USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > Langley's San Francisco directory for the year commencing 1880 > Part 7
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THE HAYES VALLEY RAILROAD is a portion of the Market street sytem, and runs from the ferry landing along Market street to Hayes, a distance of one and three-fifths miles, thence on Hayes to Laguna six blocks, on Laguna to McAllister three blocks, on McAllister, Steiner, Tyler and Devisadcro to Ellis street, a total distance of three and a quarter miles. The cars are yellow, and after dark show an orange light. They leave the ferry landing at intervals of two and a half minutes, reaching the outer terminus in thirty minutes-fare five cents.
THE POTRERO AND BAY VIEW RAILROAD is also a part of the Market street system. This line uses the Market street rails from the ferry landing to Fifth street, thence following Fifth and Bluxome to Fourth, a distance of two miles, the terminus of one division of the line. Over this portion one-horse or "bob-tail " cars are used, which leave the starting point every two and a half minutes. At Fourth street a " transfer " is given to the cars of the other di- vision of the line starting from the corner of Fourth and King streets, which run via Ken- tucky street and Railroad avenue, crossing Mission Bay, the Potrero, Islais creek and Butcher- town to South San Francisco, a distance of about three iniles, or a total distance from the foot of Market strect of five miles. One fare of five cents is required for the entire distance.
THE OMNIBUS RAILROAD COMPANY was the first organization of the city for the purpose of running street horse-cars, succeeding to the Omnibus Company, whose ancient and now almost forgotten vehicles, once, it was thought, performed the service so perfectly. These, in their day, elegant carriages are now relegated to the smaller towns, where the city resident, in his wanderings, regards them with wondrous curiosity, as a relic of a by-gone age. The enter- prise that imported the omnibuses-and profited by it-led again in perfecting its business and established the street railroad. Being the first, they had the choice of streets, excepting only Market, which then forined a part of the San Jose Railroad, the company chose the route from North Beach to South Park-the first a popular resort and the other the most fashionable quarter-running via Powell, Union, Stockton, Washington, Montgomery and Third streets
30 YEARS' EXPERIENCE. MULLER THE OPTICIAN, Established, S.F., 1863, 135 Montgomery.
Dixon & Bernstein, Show Case Manuf's, 250 Market St.
JONAS J. MORRISON
has the most select stock of all the leading varieties of Lumber in the Market. N. E. cor. Mission and Spear Sts.
PROGRESS OF THE CITY.
21
to its southern terminus ; and another line from the Metropolitan Theater through Montgom- ery to Market, Second, Howard and Sixteenth streets to the Mission Dolores. These names indicate the principal streets and points of attraction up to the inauguration of the street rail- way system in San Francisco. The streets now used are : by the first line running yellow cars, from North Beach via Powell, Union, Stockton, Pacific, Montgomery Avenue, Mont- gomery, Market, Third and Townsend streets to the Southern Pacific Railroad depot, and the general offices of the Central and Southern Pacific Railroad Companies. At Market a trans- fer is given to cars running to the ferry ; at Howard street to the cars on that street, running out Howard to Twenty-sixth street, and at Brannan to cars running to the Pacific Mail Steam- ship Company's wharf. The other branch, called the Howard street road, starting from the Metropolitan Block on Montgomery street, runs along Washington to Sansome, to Market, Second and Howard to Twenty-sixth street, making the same connections as the Mont- gomery and Third street branch.
