Historic San Francisco: A Concise History and Guide

by Rand Richards

Despite the devastation of 1906, historic buildings and artifacts survive from every period of San Francisco's history. This lively narrative of The City from its very beginnings all the way through the earthquake of 1989 tells how to find the historic buildings, sights, and artifacts that make that history come alive.
Just a few of the things that you will find in Historic San Francisco are the locations of, and the fascinating histories
A 1623 Spanish cannon that once guarded the entrance to the Golden Gate.
A gold nugget discovered by James Marshall at Coloma in January 1848.
The last surviving Nob Hill mansion.
Relics from the 1906 earthquake and fire, including clusters of melted dimes and pennies found in the ruins.
Illustrated with more than 70 photographs, maps, and engravings, Historic San Francisco also has capsule biographies of ten San Franciscans, and historical walking tours of downtown San Francisco, Chinatown, Nob Hill, and Haight-Ashbury.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Reference

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Chip Supanich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is partially a tourist guide, but is a good starting point for residents and other folks who are interested in the intriguing history of San Francisco. i enjoyed the read and learned a lot about the men behind the names of streets, buildings, parks and landmarks. Did you know that San Francisco was officially founded a week before the signing of the Declaration of Independence? That Stanford was the only of the Pacific Railroad's "Big Four" to do anything enduring with his money? That the 1906 fire was actually three fires that combined to eradicate 75% of the city? Well, you can learn all this and more with this easily read, concise history of San Francisco! Any suggestions for what I should read next?

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good history but several pages were missing from my copy. It helped me to learn more about places I missed on my two-day visit this summer. I have to go back there!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historic San Francisco is written in a light, entertaining style that makes history enjoyable. Richards hits a wide range to topics that relate back to San Francisco as it is today, offering an opportunity for readers to create their own tour and see the locations being discussed. The book is not intended to be comprehensive but rather, covers what I see as some of the best facets of the city. Accurate and well illustrated, Historic San Francisco ranks among the best of the large number of books I own on San Francisco's history. It's a must-buy for San Franciscophiles.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, well-written, and thorough history of San Francisco, from the geologic formation of the bay through the original native inhabitants, Spanish and Mexican occupation, and then into the modern era all the way up to the present. At the end of every chapter, there are a blurbs about where you can go (museums, historic sites, walking tours, etc.) to learn more or get a better sense of the history.

[Philip Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book that does exactly what the title says - provide a concise history of the City of San Francisco. Has just the right amount of detail to strike the balance between pace and facts. Doesn’t go into the history of the broader Bay Area outside of the initial discovery by European explorers, and discoveries of precious metals near Sacramento and in Nevada.

[Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

#argoajalugu
Ajalooväljakutse: "Seie saagu lenn!"
Rand Richards
Historic San Francisco: A Concise History and Guide
320 lk, Heritage House Publishers 2013.
Mul on nende ajaloo-asjadega pigevalt napikas. Et kas õnnestub või mitte, seekord loen raamatut juba ligi 10 päeva ja läbi saamine oli ikka selline õnnestub/ei õnnestu.
Aga noh, saab ikka kirja enne kui kuu läbi.
Rand Richards kirjutab sissejuhatuses, et idee sellisest raamatust sündis tema jaoks siis, kui ta New Orleanis käis, siis ta tahtis lugeda raamatut, mis oleks ajalooline käsitlus linnast ja selle hoonetest. Ja kui ta seda ei leidnud ei New Orleani kohta ega ka oma kodulinna San Francisco kohta, siis otsustas ta selle raamatu ise kirjutada.
San Francisco valisin selleks väljakutseks teadlikult, sest see on üks minu unistuste linnu. Olen seal 2007. aastal käinud ja kuigi see oli väga elamusterohke ja põnev käik, siis tahaks nüüd peale raamatu lugemist uuesti minna ja uuesti kogeda seda linna.
Raamat on kümnes osas + lisad ning igas osas on lühike sissevaade ajaloolistesse sündmustesse, siis tuuakse välja põhilised vaatamisväärsused või kohad, kus nende sündmustega tänases San Franciscos tuvuda saab. Siis on enamasti lühike sissevaade mõne ajaloolise tegelase ellu, siis viited muuseumidele või temaatilistele kohtadele, kus on peatükis käsitletud ajaloosündmustega võimalik tutvuda, sealhulgas on näiteks toodud konkreetseid museaale, millele tähelepanu pöörata või tänavanurki, mida tähelepanelikult vaadata. Isegi muuseumide hinnad, kodulehtede viited ja lahtiolekuajad on ära toodud. Sellise raamatuga oleks igatahes väga põnev linna avastada ja vaadata, et mis endale silma jääb ja kuidas see autori poolt väljatooduga suhestub. Eraldi peatükk on ka Viktooria-ajastu arhitektuurile, mille järgi paljud meist ilmselt San Franciscot filmidest ära tunda oskab.
Ladusalt kirjutatud ja põnev lugemine, aga miks ma siiski arvan, et oleks võinud pisut rohkem pingutada. Oleks võinud rohkem pingutada, et lisaks valgetele ameerika meestele ka teisi tegelasi välja tuua. Üks indiaanlane, üks hispaanlane on pildi ja nimega sees, hispaanlasi on pisut rohkem tekstis, hiinlased on ära mainitud, kuid mitte nimepidi, ühtegi mustanahalist ei jäänud silma ega märganud ma neid ka tekstis (kiirustasin mõnedest kohtadest üle, et enne kuu lõppu valmis saada, nii et täiesti ei välista, et mõni siiski mainimist leidis). Et kuigi autor kiidab San Franciscot kui vabameelset, avatud ja väga tolerantset linna, siis on selle linna vähemalt selle raamatu järgi ehitanud valged mehed.
Aga raamatu teevad vastupandamatuks soovituslikud jalutuskäigu-juhised ja rohke arhiivipildimaterjal. Nii et kindlasti soovitan, kui kellegi peaks olema võimalik minna ja külastada seda hispaania-mehhiko asundusest välja kasvanud imelist suurlinna. GR 4/5

