Events

We're opening a temporary museum in the former Cliff House Gift Shop, in partnership with ACT Art Conservation and The Great Highway gallery, and with support from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s Park Archives and Records Center (PARC) and the Global Museum at SF State.

This temporary exhibition showcases a selection of art and artifacts WNP recently saved from an auction that liquidated historical holdings of the Hountalas family--longtime proprietors of the iconic Cliff House restaurant, which closed in December 2020--and will support an exhibition currently on display at the WNP Office + Gallery at 1617 Balboa Street in the Richmond District. Both are free to the public.

The Museum opened to the general public on Saturday, October 23, 2021 and will welcome visitors to the western edge of San Francisco until April 10th. Historic photographs of the area, bathing suits from the Sutro Baths, charming vintage Cliff House souvenirs, and more from WNP will be displayed alongside archaeological remnants of Sutro Heights statuary, a taxidermied monkey from the Sutro Baths Museum, and other pieces rarely seen from the PARC collection.

Selections from the Egyptian collection amassed by Adolph Sutro, stewarded by the Global Museum, will also be on display in addition to works from local artists. Rounding out the exhibition will be kid-friendly interactives and friendly volunteers to welcome you.

Museum hours are Thursdays through Sundays, 11:00am until 4:00pm.

Special thanks to so many people, but especially to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Grants for the Arts, and District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan for their support of this exhibition.

With support from the Prelinger Archives, we are thrilled to premiere the third of four projected video artworks by Ben Wood animating local history The Museum at The Cliff, located in the former Cliff House Gift Shop at 1090 Point Lobs Avenue, on February 12, 2022.

This installation, naturally secluded from Point Lobos Avenue for an intimate viewing experience, will illuminate three northerly-facing windows with diverse scenes of the Cliff House and connected sites. Imagery shows change over time at the Cliff House through the sequenced montage of commercial photography and studio portraits, amateur snapshots, found footage and B-roll that also show the Sutro Baths, Sutro Heights Park, and Playland at the Beach. This creates silent yet enthralling historic context for the Sutro District and also supports artifacts from the WNP, PARC, and Global Museum collections on display inside The Museum at The Cliff and nearby at The Lands End Lookout.

Join us at 5:30pm on Saturday, February 12, 2022 and be the first to see this special installation. The Museum at The Cliff will be open late for viewing, and there will be refreshments to keep us warm.

Speaking of staying warm, please bring layers as the projected video will be experienced outside. Pandemic-appropriate masks will be required to visit The Museum. This event is free but donations are appreciated to keep our nonprofit going. Registration in advance is not mandatory but appreciated.

Join our Executive Director Nicole Meldahl as she takes you an an intimate tour of The Museum at The Cliff, located in the former Cliff House Gift Shop, on Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 10:00am.

With her noted enthusiasm, Nicole will walk you through the stories behind the Cliff House, Sutro Baths, and Sutro Heights on this one hour tour. See souvenirs, one of Adolph Sutro's taxidermy monkeys, a collection of 4,000 year-old Egyptian artifacts, and more as she highlights her favorite pieces on display and provides context that will help you better appreciate the special history of this area known as Lands End. Plus, you can't beat the view...

This tour is free for WNP Members and $20 for non-members. It is limited to 12 people and will take place before the museum opens. Please arrive 5 minutes early and be prepared to wear a pandemic-appropriate mask while touring the exhibition.

Join historic preservationists, west side residents, and more in a collective effort to protect historic places in the Parkside District by attending the Parkside Heritage Meeting on Thursday, February 24 at 7:00pm via Zoom.

In August 2020, SF Heritage convened a group of community members in the Parkside District to work on preservation projects and address the neighborhood's underrepresentation in the city's official inventory of historic buildings as part of its initiative, "Heritage in the Neighborhoods." The group's first campaign was to have the Trocadero Clubhouse in Stern Grove designated as a city landmark. And it worked: the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved to support the effort in March 2021. WNP has been a member from the start and now we're helping to get this work rolling again in 2022. Parkside Heritage is discussing what to do next and wants you to get involved. On the docket for discussion will be the Edgewood Center for Children and Families (1801 Vicente) and Pinehurst Lodge Women's Treatment Center (2685 30th Avenue), but all in attendance are encouraged to bring their own ideas to the table!

This meeting, led by Natalie Simotas with logistical support from Western Neighborhoods Project, is free but you do need to register in advance to receive a Zoom link. Have questions or feedback prior to the meeting? Email Natalie at: Bluesgyrl1@gmail.com

Please use the link in the "More Info" field below to register or visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parkside-heritage-meeting-tickets-246318604577

With support from the Prelinger Archives, we are thrilled to premiere the final projected video artwork by Ben Wood animating local history at The Museum at The Cliff, located in the former Cliff House Gift Shop at 1090 Point Lobs Avenue, on March 12, 2022.