THE NORTH BEACH AND MISSION RAILROAD .- The growth of the city has been well marked by the construction of street railroads, these first traversing the most populous portions, and as their advantages were developed, and their profitableness proven, were extended as rapidly as the population spread, and even penetrated unsettled quarters, which were thereby ren- dered accessible, and soon rewarded the enterprise with abundant patronage. The North Beach and Mission was a rival of the Omnibus, and chose parallel routes, and, like the other, consists of two lines. One extends from North Beach at Francisco street, via Mason, Broad- way, Kearny, Geary, Stockton and Fourth streets, to the Southern Pacific Railroad depot at Townsend street, giving transfers to the second line at California and Folsom streets. The cars run at five minutes' interval; fare at the uniform rate of five cents, including transfers. The Mission route runs from the ferry landing, via Market, California, Kearny, Market, Fourthand Folsom to Twenty-sixth street, and another branch from Montgomery street, via California, Battery, First and Folsom streets to Fourth, where transfers are made to the other branches. By the accommodating system cf transfers, the passenger is carried for a single fare of five cents to every extreme of the city
THE CENTRAL RAILROAD marks another step in the changes of business and the growth of the city. The Company chose for its route a connection with the former landing of the Oak- land and Alameda ferries, on Davis street, between Pacific and Broadway, running on Jack- son, Sansome, Bush, Kearny, Post, Stockton, Geary, Taylor, Sixth and Brannan to Eighth ; but with the change of ferry landings, the change of starting point was made by extending the road along Jackson and East streets to the foot of Market. This formerly gave transfers at Turk street for the Lone Mountain branch, but the increase of business in that direction made a through line a necessity, which now runs from the ferry along Market, Pine, Sansome, Bush, Kearny, Post, Dupont, Market, Turk, Fillmore and Post streets, to Cemetery avenue, exchanging transfers at Taylor street with the Sixth street branch. The Central was for a long time the only road that reached the vicinity of the cemeteries, and from that fact was more popularly known as the Lone Mountain line, and, with its advantageous connection with the ferries and steamboat landings, was the most profitable road of the city.
THE SUTTER STREET RAILROAD comprises a very extended scheme of main lines and branches. Originally the main line ran from the steamboat landings at the foot of Broadway, along that street, Battery, Sutter, Polk, Vallejo, Octavia, Union, Pierce, Greenwich, Brod- erick, Lombard and Baker streets, to Harbor View, a distance of nearly four and a half miles. Branches run from the crossing of Larkin along that street to Market, and on Pacific street from Polk to Fillmore. This road was a most important factor in building up the otherwise isolated region along its route, but the numerous hills were exceedingly wearing upon the animals used in hauling cars, and travel was necessarily slow. It was, however, the only road penetrating that portion of the city, and for a number of years enjoyed a monopoly of the business. The subsequent construction and great success of the cable road along Clay street, crossing the precipitous ridge and giving access to the quarter traversed by the Sutter street line, made a reorganization necessary. An underground cable has been laid from the junction of Market street, along Sutter to Polk, thence to Bush, and along the latter to Cem- etery avenue, and a branch along Larkin street to Market, making it the longest cable road of the city. The cars now run by horse traction from the ferry landing, np Market, street to Sutter, thence by cable to Polk, Bush and Cemetery avenue; also by horses from the engine house on Polk street to Vallejo, and on Vallejo to Octavia, where connection is made with the cars of the Presidio branch to Harbor View. The cable on Larkin street takes the cars to and from Market street, from which point horses are used on the extended line along Ninth and Mission streets to Woodward's Gardens. That portion from Davis street along Broadway and Battery streets to Market has been abandoned, and the ferry is reached by a direct road from Sutter down Market street.
THE CITY RAILROAD COMPANY operate what is popularly known as the Mission street Railroad, running from the ferry along East street to Mission, thence to Twenty-sixth street. Another branch runs from the same starting point along Market, Sutter, Dupont, Market,
WINDOW SHADES.
Manufacturer of fine WINDOW SHADES for Private Resi- dences, Stores, Offices, etc., etc.
GEO. W. CLARK, 645 Market Street.
D. HICKS & CO., Paper-rulers and Blank-book Manufacturers, San Francisco.
JAMES E. GORDON & CO.,
WHOLESALE HARDWARE, Corner, Market and Front Streets.
22
SAN FRANCISCO DIRECTORY.
Fifth and Mission to Twentieth street. This road was constructed chiefly by the late R. B. Woodward, for the primary object of establishing and controlling a method of cheap convey- ance to Woodward's Gardens, and its management has been economical and efficient from its inception. One-horse cars are chiefly used, making frequent trips and affording rapid transit.
Steinway Hall, GRAY'S MUSIC STORE, 117 Post St.
