Okay, it's not in the Sunset, but I thought that you would like to know that we have an octagon house here in the Outsidelands, up at Land's End in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Officially known as the Point Lobos Marine Exchange Lookout Station, the building is owned by the National Parks. It was built as part of system started in the Gold Rush that reported on ships entering the Golden Gate.
If you've ever hiked out there, you may have looked up above the trees and seen the pole. The family of the last lookout was allowed to live in the home after it was decommissioned. Last time I took a walk up to Fort Miley I noticed that the road to the building was no longer blocked off, so I went up to take a look.
I took some photos and when I got home checked the Western Neighborhoods Project for info about the building's fate. Be sure to read John Martini's great article about the building and the Marine Exchange. Did you know how Telegraph Hill got its name?
The San Francisco Zoo is celebrating its 80th year. If you visit the website, you can see historic photos and videos and download the latest annual report which has a lot of great photos in it.
There will be a historical tour on August 1st. You can meet the author of the new book about the zoo. I bought my copy of "Images of America: San Francisco Zoo" by Katherine Girlich in the gift shop. It will be carried at bookstores, too. I enjoyed all the photos, some of them jarred long buried memories, like the trash cans with the enormous animal heads.
New at the Zoo, as part of their conservation and historical focus, is one of the 1906 Earthquake shacks. You can read all about them and the preservation efforts of the Western Neighborhoods Project here.
There have been so many changes at the zoo. There are a lot of things I miss. One day I will have been using the "new" entrance longer than I ever used the old one, but it will never be the same.
I took this shot of the Mother's building last Fall.
Like many people I have mixed feelings about zoos. Some argue that kids can see wildlife on television, so we no longer need to keep animals in captivity for them to experience. Some of the photos of animals make me sad, as do my memories of the old small cat cages.
I do know that the changes I lament about the zoo are made in large part to improve the animals' surroundings. There is still a lot to be done. I'll miss the old buildings, they are so tied to my childhood memories.
An inexpensive ($3.50) book published by the zoo in 2004 is for sale in the gift shop. It is only 32 pages long, but well worth the cost. It has color photos, and are not all the same as the Arcadia Publishing book.
Above the Cliff House is a wonderful place for a hike: Land's End. There is something for everyone: views of the Golden Gate, nature, shipwrecks, and an old rail bed. I didn't spend time up there as a child, but I got to know it well when I worked at the Veteran's Affairs Hospital.
A week or two ago I went up to see the progress on the new Cliff House visitor center. The parking lot is finished, as are the new, flat trails connecting it to Land's End. I prefer to park up at Land's End. First stop is the U.S.S. San Francisco Memorial which honors those who died at Guadalcanal.
You can find photos of the monument being built and dedicated here.
If you are interested in the military, than head up hill and explore the bunkers of Fort Miley.
I'm going to intersperse some old postcard images from my collection. Take a look through the photos labeled "Land's End" in the S.F.P.L. collection, too.
My other goal was to take photos of the old restroom ruins. I think they are right below this foundation which is directly below the lovely new seating area on the recently upgraded trail.
I used to duck down under a certain tree a little further down the path and then cut back. However, I discovered that a lot of trees and brush have been cleared and native plant restoration is in process, leaving no "legal" access down the slope. So I continued east, and headed down the hill to see if I could find a lower place to cross over. It was really green in spots.
And brown in others, with wildflowers here and there.
The coolest thing I ever saw at Land's End was a red fox. I think that will be a once in a lifetime experience.
Mile Rock Lighthouse wasn't always an orange and white stump. Read more about it here.
Many ships have wrecked off the waters of Land's End (not to mention at Sutro Baths and along Ocean Beach). Notably two sister ships, the Frank S. Buck and Lyman Stewart, built side by side are buried side-by-side. Here is the engine block of the Stewart. That reminds me of a great local book: Shipwrecks at the Golden Gate, which I pulled out last time the King Philip was visible on Ocean Beach.
You can see these remains and others from the main trail. What is now a trail used to be a road "El Camino Del Mar", and before that it was a rail bed. In fact tourists came out not only to visit the beach and Sutro Gardens, but to see shipwrecks.
A subject for a whole 'nother post is the Ferries and Cliffhouse Railway which carried San Franciscans from downtown to the wilds of the Outsidelands. There is a fantastic movie filmed 1902 by Thomas Edison from the front of the train. If you watch it here there is a bit of history, as well as a frame by frame description. Note the tunnels. It is also available on YouTube:
The steam was later converted to streetcars.
You can continue the hike all the way to Eagle's Point, on the edge of the Lincoln Park Golf Course. Did you know that the Legion of Honor Museum and the golf course sit on a former cemetery? There are still some memorial stones on the golf course.
If you haven't spent anytime at Land's End I encourage you to do so. You will see and learn something new every time you visit. If you don't want to hike out and back you can catch the 18-46th Avenue bus at the Legion of Honor back down to the Cliff House.
I saw an entry on Curbed about 1842 18th Avenue and the address sounded familiar. So I rode over to have a look. Apparently there is some story about this house and where it came from. One commenter had heard that the house was moved from the Presidio.
Does anyone know the story? Here's another view. I'm assuming the house used to be the color of the garage. The building permits indicate that a retaining wall was built and there was a bathroom and kitchen remodel.
My very first apartment, was an in-law a block from here. I must have walked by this house a hundred times to get down to the N, but I don't remember it. The garage, maybe a little.
I live in the Sunset, grew up in the Sunset, and have lived all but three years of my life in the Sunset and Parkside.
I love the homes out here, inside and out. The way the pastel colors look in the fog, how every home in a seemingly identical row has its own little quirks.
I walk around the neighborhood a lot and found I was asking myself things like "is that the only house with that medallion?" or "I wonder when that addition was built?" or "What were they thinking?". So I started taking photos to keep a record of the little details now in abundance that one day may be gone.
Officially known as the Point Lobos Marine Exchange Lookout Station, the building is owned by the National Parks. It was built as part of system started in the Gold Rush that reported on ships entering the Golden Gate.
If you've ever hiked out there, you may have looked up above the trees and seen the pole. The family of the last lookout was allowed to live in the home after it was decommissioned. Last time I took a walk up to Fort Miley I noticed that the road to the building was no longer blocked off, so I went up to take a look.
I took some photos and when I got home checked the Western Neighborhoods Project for info about the building's fate. Be sure to read John Martini's great article about the building and the Marine Exchange. Did you know how Telegraph Hill got its name?