This installation, naturally secluded from Point Lobos Avenue for an intimate viewing experience, will illuminate three northerly-facing windows with diverse scenes of the Cliff House and connected sites. Imagery shows change over time at the Cliff House through the sequenced montage of commercial photography and studio portraits, amateur snapshots, found footage and B-roll that also show the Sutro Baths, Sutro Heights Park, and Playland at the Beach. This creates silent yet enthralling historic context for the Sutro District and also supports artifacts from the WNP, PARC, and Global Museum collections on display inside The Museum at The Cliff and nearby at The Lands End Lookout.

Join us at 5:30pm on Saturday, March 12, 2022 and be the first to see this special installation. The Museum at The Cliff will be open late for viewing, and there will be refreshments to keep us warm.

Speaking of staying warm, please bring layers as the projected video will be experienced outside. Pandemic-appropriate masks will be required to visit The Museum. This event is free but donations are appreciated to keep our nonprofit going. Registration in advance is not mandatory but appreciated.

Join our Executive Director Nicole Meldahl as she takes you an an intimate tour of The Museum at The Cliff, located in the former Cliff House Gift Shop, on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 10:00am.

With her noted enthusiasm, Nicole will walk you through the stories behind the Cliff House, Sutro Baths, and Sutro Heights on this one hour tour. See souvenirs, one of Adolph Sutro's taxidermy monkeys, a collection of 4,000 year-old Egyptian artifacts, and more as she highlights her favorite pieces on display and provides context that will help you better appreciate the special history of this area known as Lands End. Plus, you can't beat the view...

This will be the last tour of The Museum before it closes in April and it is limited to 12 people. It is free for WNP Members and $20 for non-members and will take place before the museum opens. Please arrive 5 minutes early and be prepared to wear a pandemic-appropriate mask while touring the exhibition.

Join historian John Martini and explore the fabled Cliff House and the ruins of Sutro Baths for an in-person history walk.

We will venture around the Cliff House to learn about the history of San Francisco’s most incendiary landmark. The Baths visit will include a steep walk downhill into the ruins to visit the mysterious tunnels through Point Lobos, followed by an uphill climb to the old Sky Tram overlook where we’ll see the wave catch basin constructed by Adolph Sutro that trapped Pacific waves and sent roiling seawater to the Baths.

Our two-hour tour begins at 10:00am and please note that the grade is strenuous with steep downhill sections, unpaved trails, stairs, and walking across sandy areas. The super-secret meeting location will be emailed when tickets are purchased: $10 for members and $20 for non-members.

Join us for this in-person history walk led by our pal John Martini through his old stomping grounds at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

The Main Post of the Presidio of San Francisco encompasses more history than any other site within the GGNRA: Ohlone people, Spanish colonists, Buffalo Soldiers, Japanese Internment. Highlights of this mile-long walk include the newly renovated Presidio Officers Club and Heritage Center, the Inn at the Presidio, the San Francisco Film Institute, and the new Presidio Tunnel Tops project.

Our journey begins at 10:00am and is expected the to take about 2 hours. The super secret meeting location will be emailed when tickets are purchased: $10 for members and $20 for non-members.

The walk is limited to 30 people and we will follow whatever San Francisco Department of Health regulations are in place at the time.

Join us for this in-person history walk led by our pal John Martini through his old stomping grounds at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Fort Funston is more than hang gliders and dog walkers. It began its history as San Francisco’s most remote (some said desolate) military fort in 1900. From World War I to the Cold War, the sandy post featured barracks, massive gun emplacements, trenches, antiaircraft guns, and NIKE missiles that protected the southern approach to San Francisco Bay. Today, the remains of many of these fortifications lie buried beneath the city’s last large expanse of natural dunes.

Our journey begins at 10:00am and is expected to take about two hours. This is a moderately difficult walk with terrain that includes walking unpaved and sandy areas. The super secret meeting location will be emailed when tickets are purchased: $10 for WNP members and $20 for non-members. Please register through Eventbrite.

The walk is limited to 30 people and we will follow whatever San Francisco Department of Health regulations are in place at the time.

Join us for this in-person history walk led by our pal John Martini through his old stomping grounds at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

The wild northwest corner of San Francisco known as Lands End will be highlighted in this moderately strenuous walk. Along the way we’ll follow the right of way for the famous “Ferries & Cliff House” steam train, see the remains of the oil tanker SS Lyman Stewart that wrecked in 1922, visit the site of the vanished community of Ocean Terrace, and explore the once-lavish grounds of Adolph Sutro’s estate of Sutro Heights.

Our journey begins at 10:00am and is expected the to take about 2 hours. The super secret meeting location will be emailed when tickets are purchased: $10 for members and $20 for non-members. Please register through Eventbrite.

The walk is limited to 30 people and we will follow whatever San Francisco Department of Health regulations are in place at the time.