My sincere thanks to the San Francisco Heritage and City Guides for saving this precious piece of the city’s history and for allowing visitors a look inside this beautiful late-Victorian era house. Here are a few images from my visit last month, giving just a small idea of the gracious living in one of the few mansions to survive the […]
Today’s San Francisco is a very different place from the city of the early 20th century. But if you spend much time walking around in the area to the east of Van Ness Avenue, eventually you’ll find inevitable reminders of the great cataclysm, the earthquake and fire of 1906. This memorial, San Francisco Landmark No. 42, caught me by surprise […]
The third California mission established in 1776, San Francisco de Asís is more familiarly known as Mission Dolores. I finally got a chance to visit last month and spent an afternoon exploring the original mission building, the basilica next door, and the small cemetery. Here are just a few of my images, although I have a lot more!
One of the historic homes I went searching for in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood was the Atherton House at 1990 California Street. I didn’t know anything about the house’s history, but that — and the scaffolding obstructing my view — didn’t stop me from admiring the place from the sidewalk. Built between 1881-1882, the house was added to the […]
If you’re into history (like me) and if you love trees (again, like me) this episode is the perfect fit! Although this episode originally aired over 20 years ago on October 10, 2003, both trees still survive — more or less. You may not see the historic Vizcaino-Serra oak tree standing tall in its original location, but if you are […]
I have heard the story of San Francisco’s great earthquake and fire in 1906 countless times, but walking around certain parts of the city can still bring the history back to life in unexpected ways. Visiting the California Academy of Sciences in 2016, I entered the earthquake simulator and experienced first the shaking of the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 […]
There are a number of different Chinatowns in California these days. The one in San Francisco is probably the best known, as it’s fairly large and still thriving, very popular with tourists. In contrast, San Luis Obisbo’s Chinatown has very nearly disappeared, with only one original building remaining — Ah Louis store, first built in 1874. One of the main […]
Whenever I’m able to spend a few days in San Francisco, as a rule I try to avoid doing the most obvious tourist stuff. Of course, this rule must occasionally be broken — like when I visited Alcatraz for the first time back in 2018. And this year I feel like I broke the rule again when I ventured to […]
Clovis is a classic small California town, founded back in 1891 and now growing beyond anything Mr. Clovis Cole could have imagined. I’ve never spent much time in this part of the state, but if you’ve ever traveled to the southern Sierra near Huntington or Shaver lakes you would have passed right through Clovis — just east of Fresno — […]