We decided to do an overnight, side trip to San Francisco while we were up at my folks house. Libi has been to the city once before, but she was tiny and didn't remember. It was exciting to bring her back to see some of the things she has been longing to see!
On the way into the city we stopped at
Treasure Island-- Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939-1940 (CHL 987). This is an artificial island that was created to house the Golden Gate Exposition.
It was also the landing site for flights of the China Clipper and is currently a Naval Station.
It also boasts really cool views of the city-- when it's not too foggy!
The statues are still left from the exposition and they are really cool!
Over the bridge and into the city our first stop was
Rincon Hill (CHL 84). This used to be quite the swanky neighborhood which was the home to William Tecumseh Sherman, William Gwin (remember him?), and H.H. Bancroft.
The impressive homes have all been leveled and the plaque which used to be on a retaining wall is no longer there.
The
Original Site of St. Mary's College (CHL 772) was located in a cute little neighborhood on a hill outside of the city.
The school was established here in 1863 by Archbishop Alemany with two diocesan priests, four laymen, and two student teachers.
There is nothing left of the school except this tiny little monument.
Our next site has no plaque and no site remaining, so we got as close as we could and took photos. The Site of the First Dynamite Factory in the United States (CHL 1002) was located in this canyon behind Libi. In 1868 the factory opened to produce Alfred Nobel's exclusive type of explosives. After only a year an explosion destroyed the factory. This happened many times until it was moved to its final location in Point Pinole (a site we have visited).
This next site proved tricky to find at first-- seeing as how the address is about a block away from the actual plaque location. Once we used photos from other CHL enthusiasts who had already been there, it was easier to find!
This is the
original site of the Bancroft Library (CHL 791). Hubert Howe Bancroft was a historian whose goal was to tell the history of the western United States. He amassed a huge library of reference materials as well as first-hand accounts from settlers, pioneers and statesmen.
In 1881 his collection was moved here to a fire-proof building to protect it! In 1905 the University of California bought the collection and moved it to Berkeley where their library is named in his honor.
This next plaque was the first two-sided state historic plaque we have seen, so that was pretty cool!
The Site of the Original Mission Dolores Chapel and Dolores Lagoon (CHL 327-1) is where the first mass of a very temporary mission building was given by Fr. Palou, a member of the Anza Expedition.
On the map on the back you can see where the Lago de los Dolores (Lake of the Sorrows) used to be and where the mission was originally planned to be built. The actual mission is a few blocks away.. and we headed there next.
This was a two-fer of a site-- not only did we find
Mission San Francisco de Assissi (CHL 327)...
but we also found the
El Camino Real (CHL 784). The El Camino Real plaque symbolizes the road as Junipero Serra would have known it. The plaque was placed here on his 250th birthday. There will be another plaque at the southern end of the road that we should see when we visit San Diego County.
This mission has two names, which is slightly confusing!
Father Serra dedicated this mission on October 9, 1776-- it was the 6th mission to be founded by him.
The interior is very simple, but it is beautiful none the less.
The mission is said to be the oldest structure in San Francisco.
It is one of only two buildings still remaining that Fr. Serra was known to have been in and officiated in (the other is a Mission San Juan Capistrano).
The modern Basilica next door is gorgeous!
They have stained glass windows for each of the missions, which both Libi and I were sure to take photos of.
In the courtyard we took the obligatory photo with Fr. Serra...
and one with the example of Native American architecture.
We are now always on the lookout for plaques and whenever we see them, Libi insists on having her photo taken with them.
The cemetery is quite impressive and full of old tombstones.
After a tasty lunch at the
Monk's Kettle, we were off again. This one was stuck to the side of a building and it would have been easy to miss!
This was the site of
Woodward's Gardens (CHL 454)-- an amusement park that opened in 1866. It sounded like quite the place with a zoo, aquarium, museum and gardens. You can read about it's offerings
here.
The next site was under tons of construction, so the sign below is the closest we got. We will absolutely have to return to see the building in its full glory when it reopens later this year.
This was the
Birthplace of the United Nations, War Memorial Complex (CHL 964). It was here that President FDR arranged for the United Nations Conference for International Organization met on April 25, 1945. 50 nations met here, wrote the UN charter, and signed it in this building on June 26th.
A short drive away we found the
Sarcophagus of Thomas Starr King (CHL 691).