[Edmund Roughpuppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history will not expire, but other information will
This book came out in 2003, and I’m sure some of the points of interest have changed, in price if nothing else. Rand Richards examines San Francisco history affectionately:

[In late 1775] Captain Juan Bautista de Anza and a small advance guard, including his lieutenant, Jose Moraga, and Pedro Font, a Franciscan priest, went on ahead [from Monterey]. On March 28 they reached the bluff at the very tip of the peninsula (Fort Point occupies the site now) where de Anza planted a cross signifying the location of the future presidio. The site was chosen because of its strategic location overlooking the entrance to the bay. Father Font, enraptured by the view, and pondering the future city, wrote in his diary that day “. . . I think that if it could be well settled like Europe there would not be anything more beautiful in all the world. . . .”

It’s always been a tag-team death match out here
I especially like tracing San Francisco’s current struggles—criminal prices, cut-throat competition to control “the next Big Thing”—to its past. Rand assures us these rocks and sand dunes were fought over, from the 18th century to the 21st:

[Due to the transportation monopoly, held by the Big Four] Rates were so high that it cost less to ship goods from Liverpool to San Francisco via New Orleans than from Bakersfield to San Francisco.

Nevertheless, people managed to live, and great things were accomplished
Rand recounts the enormous engineering achievements of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges. Despite the chaos they grew out of—and with tremendous support from President Roosevelt’s government—these two futuristic marvels have endured for almost ninety years.



The final obstacle to the completion of the [Bay] bridge was carving a four story tunnel through Yerba Buena Island. When completed, it was the largest diameter vehicular tunnel in the world, and it remains so today. [2003]

[Mel Bossa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had the time, this is exactly the book I would write on Montreal. Rand Richards wrote this in the 80s after a trip with his sister to New Orleans and on their plane trip back, he mused about writing a guide to San Francisco to help people who traveled there understand the amazing history of the city and make the most of their stay.

Concise, fun, interesting, full of the kind of trivia I needed to plan an itinerary, including walking tours of Chinatown and Haight Ashbury, this little gem of a book is also brimming with love for the city that you cannot be immune to.

The additional section on Victorian architecture was a bonus as well as the detailed history of the Japanese Tea Garden.

Many many places to visit. Many ghosts to seek out in the streets of the Golden City and certainly many moments of grace and awe await.

This was a used copy I bought full of highlighted passages some other San Fransisco lover had selected and it added some kind of karmic feel to my reading.

If you're going to San Franscisco you better wear some flowers in your hair...

(And pray the San Andreas fault doesn't wake-up and act up during your trip).

[Francisco Estrada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sirve su propósito de darte una empapada de contexto para disfrutar un viaje a San Francisco. Habla de toda la historia relevante (origen colonial, gold rush, world expos, terremotos/fuegos, industria) pero el formato esta chistoso y a veces me iba perdiendo de que estaba hablando o se sentía muy repetitivo al hablar de lo mismo en diferentes secciones.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the history of San Francisco - at times a little too superficial, but the areas it did touch upon were covered in depth. A good place to start in learning about SF

[Fabio Almeida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente para o que se propõe. Muito rica a história da cidade e da região

[Ryan Klinefelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated from 1990s, but still included a detailed 16th century to 20th Century history of important events in the forming of San Francisco

[Fresno Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but a bit repetitive on the recomendations for the physical places to visit, would love to read a similar book about a city I don't live in

[Luke Eure · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently the San Fracisco Bay is hard to see from the ocean because several explorers sailed past it before they realized it was there.

[Linda Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this about ten years ago for novel research... I finally wrote that novel a few months ago and frequently referred back to this book while doing so. I learned a lot I didn't know about San Francisco though I used to live there in the early seventies.

San Francisco looks and feels different once you know the history you're walking on top of. The book explains where Yerba Buena Bay was and where the piers were then. They're now covered with landfill and buildings are built over the bay; the piers became streets.

There's a cemetery in downtown San Francisco. I never knew that back when I lived there. It was covered... so much of the history has been covered.

My novel is about a woman who lived in the city in 1852... so I needed a lot of historic detail to be able to tell her story. The book summarizes quite a lot of information and then gives references to places you can go for more information - libraries, societies, etc.. I especially appreciated the maps, and photographs of course.

I've been back to the city only twice since reading this - once to do research and once to walk across the northern edge of the city from Pier 39 to the Golden Gate Bridge. A wonderful walk, by the way - I recommend it!

[Kavita]

A simple, structured description of a history that's filled with events and people who/which built/rebuilt the city several times.

Needs a second reading for in-depth understanding and can be followed by other books on specific people/interests.

[Bookish Enchantment (Katherine Quirke) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly enlightening. I terrific reference book as well as a book to peruse through from time to time.

[Freya Magnusson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my SF History class at SF State University.

[Tari Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it ~ very interesting and informative. Well written. Learned a lot about San Francisco ~ how it came to be, and why it is as it is now.

[Kaitlin Wernick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moved to San Francisco and read this to learn about the history of the city. This author did a great job it was not dull at all and I learned alot