Vintage San Franciso Photos Part I

[Allan]

Fisherman's Wharf (1940)

San Francisco seen from north side of Golden Gate (1940)

San Francisco from heights back of Sausalito (1940)

Russian Hill from Fisherman's Wharf (1940)

St. Francis Yacht Harbor (1940)

Little Holy and Coit Tower, from Russian Hill (1940)

Nob Hill seen from Russian Hill (1940)

The Bay, the Bridge, and the Business District, from Russian Hill (1940)

Telegraph Hill (1940)

View east from top of Russian Hill at Green St. near Taylor Cushman (1952)

Golden Gate from Telegraph Hill (1952)

Russian Hill from Telegraph Hill (1952)

Looking toward Knob Hill from Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill (1952)

Toward Marin and the Golden Gate from Telegraph Hill (1952)

Telegraph Hill from Russian Hill (1952)

View east toward Bay from 973 Green St. atop Russian Hill (1952)

San Francisco from observation point on Portola Drive on side of Twin Peaks (1952)

San Francisco from shoulder of Twin Peaks (1952)

View down Washington St. from Jones St. atop Knob Hill (1952)

Telegraph Hill seen from Russian Hill at Hyde and Lombard Sts (1952)

The Marina and North Bay seen from Pacific Heights at Broadway and Broderick (1952)

Marina seen from Pacific Heights (1952)

Looking across Marina to the Bay and Angel Island from Broadway & Broderick on Pacific Heights (1952)

Broadway east from Baker St. Pacific Heights (1952)

From Pacific Heights at Broadway & Divisadero eastward toward Telegraph Hill (1952)

Pacific Union Club - Knob Hill (1952)

Cable car upbound in Jackson St. from Taylor (1952)

Houses on Russian Hill (1952)

On Russian Hill (1952)

View east from top of Broadway toward the Bay and Bay Bridge (1952)

Block up Jones St. from Pacific & Broadway (1952)

Looking up Jones St. from California St. at noon - Grace Cathedral at right (1952)

Looking down on the East Bay and the Embarcadero from Telegraph Hill (1952)

San Francisco from height at Lupine + Laurel above intersection of Bush St. and Presidio Ave. (1952)

NE across city from Lupine and Laurel Sts. Above Bush and Presidio (1952)

Washington at Maple (1952)

Modernistic house on Washington St. at Maple (1952)

Golden Gate Bridge from Lincoln Park (1952)

Castro Valley section of San Francisco seen from Roosevelt and Masonic Sts. (1952)

[turlough]

AWSOME PICS ALLAN, those pics of SF are so cool it's just mind blowing how much it has changed

[Scott]

Really fanatastic stuff!

Where did you find all these old pics?

[Allan]

I found them all Here. 14,500 pics to look through. Just type in the name of a city & click "Search." A lot of them aren't cityscapes, but quite a few of them are. And there is a larger version of each pic too.

I was working on San Francisco IV....I Pressed "Post" and it didn't post . There were some really great ones in there too - Lots of Downtown street scenes, and some freeway construction scenes. I might go back and redo it later, but it takes me about 1.5 hours to make one thread. And I'll be doing threads on some other cities as time goes on, but it'll be a while since I also go through & save the larger versions to my computer as I make the thread.

[tocoto]

I love the rickety old buildings on telegraph hill in 1940. It must cost $1M+ to buy there now.

[Allan]

I'm sure it does cost a fortune to live there. I wonder how much it cost back in 1940?

[UK_D]

Great thread. I love these vintage tours, please carry on!

[Allan]

Great thread. I love these vintage tours, please carry on!

More are coming soon

[kota16]

I first visited San Francisco in September 1960,arriving by train from Los Angeles.It was a pastel city then and was well on the move,but a lot of it was like your 1952 pics.My last visit was 1971.My location is Adelaide,Australia and SF today is beginning to look very dense.

[Allan]

SF is a very dense city, especially in the financial district. I'll try to find some more modern day photos of the city so we can see the difference between then & now.

[Charles Pearson]

Looking toward Knob Hill from Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill (1952)

Great pics! I just saw this view last night in a 1951 black & white film noir, "HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL". The Victorian mansion below Coit Tower in the film is spooky as well as the 'murdereous plot' with some exciting shots of our fine City before it got so manhattanized...

For New York skyscraper lovers: "House..." contains a good of shot of the now demolished "Singer" building in lower Manhattan...

[PghUSA]

Great pics, also great heads up on that link, I'll be checking that out for sure. San Francisco is so unique for the West Coast being the only metro that was a true city as far back as the 1860's and 1870's. Great history in those pics!

[NoahUty]

these are very very cool pictures but they're also making me incredibly homesick .

i love this picture:

my friend lives less then half a block up from where the camera is set up, and you can see that very intersection through his living room window. i can't remember if the houses are still the same color but that store is still there.