discuss Arcade For Union Square Avenue,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 1905, 23; “Arcade For First Block,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 20, 1905, 9. However, Julius Raphael’s father died, causing Raphael to focus his attentions elsewhere, and the project became dormant without its originator to move it along. (“Julius Raphael Talks Of The Arcade,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 22, 1905, 16) 
347. “Masked Robber Works In Business Center,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 18, 1905, 13. 
348. “Once There Were No Maidens,” San Francisco Chronicle November 26, 1970, 62 
349. Jerry F. Schimmel, letter to Carol Vernier, April 30, 1995, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History Room. Manila Alley (sometimes spelled Manilla Alley) was named in honor of the Admiral Dewey monument in nearby Union Square Park to further memorialize his victory in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. As such, it represented an effort to rehabilitate the alley’s reputation by identifying it with the Union Square retail district. 
350. This name was promoted by Albert Samuels, a jeweler at Kearny and Union Square Avenue who wanted the alley named after the home of New York’s and/or London’s diamond districts, both located on streets named Maiden Lane. (Louis K. Lowenstein, Streets of San Francisco, Berkeley, Wilderness Press, 1996, 61; “100 years ago: The night they expelled Maiden Lane’s harlots,” San Francisco Examiner, March 1, 1996, A-23; “Once There Were No Maidens,” San Francisco Chronicle November 26, 1970, 62 ). Samuels may be best remembered for hiring a young and tubercular Dashiell Hammett as a part time advertising copywriter. (Diane Johnson, Dashiell Hammett: A Life, New York, Random House, 1983, 38-40) 
351. Before indulging in any righteous indignation over Asbury’s and Lewis’questionable assertions, it would be well to remember that contemporaneous newspaper accounts, that is, the current article’s primary sources, were often just as inaccurate. For example, one reporter wrote in 1892 that Morton Street had “been the most open and shameless haunt of vice” for the last thirty-five years, that is, since 1857, twelve years before the brothels actually established themselves. (“Morton Street,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1892, 10) 
352. Compare Charles Fields’ famous post-fire rhyme: 
“If, as they say, God spanked the town 
For being over frisky, 
Then why did he burn the churches down 
And save Hotaling’s Whiskey?” 
353. While the lower echelons of the Police Department may have believed that May Conboy’s killing was the immediate cause of Morton Street’s closing, the cumulative pressures of an escalating number of newspaper reports of increasingly serious crimes on Morton Street in the 1890s plus a growing reform movement and a newly elected reform administration must have forced the upper echelons to conclude that unless they shut down Morton Street, the next focus of these groups would be the police command structure itself. It was a last resort, because any police department commander would understand that closing down a prostitution district would likely disperse the women around other parts of the city and create a new set of problems. How else would the women earn a living? The chief and his aides probably hoped the problem would eventually solve itself if they kept chasing the women away from wherever they landed, eventually forcing them to leave San Francisco. And this is what actually happened. 
354. The original census sheets for several states, including California, in the 1890 census were destroyed in a warehouse fire in Washington, D. C. (ancestry.com) 
355. See endnote number 13. 
356. Ibid. 
357. Ibid. 
358. There were, however, Kate Buchanan, the madam at the parlor house at number 17 in 1862 discussed earlier, as well as Kate Williams, who was listed for just one year in the 1880 city directory as the owner of a saloon at number 25, the Germania House, in the time when the brothels had taken over Morton Street. But these women operated many years earlier than the decade Asbury claimed for Iodoform Kate. 
359. Harriet Lane Levy, 920 O’Farrell Street (Berkeley, Heyday Books, 1996) 186-187. 
360. See endnote number 13. 
361. As did the prostitutes in other San Francisco brothel alleys such at St. Mary’s Place, Belden Place, Waverly Place, etc. Stephen Longstreet, ed. Nell Kimball: Her Life As An American Madam By Herself (New York, Macmillian, 1970), 222. 
362. See John Baumann’s earlier allegations on page 21 and the author’s conjecture in endnote 274. 
363. Walton Bean Boss Ruef’s San Francisco (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1952) 
364. “Morton Street Under The Ban,” San Francisco Call, August 13, 1897, 9; “The Morton-Street Rookeries Condemned,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 1897, 7; “Morton Street Doomed,” San Francisco Call, August 19, 1897, 7. 
365. The 1899 Sanborn maps show vacant lots where many of the brothels used to be. (Sanborn Map Company Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Bethesda, Md., University Publications of America, 1995), microfilm.) 
366. The tales of Iodoform Kate and Rotary Rosie sound hackneyed and stereotyped in comparison to some of the stories Asbury didn’t find or left out of his pages on Morton Street. For example, in May of 1874, a Police Commission whitewash of accusations concerning the extortion of bribes from prostitutes by two detectives (“The City’s Disgrace,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 12, 1874, 3; “The Infamous Ending of the Police Investigation,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 12, 1874, 2; “The Great Fiasco,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 13, 1874, 3) mentioned a Morton Street brothel run by a madam named Clara McElroy, who testified that she had quit prostitution and had rented the house to the Fire Queen. (“Police Investigation,” Daily Alta California, May 10, 1874, 1)
The Fire Queen was Emily Edwards, also known as Mrs. Emily Casement, a remarkable woman who, with her husband Hugh, had operated a popular saloon, dance hall, and brothel called The Half Way House at Eighth and Folsom Streets from 1852 to 1856, when this area was still undeveloped. (“Supreme Court Decision,” Sacramento Daily Union, February 5, 1867, 3) Born in Richmond, Virginia (Daily Alta California, September 2, 1862, 1; “Death of the ‘Fire Queen’,” Richmond Dispatch, August 2, 1885, 1), she crossed the continent from New York City in early 1850, “a freeborn quadroon girl, about twenty-eight years of age, and possessed [of] a face and figure of striking beauty . . . she was honesty itself and would permit no underhanded dealings among those in her establishment . . . she made a great deal of money, but was always free with it . . . and many a poor devil has been checked on his downward career and given a new lease of life through her generosity.” (“The Fire Queen,” Daily Alta California, July, 27, 1885, 1)
There were many stories’ of her resourcefulness. She once defended her claim to a plot of land near the present day Bayview-Hunters Point District from a rival claimant. The plot was surrounded by water and she kept the other claimant off it by sitting in a chair in the middle of the little island with a double barreled shotgun across her lap. (“An Old Californian,” Daily Alta California, May 17, 1855, 2) Another time she plunged into the swamp near her Folsom Street resort and rescued a man’s horse from drowning in the mud while a crowd of men stood helplessly by. (Ibid.)Yet another time she tracked down and captured a man who had shot someone else’s cow. (Ibid.) Once, after the Daily Alta California lost its newspaper morgue from the fire of May of 1854 and advertised for back issues to replace it, she found and sold a complete set to them. (Ibid.) She also had a talent for badinage and her repartee could cut deeply when someone tried to tangle with her. (Ibid; Daily Alta California, September 2, 1862, 1; “An Old Californian,” Daily Alta California, May 17. 1855, 2.) Edwards was one of those San Francisco women who, like her better known contemporary Lillie Coit, ran to fires. (“An Old Californian,” Daily Alta California, May 17, 1855, 2) But unlike Coit, who merely cheered from the sidelines, she became famous in 1855 when she ran several times into a burning distillery (“Terrible Explosion At The Novelty Distillery,” Daily Alta California, November 3, 1855, 1; “New Advertisements,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 9, 1871, 2) that was about to collapse and dragged out several firemen who had been overcome by smoke before she herself passed out. She was badly burned, but when she regained consciousness she refused any attention to her own injuries until she had bandaged the injured firemen with strips torn from her dress and had them taken to her nearby road house and made comfortable. (“The Fire Queen,” Daily Alta California, July, 27, 18 85, 1) She later refused a gift of a purse of gold from a group of admirers for her heroism. (“New Advertisements,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 9, 1871, 2) After this she became known as the Fire Queen (Ibid; “The Fire Queen,” Daily Alta California, July, 27, 1885, 1) and was idolized by the city’s volunteer firemen. (Ibid) But she wasn’t always so self-sacrificing: in some of her exploits she expected – and got – suitable rewards for her good deeds, as was the custom of the times. (“An Old Californian,” Daily Alta California, May 17, 1855, 2) Sadly, her burns left her scarred for life. (Ibid) Edwards lost The Half Way House property from it being mortgaged and deeded at least three times before her husband went to Australia. She fought in the courts for years (“Twelfth District Court,” Daily Alta California, September 24, 1864, 1; Sacramento Daily Union, August 2, 1866, 2; “Supreme Court Decision,” Sacramento Daily Union, February 5, 1867, 3) to recover it under the Homestead Act until the California Supreme Court ruled against her. She apparently opened another resort at 10th and Folsom, two blocks away, which did well enough for her to move into San Francisco proper and open a brothel on California Street. But this house eventually failed, forcing her to move to Morton Street, where she ran another brothel for a time, though this turn in her fortunes must have taken a number of years to transpire because the newspapers didn’t place her on Morton Street until 1871 and again in 1873 when she was arrested for fighting another woman. (“Arrests Made Yesterday,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 11, 1873, 3) One of the reasons Edwards might have ended up on Morton Street may have been the financial drain of having a soft heart. For example, in 1871 she took one of her prostitutes, who wanted to get out of the life, to the California Rescue Mission, and later paid for the expenses of other prostitutes entering this program. (“New Advertisements,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 9, 1871, 2) The San Francisco city directory of 1874 listed her at 24 Belden Place, another brothel alley, where she presumably moved her operation from Morton Street. She next surfaced in an 1879 city directory listing as Mrs. Emily Edwards at 1230 Mission (at Eighth Street), just a couple of blocks away from her former Half-Way House resort. Sometime after this she left San Francisco and ran parlor houses in Chico and Colfax where she amassed a small fortune of $10,000. (“The ‘Fire Queen’,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 12, 1888, 8) She died in 1886 in either Colfax (“Charitable Bequests,” Sacramento Daily–Record Union, July 20, 1885, 2; “Died,” Sacramento Daily–Record Union, July 24, 1885, 3; “The ‘Fire Queen’,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 12, 1888, 8) or Reno (“The ‘Fire Queen’,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 12, 1888, 8) and bequeathed most of her money to various charitable institutions in California, including several in San Francisco. Her will instructed her executor to give her body to “Dr. J. M. Todd of Auburn, Placer County, State of California, to examine and dispose of as he may decide best.” (Ibid) 
367. Asbury’s grandfather and great-grandfather were Methodist ministers. Asbury Park, New Jersey, the home of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, was said to be named after Francis Asbury, the first American Methodist bishop who Asbury claimed as his great-great uncle. But Asbury rejected his background: his first book was titled Up From Methodism. (Adam Gopnik, “Underworld,” New Yorker, November 11, 2002, 174-183) and its partly autobiographical content reflected his repudiation of his upbringing. “Rebelling against his overbearing parents, Asbury left the church at age fourteen to pursue a life of drinking, gambling, and womanizing.” (Herbert Asbury, Sucker’s Progress. New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1938; republished by Thunder’s Mouth Press, New York, end page note.) If Asbury preferred the anecdotal to the historical, as he did in his pages on Morton Street, it was at least in part because he had an axe to grind against the cold stone wheel of his Methodist upbringing. 
368. For other criticisms of Asbury’s verisimilitude, see Herbert Asbury (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Asbury), Adam Gopnik, “Underworld,” New Yorker, November 11, 2002, 174-183, Jon Michaud, “The Forgotten Crime Novels of Herbert Asbury,” New Yorker, September 10, 2015, and Thomas Hunt “Asbury: An Informal Biography” in “Informer,” April 2013, 4-23. 

[[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:downtown]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Crime]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:women]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:architecture]] [[category:buildings]]

Maiden Lane and the Pot-holes of History

2026-04-16T00:22:00Z

Lisaruth: added links to Magdalen Asylum page

Carol Seajay, Old Wives Tales and the Feminist Bookstore Network

2026-04-12T18:18:27Z

Lisaruth: added names to first photo caption, confirmed year taken

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Elizabeth Sullivan''

[[Image:Old Wives Tales.jpg|792px]]

'''Staffers (from left) Carol Seajay, Gloria Pell, Sherry Thomas, Tiana Arruda, and Kit Yuen Quan cavort in front of Old Wives Tales, 1982.'''

''Photographer unknown, via Facebook''

[[Image:wimmin$old-wives-tales.jpg]]

'''Interior of Old Wives Tales bookstore, 1980s.'''

"''I came to San Francisco with a ray of hope about living life as a lesbian woman''."

Starting from the early 1970s, Carol Seajay knows intimately the history of women's bookstores in San Francisco. In addition to her work with Full Moon in San Francisco and A Woman's Place in Oakland, she is a co-founder of Old Wives Tales, the women's bookstore on Valencia Street that closed in 1995. She is also a founder of the Feminist Bookstore Network and Newsletter, which is going stronger than ever in 1997.

Carol Seajay arrived in San Francisco from school in Michigan in December of 1973. The first connection she made with the women's and lesbian culture that she was seeking here was through a flyer in a women's bathroom in the Main Library. It advertised a Women's Coffeehouse and Bookstore, at a place called the Full Moon. The early seventies saw a concerted effort on the part of feminists to cultivate an alternative culture--a world based on feminist values and the celebration of the power of women. Posting announcements in women's bathrooms was a favorite technique, the perfect expression of solidarity between women.

Seajay already had an affinity for books by and for lesbians. She had attended the Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, and there she read early lesbian classics like Anne Aldridge, Beebo Brinker, ''The Price of Salt''--anything about lesbians that she could find. But none had a happy ending. She said, "I just never read the last chapter--that was the advice everyone gave you." Early lesbian novels available in the late sixties inevitably ended in double suicides or dramatic conversions. A friend gave her a grant of $50 a month to write a lesbian novel with a happy ending. For her last year of school Seajay worked on the novel and at a job doing abortion counseling.

January 22, 1973 brought a huge change for women in the United States with the supreme court ruling on abortion, Roe vs. Wade. After the decision, according to Seajay, there was a race between Planned Parenthood and the more radical activists for funding to provide health care for women. "I'd be willing to bet that 2/3 of those active in the abortion movement at the time were lesbians," Seajay said. "There is a clear connection between freedom from pregnancy and the freedom to be a lesbian, the freedom to make your own choices about what you do with your body." But one woman in the health care community used a strategy of outing radical feminists as lesbian (there were not many out lesbians at the time) in order to secure a job for herself. In those days outing meant certain exclusion, and Seajay was an early casualty.

She worked for a while as a cocktail waitress, saved her money, and bought a 2-cylinder Honda motorcycle for $400. She left Michigan and drove the Honda to San Francisco. At the time, Seajay said, the choice was strictly New York or San Francisco for lesbian and gay people. But in New York, people did the bars at night, slept all day and jumped off a bridge when they got to be 30. "I came to San Francisco with a ray of hope about living life as a lesbian woman," she said. San Francisco offered acceptance, companionship, and even celebration of being a lesbian or a gay man. That vision, of children and friends all knowing and of growing old while being out, was the promise San Francisco held out for Seajay. This was also true for many other lesbians and gay men who began streaming here from all across the country in the late 60s and 70s.

'''Arriving in San Francisco '''

When Seajay was first in San Francisco, there was already a very developed, very intense, lesbian scene. It was a vibrant community. Seajay had read Lyon and Martin's [[The Lesbian Bar |The Ladder]] back in Michigan. A subscriber had to sign a slip swearing she was 21, so Seajay borrowed it from a friend. "I remember thinking, there are enough lesbians [in San Francisco] to publish a magazine!" When she got to San Francisco and was first getting involved in the scene here, "it was electric, every night, there were at least two very exciting things you could do--you had to choose because there was so much.

"There was a sense then, that if we wanted to turn over patriarchy--we could." In that spirit, with possibilities opening to women in such dramatic new ways, Seajay decided that she wanted to be an electrician. She signed up with a women's trade group to be trained once she passed the union admission tests, but the waiting list for training was 2 1/2 years, due to the bad economy at the time. So, while waiting she went to a local free school operating at the time and took classes like, ''Lesbianism, Socialism and Feminism'' and ''Criticism and Self-criticism''. This deepened her love of reading as well as her lesbian identity.

Full Moon Cafe and Bookstore, the bookstore on the flyer in the Main Library women's bathroom, was on 18th Street. The collective, which Seajay quickly joined, spent all spring getting the store together. They laid a new cement floor. They also handled all the drainage and plumbing themselves. "It was a dyke thing to do everything ourselves," Seajay said. "So if you open a dyke coffeehouse, and it needs a new cement floor, you learn to lay cement floors."

The side room of the cafe held books (it was about the size of a Murphy bed), and that was the bookstore. The collective's attitude about most things was always, "Why ask? We'll just do it." Unfortunately that meant that they never got licenses for any of the cabarets or gatherings held at Full Moon. In 1977 they were closed because they didn't have a cabaret license. Upstairs neighbors complained and the Full Moon collective lost their lease.

Seajay got a job with the state where she coded questionnaires as an assistant statistician, and read her homework for free school at lunch time. "In those days," she recalled, "for an hour of minimum wage work a person could afford to buy six mass market books. Nowadays they could afford maybe 1/2 maybe 2/3 of one book. But there was a very socialist feel to San Francisco then, people had way less stuff." After saving up some money, she went to India for four months. When she got back, she moved in next door to a woman from her socialism class named Gretchen Milne (now Forest), who was one of the women who started A Woman's Place, a feminist bookstore in Oakland.

'''San Francisco Lesbian Literary Scene '''

It was the mid seventies, the recession, and Seajay's new neighbor, Gretchen Milne, was living on unemployment and working on A Woman's Place bookstore. Seajay went down to check it out, there were two whole shelves of lesbian books. "I was astounded. After I finished reading all the lesbian books I started reading Black women's work. It was similarly woman-identified and very powerful. Ann Petry, ''The Street'', Toni Morrison." Everything she could want. She started volunteering, riding the bus to Oakland once or twice a week to sit on the floor and read every last book.

At the time, Seajay recalled, lots of lesbian ideas were actually coming out in poetry. People were starting to do anthologies, self-published, staple-bound. Poetry became very important to San Francisco's lesbian community. The Women's Press Collective was started and Judy Grahn and Wendy Cadden were making all the books themselves. There was even a women's distribution company for women's newspapers!

Paula Wallace was a worker at A Woman's Place with Seajay at this time and she and Seajay were also lovers. They decided to start a San Francisco women's bookstore together. So they applied for a loan from the very friendly San Francisco Feminist Federal Credit Union. At the time, there were three people on the loan committee. A feminist bookstore owner from Hayward was one, and a lesbian feminist published poet was another. This illustrates the success of feminist organizing in the seventies. When the women's bookstore project needed a loan, they went to the Feminist Credit Union. After applying, Seajay went off to the First National Women in Print Conference.

<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/ruthmahaneyandmollymartinonearlygaylesbianbookstoresandpress" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

'''Ruth Mahaney and Molly Martin, interviewed in late 2018 and early 2019 respectively, remember early encounters with feminist bookstores and lesbian printing.'''

''Video: Shaping San Francisco''

'''Beginning of Feminist Bookstore News'''

The First National Women in Print Conference happened thanks to the organizing of June Arnold and Daughters Publishers. No one else from A Woman's Place could go (partly because there was the [[I-Hotel Eviction Summary | I Hotel crisis]] at that time) so Seajay got in her car and went herself. "It was a traveling time," Seajay recalled, "people just got in cars and drove where they wanted to go. That's how this literature got around. We drove it. People didn't have to worry as much about money, or keeping jobs, there were ways to get by.

"You see, the baby boom left school and there weren't any jobs for us. We weren't necessary. But we said, good, we don't want your jobs anyway. In Canada at the time they were experiencing the same thing, and the government encouraged kids to travel around, see the country instead of work; they sponsored crash pads all over."

It was a week long conference in Nebraska (picked because it was equidistant from the coasts and everybody was driving), and it was incredible, according to Seajay. 18-20 women's bookstores and 180 women at a beautiful Campfire girl camp. It was attended by bookstore workers and owners, illustrators, and printers, but no writers, because it was a conference for ''workers,'' Seajay emphasized. "We were very influenced by Marxist ideas about laborers controlling their own labor. We didn't put the writers on a pedestal." The initial idea for Feminist Bookstore News came out of this conference as a way to stay in touch with each other. The first issue was published on October 14, 1976.

The week before the Women in Print conference, Seajay got notice that she could finally get into an electrician's class. During the conference Paula called to report that their loan from the credit union was approved. Elated, Seajay instantly decided to pursue the decidedly more risky venture of starting a feminist bookstore. So with $6,000 from the credit union, and a $2,000 loan from Paula's parents, they started Old Wives Tales.

'''Success in the Mission Dolores Neighborhood'''

The first store was at 532 Valencia St., below the [[Deaf Club|Club for the Deaf]]. They were around the corner from the George Jackson Defense Fund, Rainbow Grocery, The Communist Party Bookstore, the Roxie movie theater, the Tenants Union, Artemis Cafe (a women-only cafe), Osento (a women-only bath house), Garbos (a lesbian-owned haircutting shop) and [[The Lesbian Bar|Amelia's]] (a women's dance bar--now called the Elbo Room). Angela Davis was a frequent customer at Old Wives Tales. Lesbians were proudly coming out in the Mission Dolores neighborhood and making it their own.

At the time Seajay lived in collective households, first, right around the corner on Rondell Avenue, and later on 21st Street between Valencia and Guerrero. "I would walk home at night and feel that it was the golden age of the world. It was a precious time, and I knew it might not last. I knew it was all so radical that I feared a repercussion. Look, if we were as threatening as we ''wanted'' to be, then we could expect some right wing vigilantism. Still, I expected that by the time I was 40 there would at least be socialized health care. I mean, at the time there was a War on Poverty. It was understood that it was ''poverty'' that made kids dumb."

They opened Old Wives Tales on Halloween, 1976, paying themselves $200 a month. Around this time Seajay and her housemates took on a foster daughter through a program for gay and lesbian teens who had run away to San Francisco. The first person they hired was a friend of Seajay's foster daughter, who worked part time and stayed for ten years. There was a great deal of internal pressure on participants as everyone tried to work in an egalitarian and cooperative way--not a familiar mode for anyone raised in a capitalist society. And this was in addition to the external pressure of trying to run a small business (bills, expenses etc.) After two years, in 1978, Seajay and Wallace broke up.

Wallace drove off and ended up in New Mexico, where she bought Full Circle books. Old Wives Tales became a collective instead of a partnership. They also moved from 532 to 1009 Valencia for more space. The time was a struggle, but the community really supported the store, and tourists and travelers came from all over to shop at and see Old Wives Tales. Most people easily felt comfortable upon entering, because the vision behind the project was a women-owned store where the whole community was welcome. Over the next few years, Seajay watched it grow into an integral and bustling corner of the women's community on Valencia Street.

'''Falling Apart '''

Around 1982, lots of internal hassles surfaced. Seajay had invited another lover to join the collective after Wallace left, and the break up that came a few years later was rather difficult--the collective also tried mediation. Then, like a lot of feminist organizations in the 1980s, there came discouraging problems around racism. The Old Wives Tales collective dealt with embezzlement, alcoholism, and went through more mediation as a group.

Exhausted with all she had put into Old Wives Tales over the years, Seajay was literally watching the store fall apart. By 1994 it needed to be fully rebuilt organizationally. Seajay decided to resign, but the collective wouldn't accept her resignation. "I was very burned out, but I stayed for a while because it does take skill to run a bookstore well." She advised the collective and passed on her formidable bookstore-running skills. Gradually the collective transitioned into an official non-profit and Seajay resigned. She didn't really recoup any part of her investment from Old Wives Tales when she left.

People without experience were running the store once Seajay left, and it was in and out of financial trouble. When A Different Light came to town from New York, it squeezed Old Wives Tales even more. They took business from Old Wives Tales mainly because Old Wives Tales began to look like old-fashioned feminism next to the slick New York-associated A Different Light. This was illustrated best by the two groups lining up on different sides of the S/M wars which were raging at the time. Some Old Wives Tales workers were critical of those who "acted out their childhood pain through sexual violence" while many Different Light people saw S/M as a liberating avenue to heightened sexual excitement and self-awareness.

In 1995, riddled with strife and debt, Old Wives Tales closed its doors. Seajay's attention was already turned full time to the Feminist Bookstore News and Network.

Although San Francisco is poorer for the loss of our women's bookstore, today there are 120 feminist bookstores all over the United States and Canada (150 loosely counted.) In April of 1997, Feminist Bookstore News will celebrate its twenty year anniversary of connecting women's bookstores across the country.

"We had a vision," Seajay said, "that women could learn to do for ourselves, that we could make our own mistakes, and I still believe this passionately."

[[Image:Sisterhood-centerfold-Leviathan.jpg]]

'''Centerfold from Leviathan newspaper, 1969.'''

''courtesy Peter Wiley''

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[[category:Women]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Mission]]

Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard Ruins

2026-03-30T02:13:16Z

Lisaruth: Protected "Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard Ruins" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

''' Photo Essay '''

''by Stacey Carter''

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'''Building 231, Machine Shop'''

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Building 146, Industrial Photo Lab

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[[Image:Bldg 224 air raid bomb shelter explanatory slide.jpg]]

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'''A series of pages on Hunters Point Naval Shipyard history:'''

[[Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908|Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908]]

[[Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947|Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947]]

[[Decommissioned: Hunters Point and the Atomic Turning Point|Decommissioned: Hunters Point and the Atomic Turning Point]]

[[Decommissioned: The Giant Crane 1947|Decommissioned: The Giant Crane 1947]]

[[Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969|Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969]]

[[Decommissioned: Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory 1946-1969|Decommissioned: Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory 1946-1969]]

[[Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard|Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard]]

[[Navy’s Own Complicity in the Historic Eco-Fraud Scandal at Hunters Point|Navy’s Own Complicity in the Historic Eco-Fraud Scandal at Hunters Point]]

[[Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard: A Visit in 1956|Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard: A Visit in 1956]]

[[Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard Aerial Views Before and After WWII|Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard Aerial Views Before and After WWII]]

[[Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard Ruins|Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard Ruins]]

[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Buildings]]

Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard Ruins

2026-03-30T02:13:03Z

Lisaruth: corrected byline

Women & Bicycles

2026-02-27T23:30:38Z

Lisaruth:

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Laura Fraser''

[[Image:Liberty-Cycling-Club-all-on-Liberty-Cycles-c-1895.jpg]]

'''The women of the Liberty Cycling Club astride their Liberty cycles, c. 1895.'''

''Photo: California Historical Society''

[[Image:Museum-of-19th-century-curiosities WASP-1890s.jpg]]

'''Museum of 19th century curiosities from the WASP... modern women with their bicycles examine the relics of times gone by (or soon to pass!)'''

''Image: California Historical Society''

In the early 1890s, a few fashionable women in San Francisco began to shorten their [[The_Bifurcated_Skirt|skirts]] a few inches to accommodate their latest pastime: [[CYCLERS RIDE IN GAY ATTIRE|bicycling]]. By 1895, so many women in the United States were bicycling that they started a new movement for dress reform (trading long skirts and petticoats for shorter outfits, bloomers, and gaiters). But more important than the new freedom of dress was the new freedom of movement.

[[Image:WASP-bloomers.jpg]]

'''Bloomers were the rage in the mid-1890s, making the cover of The Wasp.'''

''Image: California Historical Society''

As Mrs. Reginald de Koven wrote for ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in August, 1885, "To men, rich and poor, the bicycle is an unmixed blessing, but to women it is deliverance, revolution, salvation. It is well nigh impossible to overestimate the potentialities of this exercise in the curing of the common and characteristic ills of womankind, both physical and mental, or to calculate the far reaching effects of its influence in the matters of dress and social reform ."

The bicycle was seen as a cure for women who suffered from the cultural diseases of the era--hysteria, vapors, and nerves--that were brought on by stiflingly tight corsets and social manners.

"The rewards which this exercise offers are so great, in the fascination of the free motion, the exhilaration of the sense of power over the wheel, the delight of flying through the landscape," Mrs. de Koven went on, "that it is no wonder it is potent to bring delicate, fanciful women off their couches, and to rid them of vapors and nerves."

[[Image:Sally-emerson-jean-williams.jpg]]

'''Sally Emerson and Jean Williams stump an officer in 1933 in Golden Gate Park.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Wimmin%24women-cyclists-1930.jpg]]

'''Cycling in Golden Gate Park c. 1930s.'''

Even more amazing bicycle-cures seemed to be possible: "The bicycle actually has been used by physicians as a means of curing insanity, and there is an authenticated case of an inmate of a retreat in Brooklyn who was restored to sanity by the use of the machine; surely an astonishing proof of what this regular absorbing physically healthful exercise may do for a mind diseased.

[[Image:Falcons.jpg]]

'''Falcons Women's Bicycle Club at [[CARVILLE: Suburban Bohemia in Fin de Siecle San Francisco|Carville by the Sea]].'''

''Photo: Shaping San Francisco''

<blockquote>Fashion and society were definitely part of the Falcons' interest in the horse car clubhouse. Mrs. Fitzgerald, the club's ringleader, rented the (street)car not only as a place to rest after rides—the long, upholstered seats served very well for naps—but as an interesting locale for the seven married ladies to entertain. Sunday morning rides to the beach were followed by breakfasts and card games in the car, and soon the women hosted dinner parties as well. 
The Falcons' car sported alternating curtains of blue and white denim in the windows, matching bule and white coverlets upholstering the long seats, and blue and white matting on the floor. Between the windows, the ladies hung paintings of bicycles and seascapes. At the back of the car, the Falcons added a kitchen and shed for their bicycles. Three coal oil stoves fueled dinners for as many as 35, although parties that large took place ''al fresco''. 
The Falcons mounted the car on a wooden raft foundation to keep it from sinking in the sand, and surrounded it with a low wire fence. A short swing gate allowed entry beneath an arch featuring the club logo. On the roof of the car, the ladies mounted a bicycle wheel.</blockquote>

''from [http://www.outsidelands.org/store.php ''Carville-by-the-Sea: San Francisco's Streetcar Suburb''] by Woody LaBounty''

[[Women Swimming in the Golden Gate|Prev. Document]] [[1894 Midwinter Fair: WOMEN ARTISTS, an appreciation |Next Document]]

[[category:Women]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:Transit]] [[category:Bicycling]]

Folsom Street: The Miracle Mile

2026-02-25T21:03:17Z

Lisaruth: changed name on caption of first photo per user edit

''' Historical Essays '''

''Part One by Gayle Rubin, excerpted from "The Miracle Mile: South of Market and Gay Male Leather, 1962-1997" in'' Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, Culture ''(City Lights: 1998)''

''Part Two from ''Black Sheets'' magazine''

[[Image:The-Toolbox-bar-by-Henri-Dedeux fb-Rob-Doughtypg.jpg]]

'''The Toolbox bar at 4th and Harrison, c. 1970'''

''Photo: Henri Leleu, via Rob Doughty facebook page''

<blockquote>''This is the city's backyard. . . . An early morning walk will take a visitor past dozens of small businesses manufacturing necessities; metal benders, plastic molders, even casket makers can all be seen plying their trades. At five they set down their tools and return to the suburbs. . . . A few hours later, men in black leather . . . will step out on these same streets to fill the nearly 30 gay bars, restaurants and sex clubs in the immediate vicinity. Separate realities that seldom touch and, on the surface at least, have few qualms about each other.'' —Mark Thompson (1982, 28)</blockquote>

Gay male leather communities have been markedly territorial in major U.S. cities. In San Francisco, leather has been most closely associated with the South of Market neighborhood since 1962. Earlier, in the 1950s, leathermen had mostly patronized the waterfront bars, such as Jacks on the Waterfront, the Sea Cow, and the Castaways. The first dedicated leather bar in San Francisco was the [[World War II: Self-Discovery for Many | Why Not]], which opened briefly in the Tenderloin in 1962. When the Tool Box opened later that year on the corner of Fourth Street and Harrison, it was the first leather bar located in the South of Market. The Tool Box was a sensation. It was wildly popular and even attracted nationwide media notice. Herb Caen wrote about the Tool Box in his famous ''San Francisco Chronicle'' column:

<blockquote>"As I noted a few days ago, some of the young fellers who hang out in the Tool Box at Fourth and Harrison wear and S or an M on their shirt pockets to indicate Sadist or Masochist. Which prompted a relieved message from Harold Call. "I'm so glad you printed that," he said. "All this time I thought it meant Single, or Married!" (Caen 1964)</blockquote>

[[Image:gay1$toolbox.jpg]]

'''Rubble of the Tool Box at 4th and Harrison (1971), Chuck Arnett's notorious mural stood mutely over the ruins for almost two years.'''

The most celebrated element of the Tool Box was a huge mural painted by Chuck Arnett, a local artist who worked at the bar and whose paintings and posters were also featured at such later bars as the Red Star Saloon and the Ambush. The mural was a massive black-and-white painting that depicted a variety of tough-looking, masculine men. In 1964, when'' Life'' magazine did a story on homosexuality in America, a photograph of the Tool Box was spread across the two opening pages. (Welch & Eppridge 1964)

In it we see the mural and some of the bar patrons, including Arnett and several others who would play significant roles in San Francisco's early leather history, as the managers, bartenders, bouncers, and above all, the artists and decorators of local leather establishments. Standing next to Arnett is Bill Tellman, another artist who has contributed a great deal to the local iconography. He designed the poster for the Slot, one of the earliest leather-oriented bathhouses. He also did graphic design for the Ambush, and a made a backlit stained-glass depiction of fistfucking that eventually adorned the Catacombs.

