San Francisco history

Tidbits and vignettes on San Francisco's often-fascinating history, from the Gold Rush to the Summer of Love and everything in between.

By SFGate

Vertigo
A portrait was hung in the Legion of Honor for 'Vertigo.' No one's seen it since.
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Kim Novak sits entranced by the Portrait of Carlotta, a key plot element in the Hitchcock classic "Vertigo." The portrait, then as now, is arresting. The woman, doe-eyed but with a knowing expression,
1 day ago
San Francisco, CA
In 1939, sabotage killed dozens on the City of San Francisco. The killer was never found.
SFGate - Katie Dowd
A pile driver in action at the scene of the wreck of Southern Pacific's luxury streamliner train "The City of San Francisco." The crash took place in Carlin, Nevada in August 1939. The City of San Francisco
5 days ago
Kidnapping
The untold story of the San Francisco kidnapping of Joe DiMaggio's sister Nellie
SFGate - Katie Dowd
A DiMaggio family portrait from Oct. 1936: On the floor, seated: sisters Mae Scrivani and Frances Petromilli with brother Mike (left). On Joe's lap: nieces and nephews Joan, 'Little Joe,' and Betty. Standing
August 27
The San Quentin prison doctor who performed over 10,000 human experiments
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Dr. Leo Stanley, middle, the chief surgeon at San Quentin state prison from 1913-1951. Shortly before Thanksgiving 1919, as Antone Lepara was waiting to be hanged for murder, his soon-to-be widow received
August 13
Surfing
130 years of amazing photos from Ocean Beach
SFGate - David Curran
Ocean Beach has long been one of San Francisco's most popular destinations. Whether to surf, sunbathe, picnic, or just take a walk along its 3 miles of shoreline, people have headed to the city's biggest
May 26
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco's first broadcast was so terrible, it's amazing TV ever caught on
SFGate - Katie Dowd
One hundred guests in cocktail attire were buzzing with excitement in the Starlight Room atop the St. Francis Drake Hotel on the evening of May 25, 1948. After introductory remarks — and a few drinks they
May 25
A dismembered body, a love child and the Klan: The wildest SF cold case you've never heard of
SFGate - Katie Dowd
A Chronicle photo illustration showing some players in the Bessie Ferguson case. To left and right of Ferguson are two hotel workers who saw her before her death. Below is Dr. J. Loran Pease, who was having
May 13
Old San Francisco comes to life in charming color images
SFGate - Katie Dowd
A sightseeing streetcar passes by Parnassus near Second in 1909. The photo was hand-colored by Charles Smallwood. There's something extra special about colorized vintage photos. While black and white are
April 27
Did the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 swallow a cow alive?
SFGate - Mike Moffitt
According to a Point Reyes rancher, the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 opened up a fissure on his property that swallowed his dairy cow Matilda. (Cow photo for illustration purposes only.) In movies
April 18
Unusual 1906 San Francisco earthquake photos up for auction
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Rare 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire photos are being auctioned by Swann Auction Galleries. A lot of unusual 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire photos are up for auction, encompassing rarely
April 17
Do you recognize these mystery locations from historic San Francisco photos?
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Two adorable little ones pose on a hillside in San Francisco. But where? They're stunning moments in time: two children on a hill overlooking the city, a happy smiling couple on Valentine's Day 1937, row
April 9
'Is it safe to take acid?': We talked to Dr. Hip, a sex and drug advice columnist in the 1960s
SFGate - Susana Guerrero
Nestled within a November 1969 Sunday Chronicle paper are two very distinct advice columns. The first is “Dear Abby” and begins with a question that concerns a high school romance, while the other opens
March 21
George Lucas
Before BART opened the Transbay Tube, they let George Lucas film a movie inside
SFGate - Katie Dowd
The first celebrity to step foot in BART's Transbay Tube? Oddly enough, it was George Lucas. But he wasn't yet a celebrity. Just 25 years old — a 1970 San Francisco Chronicle story called him "frail, and
March 10
The building of San Francisco: Historic construction photos of our famous structures
SFGate - Bill Disbrow
The Palace of Fine Arts was not meant to be a permanent structure when it was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, but when the city decided to keep it long-term, it needed to be partially reconstructed
