Forest Hills Muni Station

 Posted by on September 21, 2019
Sep 212019
 

Where Dewey Blvd and Laguna Honda Blvd. meet

The Forest Hill Station is a Muni Metro station in the Forest Hill neighborhood across from Laguna Honda Hospital.

Built in 1916-1918  the station was originally built as part of the Twin Peaks Tunnel.  It is the oldest subway station west of Chicago.

Scenes from the films Dirty Harry (1971) and Milk (2008) were shot inside of this station.

The Forest Hill Muni Station is the deepest station in the San Francisco system.

Forest Hill Station was built in a “restrained classical revival style which has remained largely unaltered to the present. There are also a few decorative features suggestive of an Art Nouveau aesthetic.

The station was the result of a 21-acre donation by Newell-Murdoch who was developing the Forest Hill neighborhood at the time. This donation made sure the new neighborhood was linked to the Twin Peaks tunnel.

At the surface level, period pilasters and archways remain.

At the platform level subway tile in white, black, check pattern is some of the finest in the muni system

Rumor has it that during the height of the Cold War, a plan was allegedly proposed to build a vault in the station in order to protect city records from nuclear attack.

The station was originally named Laguna Honda; lettering with that former name is carved on the station headhouse.

The station in 1921. Photo courtesy of opensfhistory.org

The station in 1926. Photo courtesy of opensfhistory.org

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Stefan Novak and Redwood

 Posted by on November 15, 2013
Nov 152013
 
Stefan Novak and Redwood

Clipper and Diamond Heights Blvd Noe Valley/Twin Peaks This piece titled Redwood Sculpture, was done in 1968 by Stefan Novak. Mr. Novak and his family are very private people, so there is little information regarding the artist.  He was an instructor in the architecture department at UC Berkeley. He was born on August 22, 1918 and died on April 29, 2006 at 87 years old. * * The piece is owned by the SFAC.

Florence Nightingale

 Posted by on June 4, 2013
Jun 042013
 
Florence Nightingale

Laguna Honda Hospital Forest Hill / Twin Peaks This graceful painted cast stone statue of Florence Nightingale titled Lady of the Lamp is by David Edstrom and was done in 1937.  The project was part of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Federal Artists Program. The statue sat in the Court of the Seven Seas during the Golden Gate International Exhibition.  The Lady of the Lamp refers to a Longfellow poem. (Peter) David Edstrom (1873-1938) was an immigrant from Vetlanda, Jönköping County, Sweden. In 1880, he immigrated to the United States with his parents, John Peter Edstrom and Charlotte Gustavson Edstrom. Edstrom lived in Ottumwa, Iowa from 1882 Continue Reading

Solar Plumes on a Painted Steel Fence

 Posted by on March 29, 2013
Mar 292013
 
Solar Plumes on a Painted Steel Fence

Sunnyside Playground 200 Melrose Twin Peaks These painted steel panels were commissioned in 2008 for $23,600 by the San Francisco Art Commission to Deborah Kennedy. According to Kennedy’s website the curvilinear patterns cut into water-jet cut stainless steel were abstracted from patterns found in NASA’s TRACE close-up satellite photos of the solar surface. These photos show enormous plumes of plasma, electrified gases that surge up from the surface of the sun. These plumes move at tremendous speeds and form coronal loops that stand hundreds of thousands of miles off the surface of the sun. This public artwork seeks to heighten Continue Reading

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