Outside Lands Outside Lands History from the Western Neighborhoods Project 2 Where in West S.F.? (Previously Issued As SF West History)
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
OutsideSan Francisco HistoryLands from Western Neighborhoods Project Volume 14, No. 1 Jan–Mar 2018 100 Years of the Twin Peaks Tunnel I NS I DE 1 Inside the Outside Lands OUTSIDE LANDS History from the Western Neighborhoods Project 2 Where in West S.F.? (Previously issued as SF West History) January-March 2018: Volume 14, Number 1 3 OpenSFHistory Highlight John Martini remembers Fleishhacker Pool EDITOR: Woody LaBounty CONTRIBUTORS: Angus Macfarlane, John Martini, and Arnold Woods 6 Roosevelt History, Part One The Story of a Richmond District school Board of Directors 2018 by Angus Macfarlane Chelsea Sellin, President Jamie O’Keefe, Vice President Anisha Gupta, Secretary 10 Westward the Course of Empire Takes its David Gallagher, Treasurer Way–100 Years of the Twin Peaks Tunnel Richard Brandi, David Chang, Nicole Meldahl, Kyrie Whitsett, Arnold Woods by Arnold Woods Staff: Woody LaBounty, Dave Lucas 15 Thank You to Our Donors Advisory Board Those who supported us in 2017 Cammy Blackstone, Al Harris, Gretchen Hilyard, Brady Lea, Felicity O’Meara, Paul Rosenberg, Nate Tico, and Lorri Ungaretti 20 Historical Happenings The WNP Event Calendar Western Neighborhoods Project 4016 Geary Boulevard, Suite A 22 A Home for History San Francisco, CA 94118 New WNP digs at 1617 Balboa Street Tel: 415/661-1000 Email: [email protected] Website: www.outsidelands.org facebook.com/outsidelands twitter.com/outsidelandz instagram.com/westernneighborhoods/ Cover: Mayor Rolph driving the first streetcar out of the west portal of the Twin Peaks tunnel, February 3, 1918. (wnp15.174) © 2018 Western Neighborhoods Project. All rights reserved. Inside the Outside Lands Woody LaBounty estern Neighborhoods Project from the neighborhoods recon- (that’s us), the nonprofit with a nected, but just as many strangers mission to preserve and share became new friends in sharing their Wlocal history, now has a public space love of history and of the west side for exhibits, presentations, and com- of San Francisco. We were instantly munity conversations. You can read asked when the next one would be. more about our new “Home for Histo- Our answer? Soon! ry” at 1617 Balboa Street on the back page. (And come to our open house on Do You Know Who We Are? February 3, 2018!) The long-held If you picked this up at one the big dream of having an open, welcoming spring events, Hello! We’re glad to place to engage with people in history know you. work face-to-face is almost a reality. We think of ourselves as one of San receive the print magazine $50. This all happened very quickly, and Francisco’s friendliest history organi- Don’t panic! We truly consider you it was thanks to our great friend Gee zations. Go to outsidelands.org and our history family. If you’re a current Gee Platt, who believed in us enough opensfhistory.org to learn more, sign member and you can’t afford the fifty to offer a generous grant of seed mon- up for our monthly email news, leave when renewal rolls around, just drop ey. Our Board of Directors took a leap a memory on the community mes- me a line and I will grandfather you in. of faith. Then a group of WNP members sage boards, and consider joining as We don’t want to lose anyone. We just quickly pledged $10,000 in support of a member to get this magazine every need to keep up with inflation. the project after it was revealed at the quarter and join us for member walks, November gala. talks, and conversations. Thank You Cammy! These founding history heroes, to One of our superb board members, whom we will always have the sincer- Membership Matters Cammy Blackstone, has had to leave est gratitude, are Edward Anderson, Speaking of the magazine, the cost of us, and we are very, very put out by it Cammy Blackstone, Jaime Borschuk, printing and mailing it has gone up over (but we understand). Thanks, Cammy, Michael & Patricia Busk, Barbara the past fifteen years, but our member- for your terrific work making WNP big- Cannella, Pat Cunneen, Richard ship dues have not—until now. We will ger and better. Feutz, Sandra Lee Fewer, Ann Green, now make the membership amount to • Inge Horton, Vivian Imperiale (in mem- ory of Paul Imperiale), Laura Isaeff, Paul Judge, Don & Sue Larramendy, Sherida Lembke, Lacey Lieberthal, Lourdes Livingston, Jan Meldahl, Maeve Metzger, Patrice Mulholland, Nancy Myrick, Mary Ann Orr, Katherine Petrin, Thomas Scott, Barbara Sellin, Jim Smith, Lorri Ungaretti, David Volansky, Margaret Warren, and Ben Zotto. Their zeal and enthusiasm gave us all a lot of confi- dence to move forward. The broader WNP membership, on hearing the news, also came through in our year-end appeal. Now the paint is on, the carpet is in, and a schedule of events is in the works. See our