Bonanza

Well, it's a bonanza if you are interested in cement markings on the west side of San Francisco. Someday they will all be gone, victims of renovations and improvements. I have a feeling when the majority of the houses in the neighborhood start turning a hundred years old there will be more interest in who built this side of town.

I walked down almost the entire length of 36th Ave and onto Ocean Ave heading east, and found a bunch of new markings.

First up "A. B. Rilovich Cement Contractor San Francisco" at 36th and Lawton:


Next, "P.R. Kelly 1947" at 36th and Pacheco:


"Meyer Rosenberg Contractor San Francisco 1931" was in a couple spots at 36th & Santiago:

"Eaton S. Smith 1931" at 36th & Ulloa. The first time I have seen the contractor name with the street name:


Nobody but maybe one or two people who read this blog will understand my excitement for what I found at Wawona: "THIRTYSIXTH AVE" and "Meyer Rosenberg Contractor San Francisco 1931", twice. You can see the date didn't fit below the name on the curb, so it is sideways. I guess it makes sense that the name iron and date would be separate, I just never thought of it before:


Somewhere in there was a G A Love and Sons mark, like I had seen right on Sunset.

Finally we head to Lakeshore Park / Merced Manor.

I think this "Bay Concrete Co. 1931" is the only one I've seen on the side of a curb, found on Ocean at Melba:


While not a marking, I like that they saved this "TWENTY SECOND AVE" which has particularly large letters, when they put in the corner ramp. Not a great photo, but there is new cement on three sides of this:


I almost forgot, here are a couple I found on a bike ride the other day:

19th and Sloat: "A. B. Rilovich San Francsico CAL". Different from the mark in the first photo of this post.


Dewey at Pacheco: "1932 Love & Haun Concrete Construction 1354 20th St. SF 1932":

Happy New Year

Here are some random shots:

Aladdin Radio

Aladdin Radio is on Irving and 17th Ave. I always liked the tile:


The Oregon historic vehicle plate caught my eye because my grandma's neighbor in Oregon collected old cars.


Thanks to reader Robert, I now can see that the gate is the shape of a Model T.

The shop is closed. But Grace Cunnane interviewed the owner, John Wentzel. Read her great blog entry here. He opened the business in 1946.


You can peek in the windows:



I wonder what the story is behind these footprints?

Name That Apartment

Just when I thought I would never find another named apartment building in the Sunset, I came across three today. I also had some waiting to make a big enough post. Now I'm afraid it is too long.

Can you name this apartment building?:


It may be 1970's style, but the entry is pretty at night:


Answer: the A Francis Apts. on the 1400 block of 20th Ave:


Here's another lovely:


The Swinging (I like to imagine) Swinford Apt. on the 1300 block of 10th Ave:


Just a block away is this beauty:


If this looks familiar, that's because a reader shared his photos on Flickr. It took a year and a half but I finally stumbled upon it on my own. Pretty funny since I pass 10th & Judah several times a week:



Can you handle the suspense? It's Sunset Village:


Next up:


These apartments are actually run by the 7th Avenue Church two doors down:


Park Sunset:


I was thrilled to find that one of my favorites is a named building (hey, at least I'm easy to thrill):


The 200 Irving Apartments:


Finally, I leave you with the obvious:


The difficult to photograph Sunset Towers Apartments aka Avalon Sunset Towers :

Here are the other posts with named apartments:

June 22, 2008
June 30, 2008
September 20th 2008
October 11, 2008

Merry Chirstmas

Dreaming of pastel houses and trees.

G B Jackson & Son

A couple weeks ago the sun was hitting this building at 1309-1317 20th Avenue just right and I could make out the old name. My friend had blogged about searching out the past life of another building so I decided to see what I could find.


The first challenge was getting back there at the right time on a sunny day in December to capture the letters. It says G B Jackson & Son. I looked in old San Francisco City Directories on-line to see what kind of business it was. The latest free one is from 1938, and it wasn't listed.

The parcel map is confusing, too. That address doesn't exist. This building seems to be considered part of the taller building on the corner.

(click on this for a big version where you can read the name)

Then I asked the trustee readers at the Western Neighborhoods Project message boards, and a fellow Norwegian clued me in. It was a hardware, furniture and appliance store in the 1940's. I'm still a little unclear about the building, there were different entrances, and this one was used later, when the business was just a hardware store. I have yet to find an old photo of it.

The well-loved Bowcock's market was next door on Irving Street. There are great photos of the grand opening at the San Francisco Public Library's Picture This collection. You can read about Robert Bowcock, who helped run the family business for many years and wrote a book about Butchertown, in this San Francisco Beacon article.

Parkside Playboy

I've been travelling in the Outer Parkside lately. Unfortunately my camera is broken and I only have the clunker along sporadically. There are quite a few things I want to shoot.

Check out the gate to this bunny hutch:


It is right across the street from this:


Awesome garage door paint job.