THE CLAY STREET HILL RAILROAD is distinguished as being the pioneer "cable road," not only of this city, but of the world. The system is unique, and a triumph of inventive genius and engineering skill of which San Francisco has just cause to be proud. While every city is seeking to perfect and cheapen its means of transit from business centers to suburbs, none have been found so effective, cheap, safe and pleasant as the underground cable and the stationary engine. This traverses hills as well as level streets, forms no more obstruction than the ordinary track, is noiseless in its operations, and the cars are more completely under control than when attached to horses. By its means the hilly regions are made as accessible as the level portion, and as they are regarded as healthier, those localities having the greatest elevation are the most desirable for residences. The construction of the Clay street road was regarded as an experiment of a very doubtful character, and the difficulties surmounted by the originator, and the labor bestowed upon the plans and exercised upon capitalists to enlist them in the enterprise were equal to the physical work of constructing the road itself. For this San Francisco is indebted to Mr. Benjamin H. Brooks, son of the distinguished lawyer B. S. Brooks, a pioneer of 1849. Attention was early called- to devise means of direct access to the northern portion of the " Western Addition," to which the high, precipitous ridge extending north from Bush street seemed an insurmountable barrier. A tunnel through the ridge along Broadway was proposed, and an Act of the Legislature was passed authorizing it. For several years this was agitated as the only feasible means, but it did not appear to fill the requirements, and the great cost forbade capital investing in it. This would have still left the elevated lands without relief, and it is fortunate that the tunnel was not undertaken. Mr. Brooks having conceived the happy idea of an endless wire cable, laid under the surface of the street and operated by a stationary engine, set his inventive genius to work to perfect the details. A year or more was spent in planning, draughting and experimenting, having in this the efficient aid of Mr. W. H. Hepburn, a very skillful civil engineer, and when fully prepared the scheme, as subsequently carried out and now in such successful operation, was presented to the Board of Supervisors and a franchise asked for. Thomas H. Selby, who was then Mayor, hesitated long and investigated the matter thoroughly before approving it, and then not until such engineers as General Alexander, of the army, B. P. Brunner, of the Rolling Mills, N. D. Arnott, of the street railroads, and others, had assured him of the feasibility of the plan and the safety of the operation as proposed. In 1869 the franchise was granted. The next great difficulty was to induce capital to invest in the enterprise. So novel was the scheme, and so poor the prospect of remuneration, that stock gambling was con- sidered preferable, and local capital refused to touch it. A subsidy of $30,000 was obtained from property holders along the route, but even with this help no money to do the work could be obtained. Eastern capitalists were invited to investigate it, but upon examining the locality, seeing the steep hill and the few pedestrians upon the street, declared it would never pay, and consoled the enthusiasm of the inventor by admiring the skillfulness of his plans, but declining to invest. Thus struggling for some years, the plans and franchise were in 1872 transferred to Mr. Hallidie for a nominal consideration, a new subsidy was subscribed, the great experiment undertaken, and in September, 1873, was completed from Kearny to Leav- enworth street, and put in operation. Not only has it proven a mechanical success, but, contrary to the opinion of capitalists, it has been remunerative beyond all systems in use. So complete and economical has it proven that other companies have adopted it, and in all probability the underground cable will eventually supercede all other means of traction for street cars. To the traveler the sensation of ascending and descending the steep hills is most delightful, the motion being rapid and easy, undisturbed by the painful sympathy for laboring horses, or fear of danger. The cable-a wire rope three inches in circumference-runs in an iron tube laid beneath the street, midway between the rails, with an open slit three-quarters of an inch wide, on the top, through which iron arms attached to and operated in the car, or "dummy," reach and clutch the cable, which is securely grasped or instantly released, as required. Brakes which press upon the track, as well as wheels, readily and securely stop and hold the cars, however steep the grade may be, thus being better prepared to avoid accident than when horses or locomotives are used. San Francisco in adopting this system has made a progress in street railroad building which places her far in advance of all other cities, and is the advance most remarkable of the last decade. The Clay street road now runs its cable from Kearny street to Van Ness avenne, one mile, carrying near two million passen- gers annually; using about five hundred tons of coal screenings in the same period. From the crossing of Leavenworth, a branch operated by horses runs on that street, Vallejo, Hyde, Union and Larkin, to Chestnut street. Fair five cents.
THE CALIFORNIA STREET RAILROAD is a cable road, and is regarded as the crowning achievement of its class. The practicability of ascending the high hills by means of the endless cable having been shown by the operations of the Clay street road, and California
SAN FRANCISCO LAUNDRY WASHING DONE at SHORT NOTICE Office, 33 Geary Street.
J. MACDONOUGH,
IMPORTER OF AND DEALER IN COAL AND PIG IRON, 41 Market Street, corner Spear.
PROGRESS OF THE CITY.