calendar on page 20 for what we have planned so far. I hope to see you on Balboa Street soon! West Side Stories The Board of Directors and executive director ready for the once-in-eleven-years gala, Our gala on November 4, 2017 was a “West Side Stories.” From left, Cammy Blackstone, Arnold Woods, David Gallagher, Anisha terrific financial success, but it was Gupta, Richard Brandi, Jamie O’Keefe, Chelsea Sellin, Nicole Meldahl, Woody LaBounty, even more a social success. Old friends Kyrie Whitsett, and David Chang. (Tammy Aramian photo.) OUTSIDE LANDS 1 Where in West S.F.? any westsiders remembered the not-so-mysterious fire in our “guess where” last issue. Many others rec- ognized the familiar southeast corner of 19th Avenue Mand Irving Street. Mike Aherns: “This is the fire that took place on May 31, 1959. The picture shows the large meeting room of Jefferson Elementary School on Irving Street, between 19th Avenue and 18th Avenue. I lived at the 1200 block of 18th Avenue only a few houses from Irving where the fire took place. I actually knew the boy who set the fire. He was a few years younger than I was. He admitted setting the fire to the police as he wanted to correct a spelling test that he had submitted and instead burned the school.” Mike is right on the official story of the four-alarm blaze that destroyed the Jefferson School. The twelve-year-old boy claimed he only wanted to destroy a spelling test in which he answered “rin” for “run.” But the same individual was suspected by many of setting fire to the Boy Scout Hall on 25th Avenue, and later, Sutro Baths, so perhaps spelling Jefferson School fire at 19th and Irving, May 31, 1959. wasn’t the real issue. (WNP Collection, wnp27.4680.jpg) Lourdes Livingston: “I remember how shaken up I was as a five-year-old to learn that a kid burned down his school. Other correct guessers included Julie Alden, Ellen Bo- We were always told not to play with matches. This was a gema, Mary Rose Cassa, Jocelyn Combs, Robert Crabill, very bad boy! The news was all over the TV news, radio, and Charles Figone, Joe Flanders, Gordon Gribble, Bill Ruck, newspapers. All us kids in SF were freaked out!” Denise Selleck, Judy (Banks) Simmons, Wallace Stewart, Barry Pearl: “I was in kindergarten at the school. The Alan Thomas, David Volansky, and Loren Wilson. school building at 19th Avenue and Irving Street was de- Feeling pretty cocky, eh? Well, try the photograph be- stroyed and replaced, but the auditorium pictured in the low. Some clues: we’re pushing the boundaries of the west building was repaired and continues in use today. […] We side and a well-known institution now stands behind that were transferred to Francis Scott Key Annex at 42nd and cable car. Feel free to add a memory or anecdote when Judah Street while the school was rebuilt. After three years sending your guess. Email [email protected], or use we returned to the new Jefferson.” the WNP contact information on the inside cover. Good luck! How far east does the west side go? Tell us the where, what, and when of the photograph above. 2 JAN–MAR 2018 Fleishhacker Pool by John Martini Looking north to Fleishhacker Pool under construction in late 1923. (WNP Collection, wnp15.721.) he growing OpenSFHistory.org collection of historic the city’s most generous benefactors: Herbert Fleishhacker. photos at has once again yielded a treasure trove of San Francisco had acquired sixty acres at the beach south nostalgic photos, this time documenting the glory of Sloat Boulevard from the Spring Valley Water Company Tdays of the late, lamented Fleishhacker Pool. in 1922, and then-Park Commission President Fleishhacker Images include construction of the pool and its adjacent spearheaded the purchase of the land with a vision for a bathhouse; early aerials showing the vast pool bordered by sprawling public sports complex that would include play- sand dunes and an embryonic Great Highway; trick divers ing fields, tennis courts, field houses, playgrounds, wading going off a gingerbread diving platform; flappers in woolen pools, and world’s largest outdoor heated swimming pool. bathing costumes posed on a 1920s roadster; and masses Fleishhacker and his brother Mortimer donated $50,000 of happy swimmers thronging the pool as lifeguards patrol to construct a Mother’s Building at the new recreation fa- in rowboats. cility in memory of their mother, and Mayor James Rolph (By the time I first swam in Fleishhacker’s in 1966 the introduced a resolution to name the entire park after the ambiance wasn’t quite as rosy as in these historic views. Fleishhackers. Contrary to oft-told stories, the Fleishhack- But more on that later.) ers didn’t pay for the pool, but they were major benefactors The story of the design and construction of Fleishhack- to the evolving recreational complex, which by the 1930s er Pool has been told many times, perhaps nowhere as would include a zoo.