Jack H. is also in the photo. In 1965 Jack and a partner opened the Detour at 888 McAllister Street when the popularity of the Tool Box began to subside. Later he was a co-owner of Febe's, one of the first leather bars to open on Folsom Street. Jack also later opened the Slot, and some stories even credit him with having invented fistfucking at a party in his basement in 1962. Mike Caffee, another artist, is there, too. Caffee worked in and did graphic design for many leather businesses. In 1966, he designed the logo for Febe's and created a statue that came to symbolize the bar.

[[Image:gay1$miracle-mile$david_itm$leather-david.jpg]]

'''Original Febe's statue of the "Leather David" by Mike Caffee'''

He modified a small plaster reproduction of Michelangelo's David, making him into a classic 1960s gay biker: "I broke off the raised left arm and lowered it so his thumb could go in his pants pocket, giving him cruiser body language. The biker uniform was constructed of layers of wet plaster. . . . The folds and details of the clothing were carved, undercutting deeply so that the jacket would hang away from his body, exposing his well-developed chest. The pants were button Levis, worn over the boots, and he sported a bulging crotch you couldn't miss. . . . Finally I carved a chain and bike run buttons on his [Harley] cap." (Caffee 1997)

This leather David became one of the best-known symbols of San Francisco leather. The image of the Febe's David appeared on pins, posters, calendars, and matchbooks. It was known and disseminated around the world. The statue itself was reproduced in several formats. Two-foot-tall plaster casts were made and sold by the hundreds. One of the plaster statues currently resides in a leather bar in Boston, having been transported across the country on the back of a motorcycle. Another leather David graces a leather bar in Melbourne, Australia. One is in a case on the wall of the Paradise Lounge, a rock-and-roll bar that opened on the site once occupied by Febe's. Despite its enormous influence, the popularity of the Tool Box was short lived. By 1965, it had competition from the Detour and On the Levee, and by 1966, Febes opened and became the leading leather bar. Although the Tool Box was open until 1971, it was never again the dominant leather bar. However, when the building that housed the Tool Box was torn down for redevelopment in 1971, old patrons came by to get bricks to keep as mementos. During demolition, the wall with the mural was left standing for some time, all alone in a sea of concrete rubble and twisted steel. In his memoir of Chuck Arnett and the Tool Box, Jack Fritscher recalls:

"[T]he Tool Box, long deserted, was torn down by the city for urban renewal. Somehow, though, the wreckers ball failed to knock down the stone wall with Arnett's mural of urban aboriginal men in leather made famous by ''Life''. For two years, at the corner of Fourth and Harrison, drivers coming down the off ramp from the freeway were greeted by Arnett's somber dark shadows, those Lascaux cave drawings of Neanderthal, primal, kick-ass leathermen." (Fritscher 1991, 117118)

The leather scene moved to what would become its Main Street in 1966, when Febe's and the Stud opened up at the western end of Folsom Street. Several other bars soon opened along a three-block strip of Folsom Street, establishing a core area that anchored a burgeoning leather economy with various commercial establishments, which continued to develop and expand in the 1970s to become one of the most extensive and densely occupied leather neighborhoods in the world. The area still functions as the local leather capital. As a result, the South of Market acquired a number of nicknames, including the Folsom, the Miracle Mile, and the Valley of the Kings. This last appellation was coined by local leather columnist Mr. Marcus. By the late 1970s, Mr. Marcus had given each of San Francisco's three major gay neighborhoods a nickname. The Valley of the Kings conveyed an image of powerful, cocky, independent, and sexy masculinity. It contrasted with Marcus' nickname for Polk Street, the Valley of the Queens, in reference to the older and sometimes more effeminate population of gay men associated with the area. He dubbed the Castro the Valley of the Dolls, an allusion to its hordes of young and beautiful men. By the late 1970s, the Castro was unquestionably the center of local gay politics, but the Folsom had become the sexual center. The same features that made the area attractive to leather bars made it hospitable to other forms of gay sexual commerce. Many of the non-leather gay bathhouses and sex clubs also nestled among the warehouses. Just before the age of AIDS, the South of Market had become symbolically and institutionally associated in the gay male community with sex.

[[Image:6th-St-SE-at-Folsom-1926-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Sixth Street looking southeast across Folsom Street, 1926, long before the neighborhood began to change.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Folsom-St-ne-at-6th-1928-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Folsom Street northeast across 6th Street, 1928.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Folsom-South-at-7th-1929-SFPL 72dpi.jpg|720px]]

'''Folsom Street west at 7th Street, 1929.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

[[Image:Folsom-Street-east-at-9th-1927-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Folsom Street east at 9th Street, 1927.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

'''Another view from ''Black Sheets'' magazine:'''

Some gay men wanted to assert themselves in masculine, overtly sexual ways, and to find partners who shared their desire for intense sexual connection. Partly, this was in reaction to a society that treated sexuality of almost any type with shame. And certainly part of it was in rejection of a prevailing "one size fits all" effeminate stereotype for gays that did not suit them. Yet it was difficult for these men to find settings where this was not the norm. Once again, many gay men felt isolated this time, in the midst of their own.

Ironically, then, it took the establishment media to part the leather curtain forever. ''Life ''magazine's June 26, 1964 feature, "Homosexuality in America," opened with a two-page spread of artist Chuck Arnett's mural towering over the men of San Francisco's Tool Box bar. This moody mural, occasionally enlivened by a smiling face, depicted imposing men in black, all variations on Marlon Brando and James Dean. No doubt many men found in this monument to homomasculinity a mirror against which to measure their own leather style. The ''Life'' article was the mass culture's first exposure to gay leather sexuality. ''Life'' also called San Francisco the "Gay Capital" of the United States, and the label has certainly stuck. In the 1991 anthology,'' Leatherfolk'', Jack Fritscher described the article as "an image-liberating historical issue that was read across the nation as an invitation to come to San Francisco and be a man's man." It no doubt resulted in some of those frustrated men hitching their wagons to the Folsom's rising star. Go west, young man.

The most famous was Fe-Be's, at 1501 Folsom Street. It was for many years considered the premier gay biker club bar. The upstairs housed the first location of A Taste of Leather, a leather and sex toy shop owned by Nick O'Demus, who resembled a Santa in black leather. A branch of A Taste of Leather eventually opened at Off the Levee, a combination bar and restaurant at 527 Bryant, also founded in 1966. The Stud, at 1535 Folsom, was also initially a leather bar but quickly became a hippie "head" bar.

1968 saw the opening of two South of Market institutions: the Ritch Street Baths at 330 Ritch Street, the poshest of the San Francisco bathhouses, and the Ramrod, the famed leather bar at 1225 Folsom.

Occasionally a leather bar would jump the South of Market border to establish turf in a bordering neighborhood. This was the case with the Sound of Music, in the Tenderloin at 162 Turk, which opened in 1969.

According to Henri Lelue, the owner chose the bar's name so he could put the initials "SM" into the bar sign. The original owner was into rough trade and opened the bar for a kid who was later murdered there. (During the punk era, this became a nightclub showcasing local bands.)

The race to Mecca was on. "Tourists to SFO one summer were residents by the next. Golden Age sex put many a midwestern career in law, medicine, teaching, and business on hold. Man-to-man sex was the siren call," asserts Jack Fritscher in Leatherfolk. "Basically, you had a lot of horny young men, finally unrestrained and turning loose," Jack Fertig agrees. "And it was like, teenage boys without parent figures any more.

They could do whatever the hell they wanted."

—''Black Sheets''

[[1960: A Turning Point | Prev. Document]] [[The 1970s: Disco Fever and Respectability | Next Document]]

[[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Public Art]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:downtown]] [[category:Polk Gulch]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:Reclaiming San Francisco]]

The Mission’s Hidden Gang History: A Quick Snapshot

2026-02-03T21:38:16Z

Lisaruth: Protected "The Mission’s Hidden Gang History: A Quick Snapshot" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

''' "I was there..." '''

''by Juan Valdez''

[[Image:Lou-d 01.jpg|400px|left]]

''Photo: Lou DeMatteis''

For most of my life I have lived in San Francisco, both in the Mission and outer Mission Districts. I grew up in the era of the “cholo low-rider” cars, political protests against U.S. intervention in Central America, and the football championships of the San Francisco Forty-Niners in the 1980s. San Francisco however, has a different historical narrative that mainstream San Franciscans are not aware of. Since it relates to gangs, it is dismissed or ignored.

Most San Franciscans are unaware of the decades-old gang culture that still exists today, nor do they know about the political nuances that everyday youth still experience to this day. As a young man of color, things in the neighborhood mostly seem normal and just how life is in the world. Looking back today, I can safely say that the world and things that I saw and experienced were quite unusual—and those in mainstream society would deem terrifying.

I grew up for some time in the Mission District on Lexington and Alabama streets where life was not particularly out of the ordinary, but as I grew older my family and I moved to the Excelsior neighborhood. I began formulating an opinion on how the world worked. I remember being placed in parochial school by my mother who wanted me to excel in school and eventually earn a better living than both her and my father. What was unexpected was the level of racism that existed at that time (mid-1970s). I was made fun of in school and chased by the Irish kids in my class for being different.

The weekends and summer vacations were my favorite times, for it allowed me to commute back into the Mission District where all my cousins still lived. I remember listening to the stories they use to tell about the goings-on in the “hood” and also learning the street politics that existed then. At that time the gangs that existed were neighborhood groups without any official names necessarily. I remember my older cousins recalling that there were gangs in the old days. There were some groups of older men that belonged, claiming streets such Folsom, Hampshire, Bryant, and Potrero, etc.

For my generation, there was one pivotal point however, where the mythology and romanticism of gangs was placed on wide screen in a theatre in a movie that debut in the summer of 1979 called “Boulevard Nights”. As I recall it was the Granada Theatre (which is now an Asian trinket market between 23rd and 22nd streets in San Francisco) where after the movie, all the young people who had been there began to take on another persona, including me. It was the first time that I saw people that looked and acted like me presented by Hollywood. Our ethnicity and at least some of our experiences at that moment were reaffirmed. Our identity as young thugs was acknowledged and seen by the world. We of course felt invisible. Society was watching what we were dealing with in our respective neighborhoods. Young people that had packed the theatre left shouting, “Folsom!” Others were yelling “Excelsior” mother f******s, while others yelled “SFM!” (San Francisco Mission) Putos! Some small pockets of young people started some skirmishes but nothing serious. All those young men and some women ranged between the ages of 12 to 18 or so it seemed. Soon after the movie I remember feeling in awe of the “pachuco”/“cholo” images that reflected my reality. I recall going home and getting my father’s size large white tee-shirts and my “Ben Davis” work pants and strutting around as though I had just adorned a uniform of honor and “respect.” This it seemed was to be our uniform for the next almost ten years, our expression of resistance to mainstream society or our way of being seen.

[[Image:Lou-d 09.jpg]]

'''Cruising on Mission Street, c. 1980.'''

''Photo: Lou DeMatteis''

It is so interesting that from an indigenous perspective, it would appear that my ancestors back in Central America were doing the very same thing. Most of the colorful adorned Mayan and Nahuatl traditional garb worn today only started as the invisibility of the Indigenous communities grew.

Most cliques in those days were relatively unorganized but the movies and Hollywood kept producing the mythology. The influence of East L.A. low-riders moved north, and more mimicking was taking place. But it was also more than just pretending. Groups like the Lords of Frisco, Low Creations, and Estrellas car clubs also began exercising influence at the street thug level. As I recall many of the relatives from car clubs were either directly involved with street life or with emerging gangs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

The neighborhoods also began to formalize and those of us with bi-district or multi-district affiliations were looked down upon. Affiliations were always being tested by some of the older brothers in the “life”.

Alcohol, drugs and the influx of prison-gang-affiliated individuals being released from the penitentiaries and California Youth Authority was paramount to this gang lifestyle development in San Francisco. The struggle for the drug trade was mostly kept in the 16th Street and 14th Street corridors, along with the Tenderloin, Hunters Point, and the Fillmore. Chinatown was controlled by the Chinese families that helped establish that neighborhood.

As the romanticism of prison gangs—along with the tutelage of the older ex-cons—took hold of us twelve-year-olds, we began to understand the importance of territory and political affiliations with other groups. For the most part almost all the groups of young people affiliated themselves as SFM but had the flexibility of maintaining the autonomy of their particular street name. The Excelsior neighborhood was the exception. Most of the individuals from this neighborhood were to some degree more “Americanized” and although a working-class neighborhood, many did not speak any Spanish and felt a bit above those of us who were more affiliated with the Mission District.

During the low-rider scenes of the 1980s, the Mission District was comprised mostly of Mexican-American families with a growing influx of Nicaraguan and Salvadoran families. This was partially due to the Central American civil wars that were taking place. Friday and Saturday nights were jam-packed with low-rider cars at times bumper-to-bumper from Saint Mary’s Park to 14th Street and Mission. Clubs all the way from Fresno, San Jose, Stockton and Oakland were all on the boulevard showing off some of the most beautiful mosaic painted cars ever seen. Depictions of Aztec warriors and maidens, Mayan pyramids, scenes of Apache raids and cholo “pintos” (prison inmates) were common themes of the car murals. At 23rd and Mission there was a donut shop that closed shop at sundown but was a hub for many of my friends and relatives. At a minimum, there were close to 50 to 80 souls jam-packed into the doorway area of this store, all dressed in their black Sir Jack or Derby coats. I myself had both. Sometimes the low riders would cruise up and down 24th street and would end up in a place on Potrero and 25th streets known in the “hood” as the [[The Lot|“lot.”]] It is now a beautiful park next to an elementary school, and frequented by the locals and at times, junkies. This infamous lot was the place where the good, the bad and the ugly took place. Fights, stabbings, loss of virginity, and many young people’s drug addiction started at this place. It was also a space however, where some of the street knowledge and political dynamics were heard and disseminated. Much of the neighborhood news became known at the “lot.”

[[Image:1286.jpg|720px]]

'''Checking the hydraulic lift at The Lot, c. late 1970s.'''

''Photo: El Tecolote Archives''

With more formalization of the neighborhoods came tighter and tighter boundaries. One thing was clear: Excelsior and the Mission were becoming more and more hostile to each other, partly due to the skirmishes during the cruise nights. This became more evident after several stabbings during the weekends. These stabbings turned into shoot-outs, and murders. Most interesting is the fact that at this time there was no rivalry between what Latino gangs now call “north” and “south”. There was no real penetration of this prison gang politique for the younger groups, to the extent that a shoot-out would take place due to a color (red for ''norteños'' and blue for ''sureños''). Colors began taking hold after this era primarily around the early ’90s in both the Mission District and Tenderloin.

San Francisco in the prison gang realm is seen more as a neutral zone. In California, there is currently a war between members of the Mexican Mafia and the Nuestra Familia prison gangs. The Mexican Mafia was the first Mexican prison gang to start out of Folsom Prison in the 1950s and early ‘60s, made up mostly of Mexican prison inmates as a racial power group. Years later another group was founded by mostly Mexican farmworkers, who used the Cesar Chavez-led United Farm Workers union for their cover. They eventually became prison allies with the infamous Black Guerrilla Family, formed by George Jackson from Oakland, while the Mexican Mafia aligned themselves with Aryan Brotherhood. Many young gangsters living the “life” in San Francisco never realized that among them were members of the Mexican Mafia with their families living in the Mission, even though it’s in Northern California. According to some ''“pintos,”'' who would talk loud while on heroin, these ''“moscos”'' (flies) members however would have to pay rent to the Nuestra Familia members while they were staying locally.

The low-rider scene came to an end when a large police enforcement effort placed no left or right turn signs at nearly every intersection along Mission Street, and engaged in constant harassment of low riders. Many young people also began getting killed by other youngsters. Fourteen-year-old girls began getting pregnant and crime rates soared. Daly City aligned themselves with the Excelsior group and a war raged for about a decade. Fog Town and East Side Daly City were also players in the new alignment. Violence was steadily increasing and complaints by Latino residents also gave impetus to new police vigilance.

Since the mid-seventies, the gang situation in San Francisco has changed profoundly. Young men and boys and now young women are involved with murder and drug trafficking at a larger scale and affiliated not only with the prison gangs but now Mexican cartels. Dozens of young people have been slaughtered by other young people, disputing invisible boundaries.

Hope for this community began with a coordinated effort by community organizations such the Real Alternative Program giving young thugs opportunities for education and health. Unfortunately for some of these non-profits, they have been at odds with foundations, endowments and institutional racism. The threat to most of these Latino families is now gentrification and the selling of the affordable housing by private owners. Many of the families have now moved into suburban ghettos such as Antioch or Stockton where rents are cheaper. Now upscale coffee shops are often in close proximity to tortilla-making and Mexican bread markets. We will see what the future holds for the “Mission”.

[[Image:08 big-blue-dodge.jpg]]

'''Big Blue Dodge on display at early 1980s Carnaval.'''

''Photo: Lou DeMatteis''

[[category:Latino]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:racism]] [[category:crime]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Excelsior]] [[category:OMI/Ingleside]]

Category:Talks

2026-01-26T03:29:09Z

Lisaruth: Protected "Category:Talks" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

Shaping San Francisco hosts Public Talks on a variety of topics on Wednesday nights, 10–18 times a year. Our topic themes vary, but we've grouped them over time into the categories listed below. These Public Talks have been archived in audio and since 2104 in video. Browse our offerings, and catch up on almost two decades of public discussions. Find them also at the Shaping San Francisco collection on the [https://archive.org/details/shaping_sf Internet Archive], and embedded in archival pages at [http://shapingsf.org/public-talks/index.html shapingsf.org].

''Unlinked Talks mean there is no audio or video available.''

<ul>
<li>[[#art|Art & Politics]]</li>
<li>[[#ecology|Ecology]]</li>
<li>[[#history|Historical Perspectives]]</li>
<li>[[#lit|Literary]]</li>
<li>[[#social|Social Movements]]</li>
</ul>

<hr>

==Art & Politics==

[[Talks:_Art_%26_Politics_/_2020-|Public Talks: Art & Politics / 2020-]] 

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_oct1-25|October 1, 2025: Eric Drooker—''Naked City'']]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_sep25-24|September 25, 2024: Will Maynez Interprets Diego Rivera]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_may8-24|May 8, 2024: Hughen/Starkweather]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics_/_2020-#feb26-20|February 26, 2020: Miranda Bergman]]

[[Talks:_Art_%26_Politics_/_2015-2019|Public Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019]] 

:[[Talks: Art & Politics_/_2015-2019#sep11-19|September 11, 2019: San Francisco Poster Syndicate]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#apr3-19|April 3, 2019: Chris "L7" Cuadrado]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#feb13-19|February 13, 2019: Seth Eisen/OUT of Site]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#nov28-18|November 28, 2018: Public Art and Murals: Controversy, Neglect, Restoration]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#may2-18|May 2, 2018: Kal Spelletich--Do Androids Dream of Surplus Value?]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#apr4-18|April 4, 2018: Insurgent Country Music and its Roots in the Golden State]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#mar14-18|March 14, 2018: Ilana Crispi: Tenderloin and Mission Dirt]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#feb28-18|February 28, 2018: Lou Dematteis]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#nov8-17|November 8, 2017: Seth Eisen "OUT of Site"]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#jun7-17|June 7, 2017: Kent Minault's "Diggerly-Do's"]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#jan25-17|January 25, 2017: Packard Jennings]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#sep28-16|September 28, 2016: Jenny Odell, Art as Archiving, Archiving as Art]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#feb24-16|February 24, 2016: Mauro Ffortissimo with Dean Mermell]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#nov4-15|November 4, 2015: Guillermo Gomez-Peña]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#sep30-15|September 30, 2015: Nato Green]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#mar4-15|March 4, 2015: Sirron Norris]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2015-2019#feb11-15|February 11, 2015: Rene Yañez]]

[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014|Public Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#nov12-14|November 12, 2014: Janet Delaney]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#apr30-14|April 30, 2014: Yolanda Lopez]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#mar26-14|March 26, 2014: Norman Nawrocki — Cazzarola!]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#jan22-14|January 22, 2014: Songs of Freedom celebration]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#apr24-13|April 24, 2013: Rebar]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#nov7-12|November 7, 2012: Clarion Alley Mural Project]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#may16-12|May 16, 2012: Amy Franceschini]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#may9-12|May 9, 2012: Rock, Posters, and Politics!]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#apr18-12|April 18, 2012: "Reel Hood Heroes": Conscious Youth Media Crew]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#mar21-12|March 21, 2012: Jess Curtis: Body of Work]]

:October 19, 2011: An Open Rehearsal of Trial of Lucullus

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#may25-11|May 25, 2011: Lost Murals, Political Posters, Underground Comix: Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-78]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2011-2014#feb9-11|February 9, 2011: Eric Drooker and HOWL]]

[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010|Public Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#oct27-10|October 27, 2010: A Staged Reading of Money, a WPA Comedy from 1937]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#sep22-10|September 22, 2010: RIGO]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#may19-10|May 19, 2010: History of San Francisco's Carnaval]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#mar10-10|March 10, 2010: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#feb17-10|February 17, 2010: Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#jan20-10|January 20, 2010: Patricia Rodriguez]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#dec9-09|December 9, 2009: Keith Hennessy]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#nov18-09|November 18, 2009: Philippines: Immigration Politics and the Body]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#sep23-09|September 23, 2009: From India to the Bay Area: Culture and Economy]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#sep16-09|September 16, 2009: Conscious Youth Media Crew]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#may27-09|May 27, 2009: Susan Greene]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#apr15-09|April 15, 2009: Russell Howze]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#mar18-09|March 18, 2009: Jet Martinez]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#feb18-09|February 18, 2009: Doug Minkler]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#oct8-08|October 8, 2008: San Francisco Print Collective]]

:September 10, 2008: Art as Intervention

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#mar19-08|March 19, 2008: Favianna Rodriguez]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#feb20-08|February 20, 2008: Eric Drooker]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#jan16-08|January 16, 2008: Andrew Schoultz]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#oct17-07|October 17, 2007: Hugh D’Andrade]]

:[[Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010#sep19-07|September 19, 2007: Mona Caron]]

:September 12, 2007: Grant Funding for the Arts in San Francisco: A Discussion

<hr>

==Ecology==

Public Talks: Ecology / 2025

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_mar26-25|March 26, 2025: Biospheric Dialogue]]

Public Talks: Ecology / 2024

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_mar26-24|March 26, 2024: Cultivating Food Resilience and Combating Global Challenges]]

Public Talks: Ecology / 2020-2023

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_dec2-23|December 2, 2023: Thinkwalk—1862 Flood]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_sep30-23|September 30, 2023: Natural Areas II Bike Tour: Golden Gate Park to Lobos Valley]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_sep23-23|September 23, 2023: Frisco Bay Mussel Group: A Look Back]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_sep22-23|September 22, 2023: San Francisco Natural History with Greg Gaar]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_apr23-23|April 23, 2023: Special Anniversary Bike Tour: Natural Areas and Native Plants]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_mar18-23|March 18, 2023: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Journey to the Highest Peak: Mt. Davidson]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_nov5-22|November 5, 2022: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—China Beach to Mountain Lake]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_oct15-22|October 15, 2022: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Tunnel Tops to Francisco Park]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_sep24-22|September 24, 2022: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Chain of Lakes, Golden Gate Park]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_apr9-22|April 9, 2022: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—San Bruno Mountain]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_mar26-22|March 26, 2022: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Fort Funston to Pine Lake]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_jan29-22|January 29, 2022: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Visitacion Valley and Little Hollywood]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_nov6-21|November 6, 2021: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Glen Canyon and Sutro Forest]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_oct9-21|October 9, 2021: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Bayview Hill and Candlestick Point State Recreation Area]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_aug28-21|August 28, 2021: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Grandview Peak and Golden Gate Heights]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_jun26-21|June 26, 2021: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Dogpatch, Warm Water Cove, Shipyards and Crane Cove Park]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_apr10-21|April 10, 2021: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Presidio: Crissy Field to El Polín Spring]]

:[[Talks: 2020 Videos#v_dec13-20|December 13, 2020: King Tide/Sea Level Rise Mission Bay Virtual Walking Tour]]

:[[Talks: 2020 Videos#v_sep19-20|September 19, 2020: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—India Basin and Heron's Head Park]]

[[Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019|Public Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019#sep25-19|September 25, 2019: Neighborhood Corridors: Memory and Ecology]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019#may22-19|May 22, 2019: Local Ecological Justice and Urbanity]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019#mar27-19|March 27, 2019: Sea Level Rise: Pacific Ocean and the Bay Area]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019#mar28-18|March 28, 2018: Saving the Bay from the "Future"]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019#mar7-18|March 7, 2018: Resilient by Design: The Language of Water]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2018-2019#feb7-18|February 7, 2018: Building a Deep Map--Beyond Buildings and Views]]

[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017|Public Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#sep27-17|September 27, 2017: Other Food Systems Are Possible]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#may10-17|May 10, 2017: From the Delta to the Bayshore: Adaptation Infrastructure and Rising Seas]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#feb8-17|February 8, 2017: Citizen Science/Extinction Culture]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#nov30-16|November 30, 2016: Unseen City]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#may11-16|May 11, 2016: What’s Going Right with the Global Environment!]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#apr27-16|April 27, 2016: Oil, Soil, and (Climate) Turmoil]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#apr13-16|April 13, 2016: Synthetic Biology: DIY Tinkering Meets Big Capital]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#dec2-15|December 2, 2015: Tending the Urban Wild]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#may13-15|May 13, 2015: Plumbing California: Past, Present, and Future]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#may6-15|May 6, 2015: Rewilding and the Anthropocene]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#apr22-15|April 22, 2015: Telling Stories with Bricks]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2015-2017#feb4-15|February 4, 2015: San Francisco’s Wild Menu: Flora, Fauna, Feast]]

[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014|Public Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#nov5-14|November 5, 2014: Trees and History]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#sep10-14|September 10, 2014: The Evolving Eastern Shoreline]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#may14-14|May 14, 2014: Political Economy of Bees]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#may7-14|May 7, 2014: Dogs, Density, and Natural Areas]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#apr9-14|April 9, 2014: Urban Farming and Urban Nature: Are We Competing or Cooperating?]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#mar12-14|March 12, 2014: Saltworks and Shorelines: a Visual and Social History of the San Francisco Bay]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#feb26-14|February 26, 2014: Design Radicals: Berkeley 1960s and Today]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#feb5-14|February 5, 2014: Becoming a Biodiversity City]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#oct30-13|October 30, 2013: Liberation Biology]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#may22-13|May 22, 2013: Talking About Ecology and Science in Public]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#mar27-13|March 27, 2013: Designing Resilient Landscapes: What history teaches us about San Francisco and the Bay-Delta Estuary]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#jan16-13|January 16, 2013: The Tigers of Market Street: Butterfly Habitat along a Busy Urban Corridor]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#dec5-12|December 5, 2012: Planning 4th Street: Remaking a San Francisco Corridor]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#aug28-12|August 28, 2012: The Next Step in Sustainability]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2012-2014#may23-12|May 23, 2012: What Are Our Streets For?]]

[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011|Public Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#nov9-11|November 9, 2011: In Search of San Francisco's Eradicated Landscapes]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#oct26-11|October 26, 2011: Urban Homesteading]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#sep28-11|September 28, 2011: Did Laguna Dolores Exist?]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#sep14-11|September 14, 2011: Endangered Species Campaigning]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#jun8-11|June 8, 2011: Ecology and Food of the 1970s: Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-78]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#mar30-11|March 30, 2011: Reciprocal Bio-Regional Culture from the Bay Area to the Sierras]]

:February 23, 2011: Underground Food Politics

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#feb16-11|February 16, 2011: Vanished Waters: A History of San Francisco's Mission Bay]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#jan26-11|January 26, 2011: Environmental History of Golden Gate Park]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#nov17-10|November 17, 2010: Watersheds from California to Mexico]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#nov10-10|November 10, 2010: Eco-Politics, a Strategic Roundtable]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#may26-10|May 26, 2010: Twin Peaks Bioregional Park: A Conservation Strategy for the Heart of San Francisco]]

:May 12, 2010: Circle the Food Wagons!—Local Food Economies

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#feb24-10|February 24, 2010: San Francisco Golf Courses, Parks, Natural Areas]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2010-2011#jan27-10|January 27, 2010: Urban Forest]]

[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009|Public Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009]]

:October 28, 2009: Climate Change/Climate Justice

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#sep30-09|September 30, 2009: Ecology and Redevelopment in Bayview/Hunter's Point ]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#may13-09|May 13, 2009: Can Capitalism really “Go Green?”]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#apr29-09|April 29, 2009: Permacultural Transformation for the Urban Dweller]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#mar25-09|March 25, 2009: Toxic San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#feb25-09|February 25, 2009: Bees in the City]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#jan29-09|January 28, 2009: Lake Merced Natural Area's Future]]

:November 19, 2008: Green Streets: Redesigning San Francisco One Block at a Time

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#oct29-08|October 29, 2008: Candlestick Point: State Park for the People]]

:February 27, 2008: San Francisco's Imperiled and Surviving Birds

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2008-2009#jan30-08|January 30, 2008: Endangered Species Big Year]]

[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007|Public Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007#nov28-07|November 28, 2007: Food Security & Urban Agriculture]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007#oct24-07|October 24, 2007: New Politics for Green Cities]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007#sep26-07|September 26, 2007: San Francisco Water Sources]]

:May 30, 2007: San Francisco Ecology: Butterflies in the City

:May 2, 2007: Immigration, Work, and Agriculture: From Enclosures to Fast-Food

:April 25, 2007: The National Park Where We Live

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007#feb28-07|February 28, 2007: Laying a Foundation for a Green City (3 podcasts) ]]

:January 31, 2007: Grassroots Activism to Save San Bruno Mountain

:November 29, 2006: Native Habitat Restoration: Frogs in San Francisco

:October 25, 2006: Recycling Activism: Trash and Toxics

:September 27, 2006: Activism in and for the San Francisco Bay Ecosystem

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007#may31-06|May 31, 2006 : Can San Francisco Feed Itself? (3 podcasts)]]

:May 10, 2006: San Francisco's Food Revolt

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007#apr26-06|April 26, 2006: Reclaiming Bay Area Military Bases (2 podcasts)]]

:[[Talks: Ecology / 2006-2007#mar29-06|March 29, 2006: Natural Disasters and Community Response (4 podcasts)]]

:February 22, 2006: Nature in the Urban Environment

:January 25, 2006: Natural Areas of San Francisco: a Pre-Urban View

<hr>

==Historical Perspectives==

Public Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2021-2025

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_dec10-25|December 10, 2025: Radiation in our Midst]]

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_nov19-25|November 19, 2025: Logistics, Containers, Seafarers]]

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_nov5-25|November 5, 2025: Auto Row to Robo-cars: A Century of Protesting Carmageddon]]

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_may14-25|May 14, 2025: HUAC and the New McCarthyism]]

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_apr16-25|April 16, 2025: Explosivity: Port Chicago & Beyond]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_oct16-24|October 16, 2024: Rebel Airwaves: Looking back at 75 years of KPFA]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_oct9-24|October 9, 2024: The First Post-Pandemic Political Era: After WWI]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_sep25-24|September 25, 2024: Will Maynez Interprets Diego Rivera]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_sep11-24|September 11, 2024: Muni Labor, Muni Love]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_apr24-24|April 24, 2024: History of Monopoly (the game)]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_apr10-24|April 10, 2024: Life and Death in a Great American City]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_dec5-23|December 15, 2023: Talking History with Gary Kamiya]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_nov15-23|November 15, 2023: Living in the Archives]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_nov8-23|November 8, 2023: Peoples History of SFO]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_oct28-23|October 28, 2023: Lone Mountain Cemeteries]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_oct24-23|October 24, 2023: Mountain View Cemetery]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_sep27-23|September 27, 2023: Trains into the Outside Lands]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_aug26-23|August 26, 2023: Bicycle Messenger Crackdown Commemoration Ride]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_jun14-23|June 14, 2023: San Francisco and the New Deal]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_may20-23|May 20, 2023: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Food and Baseball in SOMA and the Mission]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_mar26-23|March 26, 2023: Tour of the Oakland Tribune Tower]]

:[[Talks: 2023 Videos#v_jan28-23|January 28, 2023: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Bernal Cut to Diamond Heights]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_nov19-22|November 19, 2022: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Pacific Heights and Cow Hollow]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_sep18-21|September 18 2021: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Eureka Valley and Corbett Heights]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_mar6-21|March 6 2021: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Bernal Heights and the Bernal Cut]]

[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019|Public Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020]]

:[[Talks: Spring 2020 Videos#v_nov14-20|November 14, 2020: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—McLaren Park and Philosophers' Way]]

:[[Talks: Spring 2020 Videos#v_sep26-20|September 26, 2020: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—Fort Mason and Black Point]]

:August 29, 2020: Urban Forum: Walk and Talk—SF General Hospital and Potrero Hill ''No recording available''

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#mar11-20|March 11, 2020: ''Hidden San Francisco'': Book Release and Birthday Party]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#dec11-19|December 11, 2019: Valencia Street as a Lesbian Corridor: Living Memories]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#nov13-19|November 13, 2019: Progress to Poverty: Land and Rents]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#nov6-19|November 6, 2019: Alcatraz Occupation: A Beginning]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#oct23-19|October 23, 2019: Shellmounds, Indigenous Culture, and Ecology on the San Francisco Bay]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#oct2-19|October 2, 2019: Storytelling and the Memory Keepers]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#may29-19|May 29, 2019: Americans in the Spanish Civil War]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#apr10-19|April 10, 2019: Neighborhood Newspapers of San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#feb6-19|February 6, 2019: Internment and its Aftermath]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2019-2020#jan23-19|January 23, 2019: Before San Francisco: Spanish and Mexican Peninsula]]