23
street being similarly situated-the elevation, however, being considerably greater-a com- pany was organized in 1876 for the purpose of making such a road through it. On the 5th of July, 1877, work was commenced, and on April 10th, 1878, the road was open for traffic from Kearny to Fillmore street, a distance of about one and three-quarter miles. This has since been extended to First avenue, crossing Cemetery avenue, a total distance of two and a half miles. Cars, attached to "dummy," both being elegantly fitted for passengers, leave Kearny street every two and a half minutes, and pass over the distance in twenty minutes, the fare being five cents. No expense or skill has been spared in making this road perfect in every detail, substantial, safe and enduring. The track is a rigid framework of iron, the ties, placed every four feet, being of old Trails bent to form an inverted arch, thus leaving a space for the tube through which runs the cable, and all about the framework and tube is laid a solid body of concrete. The machinery is located at the southeast corner of Larkin and California, and is as complete and powerful as could be devised. There are two engines of five hundred horse power each, so arranged that either can be used in case of accident to the other, or both can be used together if required. At Kearny and Fillmore streets deep excavations were made, each sixty feet long, and walled up with solid masonry, in which are pulleys, fastened to heavily weighted cars on an inclined track, around which the cable runs, and by their weight and mobility keep the cable taut. At Larkin street an excavation one hundred and ten feet in length, thirty feet in width and thirty-one feet in depth, heavily walled and arched with brick and iron, was made to receive the driving machinery. This Company has been granted the right to extend its road to First avenue, thence South to D, or Fulton street, and thence to Sixth avenueg
THE BERRY STREET RAILROAD, running from Channel street, or the landing at the foot of Third street, to Berry, and thence to Seventhi, was constructed in 1877 for the use of wood and lumber dealers, but was never put in operation.
THE GEARY STREET, PARK AND OCEAN RAILROAD, recently completed, is a cable road running from Market, at the junction of Kearny and Geary, through the latter to Point Lobos avenue, at the junction of Cemetery avenue, where it connects with a road operated by a dummy locomotive along Point Lobos avenue to First avenue, thence on D street to the Golden Gate Park on the south and Golden Gate Park Race-course on the northi. The cable road has a length of two and a half miles, and the portion extending to the Park, a length of about one and a quarter miles. The Geary Street road crossing the Larkin Street road, also a cable, involved the necessity of passing its cable under the other without interfering with its working, which engineering has been skillfully accomplished. Since its completion the travel over this road has been immense, at times the number of cars being insufficient to accommodate all who wished to avail themselves of the opportunity of taking a cheap ride to Golden Gate Park.
During the year many other roads have been projected, and for several franchises have been obtained. Among the latter is the San Francisco and Ocean Shore Railroad, to run on Fulton street to the Ocean Beach and to the Cliff House. A railroad is projected and fran- chise granted to Charles Lux and others to run from Market on Second, Mission, Seventh, Bryant, Ninth streets, and Potrero avenue to Twenty-sixth street, a distance of two and a half miles, with branch from Ninth to Market, to Hayes, along Hayes, Gough, Bay and Laguna streets to Lewis and the water front ; also from the intersection of Potrero avenue and Twenty-sixth street along Potrero avenue and its extensions to Thirty-fifth street, a distance of about two and a half miles, or a total distance from the junction of Second and Market streets of five miles. A franchise has also been granted to A. K. Baldwin and others to construct a road from the Presidio, running through the most available streets iu the northern part of the city to the ferry landing at the foot of Market street.
Steam Railroads.
San Francisco may be regarded as the objective point of all railroads of the Pacific coast ; but more particularly so of all in California. The city is fixed as the natural center of com- merce of the whole west coast of North America. The great rivers, valleys and mountain passes lead unerringly to this point, and thus converge the channels of inland trade from all the surrounding States and Territories. The broad bay affords one of the best harbors of the world, and the Golden Gate opens to the Pacific and all the maritime nations of the earth. The currents of the air and the ocean so aid the other advantages, that the location is perfected as a center of commerce. These natural conditions force all artificial lines of trade and travel to the same center, and therefore, whatever point on the coast other than this may be selected as the terminal point of a railroad, it will be found the road can have no terminus but by its connections with San Francisco. All transcontinental railroads will add to the greatness of San Francisco, wherever their nominal terminus may be.
The principal railroads of the State, with their connections, are centered under one management, being the following as now conducted. with their termini and lengths: Central Pacific, from San Francisco to Niles, 30} miles; the same, from San Jose to Ogden, 870}
J. GUNDLACH & CO. WINE VAULTS, Corner Market and Second Streets, Fine Wines and Liquors.
D. HICKS & CO., Leading Bookbinders of San Francisco.
THE CONTINENTAL OIL & TRANSPORTATION CO.,
GENERAL OFFICE, 120 & 122 Front.
