“San Francisco has no single landmark by which the world may identify it,” according to San Francisco in the 1930s, originally published in 1940. This would surely come as a surprise to the millions who know and love the Golden Gate Bridge or recognize the Transamerica Building’s pyramid. This invaluable Depression-era guide to San Francisco relates the city’s history from the vantage point of the 1930s, describing its culture and highlighting the important tourist attractions of the time. David Kipen’s lively introduction revisits the city’s literary heritage—from Bret Harte to Kenneth Rexroth, Jade Snow Wong, and Allen Ginsberg—as well as its most famous landmarks and historic buildings. This rich and evocative volume, resonant with portraits of neighborhoods and districts, allows us a unique opportunity to travel back in time and savor the City by the Bay as it used to be.
San Francisco in the 1930s The WPA Guide to the City by the Bay
About the Book
Reviews
“Perhaps the finest single volume on these 47 square miles.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Stylish paperbacks”—T Magazine - The New York Times
“Reading both is like finding hidden treasures. The San Francisco edition is a must have for anyone interested in the city. . . . The San Francisco and Los Angeles guidebooks offer both traditional tours of the city as well as historical writing more closely akin to poetry. These are books that people can read aloud to one another.”—Beyondchron
“More than just a tool to help you find the nearest Presbyterian church or a convenient tennis court, the guides, part of the Depression-era Federal Writers Project, included thoughtful essays on history, life and culture in each destination, as well as blow-by-blow tours through city neighborhoods and other information that in many cases remains at least partially relevant (or interesting) today.“—New York Post
“A useful book as well as an important historical volume.”—Foreword
“More fun than just reading a history about San Francisco, this guide contains the type of minutiae that would interest someone who is really interested in getting a better sense of the period, the personality and unique character of this very special city. In the details that fill these articles, the past really comes alive and the rich cultural fabric of The City becomes evident.”—Robert Walch Salinas Californian
“Fascinating book.”—Robert Walch The Californian
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
The San Francisco Seven. By David Kipen
Preface 1940
I. Gateway to the West
The Bay and the Land
The Opening of the Gate
Earth and Water
The Climate
Wild Life
A Frontier to Conquer
Natives of the Country
The White Men Came
Yankee Invasion
Emporium of a New World
World Port
Smokestacks Around the Bay
Engineering Enterprise
Golden Era
Centers of Learning
Argonauts of Letters Art and Artists
Calendar of Annual Events
II. "The City"
GENERAL INFORMATION
Hotel and Other Accommodations
Restaurants
Sports
Churches
SAN FRANCISCANS: I940
THE CITY's GROWTH
The Village of Yerba Buena (I835-1848)
Capital of the Gold Coast (I848-1856)
Bonanza (I8S6-I875)
Big City (I875-I906)
Rising Phoenix (I906-I940)
SAN FRANCISCANS AT WORK
Wall Street of the West
Labor's Thousands
SOCIAL HERITAGE
High Life and Low Life
Before the Footlights
Music Makers
San Francisco Goes to Church
Gentlemen of the Press
III. Around the World in San Francisco
CIVIC CENTER
METROPOLITAN SCENE
LANDMARKS OF THE OLD TOWN
CHINATOWN
LATIN QUARTER: TELEGRAPH HILL AND NORTH BEACH
LORDS OF THE HILLTOPS
EMBARCADERO
SOUTH OF MARKET
WESTERN ADDITION
RIM OF THE GOLDEN GATE
GOLDEN GATE PARK
IV. Around the Bay
THE HARBOR AND ITS ISLANDS
The Farallones
Alcatraz
Angel Island
Yerba Buena
Treasure Island
EAST BAY: CITIES AND BACK COUNTRY
Oakland
Berkeley
Alameda
East Bay Tour 1
East Bay Tour 2
NORTH BAY
North Bay Tour
DOWN THE PENINSULA
Peninsula Tour
SAN JOSE
V. Appendices
A CHRONOLOGY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION
A SELECT READING LIST
INDEX