[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018|Public Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#nov7-18|November 7, 2018: The War to End All Wars]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#oct31-18|October 31, 2018: The Jazz of Modern Basketball: Racism and Virtuosity at the Roots of the Golden State Warriors]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#oct10-18|October 10, 2018: Missing Pieces: Remembering Elements of a Gone City]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#sep26-18|September 26, 2018: Model SF: Collectively Shaping the City]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#may23-18|May 23, 2018: Archives and Memory: New Ways of Making History]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#may9-18|May 9, 2018: Platform Cooperatives]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#apr25-18|April 25, 2018: Universal Basic Income, Is It time?]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#jan24-18|January 24, 2018: Dogpatch Then and Now]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#dec6-17|December 6, 2017: Popular Front to Cold War]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#oct11-17|October 11, 2017: Speeding Through the Unseen, From Coding to Commons]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#oct4-17|October 4, 2017: Art and Architecture During the Depression]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#may3-17|May 3, 2017: Agents of Change: California Labor History]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2017-2018#feb22-17|February 22, 2017: Progressive Transgressions]]

[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016|Public Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#dec7-16|December 7, 2016: Divided We Fall: Immigration and Scapegoating]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#nov9-16|November 9, 2016: The Housing Crisis and The Growth Consensus: What's Wrong with this Picture?]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#oct5-16|October 5, 2016: 19th Century California Indian Slavery and Genocide]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#may25-16|May 25, 2016: Audible Cities]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#apr20-16|April 20, 2016: San Francisco, 1960s & 70s: Cultural Ecology and Experimentation]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#mar16-16|March 16, 2016: Street Names, Streetcars, and Street Life]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#mar9-16|March 9, 2016: Rise and Fall of Third Worldism]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#feb10-16|February 10, 2016: New (Old) Paradigms in Medicine]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#jan27-16|January 27, 2016: Easter Rebellion and Irish San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#dec9-15|December 9, 2015: United Nations and New Deal]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#oct7-15|October 7, 2015: Archaeology Finds…Daily Family Life in Early SF Settlements]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#apr8-15|April 8, 2015: The Tenderloin: SF’s Most Fraught Neighborhood]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#feb24-15|February 24, 2015: Promises of Progress: Panama-Pacific International Exposition]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2015-2016#jan21-15|January 21, 2015: Washed Away—Newfound Extreme Weather History]]

[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014|Public Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#dec3-14|December 3, 2014: Tunneling San Francisco Then and Now: Where's the Public Interest?]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#oct9-14|October 9, 2014: Making History by Making Maps]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#sep24-14|September 24, 2014: No Future at College?!?]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#may28-14|May 28, 2014: San Francisco's Ghadar Party Heritage]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#apr16-14|April 16, 2014: Upton Sinclair/End Poverty in California]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#mar19-14|March 19, 2014: Stop, Thief! The Commons, Enclosures, and Resistance]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#jan15-14|January 15, 2014: Latinos at the Golden Gate: Creating Community & Identity in San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#oct9-13|October 9, 2013: Bay Area Indigenous Pre-History]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#sep25-13|September 25, 2013: Radical Archiving and Cataloging as Social History]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#sep11-13|September 11, 2013: The Bay Bridge, 1936-2013]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#apr13-13|April 13, 2013: Chinese Whispers]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#feb27-13|February 27, 2013: Pier 70, Transforming 19th Century Ironworks to a 21st Century ... ?]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2013-2014#jan30-13|January 30, 2013: Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth]]

[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012|Public Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#dec12-12|December 12, 2012: Old City Hall: Corruption & Racism in 19th Century San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#jul17-12|July 17, 2012: Bristol Radical History Group “History From Below”]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#may30-12|May 30, 2012: FoundSF: Dissent]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#may2-12|May 2, 2012: Mat Callahan presents the "James Connolly--Songs of Freedom" project]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#apr25-12|April 25, 2012: Radically Gay: Harry Hay, LGBT pioneer]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#jan18-12|January 18, 2012: The Vietnam War Continues]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#dec14-11|December 14, 2011: Centennial Anniversary! Women Get the Vote!]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#nov30-11|November 30, 2011: The History of the Future]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#oct12-11|October 12, 2011: Reimagining Market Street]]

:May 11, 2011: A Virtual Civil Liberties Tour of San Francisco

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#jan19-11|January 19, 2011: Before (and After) the Car: San Francisco's Transit History]]

:January 12, 2011: Rick Prelinger's Lost Landscapes of Detroit

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2010-2012#jan13-10|January 13, 2010: Prohibition in San Francisco: Then and Now]]

[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009|Public Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009]]

:December 16, 2009 : Rick Prelinger's Lost Landscapes of the East Bay

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#nov11-09|November 11, 2009: Alcatraz: 40th Anniversary of Indigenous Occupation]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#sep9-09|September 9, 2009: Final Tap: An Unofficial History of Beer]]

:February 11, 2009: Rick Prelinger's Lost Landscapes III: Film Fragments of San Francisco

:January 21, 2009: FoundSF: San Francisco History Wiki Workshop

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#nov12-08|November 12, 2008: The Invisible Public Legacy of the Great Depression]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#sep17-08|September 17, 2008: SF State Strike 40th Anniversary]]

:December 19, 2007: Rick Prelinger's Lost Landscapes: Film Fragments of San Francisco

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#apr11-07|April 11, 2007: Lowriders: When the Mission was Low and Slow]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#feb14-07|February 14, 2007: A History of Land Grabs in San Francisco and Some Counter-efforts]]

:December 6, 2006: Rick Prelinger's Lost Landscapes: Film Fragments of San Francisco

:November 8, 2006: Sexual and Reproductive Freedom Since the 1960s

:June 14, 2006: Films by Calvin Roberts: A San Franciscan’s Lost History

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#apr12-06|April 12, 2006: Black Exodus and Black Eviction in San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Historical Perspectives / 2006-2009#feb8-06|February 8, 2006: Philippines & San Francisco: Connected Through History]]

:January 18, 2006: Labor strength: Historic Bay Area General Strikes

==Literary==

[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017|Public Talks: Literary / 2010-2017]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#mar11-20|March 11, 2020: ''Hidden San Francisco": Book Release and Birthday Party]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#mar8-17|March 8, 2017: Local History in Your Ear]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#nov11-15|November 11, 2015: Literary Liberalism and the Western Voice]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#nov13-13|November 13, 2013: Literary Treasures of the North Mission]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#oct16-13|October 16, 2013: Unsettlers: El Cabe]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#may8-13|May 8, 2013: Unsettlers: Migrants, Homies, and Mammas in the Mission]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#apr13-11|April 13, 2011: History of the Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co.]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#mar23-11|March 23, 2011: The Radical Futures Of The Book]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#oct20-10|October 20, 2010: Hard Boiled for Hard Times—Crime Authors in the City]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#oct13-10|October 13, 2010: Outspoken Authors Speak Out]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#mar24-10|March 24, 2010: Science Fiction and the Struggle for Justice]]

:[[Talks: Literary / 2010-2017#mar17-10|March 17, 2010: Crime/Noir Writers Describe Their Crimes in the City]]

<hr>

==Social Movements==

[[Talks: Social Movements / 2020|Public Talks: Social Movements / 2020-2025]]

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_oct22-25|October 22, 2025: Social Housing: Challenging YIMBYs and NIMBYs]]

:[[Talks: 2025 Videos#v_feb26-25|February 26, 2025: New Luddites vs. Biopiracy and AI]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_dec4-24|December 4, 2024: Refusing Silicon Valley]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_jul5-24|July 5, 2024: 1934 Big Strike 90th Anniversary]]

:[[Talks: 2024 Videos#v_may22-24|May 22, 2024: Rainbow Grocery Cooperative]]

:[[Talks: 2022 Videos#v_may28-22|May 28, 2022: Urban Forum Walk n Talk: CCSF to SFSU]]

:[[Talks: 2021 Videos#v_nov18-21|November 18, 2021: An Irish Catholic Liberal: Bishop Mark J. Hurley and the 1968-69 Strike at State]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2020#jan29-20|January 29, 2020: Enola Gay Faggot Affinity Group]]

[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019|Public Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#dec4-19|December 4, 2019: Seattle/WTO Shutdown: 20th Anniversary]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#oct15-19|October 15, 2019: For the Record: Eyewitness Testimonies of the police murder of Luis Góngora Pat]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#oct9-19|October 9, 2019: Expanding San Francisco’s Common Wealth]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#may8-19|May 8, 2019: The Women of Los Siete de la Raza]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#mar13-19|March 13, 2019: Dockworker Power in the Bay Area and South Africa]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#dec5-18|December 5, 2018: Movements of Movements]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#oct24-18|October 24, 2018: Rethinking 1968: What Happened, How Has It Shaped Us?]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2018-2019#oct3-18|October 3, 2018: Women, Power, and the Vote: 1911 Suffrage to the 2018 Midterms]]

[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017|Public Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#dec13-17|December 13, 2017: San Francisco's Freeway Revolt]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#oct18-17|October 18, 2017: 50th Anniversary of the Stop the Draft Week Protests]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#may31-17|May 31, 2017: Summer of Love or Vietnam Summer?]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#mar22-17|March 22, 2017: We've Done This Before: 1980s Movements]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#oct26-16|October 26, 2016: Death of Money: Diggers 50 Years Later]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#oct12-16|October 12, 2016: Compton's Cafeteria 50th Anniversary—The Transformation of Trans Politics and Identity]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#sep14-16|September 14, 2016: Hunter's Point Rebellion, 50 Years Later]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#oct14-15|October 14, 2015: Housing is a Human Right!]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#sep23-15|September 23, 2015: Prisoners and Politics: from the San Quentin Six to Pelican Bay]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#apr29-15|April 29, 2015: Union Demise and New Workers’ Movements]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#apr1-15|April 1, 2015: Vietnam War, Dissent, and the U.S. Military]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2015-2017#jan14-15|January 14, 2015: Home on the Grange]]

[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014|Public Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#dec10-14|December 10, 2014: Latin American Social Movements]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#oct29-14|October 29, 2014: San Francisco’s Housing Wars 2014 ]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#oct1-14|October 1, 2014: A History of LGBTQ Spaces . . .Where you Least Expect Them]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#dec4-13|December 4, 2013: Remembering Los Siete]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#nov6-13|November 6, 2013: Confronting Cultural Genocide]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#oct2-13|October 2, 2013: The Red Army Faction—Dancing With Imperialism]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#may20-13|May 20, 2013: "We are not machines!" The Situation and Struggles of the iSlaves in China]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#mar13-13|March 13, 2013: Asia's Unknown Uprisings]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#feb20-13|February 20, 2013: The Revolution of Everyday Life]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#oct17-12|October 17, 2012: Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#oct10-12|October 10, 2012: Ohlone Profiles Project]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#sep12-12|September 12, 2012: Mexico Today: Dinosaurs, Popular Refusal, and Hashtags!]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#apr11-12|April 11, 2012: West of Eden: Communes and Utopia in Northern California]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#mar28-12|March 28, 2012: Selma James and George Katsiaficas]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#mar14-12|March 14, 2012: Rebooting the Rainbow]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#feb22-12|February 22, 2012: Policing San Francisco: 1930s-1960s]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#feb15-12|February 15, 2012: Corporate Personhood?!?]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2012-2014#jan25-12|January 25, 2012: Occupy Everything! An Open Discussion]]

[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011|Public Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#nov16-11|November 16, 2011: The Good, The Bad, and the Alternatives to Mass Education]]

:September 21, 2011: Dublin Community Activism Against Drug Addiction

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#may18-11|May 18, 2011: Mission Politics in the 1970s: Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-78]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#apr27-11|April 27, 2011: Overcoming Work and Sacrifice]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#apr20-11|April 20, 2011: Radical Approaches to Organizing Work]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#mar16-11|March 16, 2011: Movements and Political Generations]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#mar9-11|March 9, 2011: The Struggles of the Balkans and Romani in Fact and Fiction]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#dec15-10|December 15, 2010: Navigating the Criminal Courts: A Guide for Activists]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#dec8-10|December 8, 2010: Haiti: Gender and Continuity in the Midst of Disaster]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#sep29-10|September 29, 2010: Education Crisis/Radical Responses]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#sep15-10|September 15, 2010: Imprisoned But Unbowed: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#apr21-10|April 21, 2010: Ten Years That Shook the City -- Sneak Preview]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#apr14-10|April 14, 2010: U.S. Social Forum, Detroit]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#mar31-10|March 31, 2010: Songs To Enemies And Deserts, A Film Screening About Rebellion In Darfur]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#feb10-10|February 10, 2010: Queer workers: Class, Gentrification and Struggle in San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#oct21-09|October 21, 2009: Bicycling in San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#oct14-09|October 14, 2009: The Politics of ‘Third Space’ in Global Videos and Installations]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#may20-09|May 20, 2009: Anti-systemic Knowledge: Learning from the South]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#apr22-09|April 22, 2009: Global Commons/Global Enclosures]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#apr8-09|April 8, 2009: Anti-War Then and Now]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#mar11-09|March 11, 2009: Local Remanufacturing Our Way out of the Depression]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2009-2011#jan14-09|January 14, 2009: Hearing the City: Radio in San Francisco]]

[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008|Public Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#dec17-08|December 17, 2008: Lessons and Advice on How to Survive an Economic Meltdown]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#dec10-08|December 10, 2008: Neighborhood Newspapers: Community Journalism in San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#oct22-08|October 22, 2008: Worker Cooperative Alternatives to Precariousness]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#sep24-08|September 24, 2008: Global Africa: Liberation, Decolonialization, and Diaspora]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#mar12-08|March 12, 2008: Arab San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#feb13-08|February 13, 2008: Community Art Spaces Survive Urban Pressures]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#jan9-08|January 9, 2008: Class and Power in Queer San Francisco]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#dec12-07|December 12, 2007: News and the Future of Journalism]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#nov14-07|November 14, 2007: Public Commons vs. Corporate Privatization]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#oct10-07|October 10, 2007: Voting Perspectives]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#mar7-07|March 7, 2007: Learnin’ + Teachin’: The Future of Education (4 podcasts)]]

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#jan17-07|January 17, 2007: The Public Health Epidemic in a Therapy Society (3 podcasts)]]

:December 13, 2006: Tactical Evolution: Protest Culture, Dissent, and Radical Change

:October 11, 2006: Bolivar, Zapata and Sandino Ghosts and Revolution in South America

:[[Talks: Social Movements / 2006-2008#mar8-06|March 8, 2006: Infrastructure Wars: Sustainable Movements (3 podcasts)]]

<hr>

[[category:Theme]]

Category:Talks

2026-01-26T03:28:55Z

Lisaruth: updated language to reflect current stats

Esta Noche Was More Than a Bar

2026-01-19T23:27:30Z

Lisaruth: Protected "Esta Noche Was More Than a Bar" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

''' Historical Essay '''

''Joshua Alvarez, 2025''

<big>'''It Was a Blueprint For Liberation'''</big>

[[Image:EstaNoche2009-patricia koren.jpg]]

'''A look at Esta Noche in 2009.'''

''Photo © Patricia Koren''

{| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
| colspan="2" |'''From 1979 to 2014, Esta Noche, a bar for the queer latino community, serves as a space for protection, empowerment, and resilience. This bar was a living blueprint for liberation, a space built by and for people often excluded from dominant queer and Latine narratives. This meant culture and resistance coming together through performance and care. This article argues that Esta Noche functioned as a crucial space for survival and joy, where the queer Latino community could resist racism and homophobia. Drawing from oral histories, community archives, and local reporting, this essay shows that spaces like Esta Noche are not peripheral to social movements, but central to how those movements heal and endure.'''
|}

As one of America’s queerest cities, San Francisco is often remembered for its bold celebration of identity. This is a city that historically celebrated its pride through deep connections to queer spaces, activism, and organizing. From the early marches following Stonewall in New York to the first “official” pride parade on Sunday, June 25, 1972, the city has long stood at the forefront of queer resistance (1).

Much of this visibility became concentrated in the Castro District, which emerged in the 1970s as the symbolic heart of gay life in the city (2). Once a working-class Irish Catholic neighborhood known as Eureka Valley, the Castro transformed into a “gay mecca” as thousands of queer people, many discharged from the military during WWII, settled there and built a gay sanctuary (3). It became home to organizations like the Tavern Guild and the [[Mattachine: Radical Roots of the Gay Movement|Mattachine Society]], the site of Harvey Milk’s historic election, and the epicenter of LGBTQ self-help during the AIDS crisis (4).

But visibility even within the queer community was incredibly segregated. The Castro, while important, was largely shaped by white, affluent gay men (5). For many queer and trans people of color a stark exclusion existed in these spaces. In contrast, the Mission District home to a working-class, immigrant, and culturally rich Latine population became a more accessible and affirming neighborhood (6). It was here that many queer Latinos found a sense of belonging.

In the 1970s, groups like the [[Gay Latino Alliance: Latinidad and Homosexuality in the Mission District|Gay Latino Alliance (GALA)]] organized politically and socially in the Mission, challenging both homophobia in Latino spaces and racism in queer ones (7). Being in the Mission District at the time, and being so close to the Castro, the group was fundamentally made up of people who were trying to bridge two parts of their identity. That choice of space, culture, and solidarity laid the groundwork for what followed.

[[Image:Esta-Noche,-3.jpg]]

'''Esta Noche, 1990s.'''

''Photo: © Rick Gerharter''

In 1979, GALA members Anthony Lopez and Manuel Quijano opened a bar at 3079 16th Street that would become a cornerstone of the queer Latino community in San Francisco (8). The Founders used this space for the organization’s meetings as they saw Esta Noche as a refuge for Latinos (9). As the first Latino gay bar in the city, it offered something rare: a space where queer, brown, working-class, and Spanish-speaking people could show up unapologetically.

[[Image:Esta-Noche patrons-and-drag-queen January-1990 Rick-Gerharter.jpg]]

'''Esta Noche patrons get up-close and personal with drag queen, January 1990.'''

''Photo: © Rick Gerharter''

[[Image:Esta-Noche January-1990 Rick-Gerharter.jpg]]

'''January, 1990.'''

''Photo: © Rick Gerharter''

[[Image:Esta-Noche Yolanda-del-Rio Aug-30-1996 Rick-Gerharter.jpg]]

'''Yolanda del Rio, August 30, 1996, at Esta Noche'''

''Photo: © Rick Gerharter''

The bar’s creation was a direct response to the layered exclusions queer Latinos faced. Lopez and Quijano were no strangers to these barriers. Both founders were constantly denied entry into the popular white gay bars in the Castro, often being told they did not belong (10). When attempting to acquire permits for their own place, they were met with resistance from city officials who seemed to have no problem approving bars for white business owners (11). This, however, did not stop Lopez and Quijano. With support from their community, they were eventually able to open the doors of Esta Noche.

[[Image:Esta-Noche Robin Aug-30-1996 Rick-Gerharter.jpg|340px|left]]

'''Robin, dancing at Esta Noche, August 30, 1996.'''

''Photo: © Rick Gerharter''

What they built became far more than a bar. It became a place where drag, politics, grief, and joy all came together. For many years, the bar served as a haven for queer Latinos. Attendees were able to freely speak Spanish, listen to Spanish music, wear what they wanted, and dance how they felt, without fear. From drag performances to cumbia, bachata, and all the Latino hits, Esta Noche created a space full of joy. [https://vimeo.com/218888629 A space representing visibility, resistance, love, belonging, home].

Among those whose lives were transformed by Esta Noche is Vivian Lopez, whose first visit opened a door in her heart; Her oral history captures how life-changing a single night can be.(12) Vivian was born in Nicaragua and came to San Francisco when she was eleven. Growing up, she always felt different. Often she played with girls and admired boys. What made all these things feel off to Vivian was every time she saw herself in the mirror, she saw someone she did not recognize. Vivian Lopez was a trans woman. By high school, she knew she was a girl but kept her feelings mostly to herself. It wasn’t until a friend took her to Esta Noche when she was about nineteen that everything shifted.

That night, she saw a drag show for the first time. She had not begun her transition process yet, but watching gender-fluid and drag queens perform opened a new door. “I said, when I dress up, that’s what I want to look like,” she recalled (13). “Because they were so pretty what's there. I thought wow, that's how I want to look” (14). That experience was a turning point. Soon after, Vivian began hormone therapy through a doctor at a local clinic, as she met others at Esta Noche who were also transitioning (15). They became a support network, showing her that she wasn’t alone.

For Vivian, Esta Noche symbolized the place she was first given permission to imagine herself and her future. Esta Noche was able to affirm her identity. Vivian’s story echoes across the many spaces, bars, and clubs today, serving as a reminder to protect the places that help queer communities thrive.

[[Image:Condoms BAR 19980416-25.jpg]]

Esta Noche also played a serious role in community health. During the AIDS epidemic, it was one of the few places reaching out to queer Latine people with information and support. The bar partnered with the Stop AIDS Project to distribute more than 17,000 condoms (16). It held fundraisers and launched events like Mr. and Miss Safe Latino to raise awareness (17). These were grassroots public health efforts rooted in love and urgency.

[[Image:Esta-Noche Ms-Adela-4-scaled-(1).jpg]]

'''Adela Vazquez.'''

''Image: Joshua Valdez''

Cuban-American trans activist Adela Vazquez was a key figure during this time. She performed at Esta Noche and helped organize Las AtreDivas, a group that used art and drag to raise money for people with HIV, especially trans women who were often left out of mainstream responses (18).

Of course, the bar wasn’t perfect. Some lesbian patrons felt excluded in what was often a male-dominated space. Diana Flores responded by creating a new space called Colors that centered queer Latinas (19). These moments of tension were important because they showed that even inclusive spaces need to keep evolving.

[[Image:Esta-Noche BAR-Fee-hurdle-Segment.jpg]]

'''Figure 2. Image of Bay Area Reporter Newspaper'''

By 2014, the bar was facing a different kind of threat. Rent had skyrocketed from $360 in 1979 to nearly $7,000 a month (20). This was one of the many barriers in place in an ever growing gentrified community. In 2011, a city ordinance changed the way permits were renewed, requiring that all business licenses be paid annually rather than staggered across the year (21). For small queer-owned establishments like Esta Noche, this shift proved devastating.

[[Image:Esta-Noche esta-noche-signage.jpg]]

'''Esta Noche bar on 16th Street at Rondel Place.'''

''Photo: Joshua Alvarez''

As a result, community members launched the “Save Esta Noche” campaign to help raise the necessary funds to keep the bar afloat (22). According to ''Bay Area Reporter'' journalist Peter Hernandez, Esta Noche faced a $9,000 bill just to keep its permits active, including a 20% penalty fee after a missed deadline (23). Legislative assistant Nate Allbee, who helped organize the fundraiser, explained that while the permitting reform was well-intentioned, it disproportionately hurt small venues already operating on the margins:

<blockquote>“Sometimes these bills can get lost in the mail, which can be tricky. [The ordinance is] all very well-meaning, but paying it all at once can be difficult for queer bars and organizations at the margins” (24).</blockquote>

The bar turned to the public for support. Fundraisers were launched, including an event hosted by local drag performers like Per Sia and Heklina (25). Even then, these efforts couldn’t match the financial burdens imposed by both policy and gentrification. Meanwhile, just a block away, upscale restaurants like Monk’s Kettle were packed nightly (26).

Supporters of Esta Noche pointed to gentrification as part of the issue between 2011 and 2012, sixteen new restaurants opened between 16th and 19th Streets, reshaping the neighborhood’s economic landscape (27). Despite community efforts, the owners couldn’t keep up. That spring, Esta Noche closed its doors (28). The loss hit hard. Esta Noche was one of the last spaces where queer Latine people in San Francisco could gather without fear. It had survived homophobia, racism, a public health crisis, and more only to fall to gentrification and municipal bureaucracy.

Today, the building is home to Mother Bar, a queer space for women and nonbinary people (29). While it’s good that the location continues to serve the LGBTQ+ community, it’s also a reminder of how rare it is to keep a space like Esta Noche alive over generations.
Spaces like Esta Noche matter. They are not just clubs or bars. They are homes, classrooms, community centers, and more. These places became an avenue to building a future where queer and trans people of color are truly safe and valued.

[[Image:Esta-Noche Rick-Gerharter.jpg]]

''Photo: © Rick Gerharter''

'''Notes'''

1. OpenSFHistory, [https://www.opensfhistory.org/osfhcrucible/2020/06/28/the-early-years-of-sf-pride-a-closer-look/ "The Early Years of SF Pride: A Closer Look,"] last modified June 28, 2020

2. Chris Carlsson, [[The_Castro:_The_Rise_of_a_Gay_Community|“The Castro: The Rise of a Gay Community,”]] FoundSF.org, 1995

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ricky Rodriguez, [[Gay Latino Alliance: Latinidad and Homosexuality in the Mission District|“Gay Latino Alliance: Latinidad and Homosexuality in the Mission District,”]] FoundSF.org, 2019.

7. Ibid.

8. Rachel, [https://nuestrostories.com/2022/06/esta-noche-latine-lgbtq-community-san-francisco/ “Esta Noche Was the Epicenter of the Latine LGBTQ+ Community in San Francisco,”] Nuestro Stories, June 7, 2022.

9. Ibid.

10. John Ferrannini, [https://www.ebar.com/story/290686 "Remembering Esta Noche as queer, POC spaces shutter,"] ''Bay Area Reporter'', April 15, 2020.

11. Ibid.

12. [https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/08612n733. Vivian Lopez], interview by Katrina Rodriguez, Transgender Oral History Project, Digital Transgender Archive.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. Bay Area Reporter, [https://archive.org/details/BAR_19980416/page/n23/mode/2up "SAP Gives Out 500,000 Condoms,"] ''Bay Area Reporter'', April 16, 1998.

17. Ibid.

18. Charles Orgbon III, [https://www.sfaf.org/collections/status/adela-vazquez-didnt-just-witness-history-she-shaped-it/ "Adela Vázquez Didn’t Just Witness History—She Shaped It,"] San Francisco AIDS Foundation, December 6, 2024.

19. Ricky Rodriguez, [[Gay Latino Alliance: Latinidad and Homosexuality in the Mission District|“Gay Latino Alliance: Latinidad and Homosexuality in the Mission District,”]] FoundSF.org, 2019.

20. John Ferrannini, [https://www.ebar.com/story/290686 "Remembering Esta Noche as queer, POC spaces shutter,"] ''Bay Area Reporter'', April 15, 2020.

21. Peter Hernandez, “Esta Noche Faces Fee Hurdle,” ''Bay Area Reporter'', May 16–22, 2013, archival link

22. Ibid.

23. Ibid.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Ibid.

28. John Ferrannini, [https://www.ebar.com/story/290686 "Remembering Esta Noche as queer, POC spaces shutter,"] ''Bay Area Reporter'', April 15, 2020.

29. Heather Cassell, [https://www.ebar.com/story/324424/redirect "Mother's Day: New Women's Bar at the Former Esta Noche,"] ''Bay Area Reporter'', April 11, 2023.

[[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Nicaraguan]]

Esta Noche Was More Than a Bar

2026-01-19T23:27:18Z

Lisaruth: added photo by Pat Koren

File:EstaNoche2009-patricia koren.jpg

2026-01-19T23:21:14Z

Lisaruth:

Saturdays on Mission Street

2026-01-10T00:46:40Z

Lisaruth: edits from author and photos added

''' "I was there..." '''

''by Carol Birnbaum Gilbert''

[[Image:Blooms nextToMajestic on Mission Street.jpg]]

'''Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets, ca. 1930s. The red arrow shows the building Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys operated out of.'''

''Photo courtesy Carol Birnbaum Gilbert''

My grandfather founded Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys on Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets maybe in the 1920s or 1930s. The building itself was very interesting. It had been a house. They lifted it up and built the store underneath it to rent. We had the ground floor store with a half space loft that held our tailor shop and the boy's department. From the tailor shop you could still enter some stairs to the old house that sat on top of us. It was dark and creepy.

[[Image:Bloom's interior 1950s Carol Gilbert.jpg]]

'''Bloom’s Interior in the 1950s'''

''Photo courtesy Carol Birnbaum Gilbert''

When my grandfather retired, my father, Charles Birnbaum, managed it thereafter. My sister and I worked in the store on Saturdays and holidays during the 1950s and some of the 1960s, from the time we were 12 years old. Note: it had no heat except for an old gas stove at the very back. We froze there! It was next door to The Majestic department store and when it went under renovation, it caught fire and burned us out as well. We never returned.

Eventually there was the Mission Merchants Association. They marketed our area as the Mission Miracle Mile and they brought in a lot of customers for special sales called "Dollar Days".

On the other side of us was a small jewelry store owned by Jack Dougal. The Tower Theater was across the street and on the corner of 21st there was a large hat store because men wore hats once upon a time. On our side there was also a mostly lingerie store, but that also carried some clothes. I think there had been a small fruit market on our side once upon a time. We went to the dentist who had an office upstairs on our side of the street.

[[Image:Siegel's Fashions for Men and Boys.jpg]]

'''Siegel's Fashions for Men and Boys'''

Siegel's Fashions for Men and Boys on the block below us was our main competition. On the street above our store on the same side was Byron's Shoes and KnitCraft where I was a frequent customer. There was also a Hale Brothers store that was pretty large.

[[Image:Granat Bros. Jewelers 1964 Canterbury AAC-6823.jpg]]

'''Granat Brothers on Mission and 20th Streets, 1964.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library [https://digitalsf.org/record/34551?ln=en&p=granat&v=uv#?xywh=-842%2C-78%2C4652%2C2564 AAC-6823]''

Granat Brothers Jewelers had a store further up until they got fancier. Greyhound Bus ran along Mission and I could ride it home to San Mateo as needed. There was also a jitney service that drove cars up and down Mission Street and I think you could hop on and off for a small fee.

You'd think all I did was eat because I remember good food at Manning's in the Mission Market, especially hotcakes and cinnamon rolls. Down a block from us was great Italian food at Bruno's. I think I recall a karmelkorn shop where I bought candy like molasses chews. There was a doughnut shop whose maple bars and cinnamon twists I loved. I remember good sandwiches at The Rialto on the other side of the street on the block above. I lunched at the counter there. We were there for the immigration of Italians and Irish through Latin Americans and then Blacks.

We commuted from the foggy Richmond District to the warm and sunny Mission until my parents moved to San Mateo where, "The children could play in the sun."

File:Siegel's Fashions for Men and Boys.jpg

2026-01-10T00:45:21Z

Lisaruth:

File:Bloom's interior 1950s Carol Gilbert.jpg

2026-01-10T00:38:26Z

Lisaruth:

File:Granat Bros. Jewelers 1964 Canterbury AAC-6823.jpg

2026-01-10T00:35:24Z

Lisaruth:

File:Granat Bros. Jewelers 1927 AAC-6825.jpg

2026-01-10T00:31:22Z

Lisaruth:

Saturdays on Mission Street

2026-01-09T22:26:39Z

Lisaruth: Protected "Saturdays on Mission Street" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

''' "I was there..." '''

''by Carol Birnbaum Gilbert''

[[Image:Blooms nextToMajestic on Mission Street.jpg]]

'''Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets. The red arrow shows the building Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys operated out of.'''

''Photo courtesy Carol Birnbaum Gilbert''

My grandfather founded Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys on Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets maybe in the 1930s. The building itself was very interesting. It had been a house. They lifted it up and built the store underneath it to rent. We had ground floor store with a half space loft that held our tailor shop. From the tailor shop you could still enter some stairs to the old house that sat on top of us. It was dark and creepy.

When my grandfather retired, my father, Charles Birnbaum, managed it thereafter. My sister and I worked in the store on Saturdays and holidays during the 1950s and some of the 1960s. Note: it had no heat except for an old gas stove at the very back. We froze there! It was next door to The Majestic department store and when it went under renovation, it caught fire and burned us out as well. We never returned.

On the other side of us was a small jewelry store. The Tower Theater was across the street and on the corner of 21st there was a large hat store because men wore hats once upon a time. On our side there was also a mostly lingerie store, but that also carried some clothes. I think there had been a small fruit market on our side once upon a time. We went to the dentist who had an office upstairs on our side of the street. Segal's on the block below us was our main competition.

On the street above our store on the same side was Byron's Shoes and KnitCraft where I was a frequent customer. Granat Brothers Jewelers had a store somewhere near us until they got fancier. Greyhound Bus ran along Mission and I could ride it home to San Mateo as needed. There was also a jitney service that drove cars up and down Mission Street and I think you could hop on and off for a small fee.

You'd think all I did was eat because I remember good food at Manning's in the Mission Market, especially hotcakes and cinnamon rolls. Down a block from us was great Italian food but I can't remember the name of it. I think I recall a karmelkorn shop where I bought candy like molasses chews. There was a doughnut shop whose maple bars and cinnamon twists I loved. I remember good sandwiches at The Rialto on the block above and on the other side of the street. I lunched at the counter there. We were there for the immigration of Italians and Irish through Latin Americans and then Blacks.

We commuted from the foggy Richmond District to the warm and sunny Mission until my parents moved to San Mateo where, "The children could play in the sun."

Saturdays on Mission Street

2026-01-09T22:26:15Z

Lisaruth: Created page with "''' "I was there..." ''' ''by Carol Birnbaum Gilbert'' Image:Blooms nextToMajestic on Mission Street.jpg '''Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets. The red arrow shows the building Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys operated out of.''' ''Photo courtesy Carol Birnbaum Gilbert'' My grandfather founded Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys on Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets m..."

''' "I was there..." '''

''by Carol Birnbaum Gilbert''

[[Image:Blooms nextToMajestic on Mission Street.jpg]]

'''Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets. The red arrow shows the building Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys operated out of.'''

''Photo courtesy Carol Birnbaum Gilbert''

My grandfather founded Bloom's Clothes for Men and Boys on Mission Street between 20th and 21st Streets maybe in the 1930s. The building itself was very interesting. It had been a house. They lifted it up and built the store underneath it to rent. We had ground floor store with a half space loft that held our tailor shop. From the tailor shop you could still enter some stairs to the old house that sat on top of us. It was dark and creepy.

