Articles

Here is the complete list of articles and stories submitted to the WNP site. If you can't find what you're looking for here, try the "search" box at the top of the page, or browse the other lists such as Places or People!

• "Spanish Town": Street Names in Western SF
  The Alphabet of the Richmond and Sunset - by John Freeman
• A Short History of Lake Merced
  Lake Merced was originally inhabited by the Ohlone Indians, who fished the lake and plied the nearby Pacific for fish, seal and the occasional beached whale. - by Tony Van Houten
• An Ode to Parkside
  Mrs. F.W. Alsing waxes poetic in 1911.
• Architectural and Historical Resources of the Oceanside
  History and buildings in the Outer Sunset. - Produced by S.P.E.A.K.
• Bay District Racing Track
  Third in a series on west side racetracks. - by Angus Macfarlane
• Beer Town
  Beer Town was the name given to a five-block stretch of Fulton Street, which started in the 1870s with watering holes servicing patrons of the Bay District Race Track. - by John Freeman
• Blackie the Wonder Horse Movie
  A 1938 film of Blackie swimming the Golden Gate - Courtesy of the San Francisco Media Archive
• Blackie: The Horse That Swam the Bay
  On October 1, 1938, a horse named Blackie made history in San Francisco Bay. - by Lorri Ungaretti
• Camp Merritt
  The Richmond District hosted the Army in 1898. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Carzonia Apartments
  A whole neighborhood of streetcar homes existed in the inner Richmond after the 1906 earthquake.
• China Beach
  China beach leaves out the bad parts - by James W. Loewen
• Christmas Firehouses 1948-1950
  For three years San Francisco fireman went a little crazy decorating for the holidays. - Robert and Marilyn Katzman
• Cliff House Disasters
  Explosions, flames, and shipwrecks have plagued this promontory - by Christine Miller
• Comics Crusade of 1954
  The comics crusade was a nationwide movement driven by churches, the PTA, and the comic book industry. - By John Freeman
• Doggie Diner Head
  A Landmark Dachshund
• Ewing Field: Lost in the Fog Bank
  Minor-league baseball in the fog - by Greg Gaar
• Farms, Fire and Forest
  Sutro's ownership of the old Rancho San Miguel - by Richard Brandi
• Foerster Street Tragedy, 1942
  On February 6, 1942 a slide of mud from the southeast side of Mount Davidson hit three homes and killed a woman.
• Fort Miley - VA Medical Center
  The San Francisco VA Medical Center occupies a twenty-nine-acre campus in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California, between Point Lobos and the Golden Gate. - by Chris VerPlanck
• Geary Bakery, 1925
  5321 Geary Boulevard, the future site of Dave Sullivan's Sporting Goods
• Giant Camera
  The Jennings Giant Camera was built by Floyd Jennings in 1946 - By Joseph Durrance
• Golden Gate Driving Park
  Second in a series on west side racetracks. - by Angus Macfarlane
• Golden Gate Park Children's Playground
  Yes, there were grizzly bears in Golden Gate Park, near the Children's Playground. - by Pat French Swendsen
• History of Ocean View
  Ocean View was a fine station and a community quickly built up around what is now the intersection of Alemany, Sagamore, Plymouth and Sickles. - by Marsha Fontes
• Homewood Terrace Orphanage
  Jewish orphanage that faced Ocean Avenue from 1921 to 1960s
• How the Sunset became "The Sunset"
  Sorting out the conflicting accounts - By Angus MacFarlane
• Ingleside Racetrack
  Fourth in a series on west side racetracks. - by Angus Macfarlane
• Ingleside Terraces Sundial
  The story of this mysterious monolith - by Hamilton Barrett
• Ingleside Terraces Video
  1920s Newsreel footage of Ingleside Terrace and "Villa Maria" house. - Courtesy of Jack Tillmany
• Jockey House: 280 Byxbee Avenue
  The Last Remnant of The Ingleside Racetrack? - by Sean Hall
• L-Taraval Extension, September 15, 1937
  70 years ago the Parkside celebrated public transporation to the zoo.
• Lakeside District
  Lakeside District between Sloat Boulevard, 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra Boulevard
• Larraburu Brothers Bakery
  The Larraburu Brothers were famous for their San Francisco sourdough bread.
• Merrie Way
  Adolph Sutro's Forgotten Pleasure Grounds - by John A. Martini
• Musical Culture in the 1930s
  Advertisements for 1930s music teachers.
• Ocean Course Racetrack
  First in a series about west side racetracks - by Angus Macfarlane
• Parkmerced
  Parkmerced was the idea of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New York. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Parkside Branch Library
  Architects Appleton and Wolfard designed eight modern libraries in the 1950s and '60s for the San Francisco Public Library. - by Richard Brandi
• Parkside District
  To most persons the land acquired by the Parkside Realty Company is a terra incognita. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Parkside School
  History of the (now demolished) John Reid-designed school - by Roy H. Jarl
• Playland was our Adventure
  Memories of Ocean Beach - by Pat French Swendsen
• Remembering the Coliseum
  Going to the Saturday matinee movies was the highlight of the week for all the neighborhood kids. - by Pat French Swendsen
• San Francisco's Parkside District 1905-1957
  A 60-page illustrated document on Parkside history, architecture, and development. - by Richard Brandi and Woody LaBounty
• Sherwood Forest
  A tiny neighborhood on the side of Mount Davidson. - by Jacquie Proctor
• Sigmund Stern Grove
  The history of this musical glen - by Jacob Pemberton
• Social and Architectural History of the Richmond District
  The Richmond District is one of San Francisco's largest and most varied neighborhoods. - by Christopher VerPlanck
