Old Street Scenes

[427TJ]

Walnut Grove, along the Sacramento River southwest of Sacramento, c60:



Sunset along West Capitol Avenue, the old Highway 40, West Sacramento, late 50s. Neon signs glowing in the days before the invention of fluorescent "light boxes" we see today. Looks like a wildfire burning in the distance south of Lake Berryessa:



Whitewall-clad Trailways bus parked along the Sacramento River c1960:

[427TJ]

AC Transit still operates throughout the East Bay area (across the bay from San Francisco) and I used to ride the bus on occasion back in the early 1970s when the fare was fifteen cents. I found this 1961 AC Transit promotional pamphlet on eBay a few years ago and laughed at how innocent things appeared to be in 1961. In reality, these people would not dare get on an AC Transit bus after about 1964, especially dressed in their Sunday best. They would have been red meat for all the thugs who lived in the rear of practically every AC Transit bus after about 1965.

[427TJ]

Business district, Richmond California (near San Francisco), 1953. Movie playing at the UA was "Island in the Sky" with John Wayne (recently released on DVD). The theater was converted to a Woolworth's in 1959 and had a great soda fountain and killer toy/model department!



Same scene in 1986 and it looks much the same today although some of these buildings have been torn down:

[427TJ]

4th Street in San Rafael (north of San Francisco). This was a great cruise spot in the early 1980s as other Bay Area cruise spots were shut down. This one was shut down by 1985. I saw a Lola T-70 drive down this street one night in about 1982!



I like this photo because you can see the shell at the far left! Coastal battery near San Francisco:



One of the funnest places when I was a kid in the 60s/early 70s was Playland at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Built in the early 1920s and pretty run-down by 1970, it was still a great time. I can almost smell the second-hand smoke (everyone smoked in the old days, right?), the cotton candy, greasy hamburgers and the musty moldy smell of most of those old wooden buildings. It's a wonder it never caught fire. There was a slot car place on the north end of the Playland strip in the mid-60s. Playland was finally torn down in 1972 and replaced with condos. The beach is just out of shot to the right and that's the west end of Golden Gate Park beyond Playland. Note the sand dunes of the Sunset District beyond GG Park. That area was developed in the 1930s.

[427TJ]

San Francisco to Oakland commuter ferry goes under the new Bay Bridge in 1936. Battleship could be the USS Arizona but I'm not certain. Ferry pier and another ferry can be seen in the background alongside the new bridge.



Commuters happily stream off the ferry and walk to waiting streecars to take them into the East Bay bedroom communities of Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley, and Albany and El Cerrito. One could read the afternoon newspaper and grab a cup of coffee in the ferry's soda fountain during the 20-minute ride across the bay.



Then the streetcars left and headed east into Oakland and other communities. Total commute time from Ferry Building in San Francisco to doorstep in the Oakland hills was 45 minutes. Try that in your car today! More like 90 minutes--on a good day.

[427TJ]

Lakeport, Clear Lake California c50s:



Larkspur California, north of San Francisco, c1940:



Looking west from the roof of the San Francisco Bay Bridge toll plaza in 1939. Cars used the upper deck and trucks used the lower deck.

[427TJ]

Saballa's restaurant along highway 101 in Corte Madera (north of San Francisco) c57. Mount Tamalpais in the background:



Mill Valley with Mt. Tamalpais in the background (north of SF) c50s:



Proud Model T owner, Oakland California, 1920s:

[SUSQ]

Great shot of the artillery shell. The guys in the photo are standing right next to the cannon as it blasts away and aren't even phased by it. I would have power packed my shorts! Anyway, would this be out near the Marin Headlands?
Man, am I enjoying these photos! Keep 'em coming!

[Dog427435]

Great shots Bill -


What a shame those pictures of Richmond - amazing what can happen in thirty years!

Where's the Beaver?

[427TJ]

Abe, yeah that artillery position was along the coast either south of SF or north on the Marin County side. It might be the site that still exists on the north side of the Golden gate bridge.

Glenn, the Beaver got mugged and beaten and his family moved out of there a long, long time ago...