24
SAN FRANCISCO DIRECTORY.
miles; the same, Oregon Division, Roseville to Reading, 151} miles; the same, Visalia Di- vision, Lathrop to Goshen, 1463 miles; Amador Branch from Galt to Ione, 274 miles; the Southern Pacific from Huron, via Goshen and Los Angeles, to Yuma, 530} miles; the same, from San Francisco to Tres Pinos; 1003 miles; the same, from Carnedero to Soledad, 60} miles. the same, from Castroville to Monterey, 20 miles; the same, fromn Los Angeles to Wil- mington, via Florence, 22} miles; the same from Florence to Santa Ana, 27₺ miles; the Southern Pacific of Arizona, from Yuma to Casa Grande, 182} miles; the Los Angeles & In- dependence, from Los Angeles to Santa Monica, 18 miles; the Montercy and Salinas Valley, from Salinas to Monterey, 19 miles; the California Pacific, from South Vallejo to Sacramento, 60 miles; the same, from Napa Junction to Calistoga, 34} miles; the same, from Davis to Knight's Landing, 18} miles; Northern Railway, from Oakland to Port Costa, 28} miles; ferry to Benicia, 1 mile; Northern Railway, from Benicia to Suisun, 15} miles; the same, from Woodland to Willows, 65 miles; Sacramento Valley & Placerville, from Sacramento to Shingle Springs, 472 miles ; the Stockton & Copperopolis, from Stockton to Milton, 30 miles ; the same, from Peters to Oakdale, 19 miles; the San Pablo and Tulare, from Port Costa to Tracy, 51 miles; Berkeley Branch of Northern Railway, from Shell Mound to Berryman's, 32 miles; The total under the control of the managers of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, amounting to 3582 miles, to which may be added 650 miles of steamboat route on the Sacra- mento, San Joaquin. Colorado and other rivers, making a total of 4232 miles of transporta- tion under one company, or rather one general management, as there are, nominally, several companies. The Directors of the Central Pacific are Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, E. H. Miller, Jr:, W. V. Huntington, E. W. Hopkins. and C. F. Crocker.
The first of this great system was the Sacramento Valley Railroad, constructed in 1855 and 1856, from Sacramento to Folsom, a distance of 22} miles, and at a cost of $1,100,000. The building of this, now a simple and unimportant road, was regarded as a grand enterprise at that early date in our history, and it was the first railroad ever seen by many of the immigrants from the Western States. Railroads did not then, as at present, traverse almost every county of the United States, and they were indeed a curiosity. This has since been extended to Shingle Springs, in El Dorado County.
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD is California's portion of the great transcontinental line. Work was commenced on it on the 9th of January, 1863; the first shovel of earth being turned by Leland Stanford, then Governor of California and President of the railroad company. Connection with the Union Pacific was made on the 15th of May, 1869, at Prom- ontory, in Utah, S28 miles from San Francisco. At a later date arrangements were made with the Union Pacific Company, whereby that portion of the road from Promontory to Ogden was transferred to the Central Pacific Company. The obtaining the franchise and subsidies, and the building of this road and its connections, form an important part of Cali- fornia's history, which has been quite completely told in previous issues of the DIRECTORY. On the 2Sth of December, 1679, an important change was made in the route to Sacramento, via Oakland, and crossing the Straits of Carquinez, from Port Costa to Benicia, with trains of cars on a ferrying steamer. The distance is about one mile across, and is made in ten minutes. By this route the distance from San Francisco to Sacramento is 892 miles, while by the former route, via Oakland, Martinez and Stockton, it was 151 miles. Over this route is taken the overland freight and passenger trains.
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC, with its different divisions, routes and extent, has been men- tioned. The different branches comprise a system as complex as the Central. While the real Southern Pacific runs from San Francisco via San Jose to Tres Pinos, the trains upon that road run to Soledad ; but to reach the southern part of the State the Central Pacific is taken from San Francisco to Goshen, where the main line of the Southern Pacific is intercepted. This route is via San Jose, Tres Pinos, Huron and Goshen, but that portion from Tres Pinos to Huron, about 100 miles in extent, is not yet constructed, the precipitous mountain range separating the San Benito from the San Joaquin Valley preventing. In Arizona this road has been extended to Casa Grande, a distance of 1823 miles from Yuma, and 902 miles from San Francisco.
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