Thomas Starr King was a Unitarian priest, who spoke out fervently to keep California as part of the Union during the Civil War (even Lincoln acknowledged that he was instrumental in this). He was also one of the biggest supporters of the United States Sanitary Commission, which preceeded the Red Cross in giving aide and comfort to those injured in the war.
His statue was one of the two from California in the US Capitol building until it was removed in favor of Ronald Reagan in 2009. Do you know who the other statue is that still remains in the Capitol building? (Look for the answer at the end of this blog post.)
The
Site of Laurel Hill Cemetery (CHL 760) no longer exists-- it is now the campus of UC San Francisco. There also used to be a plaque on this wall (you can see the bolts to the right of Libi) but it isn't there now!
It is always sad to me when cemeteries are no longer where they used to be. The photo below is from a San Francisco Encyclopedia website and it shows a huge, beautiful final resting place which is now parking lots and classrooms. It's even sadder when you read the description from the state: The builders of the West, civic and military leaders, jurists, inventors, artists, and eleven United States Senators are buried here, on the most revered of San Francisco's hills.
On to happier, and currently standing, historic sites. The Conservatory (CHL 841) was the first municipal greenhouse in California. It was built in 1879 and modeled after a Victorian-style Conservatory in England.
It does have tours, but it wasn't opened while we were there. If you are interested in going inside, you can check out their
website for visiting information.
There is a plaque in front of the building and off to the side, so make sure you get to see that too!
It's always a good time for a family selfie :)
Our next site is one of four presidios in California-- we have now been to two of them.
The
Presidio of San Francisco (CHL 79) was established in 1776 and has been used as military headquarters by Spain, Mexico, and the US.
It is still an active military establishment today-- which is kind of cool! It has housed soldiers in the Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War!
It is also the home to the Walt Disney Family Museum, which is not a CHL and we will have to come back to see another time.
This next site was one that Libi was really anxious to see-- the
Golden Gate Bridge (CHL 974)!
We were right underneath it in order to visit another site--
Castillo de San Joaquin (CHL 82). This site has about a dozen historical importance's:
The San Carlos, the first ship to enter San Francisco Bay dropped anchor here in 1775.
The first fortification was completed here in 1794 as ordered by the 6th Governor of California, Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga.
In 1853 the Army cut down the cliff and built Fort Point, a partial replica of Fort Sumter, here...
it is the only brick fort west of the Mississippi, and it's seawall has stood undamaged for over 100 years!! They also do tours here, but we arrived too late. We will absolutely be back to see inside this impressive structure!
We hit the Bridge during sunset-- so we were able to get some really great photos.
We did some souvenir shopping at the
Warming Hut which is a darling snack and retail shop. If you are ever in the area, you should stop by.
A wrong turn in attempting to get on the freeway caused us to drive through the Presidio again. As we did we saw this gorgeous site...
so we had to stop to take some more photos.
Now that the sun has gone down-- the sites become a bit harder to find and the photos harder to take, but we have more sites to see, so we are pressing on.
In a park a little ways away from the Golden Gate Bridge we came upon the
Entrance of the San Carlos into San Francisco Bay (CHL 236). As I previously mentioned the San Carlos was the first ship to enter the bay on August 5, 1775. The crew, lead by Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala, surveyed the land here for a little over a month before moving on.
We checked in to our Hotel, rested for a second and then set off on foot to find more sites. Our hotel was in the Financial District and we noticed a bunch of sites within five or six blocks. The first site was came upon was the
Niantic Hotel (CHL 88).
The state sums up this site: The emigrant ship Niantic stood on this spot in the early days "when the water came up to Montgomery Street." Converted to other uses, it was covered with a shingle roof with offices and stores on the deck, at the level of which was constructed a wide balcony surmounted by a veranda. The hull was divided into warehouses entered by doorways on the sides.
The fire of May 3, 1851 destroyed all but the submerged hulk, which later was utilized as the foundation for the Niantic Hotel, a famous hostelry that stood until 1872.
The next site no longer exists and there is no plaque here, so we had to improvise. The corner of Leidesdorff and Commercial Streets is the site of the
Long Wharf (CHL 328).
The wharf was originally build in 1848 and over the years it grew to over 2000 feet long!
A short walk away we came upon the
Site of the What Cheer House (CHL 650). This hotel was opened in 1852 by R.B. Woodward and then destroyed by fire in 1906.