When my grandfather retired, my father, Charles Birnbaum, managed it thereafter. My sister and I worked in the store on Saturdays and holidays during the 1950s and some of the 1960s. Note: it had no heat except for an old gas stove at the very back. We froze there! It was next door to The Majestic department store and when it went under renovation, it caught fire and burned us out as well. We never returned.

On the other side of us was a small jewelry store. The Tower Theater was across the street and on the corner of 21st there was a large hat store because men wore hats once upon a time. On our side there was also a mostly lingerie store, but that also carried some clothes. I think there had been a small fruit market on our side once upon a time. We went to the dentist who had an office upstairs on our side of the street. Segal's on the block below us was our main competition.

On the street above our store on the same side was Byron's Shoes and KnitCraft where I was a frequent customer. Granat Brothers Jewelers had a store somewhere near us until they got fancier. Greyhound Bus ran along Mission and I could ride it home to San Mateo as needed. There was also a jitney service that drove cars up and down Mission Street and I think you could hop on and off for a small fee.

You'd think all I did was eat because I remember good food at Manning's in the Mission Market, especially hotcakes and cinnamon rolls. Down a block from us was great Italian food but I can't remember the name of it. I think I recall a karmelkorn shop where I bought candy like molasses chews. There was a doughnut shop whose maple bars and cinnamon twists I loved. I remember good sandwiches at The Rialto on the block above and on the other side of the street. I lunched at the counter there. We were there for the immigration of Italians and Irish through Latin Americans and then Blacks.

We commuted from the foggy Richmond District to the warm and sunny Mission until my parents moved to San Mateo where, "The children could play in the sun."

File:Blooms nextToMajestic on Mission Street.jpg

2026-01-09T22:16:20Z

Lisaruth:

1906 Earthquake Shack Survivors

2026-01-08T23:21:21Z

Lisaruth: added disclaimer

''' Unfinished History '''

'''''Please note that all of the dwellings listed here may not originate in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake. Their size and locations make them good candidates for having been earthquake refugee cottages, but for many of the following houses, more research may be needed.'''''

[[Image:Dolores Park -then Mission Park- cottage camp opened November 19, 1906 and closed October 22, 1907 wnp14.0615.jpg|800px]]

'''Dolores Park—then Mission Park—cottage camp, opened November 19, 1906 and closed October 22, 1907.'''

''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp14.0615''

[[Image:Quake-shack-drawn-by-horses.jpg]]

'''Relief sheds as the quake shacks were known, were towed by horse-drawn carts to new locations, usually on undeveloped hillsides at the time.'''

[[Image:Quake cottages.jpg|800px]]

'''These two quake cottages, in their original green color, were preserved and on display for a while on the Presidio.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-double-on-Iron-Steps 20220706 013103938.jpg]]

'''A couple of quake shacks put together along the Iron Steps above Eureka Valley.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2022''

Earthquake cottages, the FEMA trailers of their day, were originally built and distributed in the wake of the 1906 earthquake and fire. John Baranski describes how they came to be in his ''Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco'' (Stanford University Press: 2019):

<blockquote>[After the 1906 quake], Dr. Edward T. Devine, a New Yorker sent to San Francisco by the American Red Cross and member of the Finance Committee… called for the establishment of a nonprofit public corporation with the power to build, sell, and rent permanent housing. The housing would be not just for the usual long-term dependents of city government—such as the aged, infirm, and invalid—but also for workers who did not earn enough money to rent or buy their own homes. He recommended using $3 to $4 million of the committee’s money for housing. His program was designed to put money into circulation, create jobs, and make housing for residents who might otherwise leave for want of shelter. Inherent in Devine’s program was the conviction that public agencies should provide model homes and communities.

In the end, Devine’s plan for permanent projects was reduced to 5,610 temporary cottages and 19 two-story tenements for sale to the private sector. Demand for the cottages was “enormous,” according to the Red Cross, and many of the 17,000 residents housed in these buildings across the city regarded them as better than the pre-quake housing. By the summer of 1907, the tenants were given a choice: Either purchase and move the dwellings to individual lots or be forcibly removed by city park authorities. As thousands of families were forced back into the private housing market, the city’s first experiment with nonspeculative, social housing came to an end. </blockquote>

Dozens of quake shack survivors dot the hills and are spread across most of San Francisco's neighborhoods. Sometimes they are plain to see, other times they are embedded in more extensive, modernized structures. It's fun to hunt for them. These photos are some that are definitely—or most likely—former earthquake shacks that were [[Bernal Heights 1906 Quake Shack survivors|moved out of the parks]] to various available lots after 1907.

[[Image:Quake-shack-pearl-street 5320.jpg]]

'''Surviving quake shack on Pearl Street between Duboce and Market.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-369-Valley-St.jpg]]

'''369 Valley Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-81-Mayflower 211.jpg]]

'''81 Mayflower Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-adapted-433-Liberty-or-Cumberland-212.jpg]]

'''433 Liberty Street: is this a quake shack that was built on and extended?'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-candidate-21st-street-213.jpg]]

'''Possible shack on 21st Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:157-Lobos-Street-might-be-double-quake-shacks 2829.jpg]]

'''157 Lobos Street, might be double-quake shacks.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Old-quake-shack-in-500-block-of-Circular-near-Marston 20200516 132823.jpg]]

'''Looks like an old quake shack hoisted up to the 2nd floor of this improvised structure, and windows put in all around... on the 500 block of Circular Ave., near Marston.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-in-Bayview-maybe 20200425 163151.jpg]]

'''Likely quake shack on Paul Avenue in the Bayview.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack 20140616 194540.jpg]]

'''Might be a quake shack, on Bernal Heights.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014''

[[Image:Quake-shack 20190801 161041.jpg]]

[[Image:Quake-shack2 20190801 161109.jpg]]

'''1728 Clement Street. Sure looks like one!'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2019''

[[Image:Quake-shack-on-Diamond-perhaps 20140807 200007.jpg]]

'''Diamond Street just below Diamond Heights Blvd., a modernized structure that seems to be built on an old quake shack footprint.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014''

[[Image:Double-quake-shacks-on-Ringold-Alley 20200716 171431.jpg]]

'''This building on Ringold Alley in South of Market is comprised of two earthquake shacks with a new facade.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:396-Laidley-and-Mateo 20200802 182841.jpg]]

'''This looks like a shack with a major buildout and extension, covering the corner of Laidley and Mateo in Glen Park.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:Quake-shack-near-Farragut-and-Rae 20200709 171826.jpg]]

'''Another apparent quake shack, with foyer, garage, and extension built around it on Farragut near Rae, overlooking Visitacion Valley and Little Hollywood.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:Quake-shacks-on-shotwell-opp-aztec 5643.jpg]]

'''These two small structures on Shotwell, opposite the Aztec stairs, are almost surely [[Bernal Heights 1906 Quake Shack survivors|1906 earthquake shacks]], of which there are a surprising number dotting Bernal Heights.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-at-edge-of-Bernal 20200819 172800.jpg]]

'''An old quake shack with an addition, perched at southeast corner of Bernal Heights overlooking Cortland Street gulch where it connects to Bayshore under Highway 101.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:Photo6Ungaretti.jpg]]

'''This house on 24th Avenue is made up of several 1906 earthquake shacks.'''

''Photo: Lorri Ungaretti''

[[Image:1836-Palou 20210327 202706527.jpg]]

'''1836 Palou adjacent to Caltrain tunnel.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2021''

[[Image:1080-Felton-Street-near-Bowdoin 20210327 212318437.jpg]]

'''1080 Felton Street, near Bowdoin, in Portola.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2021''

[[Image:Quake-shack-at-Moultrie-and-Ogden 20160227 144856.jpg]]

'''Near the intersection of Moultrie and Ogden in Bernal Heights.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2016''

[[Image:Quake-shacks-at-172-Fairmount 20220907 015355512.MP.jpg]]

'''172 Fairmount Street, above the Bernal Cut between Noe Valley and Glen Park. Apparently two shacks joined together long-wise.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2022''

[[Image:207-Raymond-at-Rutland 20220119 221422295.jpg]]

'''207 Raymond Street at Rutland in Visitacion Valley.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2022''

[[Image:54-Vesta-quake-shack PXL 20230425 230818042.jpg]]

'''54 Vesta Street, Bayview.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2023''

[[category:1900s]] [[category:Earthquakes]] [[category:buildings]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:Housing]] [[category:1906]] [[category:Noe Valley]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:hills]] [[category:OMI/Ingleside]] [[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Visitacion Valley]] [[category:Glen Park]] [[category:Sunset]] [[category:Portola]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Bernal Heights]] [[category:Eureka Valley]]

1906 Earthquake Shack Survivors

2026-01-08T23:06:12Z

Lisaruth: removed Image:Quake-shacks-on-Alabama 20151009 150329.jpg as it was under wrong address AND is not a shack

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Dolores Park -then Mission Park- cottage camp opened November 19, 1906 and closed October 22, 1907 wnp14.0615.jpg|800px]]

'''Dolores Park—then Mission Park—cottage camp, opened November 19, 1906 and closed October 22, 1907.'''

''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp14.0615''

[[Image:Quake-shack-drawn-by-horses.jpg]]

'''Relief sheds as the quake shacks were known, were towed by horse-drawn carts to new locations, usually on undeveloped hillsides at the time.'''

[[Image:Quake cottages.jpg|800px]]

'''These two quake cottages, in their original green color, were preserved and on display for a while on the Presidio.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-double-on-Iron-Steps 20220706 013103938.jpg]]

'''A couple of quake shacks put together along the Iron Steps above Eureka Valley.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2022''

Earthquake cottages, the FEMA trailers of their day, were originally built and distributed in the wake of the 1906 earthquake and fire. John Baranski describes how they came to be in his ''Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco'' (Stanford University Press: 2019):

<blockquote>[After the 1906 quake], Dr. Edward T. Devine, a New Yorker sent to San Francisco by the American Red Cross and member of the Finance Committee… called for the establishment of a nonprofit public corporation with the power to build, sell, and rent permanent housing. The housing would be not just for the usual long-term dependents of city government—such as the aged, infirm, and invalid—but also for workers who did not earn enough money to rent or buy their own homes. He recommended using $3 to $4 million of the committee’s money for housing. His program was designed to put money into circulation, create jobs, and make housing for residents who might otherwise leave for want of shelter. Inherent in Devine’s program was the conviction that public agencies should provide model homes and communities.

In the end, Devine’s plan for permanent projects was reduced to 5,610 temporary cottages and 19 two-story tenements for sale to the private sector. Demand for the cottages was “enormous,” according to the Red Cross, and many of the 17,000 residents housed in these buildings across the city regarded them as better than the pre-quake housing. By the summer of 1907, the tenants were given a choice: Either purchase and move the dwellings to individual lots or be forcibly removed by city park authorities. As thousands of families were forced back into the private housing market, the city’s first experiment with nonspeculative, social housing came to an end. </blockquote>

Dozens of quake shack survivors dot the hills and are spread across most of San Francisco's neighborhoods. Sometimes they are plain to see, other times they are embedded in more extensive, modernized structures. It's fun to hunt for them. These photos are some that are definitely—or most likely—former earthquake shacks that were [[Bernal Heights 1906 Quake Shack survivors|moved out of the parks]] to various available lots after 1907.

[[Image:Quake-shack-pearl-street 5320.jpg]]

'''Surviving quake shack on Pearl Street between Duboce and Market.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-369-Valley-St.jpg]]

'''369 Valley Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-81-Mayflower 211.jpg]]

'''81 Mayflower Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-adapted-433-Liberty-or-Cumberland-212.jpg]]

'''433 Liberty Street: is this a quake shack that was built on and extended?'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-candidate-21st-street-213.jpg]]

'''Possible shack on 21st Street.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:157-Lobos-Street-might-be-double-quake-shacks 2829.jpg]]

'''157 Lobos Street, might be double-quake shacks.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Old-quake-shack-in-500-block-of-Circular-near-Marston 20200516 132823.jpg]]

'''Looks like an old quake shack hoisted up to the 2nd floor of this improvised structure, and windows put in all around... on the 500 block of Circular Ave., near Marston.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-in-Bayview-maybe 20200425 163151.jpg]]

'''Likely quake shack on Paul Avenue in the Bayview.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack 20140616 194540.jpg]]

'''Might be a quake shack, on Bernal Heights.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014''

[[Image:Quake-shack 20190801 161041.jpg]]

[[Image:Quake-shack2 20190801 161109.jpg]]

'''1728 Clement Street. Sure looks like one!'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2019''

[[Image:Quake-shack-on-Diamond-perhaps 20140807 200007.jpg]]

'''Diamond Street just below Diamond Heights Blvd., a modernized structure that seems to be built on an old quake shack footprint.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2014''

[[Image:Double-quake-shacks-on-Ringold-Alley 20200716 171431.jpg]]

'''This building on Ringold Alley in South of Market is comprised of two earthquake shacks with a new facade.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:396-Laidley-and-Mateo 20200802 182841.jpg]]

'''This looks like a shack with a major buildout and extension, covering the corner of Laidley and Mateo in Glen Park.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:Quake-shack-near-Farragut-and-Rae 20200709 171826.jpg]]

'''Another apparent quake shack, with foyer, garage, and extension built around it on Farragut near Rae, overlooking Visitacion Valley and Little Hollywood.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:Quake-shacks-on-shotwell-opp-aztec 5643.jpg]]

'''These two small structures on Shotwell, opposite the Aztec stairs, are almost surely [[Bernal Heights 1906 Quake Shack survivors|1906 earthquake shacks]], of which there are a surprising number dotting Bernal Heights.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Quake-shack-at-edge-of-Bernal 20200819 172800.jpg]]

'''An old quake shack with an addition, perched at southeast corner of Bernal Heights overlooking Cortland Street gulch where it connects to Bayshore under Highway 101.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2020''

[[Image:Photo6Ungaretti.jpg]]

'''This house on 24th Avenue is made up of several 1906 earthquake shacks.'''

''Photo: Lorri Ungaretti''

[[Image:1836-Palou 20210327 202706527.jpg]]

'''1836 Palou adjacent to Caltrain tunnel.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2021''

[[Image:1080-Felton-Street-near-Bowdoin 20210327 212318437.jpg]]

'''1080 Felton Street, near Bowdoin, in Portola.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2021''

[[Image:Quake-shack-at-Moultrie-and-Ogden 20160227 144856.jpg]]

'''Near the intersection of Moultrie and Ogden in Bernal Heights.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2016''

[[Image:Quake-shacks-at-172-Fairmount 20220907 015355512.MP.jpg]]

'''172 Fairmount Street, above the Bernal Cut between Noe Valley and Glen Park. Apparently two shacks joined together long-wise.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2022''

[[Image:207-Raymond-at-Rutland 20220119 221422295.jpg]]

'''207 Raymond Street at Rutland in Visitacion Valley.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2022''

[[Image:54-Vesta-quake-shack PXL 20230425 230818042.jpg]]

'''54 Vesta Street, Bayview.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson, 2023''

[[category:1900s]] [[category:Earthquakes]] [[category:buildings]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:Housing]] [[category:1906]] [[category:Noe Valley]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:hills]] [[category:OMI/Ingleside]] [[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Visitacion Valley]] [[category:Glen Park]] [[category:Sunset]] [[category:Portola]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Bernal Heights]] [[category:Eureka Valley]]

Candlestick Point State Recreation Area

2026-01-08T02:21:09Z

Lisaruth: changed name from GG Audubon Society to GG Bird Alliance

''' Unfinished History '''

<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/hidden-san-francisco-stop-e-17-yosemite-slough-and-candlestick-point-sra" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<hr>

[[Image:Foundsf-hsf-icon.gif|link=Unraveling the Mystery of Lake Dolores]] 
Next Stop #15: [[Unraveling the Mystery of Lake Dolores|The Myth of Lake Dolores]]

<hr>

[[Image:West-view-from-cpsra-towards-stadium-and-Bayview-hill-0940.jpg]]

'''View westerly from Candlestick Point State Recreation Area towards Bayview Hill with Candlestick Park beneath.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/ClaudeEverhartOnCandlestickPointStateRecreationArea" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

'''Claude Everhart, a founder of Friends of Candlestick, describes the public process that led to the Candlestick Point State Recreation Area as a natural park on the bayshore, built on landfill, created by community input and control.'''

[[Image:Clouds-and-bay-from-park-05.jpg]]

'''Clouds and bay from Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, looking southeasterly.'''

''Photo: Alan Hopkins, Golden Gate Bird Alliance''

[[Image:6-birds-of-candlestick.jpg]]

'''Different bird species photographed at Candlestick State Recreation Area. From left to right, top: Pigeon Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Long-billed Curlew; bottom: Common Loon, White Pelican, Black Oystercatcher'''

''Photos: Alan Hopkins, Golden Gate Bird Alliance''

[[Image:Couple-walks-trail-at-cpsra-08.jpg]]

'''Couple walks trail at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area.'''

''Photo: Alan Hopkins, Golden Gate Bird Alliance''

[[Image:Yosemite-creek-from-bayview-hill-20.jpg]]

'''[[Lost Beach Near Yosemite Creek|Yosemite Creek]], with the two protruding rocks known as "Double Rock" in mouth, as seen from Bayview Hill on a sunny winter day. Hunter's Point is swathed in uncharacteristic green.'''

''Photo: Alan Hopkins, Golden Gate Bird Alliance''

[[Image:Double-rock-with-hp-behind-23.jpg]]

'''Double Rock at low tide, Hunter's Point to north, in background.'''

''Photo: Alan Hopkins, Golden Gate Bird Alliance''

[[Image:Cactus-on-yosemite-creek-north-side-0918.jpg]]

'''Flourishing cactus garden on north bank of Yosemite Creek, not far from where a Green Tortoise guerrilla campsite once sat.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Image:Snake-sculpture-04.jpg]]

'''This snake sculpture is one of several public art installations in Candlestick SRA, this one on the southern edge of the park.'''

''Photo: Alan Hopkins, Golden Gate Bird Alliance''

<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/CandlestickPointStateParkForThePeople" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

'''This is the full 2-hours of the Shaping San Francisco Talk at CounterPULSE, held on Oct. 29, 2008.

[[Lost Beach Near Yosemite Creek|Prev. Document]] [[Shipwright's Cottage|Next Document]]

[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:shoreline]] [[category:water]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:African-American]] [[category:species]] [[category:habitat]]

Opening Sloat Blvd

2025-12-30T19:21:53Z

Lisaruth: changed caption on third photo per user correction

''' Unfinished History '''

[[Image:Sfsuingl%24opening-sloat-blvd-1919.jpg|720px]]

'''Opening Sloat Blvd. to traffic, 1919.'''

''Photo: Private Collection, San Francisco, CA''

[[Image:Sloat-Blvd-east-near-Everglade-Dr-Mt-Davidson-and-Stern-Grove-ahead-Nov-1-1927-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Sloat Blvd looking east near Everglade Drive. Mt. Davidson in distance, Stern Grove at left, Nov. 1, 1927.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C. R. collection''

[[Image:Sloat-Bl-d-looking-west-at-45th-Ave-Fleishhacker-Zoo-at-left-1942-SFPL.jpg|720px]]

'''Sloat Blvd looking west at 45th Avenue with Fleishhacker Zoo at left, 1942.'''

''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy C. R. collection''

[[Image:K-Ingleside-derailed-near-Sloat-and-Edgewood-Orphanage c-1950s.jpg|720px]]

'''K-Ingleside derailed on Junipero Serra Boulevard near Sloat Boulevard, an intersection where three lines merge—one coming up from 19th Ave on a diagonal, another from Sloat Blvd, and a third along Junipero Serra Blvd, moving onto West Portal. House behind overturned streetcar is 16 Sloat Boulevard, 1950s.'''

''Photo: C. R. collection''

[[Image:West-Portal-Sloat-and-Junipero-Serra-c-1940.jpg|720px]]

'''West Portal, Sloat Blvd., and Junipero Serra, c. 1940.'''

''Photo: C. R. collection''

[[Image:West-Portal-Sloat-and-Junipero-Serra-July-2014 2903.jpg]]

'''West Portal, Sloat Blvd., and Junipero Serra, July 2014.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

[[Junipero Serra Boulevard|Prev. Document]] [[Drugs, Hippies, Protests, & Riots|Next Document]]

[[category:Sunset]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:roads]] [[category:transit]]

Miné Okubo

2025-12-01T19:46:42Z

Lisaruth: editing for coherence

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Hayden Douglas Gunter, 2025''

[[Image:Miné-Okubo-works-on-her-illustration-for-the-second-Trek,-a-camp-publication.-(Courtesy-of-Japanese-American-National-Museum.jpg]]

'''Miné Okubo works on an illustration of the camp during internment.'''

''Photo courtesy Japanese American National Museum''

Miné Okubo was imprisioned in American Japanese internment camps during World War II. While interned, she documented her experience and then published her work in a graphic memoir, ''Citizen 13660'' in 1946. Her work offers a unique illustrated personal experience of the dark times that Japanese Americans went through after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Okubo was born in Riverside, California on June 27, 1912. Both of her parents were immigrants from Japan. Her mom was a painter and calligrapher, and her dad was a gardener. Her parents encouraged her to form an appreciation for art. (Creef, 2004). Okubo went to Riverside Community College and eventually to the University of California, Berkeley where she earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in art.

Okubo created mosaics and frescoes for the Federal Art Project in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked with [[Diego Rivera in San Francisco|Diego Rivera]] on the [[Pan-American Unity|Golden Gate International Exposition]] on Treasure Island. (Creef, 2004). Being in San Francisco at that time, Okubo was exposed to many different artistic movements and a variety of artistic opportunities. Through the community and environment there, Okubo took major steps as an artist and learned how art could communicate deep messages within it. (Lim, 2004).

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 changed the lives of every American, especially those of Japanese descent. The attack prompted President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066, ordering every Japanese citizen and Japanese American on the west coast of the United State to be sent to [[Japanese Internment|internment camps]] within the country during the war. Okubo was one of over 110,000 Japanese Americans who were transported away from their homes. (Stanutz, 2018). Okubo was first sent to the [[Incarcerated at Tanforan Racetrack|Tanforan Assembly Center]] near San Francisco but was later relocated to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. While in the internment camp, Okubo recorded her experience through her drawings. The book that resulted provides a raw, uncut resource of exactly how she experienced the camps.

[[Image:Miné-Okubo,-“Waiting-in-lines,-Tanforan-Assembly-Center,-San-Bruno,-California,”-1942.-Drawing.-Courtesy-of-Japanese-American-National-Museum.jpg]]

'''Waiting in lines at the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California, 1942.'''

''Drawing by Miné Okubo, courtesy Japanese American National Museum''

San Francisco was very influential and beneficial for Okubo's art career, and it also hosted one of the largest Japanese American communities in the country. Before the war, the city was home to Japantown, where traditional and cultural customs were kept alive. Upon returning to the city after internment, Okubo saw Japantown as a reminder of both what was lost and as a symbol of cultural resilience. (Creef, 2004). Okubo continued with her artwork after the war. She would use hints of San Francisco in her art, perhaps as a way to reminisce about how life was before Pearl Harbor. Through Okubo’s artwork expressing these dichotomies, she was able to connect many people of different cultures. (Stanutz, 2018).

In Obuko’s memoir, “Citizen 13660,” she used pen and paper to give a sense of what reality was like for her and the other thousands of Japanese Americans subjected to harsh life in internment camps. Her ability to combine images with text elevated her memoir. It contained profound insights as she was able to humanize the experience to create emotions in the readers through empathy. The book was widely applauded. (Stanutz, 2018).

[[Image:Mine-Okubo-drawings 20250608 235253491.jpg]]

'''Panels from ''Citizen 13660''.'''

In addition to public acclaim, the book was introduced as evidence during the Redress Movement in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. This act apologized for and provided reparations on behalf of the country to all Japanese Americans who were placed in internment camps. Through her book, she ensured that future generations can learn and know about the internment camps during World War II. Okubo’s other works also embody resilience and identity. Okubo stayed strongly connected to the artistic culture of San Francisco and was a major influence on other artists and activists. (Creef, 2004).

Obuko died on February 10, 2001. Her work is held at both the Smithsonian and the Japanese American National Museum.

'''Citations:'''

''Citizen 13660''. United Kingdom, University of Washington Press, 1983.

Elena Tajima Creef (2004) "Going Her Own Way: The Achievement of Miné
Okubo," ''Amerasia Journal'', 30:2, x-xxii, DOI: 10.17953/amer.30.2.h2072675m65rg221

Lim, S. G. Lin. (2004). "Miné Okubo: A Memory of Genius." ''Amerasia Journal'', 30(2), 97–104. https://doi.org/10.17953/amer.30.2.18m38j762168368u

Stanutz, Katherine. "Inscrutable Grief: Memorializing Japanese American Internment in Miné Okubo's Citizen 13660." ''American Studies'', vol. 56 no. 3, 2018, p. 47-68. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ams.2018.0002.

[[category:Women]] [[category:Public Art]] [[category:Famous characters]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:Japanese]]

Fillmore Street 1960

2025-11-24T20:49:39Z

Lisaruth: corrected caption on Lee's Liquor Store photo per user edit

''' Unfinished History '''

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Take This Hammer, part 1

'''KQED's mobile film unit follows author and activist James Baldwin in the spring of 1963, as he's driven around San Francisco to meet with members of the local African-American community.''' He is escorted by Youth For Service's Executive Director Orville Luster and intent on discovering: "The real situation of Negroes in the city, as opposed to the image San Francisco would like to present." He declares: "There is no moral distance ... between the facts of life in San Francisco and the facts of life in Birmingham. Someone's got to tell it like it is. And that's where it's at." Includes frank exchanges with local people on the street, meetings with community leaders and extended point-of-view sequences shot from a moving vehicle, featuring the Bayview and Western Addition neighborhoods. Baldwin reflects on the racial inequality that African-Americans are forced to confront and at one point tries to lift the morale of a young man by expressing his conviction that: "There will be a Negro president of this country but it will not be the country that we are sitting in now."

[[Image:Hayes-and-fillmore 0796-1 Chuck-Gould.jpg]]

'''Hayes and Fillmore, c. 1966.'''

''Photo: © Chuck Gould, all rights reserved.''

[[Image:westaddi$fillmore-st-1960s-photo.jpg|720px]]

'''Another day on Fillmore Street, during its peak as an [[The Fillmore: Black SF | African-American neighborhood]], c. 1960''' ''Photo: African American Historical and Cultural Society, San Francisco, CA ''

[[Image:WA Lee's Liquor Store-1656-58 Fillmore St.jpg]]

'''Lee's Liquor Store at 1758 Fillmore Street, showing the side along Sutter, in early 1960s.'''

''Photo: SFNative''

[[Image:3-black-kids-at-Playland.jpg]]

'''Three kids enjoying cotton candy at [[Playland|Playland at the Beach]], mid-1960s''' ''Photo: Kurt Bank''

[[Fillmore Arches Torn Down |Prev. Document]] [[Western Addition Early 20th Century Life and Work |Next Document]]

[[category:Western Addition]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:African-American]]

Reopening Islais Creek at Turn of 20th Century

2025-11-18T20:52:13Z

Lisaruth:

Peter T. Seculovich Passes

2025-11-18T20:46:26Z

Lisaruth: Protected "Peter T. Seculovich Passes" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

Peter T. Seculovich Passes

2025-11-18T20:45:38Z

Lisaruth:

Seculovich vs. Railroads: The Need for a Drawbridge

2025-11-18T20:45:05Z

Lisaruth: Protected "Seculovich vs. Railroads: The Need for a Drawbridge" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Stephanie T. Hoppe''

''Stephanie T. Hoppe is a former staff counsel to the California Coastal Commission and a great-great-granddaughter of Peter Seculovich.''

<big>'''Part 9 of Peter T. Seculovich in San Francisco'''</big>

[[Image:View north from about Quint and Custer-- Islais Creek bridge and smoking train dpwbook12 dpw2507 Lift Bridge aug 20 1915 opensfhistory wnp36.00850.jpg|800px]]

'''View north/northeast from about Quint and Custer on the south side of today's Islais Creek channel, August 20, 1915, some years after the long-sought drawbridge was finally built.'''

''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp36.00850 [dpwbook12, dpw2507]''

The railroads also persisted. Early in 1899, with its route to Santa Barbara approved the Southern Pacific firmed up its choice of route. The ''Chronicle'' borrowed Seculovich’s arguments:

<blockquote>The encroachments of the Southern Pacific on Islais creek have been continuous. From the navigable stream it was in the sixties it has been reduced to a succession of duck ponds. Now the company purposes to cut off the duck ponds and leave the property-owners high and dry, while it hurries its short line through their rights…..When the State was admitted the stream was not only recognized as navigable, but it was navigable for at least two miles from the bay. As late as 1862, the records show, a Government schooner of forty tons, laden with hay, was burned at Franconia point, and where a boat of forty tons can sail there are few who would have the hardihood to deny the navigability of the stream … The first step it took was in building the bridge across the creek at Kentucky street, over which now pass the cars of its electric system. That point is not more than half a mile from the bay and up to it, even now, the waters of Islais creek are navigable at high tide. Beyond it, only water fowl can keep the channel that once accommodated deeply laden schooners. Of course the Islais creek property-owners objected, but their objections came too late. The railroad, long before, despite the plain wording of the admission act, had found a legislature willing to do its bidding….The consequence has been that mud, which never would have been allowed to accumulate in a creek where vessels were sailed, has filled the channel above the obnoxious bridge, and, at present, the stream is an unnavigable as the Southern Pacific wants it to be….

The company purposes constructing a line as directly as possibly from its Third-and-Townsend-street yards to a point on Islais creek near the Kentucky-street bridge. There it intends to fill in the creek, shutting of entirely the tidewater from the lands above.</blockquote>

In conclusion, the reporter turned to Seculovich:

<blockquote>Captain Peter Seculovich, who has been foremost in the fight against Southern Pacific encroachment, says that a final assault will be made for property rights. He says that he has every confidence that the fight this time can be carried to a successful conclusion, to the end, at any rate, that the railroad will be compelled to respect those rights to the extent of substituting a drawbridge for its present and contemplated roads for the obstructions that now exist. He is not prepared at present to reveal his plans, but says they are based on the section of admission act heretofore pointed out. (''Chronicle'', 3/10/1899)</blockquote>

Discussion continued as to whether the crossing of Islais Creek and marsh should be by solid embankment or trestle. The city engineer voiced concerns to the Street Committee about navigation and the need for drawbridges over waterways such as Islais Creek. Southern Pacific representatives argued that San Francisco had ample waterfront facilities, but City Engineer Grunsky replied, “Basins and channels were not to be dispensed with.” In negotiations for a route for Santa Fe along Illinois Street, one block to the east of Kentucky Street, that company agreed “at any time when required to construct a draw bridge across the waterway known as Islais Creek channel” (''Chronicle'', 4/27/1900; ''Call & Post'', 5/4/1900).

In June, the Street Committee of the Board of Supervisors, [[Mayor James Phelan|Mayor Phelan]], City Engineer Grunsky, and Santa Fe Railroad representatives toured the area, considering whether the crossing of Islais Creek for the line to Santa Cruz should be on a trestle or fill. They noted that placing fill along the line of Illinois Street would be costly due to the muddy bottom and generally agreed on a drawbridge over Islais Creek. The group also discussed overall policy for the tidelands. Thirty years earlier, to both encourage and regulate the filling of the shallow tidelands along the San Francisco shoreline, the state legislature designated a line for a seawall to separate waters for public use for navigation, commerce and fisheries from waters that could be privately owned and filled. Construction of an actual physical seawall took 50 years, and never did reach as far south as Islais Creek, where the seawall line lay some 2,000 feet east of Kentucky Street, well out into San Francisco Bay. The mayor favored filling that stretch to create land for manufacturing, but Grunsky wanted several waterways “laid out between the seawall and the present shore line.” Santa Fe wished to fill China Basin in Mission Bay to the line of the seawall, creating 35 acres of solid ground for its yards. In August, the Board of Supervisors granted Santa Fe a franchise for a route along Illinois Street across Islais Creek with no mention of waterways or a draw (''Chronicle'', 8/7/1900; ''Call & Post'', 8/14/1900). The ''Chronicle'' commented,

<blockquote>For years schooners used to come two or three miles up the creek as far as the Mission road. When the Market-street Railway Company ran its line of cars out Kentucky street the passage of boats up and down the stream was effectually barred by a trestle built across it. The people of the Mission for years have sought to have this obstruction removed, and view with alarm the granting of a franchise to the railroad without some provision being made in the franchise for a drawbridge. This to some extent has already been done, as the franchise expressly states that upon demand the railroad must build a drawbridge over the creek. The City has accepted Kentucky street, as it is now constructed, so has the right to reconstruct the trestle over the creek at that point and replace it with a drawbridge. This it will be urged upon the Supervisors to do. A little aid from the Federal Government for the dredging of the stream, it is contended, will make Islais creek of immense benefit to the Mission in the way of bringing trade and giving a cheap rate for produce. (''Chronicle'', 8/8/1900)</blockquote>

[[Image:Islais Creek lift bridge at 3rd Street-- Drawbridge up. Looking East-- Islais dpwbook14 dpw2817 Oct 27 1915 opensfhistory wnp36.01046.jpg|450px]]

'''Islais Creek lift bridge at 3rd Street. Looking east as the drawbridge is up, Oct. 27, 1915.'''

