Maps – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

WPA Map of San Francisco – Part 2 – SFMOMA, Mission, Noe Valley and Eureka Valley Branch Libraries

Posted by Cindy on February 5, 2019

Feb 052019

SFMOMA
Mission Branch Library
Noe Valley Library
Eureka Valley Library

This is the second post in a series covering the joint SF Library system and SFMOMA project Take Part showing the map of San Francisco built by the WPA. Click here for Part 1

SFMOMA

The old Transbay terminal as shown on the map at SFMOMA

The hub of the San Francisco commuter bus and Greyhound system was the old Transbay Terminal. It is shown on the WPA map of San Francisco.

San Francisco’s former Transbay Terminal was built in 1939 at First and Mission Streets as the terminal for East Bay trains using the newly opened Bay Bridge. The Terminal was financed and operated as part of the Bay Bridge and was paid for by Bay Bridge tolls (which were then 50 cents per automobile, or about $7.75 today). At the time, trucks and trains (primarily the Key System) used the lower deck of the Bay Bridge, and automobiles operated in both directions on the upper deck.

Ten car trains arrived every 63.5 seconds. In its heyday at the end of World War II, the terminal’s rail system served 26 million passengers annually. After the war ended and gas rationing was eliminated, the Terminal’s use began to steadily decline to a rate of four to five million people traveling by rail per year. In 1958, the lower deck of the Bay Bridge was converted to automobile traffic only, the Key System was dismantled and by 1959 the Transbay Terminal was converted into a bus-only facility.

A new bus terminal, complete with Public Art has been built. However, due to complications, it was closed soon after its grand opening, and as of this writing (February 5, 2019), it has not yet reopened.

Potrero Hill Branch Library

San Francisco General Hospital as portrayed on the map in the Potrero Hill Library

While a hospital sat on this property for years, in 1915 the “New San Francisco General Hospital”, which was a landscaped, red brick, Italian Renaissance style complex, was dedicated during the City’s celebration of the completion of the Panama Canal, at that time motorized ambulances replaced the horse-drawn vans.

One of the map sections at the Potrero Hill Branch Library

The history buff, and someone who has an entire map of San Francisco in his head, my friend Ted, pointed out that the section in the upper right was moved way too far to the right, none-the-less the map of this area shows how the shipyards and PG&E electrical plant were the main items in the area at the time the map was built.

The produce market as shown on the Potrero Hill Branch Library

The San Francisco Produce Market as shown at the Potrero Hill Branch Library

I could only find a reference to the stadium on a 1950 Sanborn Map calling it “Formerly San Francisco Stadium – removed”. (volume 11 – page 786)

Mission District Public Library

The old San Francisco and San Jose Railroad with its raised beds and bridges as shown on the Mission Branch library section

One of the more interesting things on the Mission Branch library map is the section that shows how the San Francisco/San Jose Railroad (1860s) line actually came through this part of town on raised beds and large bridges where it crossed street intersections. Here is a fun documentary made by CalTrain about the history of the line.

Notice the light wells that abound on the homes that sit wall to wall in the Mission District

Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Branch Library

Mission Dolores, angled off the grid in the center at the bottom, can be found at the Eureka Valley Branch Library

Mission Dolores, the light brown building center bottom, can be found at the Eureka Valley Branch Library

The Eureka Valley section shows primarily the residential neighborhoods, but one interesting building was the German Hospital that sits in the block made up of Noe/Duboce/ Castro and 14th.

The German Hospital

In 1854, the German General Benevolent Society formed the German Hospital to provide healthcare, food, and shelter for San Francisco’s German immigrants, who flooded the City during the Gold Rush. Founder Joseph N. Rausch, M.D., also proposed one of the country’s first pre-paid health plans: for a dollar a month, German-speaking immigrants qualified for a private hospital bed if they ever needed it, at a rate of one dollar per day. In 1895, the Society expanded its membership and was treating all citizens of San Francisco by century’s end.

If you have the chance, please try to visit this project, it is up until March. It is a wonderful view of San Francisco long ago.

If you do, the Librarians have stamps to prove you have been there, so grab a “Take Part” map at your local branch, collect all the stamps when visiting SFPL branches, and return your completed stamped map to win a SFMOMA prize.

Lover’s Lane

Posted by Cindy on December 22, 2014

Dec 222014

Lover’s Lane
The Presidio

There is a small trail in the Presidio titled Lover’s Lane. It has a well known history that you can read on the plaque found at one end of what is still existing of this trail.

The sign reads: “This trail has witnessed the passing of Spanish soldiers, Franciscan missionaries and American soldiers of two centuries It is perhaps the oldest travel corridor in San Francisco. In 1776 this path connected the Spanish Presidio with the mission, three miles to the southeast. During the 1860s it became the main route used by off-duty solders to walk into San Francisco. Many of those men made the trip into town to meet their sweethearts, and the trail became known as Lovers’ Lane.”

Keep in mind that when they say walk into San Francisco, San Francisco at that time was the mission. However, what you also must keep in mind is that those three miles were sand dunes. That is right, not nice dirt trails, or gravel roads but hard to trod, rolling hills of sand.

This map is a compilation of several maps from the 1860’s, remember lovers lane began in 1776. I have underlined in red the Presidio at the top and the Mission on the bottom right. The original, and enlargeable map can be found here. It is part of the San Francisco Watershed Finder series of maps. This series of maps was put together with the help of Joel Pomerantz of ThinkWalks, Joel gives walks all over town to discuss these watersheds and the hidden streams and creeks of San Francisco.

If you aren’t really great at reading topo maps here are some photos from San Francisco, while from the late 1800s and early 1900s sand dunes were still prevalent.

Late 19th Century
The Richmond District looking towards Lone Mountain
Photograph from a Private Collection

Sunset District 1900 Photo courtesy of Greg Gaar

Golden Gate Park construction with the Sunset District in the back – 1900
Photo courtesy of Greg Gaar

So imagine how hard it must have been to trod for 3 miles over these sand dunes. Also, in 1776, these would have been the Spanish soldiers that came with Juan Bautista de Anza, and I am rather sure their boots weren’t the easiest to cross these sand dunes in either. The need to get back to town had to have been rather pressing to make a trek like that.

This bridge, which marks either the end or beginning of your trip, depending on where you start, was built around 1885. The bridge crosses Tennessee Hollow and a creek, whose source is El Polin Spring.

The presence of the spring was a reason that the Presidio was a viable place for a garrison. While not enough water for cattle and crops, which is why the Mission is 3 miles away, it was enough for horses and men. During the Spanish American War of 1898, the First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment camped here, providing the name Tennessee Hollow.

While walking the Lover’s Lane path keep an eye out for Andy Goldsworthy’s Wood Line.