Ocean Beach


Seal Rock House
(left structure) and Ocean Beach Pavilion (large central structure)

"CLIFF HOUSE BEACH, SAN FRANCISCO CAL. WEIDNER PHOTO"
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

"Esplanade and Beach"
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

"The Cliff Road and Ocean Beach."
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

"No. 261. CLIFF HOUSE BEACH, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF."

"WE HAVE LOTS OF FUNN AT THE CLIFF HOUSE SF CAL 236"

"Cliff Road and Bathing Beach from
Cliff House, W.C.Billington, Photographer"

"Long Branch House -- from the Cliff
House, San Francisco, Cal."

Watkins' New Series #3619
Courtesy of Bob Schlesinger

"L. DOWE, Photo"

"Seal Rock House. - Ocean Beach."
(reverse)

"My great grandfather (Prof. W. E. James) worked for I. W.
Taber as a photographer from about 1881 to 1886 .. passed down
through the family were views that matched some found onthe website.
However I’ve never seen a published view as the one that I have
attached (i.e., Ocean Beach FROM the cliff house (Taber wagon in
foreground - Taber logo just below the word Property). My
ggf Prof. W. E. James (as most commonly listed .. the professor
probably self-imposed but an apt description) (William E. James)
worked for Taber between 1881 and early 1886. He brought with him
quite a bit of experience in stereo photography. I think (but can’t
quite confirm just yet) that he took many views for Taber including
San Francisco harbor (& boats) and some places in Santa Barbara and
Southern California (San Diego). Rarely did the big firms (Houseworth,
Taber, Anthony of New York) actually give credit to the photographer
so it is difficult to prove."
Click
here for more information on Prof W. E. James.
Randolph James, 2/27/2015
Courtesy of the
Randolph James Collection |


"CH-12 S.E. FROM CLIFF HOUSE 1880"
From source: "Original Negative From Glass Plate 8x10, Circa 1880, From the
Behrman Collection"
"M.B." are the initials for Martin Behrman

"SUTRO HEIGHTS, CLIFF ROAD AND BATHING BEACH."
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

Ocean Beach, c 1911
Photographer: H. C. Tibbitts
John Hall Collection

Ocean Beach, lifeboat, c 1911
Photographer: H. C. Tibbitts
John Hall Collection



Contributed by Peter Evans

Courtesy of Frank Mitchell

Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

"229. The Coast, South from Cliff House"

"PLAYLAND AT THE BEACH, SAN FRANCISCO" , 1938
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

Ocean Beach, Jul 1 to Aug 20, 1913 (WNPCHP)
The photo date is derived from the
following observations:
John Martini (12/29/2014): Summer 1913. There are a pair of
“B” line streetcars visible on Cabrillo Street. The line was
extended to Ocean Beach on June 25, 1913. Also, there’s no sign yet
of the infamous Ostrich Farm that opened at Cabrillo and Great
Highway in August 1913.
Frank Sternad (12/29/2014):
No Looff Carousel, so pre-1914.
John Freeman (12/29/2014): The
Golden Gate Ostrich Farm wouldn’t secure permission from the health
department to make the move down from 47th & Balboa to open at Great
Highway and Cabrillo until August 18, 1913, but the fences were in
place. GGOF would only paint them and put up signs, adding pens for
the ostriches and a small sales office. So we can speculate that the
probable time window of this photo is July 1 to August 20, 1913.

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Cliff House & City Hall Coffee Advertisement Card
(reverse)

Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

"Beach at San
Francisco, Sheehan's Cafe in foreground, Cliff House & Seal Rocks in distance"
(WNPCHP)

Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke
_small.jpg)
1915

"Near Golden Gate Park Aug 1915"

"Frisco Cal - Near Golden Gate Park- Aug 1915"
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke
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Glass Negative of Ocean Beach, March 1917

Photographed by H.
C. Tibbitts
This negative was listed on ebay in January, 2013. I did not purchase
it, nor do I have permission. Ebay doesn't allow contact.
If the owner comes forth and asks me either to remove it or for
credit, I'll do so.
The below close-ups were also posted on ebay

Ocean Beach Pavilion

Lurline Salt Water Baths (building with smokestack)

The two towers in the right side of this mage belong to the Ocean
Beach Wireless Transmitting Station.
More info:
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist/poulsen.html
http://outsidelands.org/cgi-bin/mboard/stories2/thread.cgi?45,0
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Taken by John Courtwright in 1920
Courtesy of daughter, Mary Courtwright Collins
John Freeman notes: The crowd sitting on those curved
things with the great billboards in the background, is
one of a kind. The curved piece are the concrete forms, used when the sea-wall
was poured. They are
made of wood, covered with 1X8 boards. That was the time period they were
building of the sea-wall.

Weidner Photo, postmarked July 1921 (rev)
(WNPCHP)

Postcard showing beach wall construction, postmarked 1923
Courtesy of Frank Mitchell

(WNPCHP)
The photo is from May 1922. The Figure-8 Coaster was demolished at
the end of April 1922. The Big Dipper [being built] was complete by
July 1922. I have a photo that shows the first section complete & it
matches the elevated arch of the Big Dipper in this photo without
the rest of the coaster evident. - James Smith,
http://www.historysmith.com The construction
work is the resumption of construction of the seawall and esplanade,
which was built in two stages. The first stage was completed in
November 1916 when the wall extended up to a point between Balboa
and Cabrillo. Work ceased for several years, then resumed in 1921 on
the second stretch, which extended all the way to the foot of
Lincoln Ave. - John Martini |

From Cliff House, 6-21-23
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

Ocean Beach 5/31/1925
(WNPCHP)

Ocean Beach, sand sculptures "Unknown heroes" 6/5/1925
(WNPCHP)

Summer 1932
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

Courtesy of
Glenn D Koch Collection

"THE WHITE CAP", OLIVERS ROOT BEER, ICE CREAM & SOFT DRINKS"
Courtesy of Frank Mitchell

Courtesy of Frank Mitchell

Image courtesy of Judy
Cash Collection
John Freeman notes (4-25-2009): This is most likely one of
the "for hire" touring cars, not a private vehicle. The driver is
not involved in the picture taking and stares ahead, not at the
camera. The 3 slats running from the fenders, above the running
board on the drivers side is the strongest indication of a "for
hire" car, since passengers would enter or exit at the curb and the
left side of the car could be used for luggage or storing
blankets/lap robes (since there was no trunk on these old open
touring cars. The location is obvious. |

1914 F Head Harley-Davidson model 10F, Ocean Beach, San Francisco
Billboard: "BENSON'S POOL ROOM and ART GALLERY"
(reverse)
Image courtesy of Chuck Banneck
Motorcycle identification courtesy of the forum members,
harley-davidsonforums.com

Billboard: "BENSON'S POOL ROOM and ART GALLERY"
Courtesy of Frank Mitchell

Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke


The San Francisco Examiner - Feb 9 1891
Treasure hunt

The San Francisco Call - Aug 2 1896

ANY NICE DAY AT THE BEACH
San Francisco Chronicle, September 3 1911


Reverse: "Coast boulevard from Cliff House San Francisco, July 1941"

Ocean Beach, April 1975

Panorama, taken Oct 2007
Courtesy of
Wikipedia Ocean Beach page
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