''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp36.01046, [dpwbook14, dpw2817]''

To the north of [[:category:Mission Bay|Mission Bay]], wharves for shipping lined the waterfront, but to the south, development was more diverse, a mix of small and large industrial and commercial enterprises, including boatworks building the ubiquitous scow-schooners and the slaughterhouses with their myriad ancillary industries. In 1885, the [[Union Iron Works at Potrero Hill|Union Iron Works]], the largest manufacturing plant of its time on the Pacific Coast, launched an 800-ton steamer. The “New Navy” of the 1890s, expanding US naval forces from coastal defense to ocean-going steel steamships, brought US government contracts to San Francisco for vessels such as the cruiser ''Olympia'' and the battleship ''Oregon'', celebrated in the [[SAN FRANCISCO'S ROLE IN THE WAR IN THE PHILIPPINES|Spanish American War]]. The increase in trade and traffic to Asia that accompanied that war and the subsequent conquest and occupation of the Philippines further raised the hopes of shipping interests even as the railroads were increasingly buying up both waterfront land and water lots.

A gathering of representatives of Western states called the TransMississippi Congress passed resolutions calling for federal funding for various projects, including, in California, a deep-water port at San Pedro and improvements to the Oakland harbor, the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers—and Islais Creek. The congress also promoted the construction of cables to the [[Farallones Islands 1874|Farallon Islands]] and Hawaii as well as “proper protection and defense” of Puget Sound with fortifications and a detail of warships (''Examiner'', 11/29/1894).

In 1896, the Harbor Commissioners tabled a proposal for a wharf along Tulare Street, bordering the north side of Islais Creek, on the grounds that the needs of commerce were at present insufficient and anyway funds were lacking. The proposal for a 1,000-foot wharf on Islais Creek at the end of Army Street piqued their interest, however, and they appointed a committee to “make soundings of the creek” and report back. Visiting members of the US House of Representatives Rivers and Harbors Committee met with representatives of San Francisco improvement clubs at the [[Palace Hotel|Palace Hotel]] on a Sunday afternoon in 1901. Skeptical about the benefits of improving Islais Creek, the committee asked for more information and without actually viewing the creek, departed to inspect the Stockton channels, the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento River as far upstream as the Feather River (''Chronicle'', 3/3/1896; ''Call & Post'', 3/3 and 3/21/1896, 6/18/1901; ''Examiner'', 3/4 and 5/1/1896, 6/24 and 7/3/1901).

In 1902, Seculovich “addressed a communication to the world in general and his associates in particular,”

<blockquote>protesting against the incursion of railroads and other corporations upon the waters of the bay, and calling upon the authorities and the public to save Islais and Bay View bays from further destruction….. He particularly calls attention to the grant of sixty acres of land in Mission bay for railroad terminal purposes, and maintains that said grant was without legal authority. In view of the fact that other railroad schemes are in projection, which will entail filling in parts of the harbor, he urges that the necessary steps be taken immediately to prevent such desecration. (''Chronicle'', 3/23/1902, p. 24)</blockquote>

One month later:

<blockquote>Peter J. [sic] Seculovich, president of the Islais Creek Property Owners’ Association, has filed a protest with the Harbor Commissioners against the Santa Fe’s proposed steel bridge across Islais creek closely parallel to Kentucky street. On behalf of his association he wants a drawbridge substituted for the proposed solid steel fixture, and enters a plea for the reopening of Islais creek to commerce. Before this complaint was issued he protested to the Secretary of War, who referred the matter to the resident United States engineers, with directions to investigate, but no remonstrance was interposed by the Government. Earlier than that he appealed to the Board of Supervisors, but that body granted the railway franchise, with the stipulation that a drawbridge should be substituted whenever the city might so desire. Even earlier than that there was a protest against the solid causeway being built across the creek to make Kentucky street, under which the water flows through a big culvert to the bay. (''Chronicle'', 4/30/1902)</blockquote>

In June, identified as Peter J Secneovetich, president of an improvement club, he presented another petition to the State Harbor Commissioners protesting the placing of a solid structure over Islais creek, which the commissioners referred it to their attorney. The following month when he made the same protest to the Board of Supervisors, the supervisors instructed their clerk to ask the Board of Public Works about “the feasibility and advisability of opening Islais creek to navigation by compelling the construction of drawbridges over Kentucky and Illinois streets” (''Call & Post'', 7/22/1902; ''Chronicle'', 7/25/1902). In September, the Harbor Commissioners heard from their chief engineer that Islais Creek “has been considered a navigable waterway since April, 1888, but that no provision for the passage of vessels along the waterway had ever been made” (Chronicle, 9/4/1902). City officials took somewhat more interest. The city engineer recommended dredging Islais channel as far as Texas Street, some six blocks west of the Kentucky Street embankment. The Board of Public Works recommended surveys of the creek but no draws. The Street Committee asked for input from commercial sector. The Merchants Association argued that San Francisco needed better infrastructure for commerce—such as improving Islais Creek for shipping. The ''Chronicle'' agreed:

<blockquote>Islais creek is one of the few inlets on the bay shore of the peninsula within the boundaries of the city which an unwise and shortsighted policy in the disposition of the water front has left available for commerce. In moments of weakness Mission bay and China basin were given by the municipality to railroad corporations to be filled in and converted into solid land to serve as railroad yards, although it ought to have been plain to every one farsighted enough to see the possibilities of San Francisco as a commercial entrepot that both would some day be sorely needed for the docking of ships and the extension of wharf facilities for the handling of their cargoes. We have practically reached that stage in our commercial history when the possession of both would now be an inestimable boon. They would relieve the congestion created by the limited wharfage possible in ten miles only of frontage, besides helping to concentrate the shipping business in the heart of the city. Islais creek should not be permitted to suffer a fate similar to that of Mission bay and China basin. If commerce does not actually need it now it soon will.

The inlet is over a mile long and 200 feet in width. Its inner end is adjacent to the Mission district. It ought to be navigable for sea-going vessels, as the Merchants’ Association Review says, and all that is needed to make it so is dredging and the opening of drawbridges in the railroad trestling which now crosses it. It offers an opportunity to give the city over two miles of addition frontage and wharfage. If it were open to commerce to-day it would doubtless be used by many ships which are required to swing at their anchors in the bay until a berth of the present water front is vacant for them As Islais creek is navigable water, it is the duty of the Federal Government, of course, to improve it so as to be available to shipping, but we may have to wait years for Congress to move in the matter. Meantime our wants for the accommodation of ocean commerce are growing. It is proper, therefore, that the Supervisors should adopt suitable measures for the creek’s preservation, at least, until Congress is willing to appropriate money for its improvemen.t We must conserve every foot of the water front possibilities remaining, and Islais creek is undoubtedly one of them. (''Chronicle'', 1/6/1903)</blockquote>

[[Image:View North on 3rd Street near Cargo Islais Creek Drawbridge dpwbook35 dpw10019 oct 22 1925 opensfhistory wnp36.03273.jpg|800px]]

'''View north on 3rd Street near Cargo Street, through the Islais Creek drawbridge, Oct. 22, 1925.'''

''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp36.03273, [dpwbook35, dpw10019]''

With a four-deck headline, the ''Chronicle'' announced subsequent calls for “opening of Islais Creek”:

<blockquote><big>'''“Declare Need of Wharfage”'''</big>

'''“Men of Commerce Tell of Need for More Area on the City’s Water Front” • “All Agree on Value of Swamp District” • “Board of Works and Harbor Commissioners Are Asked to Get Up Plans for the Islais Creek Improvement”'''

City Engineer Grunsky … remarked that while he had mentioned 200 feet as the proper width for Islais creek channel, the late Colonel Mendell had suggested that it would be still better if another tier of blocks could be taken, making the harbor 500 feet wider. Industrial establishments, said Grunsky, should be given opportunity to get as close as possible to navigable waters.

Harbor Commissioner Paris Kilburn said the obstructions in the channel of Islais creek should be removed. The Commissioners, he declared, would co-operate in anything that would be for the good of the city and the State.

Harbor Commissioner Kirkpatrick remarked that a channel 200 feet wide would not be of much use. He thought there should be piers at right angles to the banks of the creek.

Lott D. Norton, engineer for the Harbor Commission, said that it would be of no use to dredge the creek until bulkheads should be constructed.

H. Mighell of the Chamber of Commerce said that there should be at least 600 feet of fairway to allow of the turning of ships.

Captain Nelson declared that the city was yet in its infancy and that the water front would have to expand to meet the requirements of commerce. The trade of the Pacific, he said, would surpass that of the Atlantic, as all of the Oriental trade must come this way. “No one,” he exclaimed, “can prophesy what the commerce of this city will be in twenty-five years.”

Andrea Sbarboro, representing the Manufacturers and Producers’ Association said that drawbridges should not be disturbed until the channel should be opened.

“I believe that the creek should be opened and a definite plan prepared,” said Isaac Upham of the Board of Trade.

“We favor the preservation of the waterway,” was the essence of the speech by W. J. Dutton, representing the Merchants’ Association.

Then spoke Peter T. Seculovich, an owner of property on Islais creek, and the man whose persistence has been the chief agency of stirring up all the discussion He said: ‘We demand the removal of all obstructions.” (''Chronicle'', 2/27/1903)</blockquote>

It must have seemed to Seculovich that everything he had ever asked for was suddenly within reach. And then came even more extravagant proposals. The ''Examiner'' reported that the engineers from the Harbor Commissioners, the city and the US Army Corps of Engineers were working on plans for a channel 500-600 feet wide, distance inland to be determined. The ''Call & Post'' provided additional details: a channel extending to Delaware Street, more than 2 miles up Islais Creek from the Kentucky Street embankment with dredging along that entire distance, as well as across nearly 1,000 feet of shallow waters on the bay side of the embankment. One of the Harbor Commissioners asked for a channel 1,000 feet wide to accommodate perpendicular piers and ships turning (''Examiner'', 3/1/1903; ''Call & Post'', 3/3/1903).

Seculovich was not distracted from the railroads, protesting again to the Board of Supervisors about Southern Pacific crossing Islais Creek without a drawbridge. He expanded his legal argument to claim that only the federal government had the power to permit obstruction of the creek as it had sole authority over commerce and navigation (''Chronicle, Call & Post'', 6/23/1903).

Early in 1904, engineers from the city and the Board of State Harbor Commissioners released their long-awaited “general plan of improvement”—but it was limited to a basin and wharfage on the bay side of the Kentucky Street embankment. Seculovich urged the Harbor Commissioners to move forward with the larger project of opening the full length of Islais Creek to shipping. He claimed that he and other property owners had suffered $3 million in damages since 1878. A month later, he again asked the Board of Supervisors for a drawbridge in the Kentucky Street embankment, “telling the committee that its members would be sorry if the bridge were not constructed.” The chairman answered, “There was no commerce on the creek and that when there was a bridge would be constructed.” In any event, the Chronicle reported, there were “no funds in the city treasury available for the improvement of Islais creek” (''Chronicle'', 1/12, 3/10, 5/13 and 5/21/1904; ''Call & Post'', 3/31/1904).

That fall, Santa Fe’s Ocean View Railroad to Santa Cruz secured its franchise and Southern Pacific received permits to start work on its Santa Barbara route. In his “oft-time renewed request” for drawbridges, Seculovich pointed out to the Board of Supervisors that the engineers from the city and the Harbor Commissioners had not yet reported, as directed, on the best manner of opening Islais creek to navigation. The board referred the issue to its Street Committee. In the new year, the Chronicle editorialized that instead of filling the bay, San Francisco should dredge shallow waters to make more wharf space.. The Chamber of Commerce also urged increased dockage, noting that the limited plan of improving India Basin with 10,000 additional dockage feet would be inadequate in five years (''Chronicle'', 11/1/1904, 3/14 and 10/12/1905; ''Call & Post'', 11/1/1904, 8/7/1905).

Seculovich also returned to the Harbor Commissioners:

<blockquote>Peter T. Seculorich [sic], an old man who has frequently besought the Board to look after Islais creek, again appeared and implored the Commissioners to either build a drawbridge over the stream or remove the obstructions to navigation. Having no time to listen to Seculorich [sic], as usual, the Board fixed August 9th, at 10 o’clock in the morning, as the time for giving particular attention to this matter.” (''Chronicle'', 7/7/1905)</blockquote>

No such meeting was reported, but the Examiner took note of recognition Seculovich received:

<blockquote>Peter T Seculovich, president of the Islais Creek Property Owners’ Association, was recently presented by the members with a solid gold medal bearing on its face the word “Eureka” and the seal of the State. The token was given in appreciation of his successful efforts in reopening for commerce and navigation Islais creek, which was closed by the Southern Pacific Company at Butchertown. The presentation was made on behalf of the organization by A. O. Colton.

Seculovich has been president of the association since its founding in 1880. He instituted a suit in the courts against the closing of the water way and secured a decision from the United States Supreme Court that no water way can be closed, leased or given away, but must be held in trust by the State for the nation. (''Examiner'', 11/13/1905)</blockquote>

These statements were largely inaccurate. The lawsuit brought by the Board of State Harbor Commissioners in 1880 was certainly instigated by Seculovich and furthered his aims, and the Islais Creek Property Owners Association put up funds for outside counsel to assist in the litigation—although we do not know if Seculovich himself contributed any money. Victory came in the trial court, but was overturned by the California Supreme Court, which decided for the railroad. The case never went to the US Supreme Court. Nor was navigation restored to Islais Creek—indeed, the absence of shipping would be difficult to miss. We might suppose the reporter relied on what Seculovich told him. Are the misstatements then the result of the reporter’s failure to understand Seculovich’s accented English? Or was Seculovich reframing the past? His efforts, although certainly persistent and often carrying a number of people in their train, had not, as yet, met with the least success.

However weary public officials became of his persistence, they sometimes took a kind thought for him. When Southern Pacific answered an inquiry about work it was performing in the creek to state that it had no intention of obstructing navigation in Islais Creek, the Harbor Commissioners directed their secretary to send a copy of the letter to Seculovich, “who has for years past made a hobby of seeing that Islais creek was not damaged” (''Chronicle, Call & Post'', 12/15/1905).

Two days later, the Harbor Commissioners directed their secretary “to notify the Southern Pacific Company that the bridge over Islais Creek, near Texas street, should be a drawbridge which would not interfere with the navigation of the stream. Report comes to the board that the railroad people are spanning the creek with trestle” (''Call & Post'', 12/17/1905, p. 9; 12/22/1905, p. 9). A month later, Seculovich complained to the Harbor Commissioners both about the Southern Pacific bridge and Santa Fe’s Ocean Shore Railroad “driving piles for another trestle bridge that would not exceed twenty feet in height”—that is, too low to allow ship passage (''Chronicle'', 1/12/1906). Adopting Seculovich’s reasoning, the ''Chronicle'' reported

<blockquote>Both corporations have ignored the navigability of this stretch of waterway by crossing it on trestling without providing drawbridges for the ingress and egress of shipping. While the improvement of the creek for the accommodation of commerce must ultimately be performed by the State Harbor Commission, jurisdiction over Islais creek as navigable water is vested exclusively in the War Department, which has the power to prevent its obstruction to commerce. That is unquestionably the authority whose aid should be invoked to preserve the creek for the use of shipping, and the power of the department should be exercised in that direction before the persistent and surreptitious efforts to gradually fill it make it a subject of irritating contention and prolonged costly litigation. (''Chronicle'', 1/13/1906).</blockquote>

The ''Call & Post'' chimed in:

<blockquote>The incident was noted yesterday that the Santa Fe maintained a crossing of Islais Creek. The Commissioners instructed Secretary Fay to communicate with the Santa Fe and obtain from that company an assurance similar to that filed by the Southern Pacific. In order to create a great basin in Islais Creek the Legislature would have to authorize the Harbor Commissioners to purchase forty blocks of land. The cost of dredging, added to the cost of the land, would exceed $3,000,000.

Under the decisions quoted by the attorney of the commission it is made clear that Congress can at any time intervene and compel the removal of any obstruction to the navigation of the stream. It is also clear that the Southern Pacific maintains its culvert crossing at Kentucky street and also the crossing at Texas street under an old decision of the California Supreme Court, but Engineer Hood promises to put in the draws when the Commissioners decide that such work is necessary. (''Call & Post'', 1/19/1906, p. 11)</blockquote>

The ''Examiner'' complained that San Francisco had failed to develop harbor facilities with a view to successful and increased commerce and that Islais Creek channel was only 200 feet wide, “where 600 or 1,000 feet should have been allowed.” At the time, San Francisco had less than five miles of waterfront developed with not quite 10 miles of wharves, whereas New York had 400 miles of developed waterfront. The tonnage handled in San Francisco approached that of major ports in Europe, such as Liverpool, Rotterdam and Antwerp (''Examiner'', 1/19/1906; ''Chronicle'', 1/25 and 2/15/1906).

<big>'''The 1906 Earthquake'''</big>

All these plans and complaints were eclipsed by the earthquake that struck at 5:12 in the morning on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. Seculovich was presumably safe in his bed, as were also his daughter, Jennie, and her family on Tenth Avenue near Golden Gate Park. Neither home burned in the subsequent fires, but either or both may have received structural damage. We know that Jennie and her young daughter stayed for some days in tents in the park while her husband was worryingly absent about the city but we have no information on how Seculovich fared. Some 250,000 of a total population of 350,000 residents were displaced. Some obtained one of the 5,000 portable cabins built by union carpenters for the San Francisco Relief Corporation and rented out for $2 per month. A refugee camp on Bernal Heights hosted 250 of these structures in what became a vibrant community with pop-up restaurants and bars. A few remain to this day, incorporated into larger residences.

The city moved quickly to rebuild. “Even the ashes of San Francisco are to be utilized in the work of rebuilding the city,” reported the ''Call & Post'' one week after the earthquake with the resulting fires still smoking. The Ocean Shore Railroad switched the 1,000 men working on its new route to cleanup. An estimated 9 million cubic yards of debris from the ruins was to “fill up the Islais Creek flats, transforming a marsh into eighty blocks of valuable land.”

<blockquote>To carry this off by the ordinary methods would take many months, and in order to save time C. E. Loss & Co., the contractors who volunteered to clean the streets without charge, began work today on an elaborate system of bunkers to be used by the various railway companies that have belted and traversed the burned district with spur tracks. These bunkers are to be placed at advantageous points on main lines or laterals. Each will have a capacity of from 1500 to 2000 cubic feet of debris.

The extreme length of wagon haul necessary to reach the bunkers will be four blocks, but the average haul will be only two blocks. The wagons will run up a short incline and dump their debris through a low trap into cars or skips, which, by means of a mechanical contrivance, will be raised twenty-six feet to the top of the bunkers, thence gravitating to the point where they are needed. Once the bunkers are completed and filled, which will be early next week, the railway companies will be able to fill their cars rapidly and keep them going continuously day and night until the great task is completed.

This system is expected to reduce the average cost of removing debris 70 per cent and incidentally enable the cleaners of the city to do what would ordinarily be a year’s work in “a few months’ time.” (''Call & Post'', 4/26 and 5/5/1906)</blockquote>

Seculovich could watch this work from his home on the San Bruno road, less than a mile away across the marsh to the south. He must have despaired, but still, nearing his 80th year, he returned to the Harbor Commissioners:

<blockquote>Peter T. Seculovich, the aged champion of Islais Creek, who has attended nearly every meeting of the board since 1880, tried to get a hearing before the new board, but was laughed into silence by President Stafford, who invited the old gentleman to call again in 1911. (''Call & Post'', 4/5/1907)</blockquote>

Originally from Oakland, W. V. Stafford had chaired the current governor’s campaign committee and received the post of state Labor Commissioner. After Stafford moved to San Francisco in March 1907, the governor appointed him as one of the State Harbor Commissioners for the city.

This time, Seculovich did not bother to take his petition to the Board of Supervisors, as he and everyone else in San Francisco realized the supervisors had no attention to spare for anyone but themselves with the news unfolding about the [[Abe Ruef and the Union Labor Party|bribery scheme involving the mayor, his political associates and appointees, the entire 18-member Board of Supervisors]] and several city departments. As it happens, we can observe Seculovich following these developments. Before the news broke, on March 1, he began a scrapbook, clipping and gluing newspaper articles onto the pages of an account book left from his locksmith business. He began with articles going back several months, relating as we would expect, to Islais Creek and Southern Pacific. Other articles covered the state’s denial of a seawall for the city of Berkeley and litigation between the railroads and the city of Oakland over control of its port lands. A range of other topics also piqued his interest: instructions for perfecting title to real estate in San Francisco after the destruction of city hall and all of the property records; the appointment of a professor from the University of California to teach at an institution in Greece; a duel between two military officers in Russia; the conviction and jailing of British suffragettes for disrupting Parliament; suicides by several persons of means who fell on hard times; and the photo of a beauty contestant on which he wrote, “Looks like Mrs. EET”—his daughter, Jennie, then 37—“when at proper age.”

Coverage of the bribery scandal quickly overtook all his earlier interests. He clipped and glued the daily full-page updates on arrests and indictments. Following revelations of $1 million paid by competing telephone companies seeking an exclusive franchise for telephone service in the city, came evidence of bribery in earlier railroad and gas franchises. Much of this was commonly known or supposed, but the persistence of the district attorney in bringing it into the open and following up with prosecutions was something new in San Francisco. In the end, the district attorney gave the supervisors immunity from prosecution in exchange for their evidence against the mayor and other principals.

Although publicly disgraced, the supervisors continued in office. Some argued it was better to keep these known scoundrels in the public eye. If they resigned, the corrupt mayor would just appoint different cronies of his own. In July, after the mayor was indicted and resigned, 16 of the 18 supervisors did resign, and a new reform mayor appointed replacements. This new board took more seriously Seculovich’s complaints in August about sewer and street work:

<blockquote>The board will investigate the complaint of P. Seculovich that the Ocean Shore company had stopped the flow of the sewer in San Bruno avenue at the foot of Cortland avenue and also regarding the alleged poor street work in Forty-sixth avenue between H and J streets. (''Call & Post'', 8/15/1907)</blockquote>

That was Seculovich’s final public appearance that we know of, but he his interest in public affairs endured. In earlier years, he had joined different small reform parties, but in 1907 and 1908 he registered to vote in the Republican Party. Despite its long association with the railroads, it was also, at this time, the party of good government and opposition to corruption.

[[Image:3rd-Street-bridge 20230101 232126113.MP.jpg]]

'''The 3rd Street bridge over Islais Creek, January 1, 2023.'''

''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

''All sources for this 10-part article appear at end of [[Peter T. Seculovich Passes#sources|Part 10]].''

[[Seculovich Conveys His Properties|Return to Part 8]] • [[Peter T. Seculovich Passes|Continue to Concluding Part 10]]

[[category:Bernal Heights]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:1890s]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:food]] [[category:Famous characters]] [[category:real estate]] [[category:Transit]] [[category:Water]] [[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:bridges]]

Seculovich Conveys His Properties

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Reopening Islais Creek at Turn of 20th Century

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Cows and Waste in Islais Creek Marsh

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Cows and Waste in Islais Creek Marsh

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Seculovich's Lots in Mission and Bernal

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Long Bridge Becomes Kentucky Street

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Peter T. Seculovich in San Francisco, 1859-1909

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Defending Islais Creek As City Expands

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Keeping Islais Creek Navigable

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''' Historical Essay '''

''by Stephanie T. Hoppe''

''Stephanie T. Hoppe is a former staff counsel to the California Coastal Commission and a great-great-granddaughter of Peter Seculovich.''

<big>'''Part 3 of Peter T. Seculovich in San Francisco'''</big>

[[Image:Peter Seculovich and Jennie Golden Gate Park ca. 1905.jpeg|350px]]

'''Peter Seculovich and Jennie in Golden Gate Park, c. 1905.'''

With the Pennsylvania Avenue threat averted, Seculovich turned to the obstructions already in the creek. Perhaps he had discovered he had a taste for organizing and advocating, or perhaps, in his mind, the windswept salt marsh bordering Islais Creek was overlain by memories of the Adriatic harbors of Dubrovnik, Trieste and Venice bustling with commerce as they had for centuries. At a meeting in January 1881, the property owners association approved his motion to appoint himself a committee of one “to go to Sacramento to urge upon the Legislature the necessity of enacting a Law requiring the removal of all obstructions across the creek” and authorized funds to pay his expenses (''Chronicle'', 1/10/1881, p. 3).

Thus, in the state Senate the following month, “The everlasting and time-consuming Islais creek matter came up again.” One legislator reported that his “committee had visited the creek at high water time, and could find no water; they could see no reason why the bill should be passed, and he moved that it be indefinitely postponed.” Members of the San Francisco delegation repeatedly switched sides or refused to vote, and after initially passing the bill in question, the Senate as a whole voted to reconsider it and finally defeated it altogether (''Examiner'', 2/3 and 11/1881).

At a subsequent meeting of the property owners association at the Franconia House on the San Bruno road, Seculovich dwelled on what he considered the foundation for their advocacy, Section 3 of the Act of Congress admitting California to the Union: “All the navigable waters within the said state shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of said state as to the citizens of the United States, without any tax, impost, or duty therefore.” He believed this provision forbade the obstruction of any navigable stream, and he urged that “this main artery of commerce so indispensable for the development of manufactures be not forever closed and that the injustice to this part of the city by the building of the Long Bridge be remedied.” The role of Islais Creek in carrying away waste also came up, an issue that would return with increased salience as the city expanded (''Examiner'', 2/14/1881).

We have seen Seculovich as a tireless, even obsessive, and sometimes pugnacious and divisive advocate for his views. As he became a fixture in public meetings and government hearings, newspaper reporters found him a reliable source of colorful copy, as in this account of a property owners association meeting later in 1881:

<blockquote>“Carried Unanimously”

'''The Solid Man of Islais Creek to the Front'''

Peter T. Seculovich had a meeting yesterday afternoon in Mr. Senil’s house on the San Bruno road. Mr. Seculovich always advocated opening Islais creek for navigation as far up as St. Mary’s College. His is a rival organization to the Islais creek men who met on the preceding Sunday. Mr. Seculovich had five other property-owners near Islais creek at the meeting, but one of them left soon, because he “had company at home,” and the others were decidedly neutral. The meeting did not suffer. Mr. Seculovich was an “enthusiastic assembly” in himself. He introduced and read a long manuscript written by himself, giving a detailed account of what he had done and what the lawyers had not done in the case to declare the Fourth-street drawbridge a nuisance. Mr. Seculovich convinced the assembly by his argument and the production of an infinite number of legal documents that the report should be adopted and placed on file.

“I move the report be accepted, Mr. Sicklevitch,” put in property-holder No. 1.

“Seculo—Seculovich! sir! Carried unanimously,” added Mr. Seculovich in his blandest manner, after having put the question to a vote.

Mr. Seculovich then read a resolution prepared by himself, which, after eulogizing Mr. Seculovich, authorized and empowered him to attend to the entire management of the case until the creek was open and dredged for navigation, and in conclusion, deputized Mr. Seculovich to collect sufficient to reimburse him for expenses already incurred and to be incurred.

“I move the resolution be carried, Mr. Secularwitch,” moved property-holder No, 2.

“Seculo—Seculovich! sir! Carried unanimously,” responded Mr. Seculovich in his sweetest tone.

Mr. Seculovich then read another resolution written by himself, deputizing Mr. Seculovich a committee of one to urge the Harbor Commissioners for ready means of access to Franconia landing. As it was now, they had to pay toll in going round the bridge upon Kentucky street, and on the other hand the route by the San Bruno road was only at the suffrage and pleasure of a private citizen.

“I move the resolution be adopted, Mr. Suckcollarwitch,” said No. 3.

“Carried unanimously,” said Mr. Seculovich.

Still another resolution presented by Mr. Seculovich, and constructed by himself, was likewise “carried unanimously.”

“We can now have a little argument on the whole question,” suggested Mr. Seculovich, sweetly, when his stock of Seculovichian resolutions had become exhausted.

When the reporter left the meeting the “we” had had no chance of arguing yet, and Mr. Seculovich was still “as fresh as a daisy.” (Chronicle, 11/28/1881, p. 3)</blockquote>

According to the ''Examiner''’s more sober account of the same meeting, the association authorized Seculovich to “continue the management of our affairs in conjunction with the attorney for the people, in the case against the Potrero and Bay View Railroad Company, involving the reopening for navigation purposes of Islais Creek” and to represent to the State Harbor Commissioners that “by the closing of Islais Creek the residents of San Bruno road and of South San Francisco have been greatly inconvenienced, and forced to pass over private property to get to the city” (''Examiner'', 11/29/1881). We should note that despite the meager attendance at the meeting at Mr. Senil’s house, Seculovich often carried considerable numbers with him, including at times local, state and federal officials.

We might also note the mention of a rival organization. This referred to the acid manufacturer from Franconia Landing, John Reynolds, who might not have been present at the meeting where Seculovich replaced him as president of the Islais Creek Property Owners Association and might not have recognized the change. At this rival meeting, held at Reynolds’s acid works on the San Bruno road, Reynolds

<blockquote>depicted a brilliant future for Franconia Landing. With one wave of his right arm he pointed at random at the vast boggy expanse beyond him, and razed Bernal Heights in his speech to the level of the prospective Islais-creek embankment. He saw a fleet of 200 light-bottomed vessels dipping and raising their bows with the swell of the creek’s waters, and dotted San Bruno road with a perfect wilderness of saloons, forges, groceries, hotels and warehouses. … “Wake up, Islais creek men,” he said in conclusion, “the rest of the town is up and live in their interests. We are asleep. I say with Colonel Mulberry Sellers, ‘There’s millions in it.’” The assembly was captivated by the plausibility of the speaker’s remarks, and vowed to awaken the Islais-creek men to their interests, and promised Mr. Hassett a handsome fee. (''Chronicle'', 11/21/1881, p. 3)</blockquote>

M. C. Hassett was an attorney who assisted the Harbor Commissioners’ attorney in their lawsuit to declare the Long Bridge a nuisance. The Franconia Landing property owners paid for his services in part, or perhaps entirely. It is not clear whether Seculovich personally contributed funds. While Reynolds and Seculovich shared the goal of (re)opening Islais Creek to navigation, their disparate personalities seem to have made it impossible for them to work together. Still, the year ended on a high note for them both when the trial court ruled in their favor:

<blockquote>On the trial it was proved by the United States Harbor Surveyor, the State Harbor Engineer and Master of Marines that the navigation on the creek in times past had been considerable, and that it was a valuable piece of navigable water. The United States laws forbid the closing up of a navigable water, so the case only hinges on the simple matter of fact as to whether or not the creek was once a navigable piece of water. (''Examiner'', 12/22/1881)</blockquote>

Six months later, in a “memorial” complete with “a gaudy seal, embossed with the words ‘Islais Creek Property-owners’ Association,’ and a representation of the creek as it is supposed it will be when the obstructions are removed,” Seculovich reminded the Board of Supervisors that the court had declared the “the obstructions across the mouth of the channel a nuisance” and ordered their removal (''Examiner'', 7/26/1882, p. 2).

A month later, with the city still taking no action, he returned to the Street Committee of the Board of Supervisors “with a formidable lot of law books under one arm and a diagram two yards long under the other” (''Examiner'', 8/26/1882). In November, he might have felt he was finally seeing progress when, almost a full year after the trial court’s decision, the city attorney gave his official opinion to the Board of Supervisors that Islais Creek was a navigable stream. He specifically thanked Seculovich “for material aid rendered him in arriving at a definite conclusion in the matter,” and he advised the board that it had the power “to cause the removal of certain material which it had caused to be dumped near Fifteenth avenue,” that is, the embankment extending Fifteenth Street from the Potrero to the San Bruno road and crossing Islais creek. But the city would have to bear the cost of the removal (''Chronicle'', 11/2/1882; ''Examiner'', 11/4/1882). The Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors voted in favor of the removal after it received petitions on the subject. At least some members of the public seemed to believe prosperity was on the horizon for the Islais marshlands, advertising 13 lots in Bernal Rancho Gift Map 4 that “lie on the Islais Creek, a navigable stream; in a short time they will be available for a landing point for lumber, bricks, etc., for this point of the city” (''Examiner'', 12/9/1882, p. 2).

In December 1882, Board of Supervisors referred yet another petition urging them to action in the matter to the Street Committee. Seculovich returned to the Judiciary Committee arguing that the mayor “will not act in the matter, because he does not see his way clear to positive action. If the Supervisors confer further power upon him, and in more explicit terms, he can do something.” The committee laid the matter over (''Examiner'', 12/12 and 12/16/1882).

In Washington, DC, California Senator John F. Miller, at Seculovich’s urging, submitted a petition to the US Senate “praying for reopening of Islais creek to navigation” and requesting $50,000 and the assistance of the US Attorney General to remove obstructions, local bodies having failed to take action (''Chronicle'', 12/19/1882).

The year 1882 neared its end with the situation on the ground unchanged but avenues remaining for redress. The Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors again reported in favor of “clearing Islais creek and preparing it for navigation, expenses to be paid out of some fund not disposed of” and the matter returned yet again to the full board (''Examiner'', 12/27/1882).

In early January 1883, the Board of Supervisors met to clear up unfinished business before the seating of a new board. A proposal to pay for removing obstructions in Islais Creek and preparing plans for a drawbridge “out of any money belonging to the city not otherwise disposed of” incited lengthy debate, which ended with yet another postponement. The new board proved disappointing, the ''Chronicle'' reporting, “Islais Creek Improvements Nipped in the Bud.” Money was short, and “The order providing for the improvement of Islais creek was indefinitely postponed.” The new session of the legislature in Sacramento saw a bill introduced to (yet again) declare Islais Creek a navigable waterway “to the southwesterly end of its channel”—a point perhaps intentionally left vague. Other proposed bills would repeal the 1868 legislation protecting the railroad bridge, require the Harbor Commissioners to clear the creek of all obstructions to navigation and authorize the construction of drawbridges and other improvements, the drawbridges to be free of tolls (''Chronicle'', 1/6/ and 1/23/1883).