The hotel was for men only, it prohibited liquor, and was the site of the first museum and free library in San Francisco.
The Library of Congress has a photo of the hotel:
Next we came to Hudson's Bay Company Headquarters (CHL 819). William G. Tae, a cheif trader for the company, established this site in 1841.
However, due to inadequate profits and a declining fur catch in the area it was closed down a few years later.
The
Site of the First U.S. Branch Mint in California (CHL 87) was next.It was authorized by Congress in 1852, and opened in 1854.
It was moved to a larger building in 1874 and then to another in 1937. I believe that we will see the 1874 building when we return to San Fransisco, as it is also a CHL.
This private plaque signifies the
Landing Place of Captain J.B. Montgomery (CHL 81).
In July 1846 Commander Montgomery landed near this spot on his ship the Portsmouth to raise the US flag on the plaza. You can read all about this "siege"
here.
The next site has no plaque and there is no actual site left-- the
Site of Brick Building of the Firm Mellus and Howard (CHL 459). This was a warehouse where the Society of California Pioneers was organized in 1850. It is the oldest historical society in the state with its mission to collect and preserve the history of California. If you can prove that you had a decedent in California prior to 1850, you can still join today! For membership information, click
here.
In front of the building right across the street from the above site we found the
Western Business Headquarters of Russell, Majors, and Waddell-Founders, Owners, and Operators of the Pony Express (CHL 696).
The Pony Expresses main office was in Leavenworth, Kansas-- with this being the western offices.
Across the street inside the lobby of a very nice building we found
The Montgomery Block (CHL 80). This was the first fire-proof building in San Fransisco.
The building was erected in 1853 by Henry Wager Halleck, a Union army officer who was nicknamed "Old Brains."
It housed lawyers, financiers, writers, actors, and artists and due to it's fireproofing, escaped the great fire of 1906.
It was also the deathplace of James King of William, editor of the Bulletin newspaper. He was shot by James Casey, an editor for a rival newspaper.
The
Site of the First Jewish Religious Services in San Francisco (CHL 462).
From the state:
In a second-floor room in a store that once stood here, forty pioneers of the Jewish faith gathered on September 26, 1849, Yom Kippur (5610), and participated in the first Jewish religious services in San Francisco.
The next building was under construction, so we couldn't get close to it. We believe that there is a plaque on this building though, so next time we are in town, we will try to get a closer look. This was the
Site of the First Meeting of the Freemasons Held in California (CHL 408).
Lucas, Turner, & Co. Bank aka Sherman's Bank (CHL 453) was a block away.
William Tecumseh Sherman established this branch of the bank in 1853. He carried it through the financial crisis of 1855 and stayed with it until it closed in 1857.
The next three sites were all in Portsmouth Plaza-- the first one the
Eastern Terminus of Clay Street Hill Railroad (CHL 500).
The first cable railroad system in the world, invented and installed by Andrew Hallidie, had its station here.
It operated from 1873 to 1942. The photo below is from the Cablecar museum.
The next site was hidden in the corner of the park.
The Portsmouth Plaza (CHL 119) was named for the U.S.S. Portsmouth captained by J.B. Montgomery who we talked about earlier.
This site was not only where the American flag was first raised, it was here that Sam Brannan announced the discovery of gold, it was the place that the steamship Oregon brought the news that California was the 31st state, and memorial services for President Zachary Taylor were held here among other things. The
First Public School (CHL 587) in California was also in this square. There is no plaque, but they discuss it on the plaque for the square.
The
Office of the California Star Newspaper (CHL 85) doesn't have a plaque either. It was here that the first paper in San Francisco, the California Star was founded in 1847, with Sam Brannan as the publisher.
Our final site for the day-- after quite a marathon of CHLs was the
El Dorado, Parker House, and Dennison's Exchange (CHL 192). These three were the most famous hotels and gambling parlors in San Francisco in the early 1850's.
The third Jenny Lind Theatre in California replaced the Parker House in 1850. It was destroyed by fire in 1851 and then purchased by the city to be used as city hall in 1852.
Congratulations for making it through our biggest day of CHL locating thus far! To reward you, I will answer the trivia question from earlier-- besides Ronald Reagan, what is the other statue that represents California in the Capitol building?
If you guessed Fr. Serra, you are correct!
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