• Speed Road and Polo Fields
  Last in a series on west side racetracks - by Angus Macfarlane
• Streetcars: The Boneyard
  The streetcar graveyard at 14th and Lincoln - by Val J. Golding
• Streetwise: A Boxer's Death
  Alex Gdovin died from a punch to the chest that stopped his heart in a boxing match. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Abbey Patio
  12th century church in Golden Gate Park - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Birth of a Garage
  The changing face of the Richmond District - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Brooks Park
  A hillside home's rough ride to parkland - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Carville
  19th Century Recycling: a neighborhood of derelicts - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Carville's Last Remnant
  In search of the steetcar houses - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Dearly Departed
  At the turn of the 20th century most of San Francisco's dead were interred to the northwestern side of the city. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Forest Hill
  Architect David Coleman designed the first completed home in Forest Hill at 266 Pacheco Street. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Guns and Golf
  The Broderick-Terry Duel - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Mountain Lake
  Juan Bautista de Anza camped at a lake "of very fine water near the mouth of the port of San Francisco". - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Ocean View Redux
  Ninety years ago, J.W. Wright & Co., had high hopes that hoards of people would move to Ocean View Park. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Palaces of the Past
  Lamenting the loss of the great (and small) movie palaces. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Parkside and the Graft Trials
  Downtown politics helped build the Parkside - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Run Out of Town
  The Richmond District used to be criss-crossed with streetcar lines. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Shaken Up
  Refugees and the 1906 Earthquake - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Six Million Gallons
  Fleishhacker Pool, the "world's largest swimming tank" officially opened April 23, 1925. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Tait's
  The long-gone beach resort - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: The Burned Cross
  Patti Poole was six years old at the time, and stayed home from school while her parents talked to reporters and defended the people of Ingleside Terraces. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: The Great Race
  On November 15, 1873, just north of Lake Merced, four horses ran in the "Great International Running Race". - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: The Richmond Recovery
  The Richmond after the earthquake - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Twenty-Five Cents of Heaven
  In 2002, newspapers wrapped up the story, saying the Musee Mecanique has been "saved". - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Urbano's Racetrack
  Urbano Drive is an oval laid exactly along the lines of the old Ingleside Racetrack, the last venue for horse racing in San Francisco. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise: Windmill Walk
  Designed to pump 40,000 gallons of water an hour for the park's irrigation needs, the Murphy Windmill was a gift from banker Samuel G. Murphy back in 1905. - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Streetwise:Fog and Light
  Navigating the Golden Gate - by Steve "Woody" LaBounty
• Sunset Finally Becomes Sunset
  Continuing the story of the Sunset's naming - By Angus Macfarlane
• Sunset Streetcars
  A history of rail transit in the Sunset - by Jack Coll
• Sutro Baths Burning, 1966
  Photos and Video of Sutro Baths going up in smoke. - Courtesy of Joel Springer and the National Park Service.
• Sutro Baths Interior, 1960
  A derelict Sutro Baths in the 1960s. - Courtesy of Cliff Tune.
• Sutro Baths Memories, 1952
  1952 San Francisco Chronicle article colorfully bemoaning Sutro Baths' demise. - by Will Connolly
• Sutro Baths Program, 1897
    - Courtesy of Christine Miller.
• Sweeney Observatory
  Built by Thomas U. Sweeney on Strawberry Hill in Golden Gate Park in 1891.
• The Chronicle House
  A promotional bungalow built in Westwood Park
• The House of Refuge
  where a number of interesting civic institutions have called home - by Angus Macfarlane
• The Lineup
  One of the most elusive pieces of Sutro history has to be the 1958 film-noir movie "The Lineup" made inside the Sutro Baths. - by John A. Martini
• The Richmond Grounds - the Big Games of 1902 and 1903
  The two final battles for Bay Area collegiate football supremacy to be held in San Francisco occurred in the Richmond District. - By Angus MacFarlane
• The Talking Cat of the Ingleside District
  There was also some appeal in whatever mischief one could get into while most adults were still sleeping soundly. - by Hamilton Barrett
• Tillmany's Ride
  A personal account of a 1947 streetcar crash - by Jack Tillmany
• Wave and Tidal Energy Experiments in San Francisco and Santa Cruz
  Over 100 years ago San Franciscans were entertaining electricity from the ocean as a legitimate solution to some of their power problems. - by Christine Miller
• Wave Motors and Tide Machines at the Cliff House: 1886 to present
  The first full scale wave motor built near the Cliff House was probably also the first in California. - by Christine Miller
• Young Hearts in Showtime
  A 1965 Richmond District musical that featured youth from many schools. - by Mary-Ann Orr

Page launched 1 November 2004; updated 2 March 2007.