Perhaps riding an uptick in public hostility toward railroads, the Potrero and Bayview Street Railway having been acquired by Southern Pacific, the Islais Creek Property Owners Association petitioned the Harbor Commissioners not just for a drawbridge but to remove the Long Bridge altogether. From the wording of the request, we can assume the unidentified spokesman for the association was Seculovich. The commissioners referred the matter to their attorney (''Examiner'', 1/12/1883, p. 1). A few days later, the Board of Supervisors authorized the city surveyor to prepare plans for improving Islais Creek (''Chronicle'', 1/16/1883, p. 4). When Seculovich again urged the Street Committee to replace the bridges over Islais creek with draws, the committee decided to inspect the creek for itself. The ''Examiner'' waxed poetic about the proposed “Supervisors’ Picnic Along the Banks of Islais Creek”:

<blockquote>The visit to Islais Creek is to verify Peter Seculovich’s statements regarding that noble stream. Seculovich is an enthusiastic and urbane gentleman known to the Legislature, the Harbor Commissioners, to successive Boards of Supervisors, and to the newspapers, as the “Friend of Islais Creek,” although an unfortunate typographical error did once make him the “Fiend” of Islais Creek. Mr. Seculovich wants the Supervisors to send to Sacramento a resolution urging the passage of Assembly bill No. 4, introduced by Assemblyman O’Connor, which, in effect, turns the creek over to the Harbor Commissioners to dredge it. Besides his indefatigable efforts before the various local legislative bodies of California, it is said that Mr. Seculovich has an appeal to Congress ready to be forwarded. His extensive maps and his not unfavorable comparison of Islais Creek to that tortuous brook known as the Petaluma river, on which a national appropriation has been squandered, have excited the curiosity of the Street Committee. They have decided to navigate the creek at low tide. The aromatic balm of a Butchertown breeze blowing over the San Bruno mud flats will be apt to make these adventurous servants of the city sigh for a sachet of the sweet-smelling assafetida before they return. (''Examiner'', 2/16/1883, p. 3)</blockquote>

The picnic, if it took place, did not help. The full board “indefinitely postponed” consideration of Seculovich’s request for support of the Assembly bill. In April, with the city facing financial difficulties, the Judiciary Committee recommended selling 109 city-owned building lots on the street fittingly named Channel Street that resulted from filling in Mission Creek. Seculovich was present and “filed a formal objection,” asking for the lots to be dug up and “Channel creek be made navigable” (''Examiner'', 2/27 and 4/17/1883; ''Chronicle'', 4/17/1883, p. 1).

At that juncture, the political will might have been mustered to clear the obstruction in Islais Creek resulting from the embankment for Fifteenth Avenue, but money to pay for it was not forthcoming. As for the other major issue, the Long Bridge, time looked to be accomplishing what the efforts of Seculovich and the Islais Creek Property Owners Association had not. After 20 years, the wooden structure, never adequately maintained, began to crumble:

<blockquote>One can hardly pass one hundred yards without encountering a fissure or interstice between the beams, while ever and anon is a large gaping hole, discovering the dark-blue water of the bay or the gray-and-greenish slush of the morass twenty feet beneath. Here and there rude attempts are noticeable at patching up these yearning apertures, but this repairing is more honored in the breach than the observance. On the Mission bay bridge and further on on the Long bridge the timbers sway and quiver under the weight of the passing teams, the crossing of a light buggy being sufficient even to cause an oscillation and vibration of the fragile supports. It is alleged that the Long bridge, which was never considered strong and contains only 6x8 inch caps, has perfectly rotting foundations.

Accidents are of frequent occurrence, two horses of Mr. Brandenstein’s team having fallen through the rotten scantlings into the marsh beneath about ten days ago, while only yesterday one of the railroad car horses crashed through the creaking planking and was extricated after an hour with the greatest difficulty. The residents of the Potrero even refuse to allow their children to cross the bridge alone to attend the South San Francisco School, owning to its perilous condition. (''Chronicle'', 6/23/1883, p. 3)</blockquote>

When the city franchise that authorized the operation of the Potrero and Bay View Railroad expired, tolls were abolished, to the satisfaction of the public. Seculovich appeared at the hearings on an application by the railroad to renew the franchise and began reading aloud the act admitting California to the Union,

<blockquote>under which Islais creek is by him supposed to be a navigable creek. The committee protested, but Seculovich kept on and had his say. Supervisor Sullivan finally disposed of the matter by moving that the application be denied, which was unanimously adopted. The result was received with applause. (''Examiner'', 5/2/1883, p. 2; ''Chronicle'', 5/4/1883, p. 2)</blockquote>

The railroad then ceased operating on the Islais Creek portion of the Long Bridge and began tearing up the rails, threatening to pull up one of the sets of rails on the north side of Islais Creek as well and run only a single line of cars from the Potrero to the city. The Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors responded that if the railroad carried out its threat to discontinue part of its service, its charter would be forfeited. Seculovich took the opportunity to request the supervisors to “provide for the navigable opening of Islais creek, either out of the present Street Fund or in the next tax levy.” Others asked the Street Committee for any new franchise to include a drawbridge over Islais creek, “which the committee readily acceded to.” The Long Bridge was essential for the butchers in the slaughterhouse district on the south side of Islais Creek to transport their wagonloads of fresh meat into the city, and they hired three men to keep the bridge and its approaches usable while exclaiming “loudly against the hardship of being compelled to pay what they consider a triple tax, as they are already mulcted heavily in wagon and cattle-killing licenses” (''Examiner'', 5/26, 6/9, 6/12 and 6/17/1883; ''Chronicle ''6/15 and 6/17/1883).

Through the summer, discussion continued regarding a franchise that would include maintaining the bridges at the lowest possible toll. In August, the city issued requests for proposals but received only one bid, which was rejected on account of the tolls being to high. Public meetings continued, denouncing tolls. The Board of Supervisors appropriated $150 per month to maintain the bridges despite objections that the bridges were private thoroughfares. In September, the amount was raised to $200 per month, the butchers to pay any additional costs (Examiner, 8/13, 9/19 and 9/21/1883).

In Congress, Senator Miller presented a memorial from the Islais Creek Property Owners Association. The ''Chronicle'' commented,

<blockquote>The specter of Islais creek obstructions has haunted every Legislature in California. The Committee, when it understands that this memorial asks the destruction of a bridge now under control of San Francisco Supervisors, will smile at its presentation to Congress. It is stated that Mr. Seculovich would probably be here this Winter to look after the memorial. (''Examiner'', 12/8/1883; ''Chronicle'', 12/6/1883) </blockquote>

Seculovich does not seem to have gone to Washington, but in the spring it was reported, “Representative Sumner of the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors will endeavor to have inserted in the bill now being prepared by that committee an appropriation for the survey of Islais creek” (''Chronicle'', 4/2/1884, p. 3).

Seculovich’s efforts did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. In June, a petition to Board of Supervisors signed by 107 men, including prominent names in business and politics, requested “payment to Peter T. Seculovich for services rendered by him which had led to judicial decisions prohibiting the obstruction of the navigable waters of the bay by debris, at such a sum as they may deem proper” (Chronicle and Examiner, 6/24/1884). The Sacramento Daily Record-Union also praised him:

<blockquote>For many years Peter Seculovich has struggled to prevent the navigation of Islais creek from being obstructed, and he has at last obtained a decision by Judge Allen supporting the view that he has taken. Mr. Seculovich has brought to the Court’s notice the fact that the act of admission of California into the Union forever prohibits the obstruction of navigable streams. This had a direct bearing upon the decision in the debris cases and was cited by the Judges rendering it. The determined efforts of Mr. Seculovich to have Islais creek kept open for navigation has greatly benefited the State. (''Sacramento Daily Record-Union'', 6/5/1884)</blockquote>

That fall, the Citizens Independent Party put up his name as a candidate for the state Assembly. The party’s opposition to the political machine closely associated with the railroads likely would have appealed to him (''Examiner'', 10/24/1884, p. 5).

Seculovich continued his personal campaign with yet another “long communication” to the Board of Supervisors. The board, apparently having had enough, referred the matter to the Committee on Navigation. “As there existed no such body,” the Examiner reported, “the clerk of the board filed it for the Judiciary Committee” (9/30/1884, p. 3).

The supervisors found money to shore up the Long Bridge, if not to clear the Fifteenth Avenue embankment from Islais Creek, authorizing $5,000 for lumber to replank the Long Bridge, even as a new proposal surfaced for a franchise for a street railway that would include a drawbridge on Islais Creek (''Chronicle'', 9/30/1884, p 8; ''Examiner'', 11/18/1884).

Matters in Washington stalled. Congressman Sumner wrote asking the Board of Supervisors the status of litigation regarding the Islais Creek bridge and the board’s opinion about opening navigation to Islais creek. The colonel in charge of the matter was recommending to the Secretary of War against any survey of Islais Creek (''Examiner'', 11/12/1884, p. 3).

In late 1884, a proposal surfaced to replace both sections of the Long Bridge with a solid embankment, that is, to “grade” Kentucky Street (present-day Third Street) along the same line as the bridges. The Street Committee indefinitely postponed discussion of property owners’ request that the project include a drawbridge across Islais Creek. The Board of Supervisors sent Seculovich’s subsequent protest back to the Street Committee, which gave him 10 minutes to state his case. He retorted that he needed an hour and had “a scheme that will knock the spots out of any of your legal proceedings.” The committee gave him a week to file a brief. At the next Street Committee meeting, “the voluminous file of Peter Seculovich on the obstructing of Islais Creek was placed on file” where it was open to the public. Nothing further was reported about his “scheme” (''Examiner'', 12/13/1884, 1/13 and 1/16/1885; ''Chronicle'', 12/13 and 12/25/ 1884, 1/30/1885, p. 4).

Long-simmering dissension in the ranks of the Islais Creek Property Owners Association, of which we have earlier seen hints, boiled over: The acid manufacturer from Franconia Landing, John Reynolds, called a meeting “reviving an adjourned meeting from around 1880.” Declaring he was vice president, Reynolds reported $155 collected and spent “employing counsel to assist the attorney for the Harbor Commission in their old fight with the Potrero and Bay View Railroad Company.” The members present adopted a resolution objecting to filling Kentucky Street without a drawbridge and asked the state legislature for money to dredge and wharf the creek. Finally—what the ''Chronicle'' described as “the true inwardness of the meeting”—Reynolds’s son, George, offered a resolution to be sent to the state legislature “relating that Peter Seculovich in all his efforts in behalf of Islais creek interests had simply expected the plaudits of his fellow-citizens, that counsel ‘learned in the law’ had been paid for all the legal ability used in the fight with the Potrero company, and that, therefore, the undersigned were opposed to his receiving any compensation.” With the introduction of this resolution, the ''Chronicle'' continued, “the fun commenced”:

<blockquote>Seculovich has spent five or six years in fighting for Islais creek and was the first to discover the forgotten provision of Section 3 of the Act granting admittance into the Union to California forever forbidding the closing of any of the navigable waters of the State or the deposit of debris therein, and which provision was the principal basis of the great debris suits. His services have been entirely voluntary and result of his enthusiasm in the cause of his favorite Islais creek. But recently the tempter has worked upon the cupidity of the venerable Peter, and his friends intend introducing a bill into the Legislature granting him $50,000 for his distinguished services—$5000 for his own compensation and the remainder, as Peter naively says, to make it “solit vit the boys.” (''Chronicle'', 1/19/1885)</blockquote>

Seculovich was present and rose to speak, but Reynolds “excitedly” ruled him out of order and threatened to have a newly appointed sergeant at arms put him out. After much uproar, with Seculovich and Reynolds shouting over each other, Seculovich “withdrew, but came back to ask the reporters to take notice that he had been refused a hearing.” The Examiner reported more soberly that the meeting resolved “That Peter Seculovich be not recognized by the Property-owners of Islais creek regarding their interests in the future. Mr Seculovich was present and the meeting, and was very boisterous. He was subsequently declared obnoxious. He then quietly made his exit.” A subsequent motion proposed “that the Legislature be instructed not to recognize any actions of Mr Seculovich in regard to the interests of Islais creek” (''Chronicle'' and ''Examiner'', 1/19/1885).

In April—three months later—Seculovich issued a response, which appeared in the Examiner. He claimed that the January resolution repudiating him was not actually adopted, that Reynolds was not then or later the vice president of the association as he had claimed and finally that no actual property owners were present at the January meeting. Technically, it appears that Reyolds was not vice president but president in 1879 and 1880. The proposal to compensate Seculovich seems not to have gone anywhere. In May, Seculovich presented new objections to the Board of Supervisors regarding the grading of Kentucky Street, which they refused to consider—it is unclear from our sources if he purported to represent the Islais Creek Property Owners Association or spoke only for himself. (''Examiner'', 4/21 and 5/4/1885)

From Washington, DC, came news that Congress failed to fund a number of California harbor and river projects. The army engineer was particularly discouraging about Islais Creek:

<blockquote>The mouth and that portion of the creek which is in any sense navigable lie about three miles to the southward of the central portion of the city. But for the tides there could be no navigation of the creek. The tide, which rises from four to seven feet at neaps and springs, ebbs and flows over about a mile length of the estuary adjoining the mouth, which is in San Francisco bay. In the natural state of the estuary the tides reached a point two miles above the mouth, but is now intercepted by a causeway embanked across the creek on the line of Fifteenth avenue, a mile above the mouth. It now forms one of the lines of communication between the city and a suburb known as South San Francisco. This road is, to the degree that it reduces the volume of tide circulation in the estuary, an injury to the channel of the creek. A second road, known as the San Bruno, crosses the creek by a bridge about 3,000 feet above Fifteenth avenue. It is thought not to be injurious in its effects upon the navigable value of the estuary.

It is possible that the improvement of the creek would lead to the establishment of new and large factories. Nevertheless, the advantages likely to be thus gained for commerce seem, under the circumstances, to be of too small proportion to justify the considerable expenditure that would be required to build and maintain one or more draws and dredge the approaches to the creek. The complication caused by the State having authorized the construction of thoroughfares across the channel seems to be an additional reason why it is not expedient at present to undertake the improvement of the creek. At some future time, when complications shall cease to exist and when there shall appear to be a real need for increased commercial facilities, Islais creek may be worthy of improvements, but under existing circumstances it is not so regarded. (''Chronicle'', June 8, 1885, p. 3)</blockquote>

Meanwhile, in California, the unidentified speaker in an appeal to the Harbor Commissioners was surely Seculovich:

<blockquote>One of the delegation, a citizen of phlegmatic temperament and with more emphatic oratory than rhetoric demanded that the Commissioners, as “Fathers of the Waters,” were compelled by their oaths of office to build a draw-bridge at the State’s expense, or else remove the entire bridge. Courts or no Courts. He declared that all his fellow-property-owners were in a ruined condition, and if the bridge remained they would be “more ruined.” He was interrupted by Commissioner Irwin, who attempted to state his disbelief in the authority of the Board to build draw-bridges, whereupon the orator delivered a free lecture upon the duties of the office of “Father of the Waters” but was cut short by the definite dictum that “the Board utterly refused to build draw-bridges.” It was the opinion of Commissioner Irwin that the Board had the authority to order the removal of obstructions, but not to provide the means or suggest compromises. (''Examiner'', 6/24/1885. p. 2)</blockquote>

Shortly thereafter, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in the long-pending appeal of the trial court finding that the Potrero and Bay View Railroad wrongfully obstructed navigation in Islais Creek. In deciding in favor of the railroad, the court looked to the provisions of state legislation that Seculovich and others had preferred to ignore. According to the timeline found by the court, in April 1866 the state legislature granted rights to the street railroad along this route, which necessarily included a bridge. In 1868, the legislature added the requirement that the company “construct a draw in the bridge on Kentucky street, at its intersection with Tulare street, whenever the parties interested shall pay the expense of constructing such draw, and provide for maintaining the same.” If the state had the constitutional power to authorize the building of the bridge, the court reasoned, it would follow that the bridge could not legally constitute a nuisance. Turning to the Act of Congress admitting California to the Union, which provided “that all the navigable waters within the State shall be common highways, and forever free,” the court noted that the US Supreme Court had made clear the clause only meant to “insure a highway equally open to all without preferences,” preventing private parties from excluding the public or exacting tolls for navigation. In authorizing a bridge, as in the present case, “to promote the convenience of the public,” California, like all the other states, had “plenary power over bridges over navigable streams unless and until Congress acts on the subject” (''Chronicle'', 6/25/1885, p. 2).

''All sources for this 10-part article appear at end of [[Peter T. Seculovich Passes#sources|Part 10]].''

[[Defending Islais Creek As City Expands|Return to Part 2]] • [[Long Bridge Becomes Kentucky Street|Continue reading Part 4]]

[[category:Bernal Heights]] [[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:immigration]] [[category:real estate]] [[category:Water]]

Keeping Islais Creek Navigable

2025-11-18T20:41:32Z

Lisaruth:

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Stephanie T. Hoppe''

''Stephanie T. Hoppe is a former staff counsel to the California Coastal Commission and a great-great-granddaughter of Peter Seculovich.''

<big>'''Part 3 of Peter T. Seculovich in San Francisco'''</big>

[[Image:Peter Seculovich and Jennie Golden Gate Park ca. 1905.jpeg|350px]]

'''Peter Seculovich and Jennie in Golden Gate Park, c. 1905.'''

With the Pennsylvania Avenue threat averted, Seculovich turned to the obstructions already in the creek. Perhaps he had discovered he had a taste for organizing and advocating, or perhaps, in his mind, the windswept salt marsh bordering Islais Creek was overlain by memories of the Adriatic harbors of Dubrovnik, Trieste and Venice bustling with commerce as they had for centuries. At a meeting in January 1881, the property owners association approved his motion to appoint himself a committee of one “to go to Sacramento to urge upon the Legislature the necessity of enacting a Law requiring the removal of all obstructions across the creek” and authorized funds to pay his expenses (''Chronicle'', 1/10/1881, p. 3).

Thus, in the state Senate the following month, “The everlasting and time-consuming Islais creek matter came up again.” One legislator reported that his “committee had visited the creek at high water time, and could find no water; they could see no reason why the bill should be passed, and he moved that it be indefinitely postponed.” Members of the San Francisco delegation repeatedly switched sides or refused to vote, and after initially passing the bill in question, the Senate as a whole voted to reconsider it and finally defeated it altogether (''Examiner'', 2/3 and 11/1881).

At a subsequent meeting of the property owners association at the Franconia House on the San Bruno road, Seculovich dwelled on what he considered the foundation for their advocacy, Section 3 of the Act of Congress admitting California to the Union: “All the navigable waters within the said state shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of said state as to the citizens of the United States, without any tax, impost, or duty therefore.” He believed this provision forbade the obstruction of any navigable stream, and he urged that “this main artery of commerce so indispensable for the development of manufactures be not forever closed and that the injustice to this part of the city by the building of the Long Bridge be remedied.” The role of Islais Creek in carrying away waste also came up, an issue that would return with increased salience as the city expanded (''Examiner'', 2/14/1881).

We have seen Seculovich as a tireless, even obsessive, and sometimes pugnacious and divisive advocate for his views. As he became a fixture in public meetings and government hearings, newspaper reporters found him a reliable source of colorful copy, as in this account of a property owners association meeting later in 1881:

<blockquote>“Carried Unanimously”

'''The Solid Man of Islais Creek to the Front'''

Peter T. Seculovich had a meeting yesterday afternoon in Mr. Senil’s house on the San Bruno road. Mr. Seculovich always advocated opening Islais creek for navigation as far up as St. Mary’s College. His is a rival organization to the Islais creek men who met on the preceding Sunday. Mr. Seculovich had five other property-owners near Islais creek at the meeting, but one of them left soon, because he “had company at home,” and the others were decidedly neutral. The meeting did not suffer. Mr. Seculovich was an “enthusiastic assembly” in himself. He introduced and read a long manuscript written by himself, giving a detailed account of what he had done and what the lawyers had not done in the case to declare the Fourth-street drawbridge a nuisance. Mr. Seculovich convinced the assembly by his argument and the production of an infinite number of legal documents that the report should be adopted and placed on file.

“I move the report be accepted, Mr. Sicklevitch,” put in property-holder No. 1.

“Seculo—Seculovich! sir! Carried unanimously,” added Mr. Seculovich in his blandest manner, after having put the question to a vote.

Mr. Seculovich then read a resolution prepared by himself, which, after eulogizing Mr. Seculovich, authorized and empowered him to attend to the entire management of the case until the creek was open and dredged for navigation, and in conclusion, deputized Mr. Seculovich to collect sufficient to reimburse him for expenses already incurred and to be incurred.

“I move the resolution be carried, Mr. Secularwitch,” moved property-holder No, 2.

“Seculo—Seculovich! sir! Carried unanimously,” responded Mr. Seculovich in his sweetest tone.

Mr. Seculovich then read another resolution written by himself, deputizing Mr. Seculovich a committee of one to urge the Harbor Commissioners for ready means of access to Franconia landing. As it was now, they had to pay toll in going round the bridge upon Kentucky street, and on the other hand the route by the San Bruno road was only at the suffrage and pleasure of a private citizen.

“I move the resolution be adopted, Mr. Suckcollarwitch,” said No. 3.

“Carried unanimously,” said Mr. Seculovich.

Still another resolution presented by Mr. Seculovich, and constructed by himself, was likewise “carried unanimously.”

“We can now have a little argument on the whole question,” suggested Mr. Seculovich, sweetly, when his stock of Seculovichian resolutions had become exhausted.

When the reporter left the meeting the “we” had had no chance of arguing yet, and Mr. Seculovich was still “as fresh as a daisy.” (Chronicle, 11/28/1881, p. 3)</blockquote>

According to the ''Examiner''’s more sober account of the same meeting, the association authorized Seculovich to “continue the management of our affairs in conjunction with the attorney for the people, in the case against the Potrero and Bay View Railroad Company, involving the reopening for navigation purposes of Islais Creek” and to represent to the State Harbor Commissioners that “by the closing of Islais Creek the residents of San Bruno road and of South San Francisco have been greatly inconvenienced, and forced to pass over private property to get to the city” (''Examiner'', 11/29/1881). We should note that despite the meager attendance at the meeting at Mr. Senil’s house, Seculovich often carried considerable numbers with him, including at times local, state and federal officials.

We might also note the mention of a rival organization. This referred to the acid manufacturer from Franconia Landing, John Reynolds, who might not have been present at the meeting where Seculovich replaced him as president of the Islais Creek Property Owners Association and might not have recognized the change. At this rival meeting, held at Reynolds’s acid works on the San Bruno road, Reynolds

<blockquote>depicted a brilliant future for Franconia Landing. With one wave of his right arm he pointed at random at the vast boggy expanse beyond him, and razed Bernal Heights in his speech to the level of the prospective Islais-creek embankment. He saw a fleet of 200 light-bottomed vessels dipping and raising their bows with the swell of the creek’s waters, and dotted San Bruno road with a perfect wilderness of saloons, forges, groceries, hotels and warehouses. … “Wake up, Islais creek men,” he said in conclusion, “the rest of the town is up and live in their interests. We are asleep. I say with Colonel Mulberry Sellers, ‘There’s millions in it.’” The assembly was captivated by the plausibility of the speaker’s remarks, and vowed to awaken the Islais-creek men to their interests, and promised Mr. Hassett a handsome fee. (''Chronicle'', 11/21/1881, p. 3)</blockquote>

M. C. Hassett was an attorney who assisted the Harbor Commissioners’ attorney in their lawsuit to declare the Long Bridge a nuisance. The Franconia Landing property owners paid for his services in part, or perhaps entirely. It is not clear whether Seculovich personally contributed funds. While Reynolds and Seculovich shared the goal of (re)opening Islais Creek to navigation, their disparate personalities seem to have made it impossible for them to work together. Still, the year ended on a high note for them both when the trial court ruled in their favor:

<blockquote>On the trial it was proved by the United States Harbor Surveyor, the State Harbor Engineer and Master of Marines that the navigation on the creek in times past had been considerable, and that it was a valuable piece of navigable water. The United States laws forbid the closing up of a navigable water, so the case only hinges on the simple matter of fact as to whether or not the creek was once a navigable piece of water. (''Examiner'', 12/22/1881)</blockquote>

Six months later, in a “memorial” complete with “a gaudy seal, embossed with the words ‘Islais Creek Property-owners’ Association,’ and a representation of the creek as it is supposed it will be when the obstructions are removed,” Seculovich reminded the Board of Supervisors that the court had declared the “the obstructions across the mouth of the channel a nuisance” and ordered their removal (''Examiner'', 7/26/1882, p. 2).

A month later, with the city still taking no action, he returned to the Street Committee of the Board of Supervisors “with a formidable lot of law books under one arm and a diagram two yards long under the other” (''Examiner'', 8/26/1882). In November, he might have felt he was finally seeing progress when, almost a full year after the trial court’s decision, the city attorney gave his official opinion to the Board of Supervisors that Islais Creek was a navigable stream. He specifically thanked Seculovich “for material aid rendered him in arriving at a definite conclusion in the matter,” and he advised the board that it had the power “to cause the removal of certain material which it had caused to be dumped near Fifteenth avenue,” that is, the embankment extending Fifteenth Street from the Potrero to the San Bruno road and crossing Islais creek. But the city would have to bear the cost of the removal (''Chronicle'', 11/2/1882; ''Examiner'', 11/4/1882). The Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors voted in favor of the removal after it received petitions on the subject. At least some members of the public seemed to believe prosperity was on the horizon for the Islais marshlands, advertising 13 lots in Bernal Rancho Gift Map 4 that “lie on the Islais Creek, a navigable stream; in a short time they will be available for a landing point for lumber, bricks, etc., for this point of the city” (''Examiner'', 12/9/1882, p. 2).

In December 1882, Board of Supervisors referred yet another petition urging them to action in the matter to the Street Committee. Seculovich returned to the Judiciary Committee arguing that the mayor “will not act in the matter, because he does not see his way clear to positive action. If the Supervisors confer further power upon him, and in more explicit terms, he can do something.” The committee laid the matter over (''Examiner'', 12/12 and 12/16/1882).

In Washington, DC, California Senator John F. Miller, at Seculovich’s urging, submitted a petition to the US Senate “praying for reopening of Islais creek to navigation” and requesting $50,000 and the assistance of the US Attorney General to remove obstructions, local bodies having failed to take action (''Chronicle'', 12/19/1882).

The year 1882 neared its end with the situation on the ground unchanged but avenues remaining for redress. The Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors again reported in favor of “clearing Islais creek and preparing it for navigation, expenses to be paid out of some fund not disposed of” and the matter returned yet again to the full board (''Examiner'', 12/27/1882).

In early January 1883, the Board of Supervisors met to clear up unfinished business before the seating of a new board. A proposal to pay for removing obstructions in Islais Creek and preparing plans for a drawbridge “out of any money belonging to the city not otherwise disposed of” incited lengthy debate, which ended with yet another postponement. The new board proved disappointing, the ''Chronicle'' reporting, “Islais Creek Improvements Nipped in the Bud.” Money was short, and “The order providing for the improvement of Islais creek was indefinitely postponed.” The new session of the legislature in Sacramento saw a bill introduced to (yet again) declare Islais Creek a navigable waterway “to the southwesterly end of its channel”—a point perhaps intentionally left vague. Other proposed bills would repeal the 1868 legislation protecting the railroad bridge, require the Harbor Commissioners to clear the creek of all obstructions to navigation and authorize the construction of drawbridges and other improvements, the drawbridges to be free of tolls (''Chronicle'', 1/6/ and 1/23/1883).

Perhaps riding an uptick in public hostility toward railroads, the Potrero and Bayview Street Railway having been acquired by Southern Pacific, the Islais Creek Property Owners Association petitioned the Harbor Commissioners not just for a drawbridge but to remove the Long Bridge altogether. From the wording of the request, we can assume the unidentified spokesman for the association was Seculovich. The commissioners referred the matter to their attorney (''Examiner'', 1/12/1883, p. 1). A few days later, the Board of Supervisors authorized the city surveyor to prepare plans for improving Islais Creek (''Chronicle'', 1/16/1883, p. 4). When Seculovich again urged the Street Committee to replace the bridges over Islais creek with draws, the committee decided to inspect the creek for itself. The ''Examiner'' waxed poetic about the proposed “Supervisors’ Picnic Along the Banks of Islais Creek”:

<blockquote>The visit to Islais Creek is to verify Peter Seculovich’s statements regarding that noble stream. Seculovich is an enthusiastic and urbane gentleman known to the Legislature, the Harbor Commissioners, to successive Boards of Supervisors, and to the newspapers, as the “Friend of Islais Creek,” although an unfortunate typographical error did once make him the “Fiend” of Islais Creek. Mr. Seculovich wants the Supervisors to send to Sacramento a resolution urging the passage of Assembly bill No. 4, introduced by Assemblyman O’Connor, which, in effect, turns the creek over to the Harbor Commissioners to dredge it. Besides his indefatigable efforts before the various local legislative bodies of California, it is said that Mr. Seculovich has an appeal to Congress ready to be forwarded. His extensive maps and his not unfavorable comparison of Islais Creek to that tortuous brook known as the Petaluma river, on which a national appropriation has been squandered, have excited the curiosity of the Street Committee. They have decided to navigate the creek at low tide. The aromatic balm of a Butchertown breeze blowing over the San Bruno mud flats will be apt to make these adventurous servants of the city sigh for a sachet of the sweet-smelling assafetida before they return. (''Examiner'', 2/16/1883, p. 3)</blockquote>

The picnic, if it took place, did not help. The full board “indefinitely postponed” consideration of Seculovich’s request for support of the Assembly bill. In April, with the city facing financial difficulties, the Judiciary Committee recommended selling 109 city-owned building lots on the street fittingly named Channel Street that resulted from filling in Mission Creek. Seculovich was present and “filed a formal objection,” asking for the lots to be dug up and “Channel creek be made navigable” (''Examiner'', 2/27 and 4/17/1883; ''Chronicle'', 4/17/1883, p. 1).

At that juncture, the political will might have been mustered to clear the obstruction in Islais Creek resulting from the embankment for Fifteenth Avenue, but money to pay for it was not forthcoming. As for the other major issue, the Long Bridge, time looked to be accomplishing what the efforts of Seculovich and the Islais Creek Property Owners Association had not. After 20 years, the wooden structure, never adequately maintained, began to crumble:

<blockquote>One can hardly pass one hundred yards without encountering a fissure or interstice between the beams, while ever and anon is a large gaping hole, discovering the dark-blue water of the bay or the gray-and-greenish slush of the morass twenty feet beneath. Here and there rude attempts are noticeable at patching up these yearning apertures, but this repairing is more honored in the breach than the observance. On the Mission bay bridge and further on on the Long bridge the timbers sway and quiver under the weight of the passing teams, the crossing of a light buggy being sufficient even to cause an oscillation and vibration of the fragile supports. It is alleged that the Long bridge, which was never considered strong and contains only 6x8 inch caps, has perfectly rotting foundations.

Accidents are of frequent occurrence, two horses of Mr. Brandenstein’s team having fallen through the rotten scantlings into the marsh beneath about ten days ago, while only yesterday one of the railroad car horses crashed through the creaking planking and was extricated after an hour with the greatest difficulty. The residents of the Potrero even refuse to allow their children to cross the bridge alone to attend the South San Francisco School, owning to its perilous condition. (''Chronicle'', 6/23/1883, p. 3)</blockquote>

When the city franchise that authorized the operation of the Potrero and Bay View Railroad expired, tolls were abolished, to the satisfaction of the public. Seculovich appeared at the hearings on an application by the railroad to renew the franchise and began reading aloud the act admitting California to the Union,

<blockquote>under which Islais creek is by him supposed to be a navigable creek. The committee protested, but Seculovich kept on and had his say. Supervisor Sullivan finally disposed of the matter by moving that the application be denied, which was unanimously adopted. The result was received with applause. (''Examiner'', 5/2/1883, p. 2; ''Chronicle'', 5/4/1883, p. 2)</blockquote>

The railroad then ceased operating on the Islais Creek portion of the Long Bridge and began tearing up the rails, threatening to pull up one of the sets of rails on the north side of Islais Creek as well and run only a single line of cars from the Potrero to the city. The Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors responded that if the railroad carried out its threat to discontinue part of its service, its charter would be forfeited. Seculovich took the opportunity to request the supervisors to “provide for the navigable opening of Islais creek, either out of the present Street Fund or in the next tax levy.” Others asked the Street Committee for any new franchise to include a drawbridge over Islais creek, “which the committee readily acceded to.” The Long Bridge was essential for the butchers in the slaughterhouse district on the south side of Islais Creek to transport their wagonloads of fresh meat into the city, and they hired three men to keep the bridge and its approaches usable while exclaiming “loudly against the hardship of being compelled to pay what they consider a triple tax, as they are already mulcted heavily in wagon and cattle-killing licenses” (''Examiner'', 5/26, 6/9, 6/12 and 6/17/1883; ''Chronicle ''6/15 and 6/17/1883).

Through the summer, discussion continued regarding a franchise that would include maintaining the bridges at the lowest possible toll. In August, the city issued requests for proposals but received only one bid, which was rejected on account of the tolls being to high. Public meetings continued, denouncing tolls. The Board of Supervisors appropriated $150 per month to maintain the bridges despite objections that the bridges were private thoroughfares. In September, the amount was raised to $200 per month, the butchers to pay any additional costs (Examiner, 8/13, 9/19 and 9/21/1883).

