Geary Street Carbarn/Larkins Building

The Geary Street Park & Ocean Railway ran on the roads of the Richmond district from 1892 (when the tracks were extended from Central Avenue to 5th Avenue) until May 12, 1912. The city then took over the franchise, creating the first MUNI line.

Until the cable track extension from Central, passengers reached Golden Gate Park by transferring to GSPO's steam motor line. These "steam dummies" are shown above with their carbarn on the northwest corner of Point Lobos Road (Geary Boulevard today) and First Avenue (Arguello today).

In 1898, the GSPO built a new carbarn of brick on the same site. The building (seen below) has had a series of uses over the years. It was a bakery and warehouse for Sperry Flour in 1916. In 1919, the Larkins Carriage Company remodeled and stuccoed over the building. (The name "Larkins Building" can be seen incised on the upper corner of the building's front.) The Larkins Carriage Company was a historic San Francisco builder of fine carriages, but as the automobile supplanted carriages, Larkins began making custom-made bodies for auto and truck chassises. The company even had a contract to make wooden frames for airplanes in this building.

By 1928, the building had become a garage and starting in the late 1930s MUNI used the upper floors to store buses. After World War II, the structure became the first site for a mini-auto row of auto dealerships that stretched from Arguello to Eleventh Avenue along Geary Street. Today the Larkins building is an office and stationary supply store, with the convenience of parking on its upper floor.

More on Richmond District streetcars and trains in Streetwise!

Images: 1) GSPO Carbarn, corner of Point Lobos and First, 1887. Randolph Brandt Collection. Courtesy of Greg Gaar; 2) Former GSPO Carbarn (built 1898), November 2001. Photo courtesy of Joe Thompson's Cable Car Site.

Thanks to When Steam Ran on the Streets of San Francisco by Walter Rice, Ph.D., and Emiliano Echeverria for GSPO information! And great thanks to John Freeman for the post-GSPO knowledge.

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Page launched 4 July 2003; updated 17 May 2005.