West of Twin Peaks
West of Twin Peaks
How much difference would 20 minutes make in your commute to work?
How about four million dollars?
The Twin Peaks tunnel opened on February 3, 1918, cutting the trolley time commute by 20 minutes from Sloat Boulevard to Kearny Street downtown. Westward went the masses, developing the Forest Hill, West Portal, St. Francis Wood, and Westwood Park areas.
By 1924 the assessed valuation of the West of Twin Peaks area had risen by $4,000,000.
Mostly part of the Rancho San Miguel, the West of Twin Peaks area consisted of some of the last parts of San Francisco open to development. It took the promise of the Twin Peaks tunnel and the final resolution of land owner Adolph Sutro's estate (decades in probate!) to open the door. (Read more about it in Richard Brandi's article.)
Noted architects and planners such as Mark Daniels, the Olmsted Brothers, Henry Gutterson and Joseph Leonard turned away from San Francisco's grid-style street design and created "residence parks" with wide, curving boulevards elegantly landscaped.
To these "parks" moved families from the Mission District and other parts of San Francisco, trying to find a suburban feel within city limits.
Eventually the neighborhoods housed some of the city's wealthiest and most powerful citizens: politicians, baseball players, and corporate heads.
Strong neighborhood associations helped maintain the beauty and architectural integrity of these parks, while limiting the diversity of the residents with racist housing covenants.
Around the edges of the artistic Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood, less high-minded developers like Fernando Nelson & Sons put up smaller family homes, and the Meyer Brothers began work on Miraloma Park. Before these neighborhoods got started, Behrend Joost on the east side of Sutro's Forest started the working-class Sunnyside neighborhood.
Images: 1) St. Francis Wood fountain (WNP photo - Aug 2001), 2) Balboa Terrace (WNP photo - Aug 2001)
WOTP Articles
- Arden Wood
The First Church of Christ, Scientist selected the plot of land in the newly-developed West Portal neighborhood for its west coast nursing facility in the 1920s. - Dewey Boulevard Then and Now
From 1910 to the present - Farms, Fire and Forest
Sutro's ownership of the old Rancho San Miguel - Forest Hill
This residence park neighborhood's fist house was completed in 1914 - Forest Hill Broadsheet
A re-creation of a flyer printed by the Newell-Murdoch Company, circa 1912 - Forest Hill Station
Laguna Honda or Forest Hill MUNI Subway Station - Homewood Terrace Orphanage
Jewish orphanage that faced Ocean Avenue from 1921 to 1960s - Madie Brown
An ardent nature lover, she was the one who organized a citywide preservation effort to make Mt. Davidson a public park. - Monterey Boulevard
From the A.S. Baldwin survey of Adolph Sutro's estate in 1912 - Sherwood Forest
A tiny neighborhood on the side of Mount Davidson. - St. Francis Wood Pamphlet
Mason-McDuffie and Baldwin & Howell issued a small booklet promoting the St. Francis Wood development in the mid-1910s. - Streetwise: Forest Hill
Architect David Coleman designed the first completed home in Forest Hill at 266 Pacheco Street. - Streetwise: Willie Mays
The Giants centerfielder moves to the western neighborhoods - Sunnyside District
When Behrend Joost's "Sunny Side Land Company" bought the land from Leland Stanford the surrounding area was mostly vegetable fields. - West Portal Elementary School
Class photos, history, and memories - West Portal History Walk
An historic tour of West Portal Avenue, 15 Web pages of historic photos and text! - Westwood Park
Westwood Park was created in 1917, when Baldwin & Howell, one of San Francisco's oldest real estate firms, secured an undeveloped tract of land.
Contribute your own stories about your neighborhood!
Page updated 9 May 2006.