In Congress, Senator Miller presented a memorial from the Islais Creek Property Owners Association. The ''Chronicle'' commented,

<blockquote>The specter of Islais creek obstructions has haunted every Legislature in California. The Committee, when it understands that this memorial asks the destruction of a bridge now under control of San Francisco Supervisors, will smile at its presentation to Congress. It is stated that Mr. Seculovich would probably be here this Winter to look after the memorial. (''Examiner'', 12/8/1883; ''Chronicle'', 12/6/1883) </blockquote>

Seculovich does not seem to have gone to Washington, but in the spring it was reported, “Representative Sumner of the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors will endeavor to have inserted in the bill now being prepared by that committee an appropriation for the survey of Islais creek” (''Chronicle'', 4/2/1884, p. 3).

Seculovich’s efforts did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. In June, a petition to Board of Supervisors signed by 107 men, including prominent names in business and politics, requested “payment to Peter T. Seculovich for services rendered by him which had led to judicial decisions prohibiting the obstruction of the navigable waters of the bay by debris, at such a sum as they may deem proper” (Chronicle and Examiner, 6/24/1884). The Sacramento Daily Record-Union also praised him:

<blockquote>For many years Peter Seculovich has struggled to prevent the navigation of Islais creek from being obstructed, and he has at last obtained a decision by Judge Allen supporting the view that he has taken. Mr. Seculovich has brought to the Court’s notice the fact that the act of admission of California into the Union forever prohibits the obstruction of navigable streams. This had a direct bearing upon the decision in the debris cases and was cited by the Judges rendering it. The determined efforts of Mr. Seculovich to have Islais creek kept open for navigation has greatly benefited the State. (''Sacramento Daily Record-Union'', 6/5/1884)</blockquote>

That fall, the Citizens Independent Party put up his name as a candidate for the state Assembly. The party’s opposition to the political machine closely associated with the railroads likely would have appealed to him (''Examiner'', 10/24/1884, p. 5).

Seculovich continued his personal campaign with yet another “long communication” to the Board of Supervisors. The board, apparently having had enough, referred the matter to the Committee on Navigation. “As there existed no such body,” the Examiner reported, “the clerk of the board filed it for the Judiciary Committee” (9/30/1884, p. 3).

The supervisors found money to shore up the Long Bridge, if not to clear the Fifteenth Avenue embankment from Islais Creek, authorizing $5,000 for lumber to replank the Long Bridge, even as a new proposal surfaced for a franchise for a street railway that would include a drawbridge on Islais Creek (''Chronicle'', 9/30/1884, p 8; ''Examiner'', 11/18/1884).

Matters in Washington stalled. Congressman Sumner wrote asking the Board of Supervisors the status of litigation regarding the Islais Creek bridge and the board’s opinion about opening navigation to Islais creek. The colonel in charge of the matter was recommending to the Secretary of War against any survey of Islais Creek (''Examiner'', 11/12/1884, p. 3).

In late 1884, a proposal surfaced to replace both sections of the Long Bridge with a solid embankment, that is, to “grade” Kentucky Street (present-day Third Street) along the same line as the bridges. The Street Committee indefinitely postponed discussion of property owners’ request that the project include a drawbridge across Islais Creek. The Board of Supervisors sent Seculovich’s subsequent protest back to the Street Committee, which gave him 10 minutes to state his case. He retorted that he needed an hour and had “a scheme that will knock the spots out of any of your legal proceedings.” The committee gave him a week to file a brief. At the next Street Committee meeting, “the voluminous file of Peter Seculovich on the obstructing of Islais Creek was placed on file” where it was open to the public. Nothing further was reported about his “scheme” (''Examiner'', 12/13/1884, 1/13 and 1/16/1885; ''Chronicle'', 12/13 and 12/25/ 1884, 1/30/1885, p. 4).

Long-simmering dissension in the ranks of the Islais Creek Property Owners Association, of which we have earlier seen hints, boiled over: The acid manufacturer from Franconia Landing, John Reynolds, called a meeting “reviving an adjourned meeting from around 1880.” Declaring he was vice president, Reynolds reported $155 collected and spent “employing counsel to assist the attorney for the Harbor Commission in their old fight with the Potrero and Bay View Railroad Company.” The members present adopted a resolution objecting to filling Kentucky Street without a drawbridge and asked the state legislature for money to dredge and wharf the creek. Finally—what the ''Chronicle'' described as “the true inwardness of the meeting”—Reynolds’s son, George, offered a resolution to be sent to the state legislature “relating that Peter Seculovich in all his efforts in behalf of Islais creek interests had simply expected the plaudits of his fellow-citizens, that counsel ‘learned in the law’ had been paid for all the legal ability used in the fight with the Potrero company, and that, therefore, the undersigned were opposed to his receiving any compensation.” With the introduction of this resolution, the ''Chronicle'' continued, “the fun commenced”:

<blockquote>Seculovich has spent five or six years in fighting for Islais creek and was the first to discover the forgotten provision of Section 3 of the Act granting admittance into the Union to California forever forbidding the closing of any of the navigable waters of the State or the deposit of debris therein, and which provision was the principal basis of the great debris suits. His services have been entirely voluntary and result of his enthusiasm in the cause of his favorite Islais creek. But recently the tempter has worked upon the cupidity of the venerable Peter, and his friends intend introducing a bill into the Legislature granting him $50,000 for his distinguished services—$5000 for his own compensation and the remainder, as Peter naively says, to make it “solit vit the boys.” (''Chronicle'', 1/19/1885)</blockquote>

Seculovich was present and rose to speak, but Reynolds “excitedly” ruled him out of order and threatened to have a newly appointed sergeant at arms put him out. After much uproar, with Seculovich and Reynolds shouting over each other, Seculovich “withdrew, but came back to ask the reporters to take notice that he had been refused a hearing.” The Examiner reported more soberly that the meeting resolved “That Peter Seculovich be not recognized by the Property-owners of Islais creek regarding their interests in the future. Mr Seculovich was present and the meeting, and was very boisterous. He was subsequently declared obnoxious. He then quietly made his exit.” A subsequent motion proposed “that the Legislature be instructed not to recognize any actions of Mr Seculovich in regard to the interests of Islais creek” (''Chronicle'' and ''Examiner'', 1/19/1885).

In April—three months later—Seculovich issued a response, which appeared in the Examiner. He claimed that the January resolution repudiating him was not actually adopted, that Reynolds was not then or later the vice president of the association as he had claimed and finally that no actual property owners were present at the January meeting. Technically, it appears that Reyolds was not vice president but president in 1879 and 1880. The proposal to compensate Seculovich seems not to have gone anywhere. In May, Seculovich presented new objections to the Board of Supervisors regarding the grading of Kentucky Street, which they refused to consider—it is unclear from our sources if he purported to represent the Islais Creek Property Owners Association or spoke only for himself. (''Examiner'', 4/21 and 5/4/1885)

From Washington, DC, came news that Congress failed to fund a number of California harbor and river projects. The army engineer was particularly discouraging about Islais Creek:

<blockquote>The mouth and that portion of the creek which is in any sense navigable lie about three miles to the southward of the central portion of the city. But for the tides there could be no navigation of the creek. The tide, which rises from four to seven feet at neaps and springs, ebbs and flows over about a mile length of the estuary adjoining the mouth, which is in San Francisco bay. In the natural state of the estuary the tides reached a point two miles above the mouth, but is now intercepted by a causeway embanked across the creek on the line of Fifteenth avenue, a mile above the mouth. It now forms one of the lines of communication between the city and a suburb known as South San Francisco. This road is, to the degree that it reduces the volume of tide circulation in the estuary, an injury to the channel of the creek. A second road, known as the San Bruno, crosses the creek by a bridge about 3,000 feet above Fifteenth avenue. It is thought not to be injurious in its effects upon the navigable value of the estuary.

It is possible that the improvement of the creek would lead to the establishment of new and large factories. Nevertheless, the advantages likely to be thus gained for commerce seem, under the circumstances, to be of too small proportion to justify the considerable expenditure that would be required to build and maintain one or more draws and dredge the approaches to the creek. The complication caused by the State having authorized the construction of thoroughfares across the channel seems to be an additional reason why it is not expedient at present to undertake the improvement of the creek. At some future time, when complications shall cease to exist and when there shall appear to be a real need for increased commercial facilities, Islais creek may be worthy of improvements, but under existing circumstances it is not so regarded. (''Chronicle'', June 8, 1885, p. 3)</blockquote>

Meanwhile, in California, the unidentified speaker in an appeal to the Harbor Commissioners was surely Seculovich:

<blockquote>One of the delegation, a citizen of phlegmatic temperament and with more emphatic oratory than rhetoric demanded that the Commissioners, as “Fathers of the Waters,” were compelled by their oaths of office to build a draw-bridge at the State’s expense, or else remove the entire bridge. Courts or no Courts. He declared that all his fellow-property-owners were in a ruined condition, and if the bridge remained they would be “more ruined.” He was interrupted by Commissioner Irwin, who attempted to state his disbelief in the authority of the Board to build draw-bridges, whereupon the orator delivered a free lecture upon the duties of the office of “Father of the Waters” but was cut short by the definite dictum that “the Board utterly refused to build draw-bridges.” It was the opinion of Commissioner Irwin that the Board had the authority to order the removal of obstructions, but not to provide the means or suggest compromises. (''Examiner'', 6/24/1885. p. 2)</blockquote>

Shortly thereafter, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in the long-pending appeal of the trial court finding that the Potrero and Bay View Railroad wrongfully obstructed navigation in Islais Creek. In deciding in favor of the railroad, the court looked to the provisions of state legislation that Seculovich and others had preferred to ignore. According to the timeline found by the court, in April 1866 the state legislature granted rights to the street railroad along this route, which necessarily included a bridge. In 1868, the legislature added the requirement that the company “construct a draw in the bridge on Kentucky street, at its intersection with Tulare street, whenever the parties interested shall pay the expense of constructing such draw, and provide for maintaining the same.” If the state had the constitutional power to authorize the building of the bridge, the court reasoned, it would follow that the bridge could not legally constitute a nuisance. Turning to the Act of Congress admitting California to the Union, which provided “that all the navigable waters within the State shall be common highways, and forever free,” the court noted that the US Supreme Court had made clear the clause only meant to “insure a highway equally open to all without preferences,” preventing private parties from excluding the public or exacting tolls for navigation. In authorizing a bridge, as in the present case, “to promote the convenience of the public,” California, like all the other states, had “plenary power over bridges over navigable streams unless and until Congress acts on the subject” (''Chronicle'', 6/25/1885, p. 2).

''All sources for this 10-part article appear at end of [[Peter T. Seculovich Passes#sources|Part 10]].''

[[Defending Islais Creek As City Expands|Return to Part 2]] • [[Long Bridge Becomes Kentucky Street|Continue reading Part 4]]

[[category:Bernal Heights]] [[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:1860s]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:1880s]] [[category:immigration]] [[category:real estate]] [[category:Water]]

Peter T. Seculovich in San Francisco, 1859-1909

2025-11-18T20:40:12Z

Lisaruth: minor editing

Zoanne Nordstrom: Gum Tree Girl and Neighborhood Activist

2025-11-17T21:37:10Z

Lisaruth: added date to byline

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Bonnee Waldstein, 2021''

''Originally published in [https://www.glenparkassociation.org/glen-park-news/ ''Glen Park News''], [https://www.glenparkassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GPNSpring2021-Web.pdf Spring 2021 issue]. Republished here with permission.''

[[Image:Glen-park-freeway.jpg]]

'''Proposed freeway to run through Glen Park, c. 1948.'''

''Image courtesy Erica Fischer on Flickr.''

Glen Park has lost one of its all-time champions: Zoanne Nordstrom, who lived on Surrey Street for more than 60 years and helped save Glen Canyon from decimation by the freeway lobby, died Feb. 15, at age 87, of the Covid-19 virus.

For decades, anyone out and about in the neighborhood would run into Nordstrom, whether in earlier days when she was walking her beloved dog Max, or schmoozing with her daily coffee klatch at her favorite meeting place, Higher Grounds Café on Chenery Street. When owner Manhal Jweinat would greet her and ask how she was, she’d invariably answer, “I’m great—now that I’m here!”

She was born in Hollywood and raised by a single mother. She worked from the age of 13 to help support the family. While attending UC Berkeley, where she got her BA in English, she managed an apartment building to pay her tuition and expenses. She got her master’s degree in psychology from SF State, while working multiple jobs.

Nordstrom was married for about 20 years to Reginald Theriault. (When they divorced, she went back to her maiden name.) She is survived by their sons, Raymond and Marcus (a third son, Thomas, predeceased her); her brother, Alan, and three grandchildren. Her husband was a longshoreman and later a union organizer. When their children were small, Nordstrom took them to the fields to pick fruit along with the migrant workers.

Her working career was at City College of San Francisco, where she was chair of the Child Development department. She also ran the Child Development Center where, in addition to caring for the children, she taught classes for their parents in child-rearing and nutrition.

Nordstrom’s activism in Glen Park and San Francisco was legendary and boundless. But if there’s one thing she is famous (or infamous) for, it was for her role in the so-called [[The Freeway Revolt|Freeway Revolt]]. One day she and her friend Joan Seiwald spotted a surveyor putting stakes in the ground on Bosworth Street. When he told them it was for an elevated freeway that was to run crosstown, above Glen Canyon Park, Nordstrom told him, “Like hell you’ll build a freeway!”

[[Image:Freeway-plan2.jpg]]

'''A different rendition of the same crackpot plan to put a freeway through Glen Park, c. 1948.'''

''Map courtesy Erica Fischer via Flickr''

This cause celebre became known as the Freeway Revolt, and lasted from 1965 to 1970. Nordstrom, along with Seiwald and Geri Arkush, campaigned relentlessly and successfully to kill the project, and earned the nickname “the Gum Tree Girls,” after the blue gum eucalyptus trees in the park that would be mowed down by the planned freeway.

“It wasn’t a compliment,” Seiwald noted drolly. “The City Hall men hated us. We were beating them, one of the world’s greatest sins.”

Seiwald, who has lived on Burnside Avenue for about 60 years, is now the last surviving member of the Gum Tree Girls trio. Arkush died in 1999. Nordstrom and Seiwald were personal friends from the time their kids were small. Seiwald had five kids to Nordstrom’s three, each with a boy the same age. “We hit it off,” Seiwald said. “We were both teachers—I was a school librarian and taught English to Spanish- speaking students and social studies.”

With all they had in common, they differed in politics, of all things. Nordstrom was a flaming liberal; Seiwald is very conservative. “So we never brought it up, never discussed it. It was never a problem.”

Another issue that set Nordstrom off, in 1996-97, was a plan to pave the gravel Alms Road in Glen Canyon Park so cars could more easily drive in to drop their kids off at the Glenridge nursery school and Silver Tree day camp, deep within the park. Nordstrom thought this idea was absurd and unsafe, and that part of the kids’ exercise, fresh air and recreation were about walking there and back. “It ain’t gonna happen,” Nordstrom swore to Park and Rec.

She counted the cars dropping off kids, took down the license plates, and determined that 95 percent of them came from outside the city. She also noted that cars would drive along the path at 25 to 30 mph. She told Mayor Willie Brown there needed to be a City policy that the majority of children in the programs should be from San Francisco, and public transportation to get there was necessary in the summers. Nordstrom didn't focus only on big community issues. She took others under her wing in a very personal way, as when she rented out a space in her home to a new arrival in San Francisco, Jeff DeMark, in the late 1980s.

[[Image:Zoanne-Nordstrom-and-Jeff.jpg|320px|left]]

'''Zoanne Nordstrom and Jeff DeMark in 2016.'''

''Photo: courtesy Jeff DeMark''

In an essay he wrote after she died, DeMark—originally from Madison, Wis., now an actor and writer in Blue Lake, northeast of Eureka—recalled, “I lived at her house for three years and she changed my life with her way of dealing with the world, her attitude about money, philanthropy, her optimism, her fighting spirit, her down-home practicality. I left in 1990 but she would let me and my family stay there almost any time and we went to many ball games together. She said I had ‘Former renter’s squatter’s rights for life.’”

He credited Nordstrom with “showing me how to live, look at money as a means to an end, something that’s in flow rather than to be afraid of, approaching life as an adventure and how to be fearless. How to believe in myself above all.”

Once, she asked him, “You’re not really worried about money, are you?”

I said I was, and she asked why. I answered, ‘Because I don’t have any.’”

“But you’ll always be OK. Money will come to you. I’ll lend you whatever you want.”

In the end, DeMark never borrowed money from her, “but the way she approached life, how she staked each of her sons to a house or land, how she supported so many organizations … it just amazed me you could live like that and thrive. Her humor, her fierceness and compassion were defining characteristics. I credit Zoe with so much of the good that’s happened since I moved west. She’s the ultimate example of ‘Pay it forward.’”

Nordstrom was president of the Glen Park Association from 1998 through 2002. Michael Rice, another neighborhood stalwart, followed Nordstrom in that office in 2004, after two years as vice president. He remembers her as a mentor as well as a friend.

Rice first attended a GPA meeting when he wanted to speak in favor of a project that the association was considering opposing. “I called Zoanne and asked if I could speak on this agenda item. Zoanne said, ‘Of course. We always want to hear all sides of these issues.’ After a bit more conversation, Zoanne said, ‘Michael, I can see you are really interested in Glen Park. Would you like to be an officer? The vice president position is vacant.’”

“Without thinking too much, I said yes. That started a great experience, watching Zoanne run GPA meetings, firmly take on controversy, be clear on goals for the neighborhood, and over time, say, ‘Michael, I’ve been president for a long time. When are you stepping up?’

“After I became president, Zoanne was always ready to give advice, share her knowledge of City workings and opinions on Glen Park issues, and, also, tell me if I was going down a tricky path.”

[[Image:Zoanne-Nordstrom-and-Michael-Rice.jpg]]

'''Michael Rice with Zoanne Nordstrom at the Glen Park Association's holiday party at the Sunnyside Conservatory in 2013.'''

''Photo by Denis Wade''

In later years, Rice recalled, “I would mostly see Zoanne as she walked back from morning coffee at Higher Grounds. She’d say I was doing a great job, and I would say she had showed me the way. Zoanne showed all us the way to be a neighbor.”

Nordstrom was a strong supporter of the library, market and housing complex that was built at the intersection of Diamond and Wilder streets in 2006. She knew that San Francisco had a housing shortage, and she focused on supporting inclusion of residential units in the project, especially since it was near BART. She wanted to keep big-box stores out of the neighborhood.

More recently she advocated for the Glen Park Rec Center renovation of 2016.

Unsurprisingly, Nordstrom was a lifelong advocate for women’s rights and recognition, starting when she managed an apartment building in Berkeley in her youth. She took a stand in all the city elections, and felt strongly that more women needed to be in elected office.

At City College, she met her best friend of more than 40 years, Margaret (Peggy) Guichard, who was chair of the Health Care Technology department. Guichard lives in Saratoga.

Nordstrom was also dear friends with Roger Sanders, director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Development during Willie Brown’s administration, and Nordstrom served on its Citizens Committee. They were also together on the board of San Francisco Tomorrow, an environmental advocacy group.

In interviews with the Glen Park News, both Guichard and Sanders brimmed with recollections about Nordstrom and her sterling qualities. “Zoanne had an opinion about most things, and she was terrific. And she was right 99 percent of the time,” Guichard observed. “She never did these things for selfish reasons. She always did them with the thought of the community, the health of the children. She was really motivated by those factors.”

They note that her feisty determination was always backed up by research and due diligence. She cared deeply about Glen Park because that’s where she and her neighbors were raising their kids.

Nordstrom, Guichard, Sanders and his partner have been family to each other. “We traveled together, enjoyed holidays together, haunted the flea markets, and went gambling in Las Vegas all night on New Year’s Eve,” Sanders said. She loved the terrifying rides at Great America, he recalled: “Let’s do it again!” she’d say after the first ride was over.

Nordstrom was a Giants season ticketholder. She, Sanders and his partner went to baseball games together. After a few drinks at the Glen Park Station bar, they’d be in a great mood and hop on BART to the ballpark. They’d eat hot dogs and often they’d have another drink at the Station on the way home, Guichard recalled.

Guichard and Nordstrom traveled together a lot, to Europe and Disneyland, among other places. Nordstrom was of Norwegian heritage. Her favorite destination was Tromso, a town in Norway above the Arctic Circle, where she had family.

Her home on Surrey Street was filled with eclectic art, ranging from vintage prints of women’s fashion to works of original art.

Of the many facets of Nordstrom’s life, the two things she loved most were in Glen Park—Higher Grounds Café, where she enjoyed daily lattes and talk of “politics, politics and politics”— and Glen Canyon Park, especially as she got older. She was so happy that it existed, that the City invested in it, and that people were using it, including those from other neighborhoods.

There’s a Glen Park history sign along Alms Road that commemorates the Gum Tree Girls era. Sanders recounted that, on their last walk through the canyon, a woman looked at Nordstrom and asked, “Is this your first time here?”—right beside the plaque that has the Gum Tree Girls' history on it. Sanders told her Nordstrom’s picture was right there. The woman couldn’t get over that, and she just wanted to talk with Nordstrom. It made Nordstrom’s day.

Nordstrom’s health declined in recent years and, when the pandemic hit, she rarely went out. Her friends shopped for her and brought food in.

When asked how he will remember Nordstrom, Sanders says, “I will miss her for the rest of my life. I will think about her every day. She was so close. And believe me, Zoanne and I had many fights. We had many arguments, but you want to know something? It didn’t make a difference.”

Of their long friendship, Guichard said, “Zoanne is the best friend I’ve had for over 40 years, and for all women, an absolute role model. In all that time the only disagreement we had was: I was a fan of term limits and she wasn’t. She was a smart, smart, savvy woman.”

[[Image:Gum-Tree-Girls-poem.jpg]]

[[category:Women]] [[category:Famous characters]] [[category:Glen Park]] [[category:Glen Canyon]] [[category:Transit]] [[category:Parks]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:2020s]]

Arab Immigration Patterns to San Francisco

2025-11-04T02:33:04Z

Lisaruth:

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Ahmed Sharaf, 2025''

[[Image:Arab-speaking-world-worldatlas-dot-com.jpg]]

'''Arab speaking world, 2025.'''

''Source: World Atlas''

When you take a walk through the Tenderloin neighborhood, most probably you will hear Arabic conversations mixed with English, smell cardamom wafting from coffee shops, and see signs in Arabic script above halal butcher shops. This vibrant Arab community didn't appear overnight, it's the result of over 140 years of immigration, struggle, and community building. What began with a small group of Syrian and Lebanese peddlers in the late 1800s has now grown into a community of thousands. Their story shows how a small invisible minority became an integral part of the city's cultural fabric.

'''What defines an Arab?'''

An Arab is a person that has roots from the area encompassed by the 22 current Arab countries in the Middle East: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The borders of these states have shifted throughout the years, but they are all united by history, culture, and most importantly one language: Arabic. (Arab American Development Center n.d.)

'''Early Arrivals (Late 1800s - Early 1900s)'''

Arab immigrants first came to America during the late 1800s when the Ottoman Empire was falling apart. U.S. immigration officials usually labeled them as "Syrians," even though most of them came from Mount Lebanon and some were just non-Syrian Christians who happened to speak Arabic. They left home to escape military conscription, religious conflicts, or simply for better economic opportunities. (Jones n.d.) (Little 2022)

San Francisco was not the first choice for Arabs to settle in the U.S. as cities like New York, Boston, and Detroit were more popular destinations. Their total number was pretty small compared to European and Asian immigration here. Fewer than 100,000 came to the entire United States before World War I. (Jones n.d.) Many of these early Arab immigrants became traveling salesmen, going from town to town selling linens, spices, and religious items. By 1900, most Arab immigrants in America worked as peddlers. Eventually some made their way to California by following railroad lines and trade routes.

In the early 1900s, a small tight-knit Arab community formed in San Francisco. They typically lived around South of Market and Downtown close to the port and train stations. According to Sam Mogannam—a second-generation Arab San Franciscan and a child of Bi-Rite store's founders—many of the early immigrants worked in the small businesses of their relatives or fellow Arabs, in convenience stores or at any other available jobs, until they were ready to afford their own shop or business. Some also had shops selling Oriental rugs or imported goods, or they operated coffeehouses, capitalizing on Americans' fascination with "exotic" products. They would work until they earned enough money to support welcoming other members of their families back home as well, then the cycle would repeat.

[[Image:St-nicolas image.jpg]]

'''St. Nicholas Church.'''

''Source: [http://www.stnicholas-sf.com St. Nicholas Church]''

The 1906 earthquake disrupted everyone's lives, but by the 1910s the Arab community was stable enough to start building lasting institutions. In 1924, however, the U.S. passed immigration quotas that basically shut the door on Middle Eastern and most other immigration. For about forty years, from 1924 to 1965, Arab San Francisco grew very slowly, mostly through kids born to earlier immigrants. During this period however, there were some big milestones like Arab Christians establishing St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in 1937, which was the first Arabic-speaking church in the city. By World War II, there were probably only a few hundred Arab Americans in the entire city. (Jones n.d.) (St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church n.d.)

'''New Waves After 1965'''

Everything changed in 1965 when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which threw out the restrictive quotas. Almost immediately, new waves of Arab immigrants started arriving, and the community's size and diversity grew quickly. Many people came from countries going through serious turmoil. Palestinians fled after the Arab-Israeli wars, especially following the 1967 Six-Day War. Lebanese families escaped their country's civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990. Egyptians came for graduate school or tech jobs. Iraqi refugees arrived in the 1990s, running from the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein's regime. (AAPIPMEC 2011)

San Francisco attracted many of these newcomers because of its reputation for activism and progressive politics. Arab students at local universities formed some of the first Arab student organizations in the country. Mogannam mentioned how the 1967 war was one of the factors which brought his family here from Ramallah, and that his father’s cousins were founding members of the Ramallah Club in San Francisco. The Ramallah Club brought together Palestinian Americans from the West Bank town of Ramallah and launched the annual Palestinian Cultural Day Festival in 1978. (Palestinian American Coalition Bay Area n.d.)

[[Image:1940s-bi-rite-18th-street-market.jpg]]

'''Bi-Rite Market on 18th Street between Guerrero and Dolores, 1960s.'''

''Source: Bi-Rite Market''

According to Mogannam, Arabs were scattered all over the place in San Francisco. There were groups of Arabs in multiple districts. However, the Tenderloin neighborhood was the main hub for Arab immigrants, especially Yemenis and Palestinians dating back to the 1960s. The Tenderloin had always been a landing spot for new immigrants because it had cheap residential hotels and was centrally located. Many immigrants from these countries had initially worked as farm laborers in California's Central Valley. (Kelley 1986) But some eventually moved to San Francisco looking for year-round jobs and a real urban community. Mogannam notes that the Tenderloin was a good starting point because it was full of corner stores and was easy to start one or find a fellow Arab that would let you work at their business. His dad and uncle, Ned and Jack Mogannam, worked in the Tenderloin for two years at their cousin’s shop before buying their own store in 1964 which they called Bi-Rite. The workload was sometimes huge. Sam remembers his dad and uncle working in their cousin’s shop from 8 am to 2 am and sometimes even continued to work from their car. Most new immigrants would try to secure as much money as possible in order to support their lives in San Francisco.

[[Image:YemeniKababandMediterraneansanfrancisco2003.jpg]]

'''Yemeni Kebab Shop in Tenderloin.'''

''Source: US Menu Guide''

The 1980s also brought waves of refugees from war-torn parts of the Arab world. Lebanese civil war refugees, along with Iraqi refugees fleeing various conflicts, were resettled through U.S. refugee programs. (Migration Policy Institute n.d.) Many found affordable housing in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods. You could see the neighborhood changing: Alongside Vietnamese Pho restaurants, there were now Yemeni kebab houses and corner stores selling sambusas and Middle Eastern spices.

'''Building Community Institutions'''

[[Image:Founders2.jpg]]

'''Arab Community members leaders meeting to start the Arab Cultural Center.'''

''Source: Arab Cultural and Community Center''

As San Francisco's Arab population grew, community leaders realized they would need more formal organizations. In 1973, more than 60 Arab Americans from different backgrounds came together to create the Arab Cultural and Community Center. They bought a Victorian house near Twin Peaks and opened the Arab Cultural Center in October 1975. This was finally Arab San Franciscans own public space. (Arab Cultural and Community Center n.d.)

[[Image:Masjid-Darussalam-building.jpg]]

'''Masjid Darrussalam.'''

''Source: Islam SF''

Religion also has always been central to Arab immigrant life. On the Christian side, Arab churches multiplied with services for Lebanese and Palestinian congregants. However, the major developments happened in Islamic worship. In 1959, the city's small Muslim population established the Islamic Center of San Francisco in Bernal Heights, the first mosque in the Bay Area. (Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center n.d.) The Muslim population continued to grow after 1965, so they needed bigger facilities. The breakthrough came in 1991 when the community bought a building at 20 Jones Street in the Tenderloin and turned it into Masjid Darussalam, the largest mosque in San Francisco. (Islamic Society of San Francisco n.d.)

[[Image:Arab-mural-frederic-larsen-sf-chron-2003.jpg]]

'''Islamic architecture-themed mural on the mosque's exterior wall.'''

''Source: Frederic Larsen, 2003, SFGate''

In 2003, local artists painted a massive 54-by-30-foot mural on the mosque's exterior wall showing Islamic architecture inspired by Spain's Alhambra. This was San Francisco's first official Arab-themed mural. (Vargas 2003)

'''Life in Today's Tenderloin, or "Little Arabia"'''

The Tenderloin today is considered the heart of Arab San Francisco. When you walk down Jones or Eddy Street you'll encounter Yemeni coffee shops where you’ll find cardamom smell filling the air, you’ll see Palestinian-owned falafel joints, and storefronts with Arabic signs for halal butcheries. The Tenderloin now has the largest Yemeni community in Northern California, but it's also home to Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians, and Moroccans. San Francisco has also become a refuge for Arab LGBTQ individuals who can't live openly in their home countries.

[[Image:16133360 040525-kgo-tenderloin-eid-img.jpg]]

'''First Eid celebration in Tenderloin, SF 2025.'''

''Source: ABC News''

Daily life revolves around connection, faith, and small businesses. The Elder Arab men love to gather at Yemeni coffeehouses, and sip spiced tea while discussing news from home. Women shop at Middle Eastern groceries and walk their kids home from Islamic schools. Arabic and English conversations blend with the smell of fresh pita bread in local restaurants. In 2025, the Tenderloin hosted San Francisco's first Eid Street Fair where they had a night market celebration with vendors selling homemade baklawa, grilled meats, and jewelry under strings of lights. (American Community Media 2025)

To keep the community flourishing and integrated with neighboring communities, second-generation Arab Americans are also trying to leave a mark by contributing to chains of coffee shops and restaurants. The growth of Sam Mogannam's Bi-Rite stores across San Francisco is a great example of a successful local community-minded business. (Bi-Rite Market n.d.) Phil Jaber is a Palestinian American that decided to turn his corner grocery store into the popular Philz Coffee chain. (Philz Coffee n.d.) Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in the Tenderloin and wanted to revive Yemen's coffee industry, so he got Yemeni beans into Blue Bottle Coffee where they sold for $16 a cup. (Eggers and Bassett 2018)

'''Conclusion'''

Today there are tens of thousands of Arab Americans in San Francisco. They're incredibly diverse, spanning different religions and economic backgrounds. What ties them together is shared heritage and the common experience of making a home in this ever-changing city.

The community has left its mark everywhere. There are Arabic churches and mosques, annual festivals, performances by Arab orchestras and folk-dance groups, and restaurants serving everything from Yemeni mandi to Palestinian musakhan that have won over San Franciscans' hearts.

The story isn't over. New conflicts continue to send immigrants and refugees to American shores, and some will choose San Francisco as home. The existing community stands ready to help newcomers just like earlier generations did.

'''Resources:'''

Mogannam, Sam. 2025. Interview by Ahmed Sharaf. June 2025.

Arab American Development Center. [https://adc.org/facts-about-arabs-and-the-arab-world/ “Facts about Arabs and the Arab World.”] ADC. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Asian American Pacific Islander Policy Multicultural Education Center. [https://aapip.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/amemsa20fact20sheet.pdf “AMEMSA Fact Sheet.”] AAPIP, November 2011.

Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center. [https://bernalconnect.com/how-the-islamic-center-of-san-francisco-meets-modern-needs/ “How the Islamic Center of San Francisco Meets Modern Needs.”] ''Bernal Connect''. Accessed June 9, 2025. .

Bi-Rite Market. [https://biritemarket.com/about-us/history/ “Our History.”] Bi-Rite Market. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Eggers, Dave, and Dave Bassett. “Dave Eggers’s [https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/01/dave-eggers-monk-of-mokha-interview ‘The Monk of Mokha’: Mokhtar Alkhanshali Reviving Yemen’s Coffee Industry.”] ''Vanity Fair'', January 2018.

Islamic Society of San Francisco. [https://islamsf.org/ “About.”] ISLAMSF. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Jones, J. Sydney. [https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Sr-Z/Syrian-Americans.html “Syrian Americans.”] ''Countries and Their Cultures''. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Kelley, Ron. [https://merip.org/1986/03/the-yemenis-of-the-san-joaquin/ “The Yemenis of the San Joaquin.”] ''Middle East Research and Information Project'', March/April 1986.

Little, Becky. [https://www.history.com/articles/arab-american-immigration-timeline “Arab Immigration to the United States: Timeline.”] History, March 23, 2022. Last updated May 28, 2025.

Migration Policy Institute. [https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/middle-eastern-and-north-african-immigrants-united-states “Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States.”] Migration Policy Institute. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Palestinian American Coalition Bay Area. [https://pac-sf.org/about-us/ “About Us.”] PAC-SF. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Philz Coffee. [https://philzcoffee.com/our-story “Our Story.”] Philz Coffee. Accessed June 9, 2025.

