Streetwise: Looking Back 100 Years Ago in the Western Neighborhoods

by Frank Dunnigan
January 2025

Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. -

By 1925, the western neighborhoods were bustling with new homes, businesses, recreational amenities, and modes of transportation. Here are a few examples from the WNP photo archive of exactly what local residents were seeing 100 years ago.

View south from the high dive tower at Fleishhacker Pool, June 4, 1925 - Photo by Horace Chaffee; SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector.

Fleishhacker Pool, complete with lifeguards in rowboats, opened to the public in April 1925 and is shown here 2 months after opening. It held 6.5 million gallons of heated seawater and could accommodate 10,000 users at one time. In January 1971, a winter storm damaged a pipeline for seawater, and funds were not available for repairs, so city government converted the pool to fresh water. Water quality declined, and usage continued to drop, so the pool was closed at the end of 1971. Just before the turn of the millennium, ownership was transferred to the San Francisco Zoo. The pool was drained, filled with rock and gravel, and paved over, now forming a parking lot for zoo patrons.

Portal Theatre on West Portal near Vicente just prior to opening, December 1925 - Courtesy of Jack Tillmany.

The Portal Theatre on West Portal Avenue opened on Saturday, December 26, 1925—one of the first local movie houses with ample adjacent parking for automobiles, as well as convenient streetcar service. It was renamed the Empire on October 1, 1936, and converted to a triplex on June 26, 1974. In 2003, it was renamed Cine Arts at the Empire. The theatre closed early in 2020 due to Covid and never re-opened, with an announcement of a permanent closure coming in January 2021. A new owner acquired the building in October 2021 with plans to reopen it, but it remains shuttered, its equipment having been removed by the previous owner. In March 2023, The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California reported that for the coming two years, Chabad of the Neighborhood would be using the Empire’s lobby for its community activities while the otherwise-vacant building’s future remains undecided.

Advertising sheet of photos and sketch highlighting construction of Irving Theatre, 1925 - Courtesy of Jack Tillmany.

Construction of the Irving Theatre at 1332 Irving Street was underway in the summer of 1925, and it opened the following year. It was a popular neighborhood movie house, but it closed in July 1962 and was then torn down for a 1960s-era apartment building.

Legion of Honor, August 26, 1925 - Photo by Horace Chaffee; SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector.

This image from August 1925 shows the recently-completed Palace of the Legion of Honor (opened on November 11, 1924) with landscaping installed, but still with an unpaved parking lot.

Relocation of original Beach Chalet, 1925 - Courtesy of a Private Collector.

In 1925, the current Beach Chalet building on the east side of Great Highway was constructed. That same year, the original Beach Chalet building–situated on the west side of Great Highway–was moved to 24th Avenue between Irving and Judah Streets, to be used by the Boy Scouts organization. That group eventually sold the property in 1958 and the building was subsequently destroyed by fire. The San Francisco Examiner reported that neighbors had seen children playing with matches in the dry grass and debris behind the building. Read more in this 2011 article by local historian John Freeman.

Beach Chalet, May 31, 1925 - Courtesy of a Private Collector.

The new Beach Chalet (still standing) was constructed on the east side of Great Highway in 1925. It was the last building designed by noted architect Willis Polk. During World War II, the federal government commandeered the structure for use as a barracks, and following the war, the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) acquired use of the building as a clubhouse and bar. The VFW moved out in 1979, and in 1981, an extensive renovation—including interior frescoes, mosaics, and wood carvings—began, leading to its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. It reopened in 1996 as a popular restaurant with a spectacular ocean view.

Newly completed Mothers Building at what was then Fleishhacker Playground, 1925 - Courtesy of a Private Collector.

The Mother’s Building at the San Francisco Zoo was completed in 1925 by brothers Herbert and Mortimer Fleishhacker. Dedicated to their mother, Delia Fleishhacker, it served as a resting place for mothers and their children. Closed in 2000 due to maintenance issues and water damage to its Noah’s Ark-themed, women-created murals, the classic building was finally declared a local landmark in October 2022. Efforts to have the building restored are ongoing. Listen to Outside Lands Podcast #167 on the Mother’s Building and Podcast #492 with Richard Rothman, one of the leaders of the restoration effort.

View looking southeast from the Cliff House to Ocean Beach, circa 1925 - Courtesy of a Private Collector.

The recently-paved Point Lobos Avenue connecting to Great Highway was a popular spot for both pedestrians and automobiles in 1925.

View southwest of the construction site of the Pacific Telephone Co. building at 9th Avenue and Geary, 1925 - Courtesy of a Private Collector.

The expansion of citywide telephone service in the 1920s required construction of additional office spaces in the western neighborhoods, such as this location at 9th Avenue and Geary in 1925.