Streetwise: October Happenings in the Western Neighborhoods
by Frank Dunnigan
October 2024
Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. - October in the Bay Area is usually a time of warm, dry weather that residents and visitors thoroughly appreciate. It has also been a time for celebrating some local civic improvements, but October has also had more than its share of earthquakes (1865, 1868, 1989) and local maritime disasters at the entrance to the Golden Gate (1922, 1927, and 1936).
Camp Richmond, circa 1906.1906—By the fall of 1906, clusters of “earthquake cottages” had begun to replace the earlier Army-issued fabric tents in advance of rainy winter weather. This is the scene at Camp Richmond, looking north, in the area of today’s Park Presidio Boulevard.
PPIE groundbreaking at Golden Gate Park Polo Fields, October 14, 1911 - Emiliano Echeverria/Randolph Brandt Collection / Courtesy of Emiliano Echeverria.1911—The groundbreaking for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition by U.S. President William Howard Taft occurred at the fair’s originally-planned site near the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park. The fair’s location was later moved to the Marina District.
Sunset Tunnel Cake, 1928 - Photo by Horace Chaffee, SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector.1928—An elaborate cake in the image of the Duboce Avenue entrance celebrates the completion of the Sunset Tunnel on October 21, 1928.
Sunset Tunnel dedication, October 21, 1928 - Photo by Horace Chaffee, SF Department of Public Works / Courtesy of a Private Collector.1928—Mayor “Sunny Jim” Rolph is at the controls of the first N-Judah streetcar to emerge from the Carl and Cole portal of the Sunset Tunnel at its dedication on October 21, 1928. This author’s family legend has it that his father and uncle were riding on the rear bumper of this first streetcar through the tunnel.
SS Ohioan Shipwreck at Point Lobos, October 1936 - Courtesy of a Private Collector.The month of October has proven to be especially treacherous for ships in the area near the Cliff House during the years from 1922 to 1936 when the following disasters occurred:
1922—The tanker Lyman Stewart collided with another tanker on October 7, 1922 and was beached to avoid sinking, but was later declared a total loss.
Learn more about the what became of the shipwreck.
1927—The lumber ship Coos Bay crashed into the rocks north of Lincoln Park on the foggy evening of October 27, 1927. Tidal action eventually broke up the vessel, but debris remained visible until at least 1930.
Read and see more about the Coos Bay on OpenSFHistory.
1936—The S.S. Ohioan, a cargo ship, ran aground in the early morning hours of October 7, 1936 (shown here) near Seal Rock. Five months later, the ship caught fire, and in December of that year, a Pacific storm caused the hull to break in two, with sunken rusty steel beams still visible above the waves until at least 1939. Note the roof of Sutro Baths at far right of photo. Hear more about the Ohioan, and other shipwrecks, in our
Shipwrecks of Ocean Beach podcast episode.
Emporium Department Store at Stonestown, circa 1952 - Photo by Martin Reinsch.1952—Emporium-Stonestown, the company’s first store beyond Market Street, is shown here just prior to its October 15, 1952 grand opening. In the 1980s, the adjacent shops in the Stonestown Mall were demolished and rebuilt as the enclosed Stonestown Galleria. The Emporium chain closed in 1995 and Macy’s then occupied the anchor space, but that store closed in 2018 and was eventually replaced by a multiplex theater, grocery store, and additional new shops. Current plans envision a series of residential towers with underground parking on the asphalt lots in the foreground.
Excavations and Grading for Midtown Terrace, October 19, 1953 - San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.1953—Excavations and grading for the new Midtown Terrace neighborhood are shown here on October 19, 1953.
Playland Demolition, October 1972 - Photo by Greg Gaar, Greg Gaar Street Photography 1970s-90s / Courtesy of Greg Gaar.1972—Playland closed just after Labor Day in 1972 and demolition began quickly, with this scene captured on film the following month in October.
7th Avenue and Judah Street, April 1990 - Photo by Greg Gaar, Greg Gaar Street Photography 1970s-90s / Courtesy of Greg Gaar.1989—The Loma Prieta earthquake (strongest since 1906) struck the Bay Area on a beautiful autumn day as the World Series was being played at Candlestick Park. Here, a damaged apartment building at 7th Avenue and Judah is being demolished the following spring. The tower of the Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church can be seen in the distance.
View from Tank Hill of Oakland Hills Fire, October 20, 1991 - Photo by Greg Gaar / Courtesy of a Private Collector.1991—The massive fire in the Oakland hills began on the weekend of October 19-20, 1991, drawing this crowd of spectators to Hawk Hill near Twin Peaks in San Francisco.
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