St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. [https://www.stnicholas-sf.com/about-us/history/ “History.”] St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Vargas, Jose Antonio. [https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Arabic-mural-brightens-Tenderloin-Artwork-helps-2548766.php “Arabic Mural Brightens Tenderloin: Artwork Helps Local Community Feel Represented.”] ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 15, 2003.

Arab Cultural and Community Center. [https://www.arabculturecenter.org/about “About.”] ACCC. Accessed June 9, 2025.

American Community Media. [https://americancommunitymedia.org/news-exchange/in-the-heart-of-san-francisco-yemeni-immigrants-reshape-a-community/ “In the Heart of San Francisco, Yemeni Immigrants Reshape a Community.”] ''American Community Media'', May 2025.

[[category:Arab]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Downtown]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:Food]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:Mission]]

Arab Immigration Patterns to San Francisco

2025-11-04T02:30:24Z

Lisaruth: adjusted captions and photo credits

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Ahmed Sharaf, 2025''

[[Image:Arab-speaking-world-worldatlas-dot-com.jpg]]

'''Arab speaking world, 2025.'''

''Source: World Atlas''

When you take a walk through the Tenderloin neighborhood, most probably you will hear Arabic conversations mixed with English, smell cardamom wafting from coffee shops, and see signs in Arabic script above halal butcher shops. This vibrant Arab community didn't appear overnight, it's the result of over 140 years of immigration, struggle, and community building. What began with a small group of Syrian and Lebanese peddlers in the late 1800s has now grown into a community of thousands. Their story shows how a small invisible minority became an integral part of the city's cultural fabric.

'''What defines an Arab?'''

An Arab is a person that has roots from the area encompassed by the 22 current Arab countries in the Middle East: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The borders of these states have shifted throughout the years, but they are all united by history, culture, and most importantly one language: Arabic. (Arab American Development Center n.d.)

'''Early Arrivals (Late 1800s - Early 1900s)'''

Arab immigrants first came to America during the late 1800s when the Ottoman Empire was falling apart. U.S. immigration officials usually labeled them as "Syrians," even though most of them came from Mount Lebanon and some were just non-Syrian Christians who happened to speak Arabic. They left home to escape military conscription, religious conflicts, or simply for better economic opportunities. (Jones n.d.) (Little 2022)

San Francisco was not the first choice for Arabs to settle in the U.S. as cities like New York, Boston, and Detroit were more popular destinations. Their total number was pretty small compared to European and Asian immigration here. Fewer than 100,000 came to the entire United States before World War I. (Jones n.d.) Many of these early Arab immigrants became traveling salesmen, going from town to town selling linens, spices, and religious items. By 1900, most Arab immigrants in America worked as peddlers. Eventually some made their way to California by following railroad lines and trade routes.

In the early 1900s, a small tight-knit Arab community formed in San Francisco. They typically lived around South of Market and Downtown close to the port and train stations. According to Sam Mogannam—a second-generation Arab San Franciscan and a child of Bi-Rite store's founders—many of the early immigrants worked in the small businesses of their relatives or fellow Arabs, in convenience stores or at any other available jobs, until they were ready to afford their own shop or business. Some also had shops selling Oriental rugs or imported goods, or they operated coffeehouses, capitalizing on Americans' fascination with "exotic" products. They would work until they earned enough money to support welcoming other members of their families back home as well, then the cycle would repeat.

[[Image:St-nicolas image.jpg]]

'''St. Nicholas Church.'''

''Source: [http://www.stnicholas-sf.com St. Nicholas Church]''

The 1906 earthquake disrupted everyone's lives, but by the 1910s the Arab community was stable enough to start building lasting institutions. In 1924, however, the U.S. passed immigration quotas that basically shut the door on Middle Eastern and most other immigration. For about forty years, from 1924 to 1965, Arab San Francisco grew very slowly, mostly through kids born to earlier immigrants. During this period however, there were some big milestones like Arab Christians establishing St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in 1937, which was the first Arabic-speaking church in the city. By World War II, there were probably only a few hundred Arab Americans in the entire city. (Jones n.d.) (St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church n.d.)

'''New Waves After 1965'''

Everything changed in 1965 when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which threw out the restrictive quotas. Almost immediately, new waves of Arab immigrants started arriving, and the community's size and diversity grew quickly. Many people came from countries going through serious turmoil. Palestinians fled after the Arab-Israeli wars, especially following the 1967 Six-Day War. Lebanese families escaped their country's civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990. Egyptians came for graduate school or tech jobs. Iraqi refugees arrived in the 1990s, running from the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein's regime. (AAPIPMEC 2011)

San Francisco attracted many of these newcomers because of its reputation for activism and progressive politics. Arab students at local universities formed some of the first Arab student organizations in the country. Mogannam mentioned how the 1967 war was one of the factors which brought his family here from Ramallah, and that his father’s cousins were founding members of the Ramallah Club in San Francisco. The Ramallah Club brought together Palestinian Americans from the West Bank town of Ramallah and launched the annual Palestinian Cultural Day Festival in 1978. (Palestinian American Coalition Bay Area n.d.)

[[Image:1940s-bi-rite-18th-street-market.jpg]]

'''Bi-Rite Market on 18th Street between Guerrero and Dolores, 1960s.'''

''Source: Bi-Rite Market''

According to Mogannam, Arabs were scattered all over the place in San Francisco. There were groups of Arabs in multiple districts. However, the Tenderloin neighborhood was the main hub for Arab immigrants, especially Yemenis and Palestinians dating back to the 1960s. The Tenderloin had always been a landing spot for new immigrants because it had cheap residential hotels and was centrally located. Many immigrants from these countries had initially worked as farm laborers in California's Central Valley. (Kelley 1986) But some eventually moved to San Francisco looking for year-round jobs and a real urban community. Mogannam notes that the Tenderloin was a good starting point because it was full of corner stores and was easy to start one or find a fellow Arab that would let you work at their business. His dad and uncle, Ned and Jack Mogannam, worked in the Tenderloin for two years at their cousin’s shop before buying their own store in 1964 which they called Bi-Rite. The workload was sometimes huge. Sam remembers his dad and uncle working in their cousin’s shop from 8 am to 2 am and sometimes even continued to work from their car. Most new immigrants would try to secure as much money as possible in order to support their lives in San Francisco.

[[Image:YemeniKababandMediterraneansanfrancisco2003.jpg]]

'''Yemeni Kebab Shop in Tenderloin.'''

''Source: US Menu Guide''

The 1980s also brought waves of refugees from war-torn parts of the Arab world. Lebanese civil war refugees, along with Iraqi refugees fleeing various conflicts, were resettled through U.S. refugee programs. (Migration Policy Institute n.d.) Many found affordable housing in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods. You could see the neighborhood changing: Alongside Vietnamese Pho restaurants, there were now Yemeni kebab houses and corner stores selling sambusas and Middle Eastern spices.

'''Building Community Institutions'''

[[Image:Founders2.jpg]]

'''Arab Community members leaders meeting to start the Arab Cultural Center.'''

''Source: Arab Cultural and Community Center''

As San Francisco's Arab population grew, community leaders realized they would need more formal organizations. In 1973, more than 60 Arab Americans from different backgrounds came together to create the Arab Cultural and Community Center. They bought a Victorian house near Twin Peaks and opened the Arab Cultural Center in October 1975. This was finally Arab San Franciscans own public space. (Arab Cultural and Community Center n.d.)

[[Image:Masjid-Darussalam-building.jpg]]

'''Masjid Darrussalam.'''

''Source: Islam SF''

Religion also has always been central to Arab immigrant life. On the Christian side, Arab churches multiplied with services for Lebanese and Palestinian congregants. However, the major developments happened in Islamic worship. In 1959, the city's small Muslim population established the Islamic Center of San Francisco in Bernal Heights, the first mosque in the Bay Area. (Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center n.d.) The Muslim population continued to grow after 1965, so they needed bigger facilities. The breakthrough came in 1991 when the community bought a building at 20 Jones Street in the Tenderloin and turned it into Masjid Darussalam, the largest mosque in San Francisco. (Islamic Society of San Francisco n.d.)

[[Image:Arab-mural-frederic-larsen-sf-chron-2003.jpg]]

'''Islamic architecture-themed mural on the mosque's exterior wall.'''

''Source: Frederic Larsen, 2003, SFGate''

In 2003, local artists painted a massive 54-by-30-foot mural on the mosque's exterior wall showing Islamic architecture inspired by Spain's Alhambra. This was San Francisco's first official Arab-themed mural. (Vargas 2003)

'''Life in Today's Tenderloin, or "Little Arabia"'''

Tenderloin today is considered the heart of Arab San Francisco. When you walk down Jones or Eddy Street you'll encounter Yemeni coffee shops where you’ll find cardamom smell filling the air, you’ll see Palestinian-owned falafel joints, and storefronts with Arabic signs for halal butcheries. The Tenderloin now has the largest Yemeni community in Northern California, but it's also home to Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians, and Moroccans. San Francisco has also become a refuge for Arab LGBTQ individuals who can't live openly in their home countries.

[[Image:16133360 040525-kgo-tenderloin-eid-img.jpg]]

'''First Eid celebration in Tenderloin, SF 2025.'''

''Source: ABC News''

Daily life revolves around connection, faith, and small businesses. The Elder Arab men love to gather at Yemeni coffeehouses, and sip spiced tea while discussing news from home. Women shop at Middle Eastern groceries and walk their kids home from Islamic schools. Arabic and English conversations blend with the smell of fresh pita bread in local restaurants. In 2025, the Tenderloin hosted San Francisco's first Eid Street Fair where they had a night market celebration with vendors selling homemade baklawa, grilled meats, and jewelry under strings of lights. (American Community Media 2025)

To keep the community flourishing and integrated with neighboring communities, second-generation Arab Americans are also trying to leave a mark by contributing to chains of coffee shops and restaurants. The growth of Sam Mogannam's Bi-Rite stores across San Francisco is a great example of a successful local community-minded business. (Bi-Rite Market n.d.) Phil Jaber is a Palestinian American that decided to turn his corner grocery store into the popular Philz Coffee chain. (Philz Coffee n.d.) Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in the Tenderloin and wanted to revive Yemen's coffee industry, so he got Yemeni beans into Blue Bottle Coffee where they sold for $16 a cup. (Eggers and Bassett 2018)

'''Conclusion'''

Today there are tens of thousands of Arab Americans in San Francisco. They're incredibly diverse, spanning different religions and economic backgrounds. What ties them together is shared heritage and the common experience of making a home in this ever-changing city.

The community has left its mark everywhere. There are Arabic churches and mosques, annual festivals, performances by Arab orchestras and folk-dance groups, and restaurants serving everything from Yemeni mandi to Palestinian musakhan that have won over San Franciscans' hearts.

The story isn't over. New conflicts continue to send immigrants and refugees to American shores, and some will choose San Francisco as home. The existing community stands ready to help newcomers just like earlier generations did.

'''Resources:'''

Mogannam, Sam. 2025. Interview by Ahmed Sharaf. June 2025.

Arab American Development Center. [https://adc.org/facts-about-arabs-and-the-arab-world/ “Facts about Arabs and the Arab World.”] ADC. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Asian American Pacific Islander Policy Multicultural Education Center. [https://aapip.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/amemsa20fact20sheet.pdf “AMEMSA Fact Sheet.”] AAPIP, November 2011.

Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center. [https://bernalconnect.com/how-the-islamic-center-of-san-francisco-meets-modern-needs/ “How the Islamic Center of San Francisco Meets Modern Needs.”] ''Bernal Connect''. Accessed June 9, 2025. .

Bi-Rite Market. [https://biritemarket.com/about-us/history/ “Our History.”] Bi-Rite Market. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Eggers, Dave, and Dave Bassett. “Dave Eggers’s [https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/01/dave-eggers-monk-of-mokha-interview ‘The Monk of Mokha’: Mokhtar Alkhanshali Reviving Yemen’s Coffee Industry.”] ''Vanity Fair'', January 2018.

Islamic Society of San Francisco. [https://islamsf.org/ “About.”] ISLAMSF. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Jones, J. Sydney. [https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Sr-Z/Syrian-Americans.html “Syrian Americans.”] ''Countries and Their Cultures''. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Kelley, Ron. [https://merip.org/1986/03/the-yemenis-of-the-san-joaquin/ “The Yemenis of the San Joaquin.”] ''Middle East Research and Information Project'', March/April 1986.

Little, Becky. [https://www.history.com/articles/arab-american-immigration-timeline “Arab Immigration to the United States: Timeline.”] History, March 23, 2022. Last updated May 28, 2025.

Migration Policy Institute. [https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/middle-eastern-and-north-african-immigrants-united-states “Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States.”] Migration Policy Institute. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Palestinian American Coalition Bay Area. [https://pac-sf.org/about-us/ “About Us.”] PAC-SF. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Philz Coffee. [https://philzcoffee.com/our-story “Our Story.”] Philz Coffee. Accessed June 9, 2025.

St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. [https://www.stnicholas-sf.com/about-us/history/ “History.”] St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Vargas, Jose Antonio. [https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Arabic-mural-brightens-Tenderloin-Artwork-helps-2548766.php “Arabic Mural Brightens Tenderloin: Artwork Helps Local Community Feel Represented.”] ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 15, 2003.

Arab Cultural and Community Center. [https://www.arabculturecenter.org/about “About.”] ACCC. Accessed June 9, 2025.

American Community Media. [https://americancommunitymedia.org/news-exchange/in-the-heart-of-san-francisco-yemeni-immigrants-reshape-a-community/ “In the Heart of San Francisco, Yemeni Immigrants Reshape a Community.”] ''American Community Media'', May 2025.

[[category:Arab]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Downtown]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:Food]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:Mission]]

Arab Immigration Patterns to San Francisco

2025-11-04T02:23:37Z

Lisaruth: light editing

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Ahmed Sharaf, 2025''

[[Image:Arab-speaking-world-worldatlas-dot-com.jpg]]

'''Arab speaking world, 2025.'''

''Source: Worldatlas.com''

When you take a walk through the Tenderloin neighborhood, most probably you will hear Arabic conversations mixed with English, smell cardamom wafting from coffee shops, and see signs in Arabic script above halal butcher shops. This vibrant Arab community didn't appear overnight, it's the result of over 140 years of immigration, struggle, and community building. What began with a small group of Syrian and Lebanese peddlers in the late 1800s has now grown into a community of thousands. Their story shows how a small invisible minority became an integral part of the city's cultural fabric.

'''What defines an Arab?'''

An Arab is a person that has roots from the area encompassed by the 22 current Arab countries in the Middle East: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The borders of these states have shifted throughout the years, but they are all united by history, culture, and most importantly one language: Arabic. (Arab American Development Center n.d.)

'''Early Arrivals (Late 1800s - Early 1900s)'''

Arab immigrants first came to America during the late 1800s when the Ottoman Empire was falling apart. U.S. immigration officials usually labeled them as "Syrians," even though most of them came from Mount Lebanon and some were just non-Syrian Christians who happened to speak Arabic. They left home to escape military conscription, religious conflicts, or simply for better economic opportunities. (Jones n.d.) (Little 2022)

San Francisco was not the first choice for Arabs to settle in the U.S. as cities like New York, Boston, and Detroit were more popular destinations. Their total number was pretty small compared to European and Asian immigration here. Fewer than 100,000 came to the entire United States before World War I. (Jones n.d.) Many of these early Arab immigrants became traveling salesmen, going from town to town selling linens, spices, and religious items. By 1900, most Arab immigrants in America worked as peddlers. Eventually some made their way to California by following railroad lines and trade routes.

In the early 1900s, a small tight-knit Arab community formed in San Francisco. They typically lived around South of Market and Downtown close to the port and train stations. According to Sam Mogannam—a second-generation Arab San Franciscan and a child of Bi-Rite store's founders—many of the early immigrants worked in the small businesses of their relatives or fellow Arabs, in convenience stores or at any other available jobs, until they were ready to afford their own shop or business. Some also had shops selling Oriental rugs or imported goods, or they operated coffeehouses, capitalizing on Americans' fascination with "exotic" products. They would work until they earned enough money to support welcoming other members of their families back home as well, then the cycle would repeat.

[[Image:St-nicolas image.jpg]]

'''St. Nicholas Church.'''

''Source: [http://www.stnicholas-sf.com St. Nicholas Church]''

The 1906 earthquake disrupted everyone's lives, but by the 1910s the Arab community was stable enough to start building lasting institutions. In 1924, however, the U.S. passed immigration quotas that basically shut the door on Middle Eastern and most other immigration. For about forty years, from 1924 to 1965, Arab San Francisco grew very slowly, mostly through kids born to earlier immigrants. During this period however, there were some big milestones like Arab Christians establishing St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in 1937, which was the first Arabic-speaking church in the city. By World War II, there were probably only a few hundred Arab Americans in the entire city. (Jones n.d.) (St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church n.d.)

'''New Waves After 1965'''

Everything changed in 1965 when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which threw out the restrictive quotas. Almost immediately, new waves of Arab immigrants started arriving, and the community's size and diversity grew quickly. Many people came from countries going through serious turmoil. Palestinians fled after the Arab-Israeli wars, especially following the 1967 Six-Day War. Lebanese families escaped their country's civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990. Egyptians came for graduate school or tech jobs. Iraqi refugees arrived in the 1990s, running from the Gulf War and Saddam Hussein's regime. (AAPIPMEC 2011)

San Francisco attracted many of these newcomers because of its reputation for activism and progressive politics. Arab students at local universities formed some of the first Arab student organizations in the country. Mogannam mentioned how the 1967 war was one of the factors which brought his family here from Ramallah, and that his father’s cousins were founding members of the Ramallah Club in San Francisco. The Ramallah Club brought together Palestinian Americans from the West Bank town of Ramallah and launched the annual Palestinian Cultural Day Festival in 1978. (Palestinian American Coalition Bay Area n.d.)

[[Image:1940s-bi-rite-18th-street-market.jpg]]

'''Bi-Rite Market on 18th Street between Guerrero and Dolores, 1950s.'''

''Source: biritemarket.com''

According to Mogannam, Arabs were scattered all over the place in San Francisco. There were groups of Arabs in multiple districts. However, the Tenderloin neighborhood was the main hub for Arab immigrants, especially Yemenis and Palestinians dating back to the 1960s. The Tenderloin had always been a landing spot for new immigrants because it had cheap residential hotels and was centrally located. Many immigrants from these countries had initially worked as farm laborers in California's Central Valley. (Kelley 1986) But some eventually moved to San Francisco looking for year-round jobs and a real urban community. Mogannam notes that the Tenderloin was a good starting point because it was full of corner stores and was easy to start one or find a fellow Arab that would let you work at their business. His dad and uncle, Ned and Jack Mogannam, worked in the Tenderloin for two years at their cousin’s shop before buying their own store they called Bi-Rite. The workload was sometimes huge. Sam remembers his dad and uncle working in their cousin’s shop from 8am to 2am and sometimes even continued to work from their car. Most new immigrants would try to secure as much money as possible in order to support their lives in San Francisco.

[[Image:YemeniKababandMediterraneansanfrancisco2003.jpg]]

'''Yemeni Kebab Shop in Tenderloin.'''

''Source: [http://usmenuguide.com US Menu Guide]''

The 1980s also brought waves of refugees from war-torn parts of the Arab world. Lebanese civil war refugees, along with Iraqi refugees fleeing various conflicts, were resettled through U.S. refugee programs. (Migration Policy Institute n.d.) Many found affordable housing in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods. You could see the neighborhood changing: Alongside Vietnamese Pho restaurants, there were now Yemeni kebab houses and corner stores selling sambusas and Middle Eastern spices.

'''Building Community Institutions'''

[[Image:Founders2.jpg]]

'''Arab Community members leaders meeting to start the Arab Cultural Center.'''

''Source: www.arabculturecenter.org''

As San Francisco's Arab population grew, community leaders realized they would need more formal organizations. In 1973, more than 60 Arab Americans from different backgrounds came together to create the Arab Cultural and Community Center. They bought a Victorian house near Twin Peaks and opened the Arab Cultural Center in October 1975. This was finally Arab San Franciscans own public space. (Arab Cultural and Community Center n.d.)

[[Image:Masjid-Darussalam-building.jpg]]

'''Masjid Darrussalam.'''

''Source: [[islamsf.org|Islam SF]]''

Religion also has always been central to Arab immigrant life. On the Christian side, Arab churches multiplied with services for Lebanese and Palestinian congregants. However, the major developments happened in Islamic worship. In 1959, the city's small Muslim population established the Islamic Center of San Francisco in Bernal Heights, the first mosque in the Bay Area. (Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center n.d.) The Muslim population continued to grow after 1965, so they needed bigger facilities. The breakthrough came in 1991 when the community bought a building at 20 Jones Street in the Tenderloin and turned it into Masjid Darussalam, the largest mosque in San Francisco. (Islamic Society of San Francisco n.d.)

[[Image:Arab-mural-frederic-larsen-sf-chron-2003.jpg]]

'''Islamic architecture-themed mural on the mosque's exterior wall.'''

''Source: Frederic Larsen, 2003, www.sfgate.com''

In 2003, local artists painted a massive 54-by-30-foot mural on the mosque's exterior wall showing Islamic architecture inspired by Spain's Alhambra. This was San Francisco's first official Arab-themed mural. (Vargas 2003)

'''Life in Today's Tenderloin, or "Little Arabia"'''

Tenderloin today is considered the heart of Arab San Francisco. When you walk down Jones or Eddy Street you'll encounter Yemeni coffee shops where you’ll find cardamom smell filling the air, you’ll see Palestinian-owned falafel joints, and storefronts with Arabic signs for halal butcheries. The Tenderloin now has the largest Yemeni community in Northern California, but it's also home to Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians, and Moroccans. San Francisco has also become a refuge for Arab LGBTQ individuals who can't live openly in their home countries.

[[Image:16133360 040525-kgo-tenderloin-eid-img.jpg]]

'''First Eid celebration in Tenderloin, SF 2025.'''

''Source: ABC News''

Daily life revolves around connection, faith, and small businesses. The Elder Arab men love to gather at Yemeni coffeehouses, and sip spiced tea while discussing news from home. Women shop at Middle Eastern groceries and walk their kids home from Islamic schools. Arabic and English conversations blend with the smell of fresh pita bread in local restaurants. In 2025, the Tenderloin hosted San Francisco's first Eid Street Fair where they had a night market celebration with vendors selling homemade baklawa, grilled meats, and jewelry under strings of lights. (American Community Media 2025)

To keep the community flourishing and integrated with neighboring communities, second-generation Arab Americans are also trying to leave a mark by contributing to chains of coffee shops and restaurants. The growth of Sam Mogannam's Bi-Rite stores across San Francisco is a great example of a successful local community-minded business. (Bi-Rite Market n.d.) Phil Jaber is a Palestinian American that decided to turn his corner grocery store into the popular Philz Coffee chain. (Philz Coffee n.d.) Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in the Tenderloin and wanted to revive Yemen's coffee industry, so he got Yemeni beans into Blue Bottle Coffee where they sold for $16 a cup. (Eggers and Bassett 2018)

'''Conclusion'''

Today there are tens of thousands of Arab Americans in San Francisco. They're incredibly diverse, spanning different religions and economic backgrounds. What ties them together is shared heritage and the common experience of making a home in this ever-changing city.

The community has left its mark everywhere. There are Arabic churches and mosques, annual festivals, performances by Arab orchestras and folk-dance groups, and restaurants serving everything from Yemeni mandi to Palestinian musakhan that have won over San Franciscans' hearts.

The story isn't over. New conflicts continue to send immigrants and refugees to American shores, and some will choose San Francisco as home. The existing community stands ready to help newcomers just like earlier generations did.

'''Resources:'''

Mogannam, Sam. 2025. Interview by Ahmed Sharaf. June 2025.

Arab American Development Center. [https://adc.org/facts-about-arabs-and-the-arab-world/ “Facts about Arabs and the Arab World.”] ADC. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Asian American Pacific Islander Policy Multicultural Education Center. [https://aapip.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/amemsa20fact20sheet.pdf “AMEMSA Fact Sheet.”] AAPIP, November 2011.

Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center. [https://bernalconnect.com/how-the-islamic-center-of-san-francisco-meets-modern-needs/ “How the Islamic Center of San Francisco Meets Modern Needs.”] ''Bernal Connect''. Accessed June 9, 2025. .

Bi-Rite Market. [https://biritemarket.com/about-us/history/ “Our History.”] Bi-Rite Market. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Eggers, Dave, and Dave Bassett. “Dave Eggers’s [https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/01/dave-eggers-monk-of-mokha-interview ‘The Monk of Mokha’: Mokhtar Alkhanshali Reviving Yemen’s Coffee Industry.”] ''Vanity Fair'', January 2018.

Islamic Society of San Francisco. [https://islamsf.org/ “About.”] ISLAMSF. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Jones, J. Sydney. [https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Sr-Z/Syrian-Americans.html “Syrian Americans.”] ''Countries and Their Cultures''. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Kelley, Ron. [https://merip.org/1986/03/the-yemenis-of-the-san-joaquin/ “The Yemenis of the San Joaquin.”] ''Middle East Research and Information Project'', March/April 1986.

Little, Becky. [https://www.history.com/articles/arab-american-immigration-timeline “Arab Immigration to the United States: Timeline.”] History, March 23, 2022. Last updated May 28, 2025.

Migration Policy Institute. [https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/middle-eastern-and-north-african-immigrants-united-states “Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States.”] Migration Policy Institute. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Palestinian American Coalition Bay Area. [https://pac-sf.org/about-us/ “About Us.”] PAC-SF. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Philz Coffee. [https://philzcoffee.com/our-story “Our Story.”] Philz Coffee. Accessed June 9, 2025.

St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. [https://www.stnicholas-sf.com/about-us/history/ “History.”] St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. Accessed June 9, 2025.

Vargas, Jose Antonio. [https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Arabic-mural-brightens-Tenderloin-Artwork-helps-2548766.php “Arabic Mural Brightens Tenderloin: Artwork Helps Local Community Feel Represented.”] ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 15, 2003.

Arab Cultural and Community Center. [https://www.arabculturecenter.org/about “About.”] ACCC. Accessed June 9, 2025.

American Community Media. [https://americancommunitymedia.org/news-exchange/in-the-heart-of-san-francisco-yemeni-immigrants-reshape-a-community/ “In the Heart of San Francisco, Yemeni Immigrants Reshape a Community.”] ''American Community Media'', May 2025.

[[category:Arab]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1920s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Downtown]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:Food]] [[category:Tenderloin]] [[category:Mission]]

The Bohemian Oligarchy

2025-10-25T19:13:25Z

Lisaruth: added date to byline

''' Historical Essay '''

''by Jim Fisher, 1998''

[[Image:Bohemian-club-3.jpg]]

'''Bohemian Club members enjoy a club retreat in early 20th century.'''

[[Image:Bohemian-grove-0905-06.jpg]]

'''Outdoor dining at turn of 20th century under the redwoods in Bohemian Grove, Sonoma County.'''

When Rudyard Kipling visited San Francisco in 1889, he attended a dinner party at the already-famous Bohemian Club, then located near the corner of Pine and Montgomery. In a published account of his travels, ''American Notes'', he described the evening as being distinguished by a "most unrepublican luxury:"

''... In this club were no amateurs spoiling canvas because they fancied they could handle oils without knowledge of shadows or anatomy -- no gentleman of leisure ruining the temper of publishers and an already ruined market with attempts to write ... My hosts were working, or had worked, for their daily bread with pen and paint ... (Jackson, p. 371) ''

What Kipling observed was in fact the founding spirit of the Bohemian Club, which started as an informal association of journalists, artists and writers meeting at the home of ''Chronicle'' columnist James Bowman in the early 1870's. By the time of Kipling's visit, however, the club was already on its way to becoming the sort of center of high-profile business and political leaders that would have Barry Goldwater announce ingenuously upon entering the club's campground in 1964, "I've been trying to get here for 10 years."

[[Image:rulclas1$bohemian-jinks-photo.jpg]]

'''Participants in an early Bohemian Club "Jinks" indulge their inner kings during a session with SF photographer Gabriel Moulin, c. 1907. '''

''photo: Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA''

The original gatherings were planned as Sunday breakfasts at Bowman's home on Russian Hill, though they often lasted through dinner and involved proportionate amounts of wine and rant, the tablecloth becoming covered with the inspired doodlings of its guests. According to a popular account, the hostess frequently refused to wash the table linens, preserving them as a kind of impromptu guest-book of her salon.

Within a year the Sunday festivals had tripled in size, attracting some of the most talented writers and artists of the city, including the great illustrator Jules Tavernier and the columnist [[The Wickedest Man in San Francisco: Ambrose Bierce | Ambrose Bierce]]. Needless to say, the salon's popularity also succeeded in attracting its share of poseurs and freeloaders, creating a need for a private meeting space and a well-managed guest list.

In 1872 Bowman relocated the club to the back rooms of a local watering hole, "Jolly Corks." It was here, among an all-male crowd of intellectual revelers, that a club charter was finally drafted promoting alcohol, argument and "good-fellowship among journalists." Artists, writers, and actors were also welcome, provided the membership approved and received payment of annual dues. It was also at Jolly Corks that the club began staging the in-house performances that would distinguish it through the coming century. It called the events "Jinks," after an old Scottish drinking game of wits.

Kipling was fortunate enough to attend one of the early Jinks -- fortunate because club rules forbade anyone not an approved guest to observe the performances, which were exclusively male, self-produced, and one-time only affairs. Fortunate also because it was in the relatively early days of the club and much of the founding talent was still intact. Yet even then, after less than twenty years of existence, the club was beginning to display some of the rabid nationalism and business thrust that would later attract such figures as William Randolph Hearst, Herbert Hoover, Ernest Lawrence and Richard Nixon. The ferocity was such that even a budding jingoist such as Kipling was alarmed.

According to his account, after a rich meal and mixed drinks the guests retired to the club's back room, where the members proceeded to deliver speeches in praise of that evening's honored Bohemian, a retired Lieutenant of the U.S. Navy.

"It was my first introduction to the American Eagle screaming for all it was worth," Kipling wrote. "The Lieutenant's heroism served as a peg from which the silver-tongued ones turned themselves loose and kicked." While Kipling felt some embarrassment for the forty-plus speakers that night -- notably, a "wicked desire to hide my face in a napkin and grin" -- his account does not express much more than amusement at his hosts' expense.

Kipling's notes are valuable because they describe the Bohemian Club at a time when serious divisions were becoming apparent -- namely, the growing antagonism between the club's founding principles (the first charter actually excluded publishers of newspapers from membership) and the encroaching influence of business. Just a few years earlier, Oscar Wilde, visiting San Francisco on a lecture, was heard to quip of a Bohemian Club affair, "I have never seen so many well-dressed, well-fed, business-like-looking Bohemians in the whole course of my life." In just a few decades this shift would be complete, making the club originally founded as an intellectual retreat the preferred association of nationally-prominent bankers, executives, California governors and Republican presidents.

Ironically, one might say that the club began to betray its ideals upon its very founding, as the institution of the Sunday breakfasts was essentially an incorporation in the interest of property. The Bowman home where the original members had been meeting on irregular Sundays became incapable of accommodating the growing number of guests; thus a motion was put forward that they organize a club with its own "official, permanent meeting place." With this decision came a need for funds, and consequently members who could pay annual dues. Initially there was even some opposition to the naming of it as the "Bohemian Club" as a number of well-heeled editors objected to the linking of their club with "seedy, long-haired, pandhandling garret-dwellers." (Van Der Zee, p. 17) Yet the Bohemian title eventually won out, marking the first instance of the club's characteristic appropriation of artistic laurels in the pursuit of power and exclusion.

The next major push towards a well-financed membership came in 1878 with the first "encampment," or club retreat, in the redwood forests north of San Francisco. Though the outing was intended as a "leveling" exercise to smooth over the growing social and economic divisions within the club, it was such a success the club began planning a property purchase along the Russian River, quickly transforming the "leveling" experience into an elitist acquisition, complete with 160 valuable logging acres, "No Trespassing" signs and a private railroad extension.

By 1890, even the publisher William Randolph Hearst was an honorary member of the Bohemian Club -- a complete about -face from the club's original charter excluding owners of newspapers. Soon the annual encampments themselves had become privileged, luxuriant affairs. As the critic and Bohemian Club member Porter Garnett would write in his 1908 defense of the club's so-called "grove plays:"

''"... The organization and equipment of such a camp has, in late years, assumed colossal proportions and involves the expense of many thousands of dollars."'' (Garnett, p. 17)

Garnett, though a talented critic in his own right, was nonetheless one of the turn of the century Bohemians lured to the club by the promise of patronage by its affluent membership. Other such "associate" members included the poet [[GEORGE STERLING | George Sterling]], the writer and (nominal) socialist [[JACK LONDON | Jack London]] and the playwright Will Irwin.

Initiation fees and annual dues for associate members were waived, but with a big catch: the so-called "creatives" were expected to write and produce the club's entertainments for the year, including monthly productions at the club's city quarters, the farcical "Low Jinks" at the annual encampment at the Russian River, and most importantly the flagship "High Jinks," an idiosyncratic dramatic convention enacted on a redwood stage and characteristically enlisting large numbers of faeries, sprites and paunchy bankers among the cast.

Yet it was this co-opting of San Francisco's creative energies that perpetuated the Bohemian Club's reputation for culture. According to the San Francisco writer John Van Der Zee, the Bohemian Jinks represent "an endorsement of the propertied man's deep convictions about the arts: we could do it, if we wanted to." (p.46)

[[Image:Bohemian Grove performance.jpg|800px]]

'''Performance at Bohemian Grove, c. 1925.'''

''Photo: via Facebook''

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2025-10-24T19:32:57Z

Lisaruth:

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2025-10-24T19:27:32Z

Lisaruth:

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2025-10-24T19:25:39Z

Lisaruth: