Chronicle Vault

• San Francisco

  Is this the most underrated park in S.F.? It survived a century of stupidity to get here
  Bayview Park survived many near-death experiences, including Giants fans’ efforts to wipe it from existence. Now it’s San Francisco’s most underrated park. Here’s a tour. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  How bad was California’s ‘Great Flood’ of 1862? It was a torrent of horrors
  While California experiences catastrophic flooding in 2023, it hasn’t come close to matching the “Great Flood” of 1862 — one of the worst natural disasters in state history. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  When S.F. celebrated the New Year … by throwing garbage out the window
  For decades, San Francisco office workers celebrated the end of the work year by throwing 20 tons of paper from high-rises. The wasteful tradition ended, but not without a big cleanup. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Golden Gate Park’s bison used to be chaotic escape artists — until one major change was made
  The Golden Gate Park’s bison herd were escape artists, breaking free, invading the Richmond District and causing damage. Then park officials made a big change. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Fast food was way better in the 1980s. These photos show why
  Photos in the San Francisco Chronicle archive are a reminder how much better fast food used to be in the 1970s and 1980s. For starters, you could literally order from a clown head. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  1952 Sierra blizzard turned snowbound luxury train into frigid...
  A luxury Southern Pacific train headed for San Francisco was snowbound in the Sierra during one of the worst blizzards of the century. The Chronicle got the story before rescuers arrived. By Peter Hartlaub
• Bay Area

  Painted Lady home in S.F. holds benefit for injured illustrator Paul Madonna
  The owner of the blue home in Alamo Square offered his daily tour to raise money for the artist, who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash. By Sam Whiting
• Wine, Beer & Spirits

  Think wine advertising is sexist today? Check out these Chronicle articles from 1942
  “Wine Becomes the Housewife’s Ally,” a Chronicle wine section announced during the height of World War II. By Esther Mobley
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  U2 played a surprise 1987 S.F. concert. Then all hell broke loose
  U2’s surprise 1987 concert in San Francisco lives in infamy. Thirty-five years later, witnesses remember the spray paint, the sign and the chaotic aftermath. By Peter Hartlaub
• Sports

  Poet. Raised in S.F. The Warriors retired his number. Why don’t more people know Tom Meschery?
  Grant Elementary School on Pacific Avenue in San Francisco is long gone, closed more than a half century ago. So are the kids and their games, and the prejudices, bullying and social dynamics of that schoolyard. But it all comes back to life when... By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  S.F. Tenderloin’s spectacular demise into crime, poverty after years of prosperity
  The closing of the shipyards and other wartime industries after 1945, as well as a slump in the national economy and the decline of inexpensive housing stock, devastated the area south and west of Union Square. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  The Bay Area’s best park turns 50. Don’t forget to thank … Richard Nixon?
  The Golden Gate National Recreation Area was created in 1972 by conservationists, Bay Area politicians and Richard Nixon — whose administration championed the new national park. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Photos of lost Bay Area sports venues, from a track where Seabiscuit ran to a 15,000-person...
  Even the biggest local sports fans probably have little idea how often they’re treading sacred ground where Willie McCovey or Lefty O’Doul once roamed. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  How a forgotten San Francisco ballpark nearly destroyed the western half of the city
  San Francisco’s Ewing Field was a foggy, frigid and possibly cursed ballpark in the Richmond District. It was the S.F. Seals’ home for just a year in 1914, before its final act nearly destroyed the city. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  How the Tenderloin became San Francisco’s hotel, entertainment and vice district
  In the early 1870s, this upscale, Republican-voting residential neighborhood began to evolve into a more intensely urban environment, a hotel, entertainment and vice district that came to be known as the Tenderloin. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  Once-swanky Tenderloin is S.F.’s ultimate riches-to-rags story
  The downtrodden neighborhood, known for its crime and drug use, was once home to San Francisco’s top politicians and millionaire merchants. By Gary Kamiya
• Bay Area

  Then-Prince Charles landed in S.F. in 1977. Not everyone was happy to see him
  King Charles had a whirlwind visit through the Bay Area in 1977, with protests everywhere. The prince rode BART, went to the opera and was handed a bean sprout sandwich from Jerry Brown — surrounded by police the entire time. By Peter Hartlaub
• Bay Area

  September’s unusual weather? It was even weirder more than a century ago in San Francisco
  September 1904 recorded the highest S.F. temperature until that time and the most rainfall ever during the fall month. By Jack Lee and Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  The strange saga of James Lick, piano-building magnate to cranky philanthropist
  Lick arrived in San Francisco in January 1848, just before Mexico ceded California to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo — and 17 days before James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma. By Gary Kamiya
• Bay Area

  Comedy Day is the greatest free event in S.F. history. Don’t take it for granted
  Paula Poundstone was not invited to perform at the first Comedy Day in Golden Gate Park in 1981. As the show went on without her, the sad young comedian sat in her apartment near Fulton Street in the Richmond District, unable to escape the... By Peter Hartlaub
• San Francisco

  50 years of weirdness on BART: Richard Nixon, ‘Pong’ and lost Ohtani
  As Bay Area Rapid Transit celebrates 50 years in the Bay Area, we look back at some of the most unusual moments — including the BART arcade, a service horse, and memorable rides from Richard Nixon, Shohei Ohtani and Marshawn Lynch. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  A softball rivalry between a gay bar and the SFPD reached epic heights (then crashed)
  In 1975, a gay bar softball team took on the SFPD. It was one of the greatest sporting events in S.F. history, followed by a sad and violent epilogue. By Peter Hartlaub
• Bay Area

  The case for ‘Frisco’: History weighs in on S.F.’s controversial nickname
  The shared history of Frisco is a wild ride, with heavyweights including Herb Caen and Emperor Norton seemingly on one side and Jack London and the Hells Angels on the other. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  ‘A child-size Wild West’: Remembering Frontier Village, San Jose’s cowboy-themed amusement park
  Why does a park that was open for only 19 years — from 1961 to 1980 — have such a hold over generations of Bay Area residents? By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  The dark past of San Francisco’s Sharp Park
  During World War II, this 100-acre parcel in Pacifica — belonging to San Francisco — held an “alien enemy” internment camp that has been almost entirely forgotten today. By Gary Kamiya
• Bay Area

  A Chinatown Boy Scout troop has endured against all odds for 108 years. Can it survive today?
  Founded in 1914, Troop 3 is believed to be the oldest Boy Scout troop west of the Mississippi, but it’s hanging on by a thread. There’s a merit badge for wilderness survival. Maybe there should be one for urban survival too. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  How veterans and avant-garde art saved the California School of Fine Arts
  The artists and movements associated with the institution include Diego Rivera, Ansel Adams, Minor White, Manuel Neri, the Bay Area Figurative School, the funk movement and too many others to list. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  It was the first bridge to cross the S.F. Bay. Then they blew it up
  The Dumbarton Bridge was once a sensation and symbol of the future — the first bridge to span the San Francisco Bay. By the time the original bridge was demolished in 1984, it had become a punch line. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  How Mexico tried to prevent Russia from taking over Northern California
  In 1834, Mexico sent colonists to create a settlement on California’s northern frontier that would prevent the Russians from expanding from their outpost at Fort Ross. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Golden Gate Bridge NIMBYs? These 1930s citizens protested S.F.’s greatest icon
  The Golden Gate Bridge was once the subject of protest that held up construction for years — from 1930s critics who said (among other things) the landmark would hurt local tourism. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Nearly a century of stunning skylines in S.F.
  We scoured the Chronicle archive for the best photos of downtown San Francisco — including images taken at obscure parks, a dentist's office and the Goodyear Blimp By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  A 1961 helicopter ride captures the tragedy and beauty of a changing San Francisco
  In 1961, a Chronicle photographer took a helicopter ride over the city. He captured the tragic impact of urban renewal, a skyline still in its infancy and the lingering beauty in the rapidly changing city. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  That time Mexico launched an expedition into its most remote land: California
  The wagons carried women, children and provisions, along with 10 merino sheep, and five Tibetan goats. The expedition was Mexico’s most ambitious attempt to colonize its distant province of California. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Vault

  How San Francisco celebrated its — and America's — 200th birthday in 1976
  San Franciscans had a lot to celebrate in the summer of 1976. Not only was the country observing the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but the city also commemorated the bicentennial of its founding on June 29,... By Vanessa Arredondo
• Chronicle Vault

  A brewery, a giant peanut and a pest control sign: Lost landmarks of the Bay Area
  These beloved local signs and wayposts are gone, but they remain in our hearts and memories. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  In the 1980s, California’s first war with the medfly
  In the summer of 1980, the Bay Area was invaded by tiny Mediterranean fruit flies, causing a pesticide frenzy in Santa Clara County and throughout California. By Vanessa Arredondo
• Portals of the Past

  Painterland: the forgotten apartments of San Francisco’s avant-garde
  This was the start of an artistic and social circle that would have a major impact on the San Francisco and national art scene — and have a hell of a lot of fun along the way. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Vault

  ‘Death of the Hippies’: A Haight Street funeral for the Summer of Love
  With the Summer of Love over in 1967, counterculture leaders organized a funeral for the hippies, marching through the Haight-Ashbury with a ceremonial casket and declaring the era over. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Have you seen these fugitives? Alcatraz escape mystery remains after 60 years
  Sixty years ago, three Alcatraz inmates staged a brazen and ingenious escape. They were once presumed dead, but the case is still open and officials think they may have survived. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  A storm almost doomed S.F.'s Conservatory of Flowers, until Hillary Clinton stepped in
  With close to 2,000 species of flora, San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers has drawn droves of people to Golden Gate Park for more than 140 years. But in 1995, the historic greenhouse came close to shuttering forever. By Vanessa Arredondo
• Bay Area

  Two men, a bulldog and the first Great American Road Trip — from S.F. to N.Y.
  In 1903, an intrepid young doctor, his trusty mechanic and a bulldog named Bud made the first transcontinental road trip from San Francisco to New York. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  The Bay Bridge opens in 1936, and a city's good people lose their minds
  When the Bay Bridge opened on Nov. 12, 1936, it sparked one of the biggest parties the Bay Area has seen — even bigger than the Golden Gate Bridge debut the next year. By Peter Hartlaub
• Bay Area

  Young Warriors fans have only known the team’s golden age. They’re missing out on heartbreak —...
  It’s a bitter parent who harbors jealousy toward children, especially their own. But that’s a very real feeling for those of us who have lived through the 37 horrible Warriors years that came before the last 10 transcendent ones. By Peter Hartlaub
• San Francisco

  San Francisco: The best stairway city in the world?
  San Francisco’s stairways are everywhere out of necessity. We’ve chosen a dozen all-time greats in the city, including tourist-friendly classics, a sampling of our trademark mosaic staircases, stunning views and a few hidden gems. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  A British Invasion: When S.F. discovered double-decker buses
  Long before double-decker, sightseeing buses took tourists around San Francisco, Britain used them to promote vacations in the aftermath of World War II. By Gwendolyn Wu
• Portals of the Past

  From riches to rags: How the earliest San Franciscan lost his property
  The American era, and the Gold Rush, proved to be disastrous for William Richardson. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Vault

  Dramatic photos of the Bay Area's Mt. Diablo through the decades
  Mt. Diablo may not be the highest peak in the San Francisco Bay Area, but it provides some of the most dramatic views in the state. Chronicle archive photos show the majestic range through the years. By Vanessa Arredondo
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  What was the smallest crowd in Bay Area sports history? (The 2022 A’s aren’t even close)
  We found the most poorly attended pro sporting events in Bay Area history — even worse than the recent Oakland Athletics games. Back in the 1970s, fewer than 1,000 fans turned out for some Giants and A’s games. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  Englishman who sought Mexican citizenship helped establish early San Francisco
  William Richardson spoke some Spanish, so his captain sent the London-born first mate ashore to purchase provisions from the Mexican citizens who lived at the Presidio. The visitor never left. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  ‘An inhumane creation’: The rise of the Transamerica Pyramid, once S.F.’s most hated building
  The Transamerica Pyramid is a San Francisco icon. But it was once the most hated building in the city, called “an affront to San Francisco.” We look at the history, and find the best Chronicle photos of the construction process. By Peter Hartlaub
• Bay Area

  The Oakland-inspired ‘Star Wars’ snow walkers? The real story is so much better than the myth
  For decades, an urban legend spread that “The Empire Strikes Back” snow walkers were inspired by the Oakland port cranes. We found the real story, and it’s even better. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  The Blackhawk: San Francisco’s greatest jazz club
  Most of the great jazz musicians of that era, the golden age of modern jazz, appeared there: Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, the Modern... By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  Like Ukrainian cities shattered by war today, S.F. was reduced to rubble in 1906 earthquake
  The blow that landed on the city 116 years ago was inflicted by nature, not man, but the results were equally destructive. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  How S.F. Chinatown's Dragon Gate came to be
  It took decades of planning, a blueprint from a man who didn't even live in the city and a donation of ceramic tiles from the Republic of China before the iconic Dragon's Gate entrance on Grant Avenue came into existence. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  Golden Gate Bridge was built with tons, and nerves, of steel
  The truly Herculean feat was the construction of the bridge’s south tower. No structure of its size had ever been built in such a daunting environment: 1,125 feet offshore, in black water 110 feet deep, scoured by powerful currents. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  When science fiction became reality at the bottom of the bay: Incredible Transbay Tube...
  The 1956 Bay Area Rapid Transit master plan was full of high hopes and soon-to-be-failed dreams. But the part of the plan that sounded most like science fiction actually happened. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  Read The Chronicle’s 1972 ‘The Godfather’ review: ‘Best gangster movie ever produced’
  The Chronicle’s 1972 review of “The Godfather” was a rave, written by one of the newspaper’s legendary critics Paine Knickerbocker. Here’s what he had to say about the film. By Peter Hartlaub
• San Francisco

  When exactly was the Golden Age of San Francisco? We did the math …
  The Golden Age of San Francisco has always been in the rear-view mirror. We created a mathematical equation to help determine that mythical time once and for all. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  The genesis of the Golden Gate Bridge was a carnival ride
  The Aeroscope was essentially a counterweighted, swinging bridge with a passenger car attached to its movable arm. It was designed by an engineer named Joseph Strauss, whose company specialized in such raisable bridges, known as bascule bridges. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  Before the Golden Gate Bridge: years of yearning and dreams for a span
  The story of how the bridge was conceived, planned and built is a tale worthy of the great span itself. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  The day Jedediah Smith came to San Francisco
  This episode is almost completely forgotten. There are no plaques or historical markers commemorating it. Yet it was a momentous visit. Jedediah Smith was the most legendary of the mountain men and the first non-native person to cross the Sierra... By Gary Kamiya
• San Francisco

  What happened to the family in this 1942 photo? It’s a story of persecution and resilience
  The 1942 photo of a Japanese family held a rare clue to tracing their story. It began with forced relocation and ends in the S.F. Sheriff’s Office. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  Clipper ships, built for speed, the ‘greyhounds of the seas’ during S.F.’s Gold Rush
  The fine-lined, graceful wooden ships represented the pinnacle of the sail-driven vessel in history. By Gary Kamiya
• 49ers

  Rams vs. 49ers: With one petty move, a historic fan rivalry returns
  The tradition of 49ers fans invading Rams games goes back 70 years, to when rail cars brought San Francisco boosters to Los Angeles. The rivalry was always a gift, and we hope it’s back for good. By Peter Hartlaub
• Crime

  He had plotted the ‘perfect murder’ for years. It didn’t go as planned
  What the newspapers in 1925 called the “too-perfect murder” failed and eventually police closed in on Charles Schwartz, a Berkeley chemist who thought he had everyone fooled. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  They called it ‘the too-perfect murder.’ This 1925 mystery gripped the Bay Area
  The truth, when it came out, revealed one of the weirdest murder plots in California history, one so carefully planned and fiendishly audacious that it seems to have been patterned on a (time-machine-assisted) combination of “Columbo” and “Mad Men.” By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  Unchecked crime, destructive disasters robbed early San Franciscans of Christmas spirit
  For the city’s mostly male population, thousands of miles from home and without wives or families, it could be a melancholy occasion. And the young city’s rough edges made things worse. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  How landline telephones became a must-have in old San Francisco
  At first, the city’s few telephones were simply connected by wires strung from boards nailed to roofs. But as the city grew denser, this chaotic system became impractical, and in 1880 the first telephone poles were erected. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  ‘The World’s Finest Theatre’ was demolished in 1963. Collectors are piecing it together again
  The Fox Theatre was scoffed at by Herb Caen and unwanted by San Francisco voters. But historians and technology are bringing the city’s grandest cinema back again, one stray piece at a time. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  Rude boys, bobbing corks and kitchen lines: The birth of San Francisco’s telephone system
  The telephone is such an integral part of modern life that it’s easy to forget that for years after Alexander Graham Bell patented it in 1876, it was regarded as little more than a toy. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Podcasts

  Listen: Boatload of S.F. history with Gary Kamiya
  Total SF hosts Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub take a boat trip through the bay with historian and author Gary Kamiya, learning about Juana Briones and other under-appreciated early San Francisco heroes. By Total SF
• Bay Area

  How the Gold Rush almost drove sea turtles and Galapagos tortoises to extinction
  The hordes who flooded into California seeking gold also almost eradicated some of the most majestic and longest-living creatures on Earth: sea turtles and Galapagos tortoises. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  One weekend in S.F. kicked off the Haight-Ashbury hippie era. This is what it was like
  The event that kicked off the hippie era, and whose cultural reverberations are still echoing today, took place in San Francisco’s Longshoremen’s Hall on the evenings of Jan. 21-23, 1966. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  The long, strange trip of Longshoremen’s Hall
  Fifty-six years ago, a most unexpected building kicked off what we now call the ’60s. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  ‘Hate the Dodgers’: The Giants/Dodgers rivalry was a mirage ... until now
  Part of the package deal that brought the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers to the West Coast in 1957 was the promise of enough anger between the fan bases to justify the move. With any luck, these two baseball teams’ fans would hate each... By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  ‘Shoot the tires’: The violent early history of cars in Golden Gate Park
  When the first cars arrived in Golden Gate Park in the early 1900s, they were banned by park officials. That kicked off a battle involving lobbyists, violence and fierce and eerie parallels to the 2021 car-free JFK Drive debate. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  The weird restaurants of old San Francisco
  A striking number of San Francisco’s old-time restaurants were offbeat, unusual or just plain bizarre. Here are some of the city’s oddest eateries. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  A domed S.F. Giants stadium at China Basin? This monstrosity was almost a reality
  Decades before the San Francisco Giants built their beloved waterfront ballpark, Dianne Feinstein pushed for an enormous domed stadium in the exact same spot. A concept drawing and artist’s rendition in The Chronicle archive show how losing a... By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  How William Randolph Hearst remade struggling S.F. Examiner into prestige paper
  The unimpressive youth grew up to be a born newspaperman, tripling the Examiner’s circulation through “stunt” journalism, state-of-the-art presses and high salaries. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  Ring of artillery protected Golden Gate from invaders until end of WWII
  From the days of the Spanish-American War until the end of World War II, the Golden Gate was protected from potential invaders by a mighty ring of artillery, remnants of which can be found around the entrance to the bay. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Did Sutro Tower have plans for a restaurant on top? Truth finally revealed
  Years after rumors surfaced that a restaurant was once planned on top of Sutro Tower, the truth has come out. It’s mostly a myth, but there’s enough there there to keep Sutro lovers hungry for a crab sandwich overlooking the city. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  Remembering the Circle Star, the odd Bay Area theater that put Sinatra and Cheech & Chong on a...
  The Circle Star Theatre has been gone for almost 30 years. But its strange rotating stage, and its ability to bring stars like Sinatra to San Carlos, are still fondly remembered. By Peter Hartlaub
• Portals of the Past

  Big guns that never fired in anger: the Bay Area’s coast artillery
  A formidable ring of coastal artillery emplacements once ringed the Golden Gate, starting with the Spanish era. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  That exotic-looking building in Cow Hollow was the first Hindu temple in the West
  One of the most exotic-looking buildings in San Francisco stands on the southwest corner of Filbert and Webster streets, in the decidedly un-exotic neighborhood of Cow Hollow. By Gary Kamiya
• Membership Center

  Total SF Book Club: 'The End of the Golden Gate'
  With the Total SF Book Club, Chronicle Culture Critic Peter Hartlaub and City Columnist Heather Knight celebrate and explore San Francisco through the work of local authors. The club's second book is "The End of the Golden Gate," a collection of...
• Bay Area

  Gold Rush impresario set stage for S.F. to become great theater town
  Tom Maguire, the city’s dominant theatrical producer for more than 20 years, had an uncanny ability to bounce back from disaster. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Vault