February 22
The tangled tale of Jean Harlow, her dead husband and a woman found drowned in Sacramento
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Paul Bern, noted producer, writer and studio executive, whose suicide shocked the country, and his bride, Jean Harlow. This picture was taken shortly after their 1932 marriage. Dorothy Millette checked
February 5
This is what San Francisco looked like 100 years ago
SFGate - Katie Dowd
It was year of mixed emotions for San Franciscans. Some must have feared 1919 came in with an ill harbinger. The city thought it was finally free of the brutal influenza epidemic, but just a few weeks
January 2
What's San Francisco's most 'authentic' neighborhood?
SFGate - Amy Graff
A patchwork of neighborhoods, each with its own flavor and vibe, runs across the 7-by-7-mile peninsula of San Francisco. There's Chinatown, where locals congregate in the city's oldest public square to
Dec 26, 2018
The most drastic changes San Francisco has seen in the past 10 years
SFGate - Amy Graff
Click through the gallery for the most dramatic changes San Francisco has seen in the past decade or os. The Giants won the World Series three times, the Salesforce Tower punctuated the city skyline and
Dec 3, 2018
The most pervasive myth that almost everyone believes about Jonestown
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Even people who don’t know the story of Jonestown know the phrase it spawned: drinking the Kool-Aid. A tragedy reduced to a derisive catchphrase, reserved for people seemingly too stupid to think for It
Nov 18, 2018
Then-and-now photos of SF give glimpse of how much the city has changed
SFGate - Susana Guerrero
How often do you wish you could go back in time and see what it was like in San Francisco before the days of Uber, techies and, of course, the awful traffic? Orbitz captured that sentiment in a set of
Nov 8, 2018
Then-and-now photos of SF give glimpse of how much the city has changed
SFGate - Susana Guerrero
How often do you wish you could go back in time and see what it was like in San Francisco before the days of Uber, techies and, of course, the awful traffic? Orbitz captured that sentiment in a set of
Nov 8, 2018
The un-holy history of Holy City, the Bay Area's most racist tourist trap
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Holy City, headquarters of California Gubernatorial candidate William E. Riker circa 1940. (Photo by Carl Mydans/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) It is hard to know where to start with the labyrinthine
Nov 5, 2018
How 2 Bay Area residents ended up with the eyes of a murderer
SFGate - Susana Guerrero
As John Deering sat in his prison cell the night before Halloween in 1938, he quietly ate a pheasant dinner. Such meals weren't typical for inmates at Salt Lake City's Sugar House Prison, but this was
Oct 31, 2018
The ridiculous San Francisco 'murder' that somehow got accepted as fact
SFGate - Katie Dowd
If you set out to unravel the facts behind one of San Francisco’s most gruesome murders, you’ll find yourself with a handful of details most likely culled from old ghost stories. The tale always begins
Oct 23, 2018
The most haunted places - and best ghost stories - in the Bay Area
SFGate - Katie Dowd
Where are the most haunted spots in San Francisco and the Bay Area? Click through for a roundup of all the spots you might want to avoid if you're easily spooked. So you want to see a ghost this Halloween.
Oct 15, 2018
A body in the rum barrel: The true story behind San Francisco's booziest, weirdest ghost
SFGate - Katie Dowd
When George Atherton died in the spring of 1887, his companions were more inconvenienced than heartbroken. Normally, they would have tossed his body overboard into the South Pacific. But, seeing as George
Oct 10, 2018
Before and after photos show dramatic transformation of Crissy Field
SFGate - Alix Martichoux
The Crissy Field Airfield Center before the renovation in 1997. San Francisco's Crissy Field has come a long way since the Presidio was decomissioned. The natural, waterfront park we know today was practically
Oct 8, 2018
Happy birthday, Coit Tower! SF's iconic structure marks 85 years
SFGate - Katie Dowd
One of the most fascinating figures to ever grace San Francisco's streets was Lillie Hitchcock Coit, the woman who gave her name to Coit Tower. Lillie arrived in San Francisco as a child in 1851 and soon
Oct 8, 2018
Unusual 20th century photos capture the woods and vines of Sonoma, Napa counties
SFGate - Alyssa Pereira
Caption: "Boating on the Russian River - Healdsburg," c. 1915, shows Grace and William McCarthy in a row boat on the Russian River at Healdsburg. “McCarthy Album 07, Photograph 301,” California State Exhibits,
Oct 7, 2018