The prestige of Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights has long fascinated and awed San Francisco residents and visitors. The westward expansion of the city, followed by the addition of cable car lines, quickly transformed these once-barren outlands into gardens, schools, consulates, and homes, both extravagant and simple. Attracted to the stunning views and unique architecture, prominent and humble families alike have formed the fascinating role of Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights in San Francisco lore.
The prestige of Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights has long fascinated and awed San Francisco residents and visitors. The westward expansion of the city, followed by the addition of cable car lines, quickly transformed these once-barren outlands into gardens, schools, consulates, and homes, both extravagant and simple. Attracted to the stunning views and unique architecture, prominent and humble families alike have formed the fascinating role of Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights in San Francisco lore.
Raised in Presidio Heights and educated in Pacific Heights, San Francisco native Tricia O'Brien presents here the story of these prominent neighborhoods in vintage imagery. O'Brien, also the author of San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point, draws from the collections of her neighbors, family, and friends, as well as institutions such as the San Francisco Architectural Heritage collection. These photographs and ephemera offer a personal and historic peek into the genesis and evolution of these iconic neighborhoods. With commanding early views of streets such as Jackson, Pacific, and Broadway, this collection harkens back to the earliest days of the city's history and with it the stories and people that made these two districts into two of San Francisco's true signature neighborhoods.
Title: Book series is perfect San Francisco present
Author: Ken Garcia
Publisher: The Examiner
Date: 12/18/2008 They might be a tad large for stocking stuffers,
but there are two new items that ought to satisfy the enduring
interests of San Franciscophiles everywhere. They're the latest
entries in the popular neighborhood series created by Arcadia
Publishing that has rolled out the photo-driven books on districts
such as the Castro, Sunset and Richmond. The newest members of the
line include Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights and Westlake, which
is kind of like the Sunset South. The Pacific Heights book was put
together by Tricia O'Brien, who penned an earlier one on the
Bayview. And I can verify the veracity of the Westlake edition done
by Bunny Gillespie, because when I was writing a lot about Henry
Doelger's development of the Sunset years ago, Gillespie was
undoubtedly the go-to historian on the subject. O'Brien said the
Pacific Heights book was tougher to do than her previous one
because it's almost entirely residential and lacked some of the
variety of the Bayview, which boasted an area called Butcher Town.
But the photos of some of the homes crafted by some of the finest
architects in the West are priceless. "It was hard to get some of
the information, because people in the area are so private,"
O'Brien said. "But I tried to put things in the book that a lot of
people don't know, and that was a lot of fun." The books are
available at stores everywhere. They're great for viewing history
in a hurry.
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