  How S.F. neighborhood sprouted where horses once raced
  The Ingleside Terraces neighborhood is worth a visit just to behold one of the strangest streets in San Francisco: Urbano Drive. This unique street, in the shape of a giant oval, traces the contours of a long-vanished horse-racing track that was... By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  The S.F. Giants City Connect jerseys are bad. They are not the worst in history
  Despite negative reviews in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants’ City Connect uniform is not a new low. The worst uniform in team history was worn just once in 1999 on a night imagining baseball in the year 2021. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  How an intercultural couple in early S.F. gained acceptance
  It was unheard of in the 19th century for a Californio man of Spanish descent to marry an Anglo woman. But because they lived in the mostly Hispanic Californio colony near Mission Dolores, Eustaquio Valencia and Ann Moses were certainly accepted. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Vault

  Unusual romance in early S.F. defied cultural taboos
  Intercultural unions were common in early California, but they were almost exclusively between Anglo men and Latin women. The most obvious reason for this was that there were few Anglo women in California, but racial and ethnic bias also played a... By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  The Golden Gate Bridge’s first draft: 1922 design was an industrial mess
  The Golden Gate Bridge is a classic. But century-old concept drawings found in The Chronicle archive show that the original plans were an industrial mess. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  S.F. once hosted a bike tour on freeways and the Bay Bridge. Let’s bring it back
  For 10 years in the 1980s and ’90s, San Francisco hosted a popular event that let bicyclists ride on freeways and the Bay Bridge. We need it now more than ever. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  Tucked away in an S.F. cemetery, an intriguing tale of the early city
  The tombstone of Ann F. Moses in the Mission Dolores cemetery hinted at a mystery. It turned out to be the key to a rich, strange and hitherto unknown piece of San Francisco history. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Vault

  She was the biggest fan of San Francisco’s firefighters and California’s ‘most original woman’
  ‘Lillie Hitchcock Coit is the most original woman California has produced,’ The Chronicle wrote in 1895. Even though the field at the time contained plenty of competitors, there’s a case to be made for the choice. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  How will historians remember the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco?
  San Francisco was an example of what not to do during the 1918-1919 influenza, but we’ll likely look back at this one with pride. With COVID numbers dropping and life getting back to normal, it’s clear we didn’t repeat our earlier blunder. By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  They strutted, brawled and threw the best parties in Gold Rush S.F. They also put out fires
  The volunteer fire companies quickly became the darlings of San Francisco, and much of the city’s social life revolved around the balls, parades and other festivities they organized. By Gary Kamiya
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  San Francisco finally has its own font. And the inspiration was truly historic
  After 171 years, San Francisco has its own font: Fog City Gothic, based on old street signs. Creator Ben Zotto hopes the public finds creative uses for it. By Peter Hartlaub
• From the Archive: Our S.F.

  San Franciscans still live in 1906 earthquake shacks. Here’s why they matter more than ever
  One hundred and fifteen years after the 1906 earthquake and fire forced their speedy construction, dozens of tiny earthquake shacks still house San Franciscans. Activists say they’re more important than ever: a symbol not just of the city’s past... By Peter Hartlaub
• Chronicle Vault

  When San Francisco burned down — six times in a year and a half
  Gold Rush San Francisco’s structures were made of canvas, oilcloth or wood, heated and lit by wood stoves and oil-burning lamps, vented by primitive chimneys or flues. The infant city was a tinderbox. By Gary Kamiya
• Chronicle Vault

  Murder at the newspaper: When a Chronicle editor was shot dead
  Western journalism in the 19th century was a blood sport — often literally. Editors made a habit of launching vicious personal attacks against their enemies, who sometimes responded violently, as one of The Chronicle’s co-founders discovered. By Gary Kamiya
• Portals of the Past

  One of San Francisco’s strangest buildings was a mash-up masterpiece
  The Hallidie Building on Sutter Street features one of the more unusual design juxtapositions on any building in San Francisco. Its contradictions reflected those of the architect, Willis Polk. By Gary Kamiya
• Local

  S.F. nonprofit raised $180,000 to buy Cliff House artifacts at auction. Here’s what will happen...
  From Sutro Baths swimsuits to an old Playland cowboy, the nonprofit gobbled up about 70 historic items and plans to keep them at Lands End. By Matthias Gafni
• Chronicle Vault

  S.F.’s strangest bar had monkeys, parrots and cobwebs. Lots of cobwebs
  For 37 years, no broom was ever used inside Abe Warner’s saloon on Francisco Street in North Beach. It showed. By Gary Kamiya