Polk's Crocker-Langley San Francisco city directory, 1948-49, Part 2

Author: R.L. Polk & Co
Publication date: 1930
Publisher: San Francisco, Cal. : R.L. Polk & Co.
Number of Pages: 2494

USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > Polk's Crocker-Langley San Francisco city directory, 1948-49 > Part 2

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Hotels: The U. S. Census reported 577 hotels, with total 50,308 guest rooms, third highest in nation.

Converging in San Francisco are 4 Class I railroads operating more than 27,000 miles of line. There are 90 trade routes served by the steamships calling at San Francisco. There are more than 40 com- mercial carrier truck lines, several transcontinental bus services and 13 major air lines of the world. San Francisco Airport reported 917,266 passengers during 1947.

Amusements: There are approximately 95 theaters, with a total seating capacity of approximately 88,000 persons. Largest theater or auditorium seats about 12,000 persons.

Hospitals number 32.

Education: Number of schools, 195 public, including 11 junior high and 9 high schools. There are also a number of parochial and diocesan schools. Number of pupils enrolled in public schools, 147,587 during 1947; in private schools, 14,000 (est.).

There are 581,930 volumes in the libraries of the city.

City Statistics: Total street mileage, 914.36 miles, with 782.75 miles paved. Miles of gas mains laid, 1163.2 ; of sewers, approx. 800 miles total, approx. 170 miles main trunk. Local transit lines serve 267.67 miles of street, 10.3 miles are served by cable lines. The stor- age capacity of water works (municipal), 64,126,000,000 gallons.

SAN FRANCISCO (Prepared by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce)

HISTORICAL

San Francisco is located centrally on the coast in 37° 47' 22-25" N. Latitude and 122° 25' 40-76" W. Longitude and situated on a peninsula bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north and east by the Bay of San Francisco and on the south by wooded hills and fertile valleys. Its elevation extends from sea level to 925 feet City Datum. The city cov- ers an area of about 44.82 square miles and is built princi- pally on hills. The population as of April 1, 1940, amounted to 634,536 (U. S. census). Resident population, August 1, 1945, 827,400, and the estimate for January 1, 1949, is 814,500.

The San Francisco Bay Region was discovered in July, 1769, by Don Gaspar de Portola's soldiers, who were seeking the Monterey Bay. In 1775 Don Manuel Ayala sailed the first ship through the Golden Gate into the San Francisco Bay. The San Carlos was the name of the vessel.

Years before, however, Sir Francis Drake brought his ves- sel, the Golden Hind, close to the Golden Gate and ran her ashore at what is now known as Drake's Bay. This was in 1579 and the first religious service in the English language was held on the Pacific Coast by the chaplain of the Golden Hind.

In 1776 a land expedition commanded by Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza arrived on the San Francisco peninsula and established the Presidio and the Mission Dolores. In 1777 Padre Junipero Serra, father of the California missions, ar- rived in San Francisco. The settlement was known as Yerba Buena until 1847, when it became San Francisco.

In 1806 the Russians attempted to establish themselves in and about San Francisco. They established a settlement at Fort Ross, near Santa Rosa, but after a few years gave it up, disposing of all movable fixtures and arms to Capt. John A. Sutter of Sacramento.

In 1846 war was declared by the United States on Mexico and on July 9, 1846, Capt. John B. Montgomery of the United States Navy arrived in the sloop-of-war "Portsmouth" and raised the American flag in what is now Portsmouth Square; thus without great excitement San Francisco passed from Spanish to Mexican and finally American rule.

San Francisco's greatest excitement perhaps came with the discovery of gold in 1848. People rushed here by every known mode of transportation and in thousands. The population in- creased steadily and the port became the most important on the Pacific Coast, which position it has steadily maintained.

Because of the number of lawless individuals during the fifties, the citizens organized the Vigilance Committee and after a short campaign succeeded in ridding the city of the law breakers.

GOVERNMENT

San Francisco has a combined City and County Govern- ment functioning as a Municipal Corporation, which began January 8, 1932, to operate under a new Charter (Freehold- ers). Under this new Charter the Legislative Powers are vested in a Board of Supervisors consisting of 11 members. The Administrative Powers are vested in a Mayor and a Chief Administrative Officer, the latter appointed by the Mayor. The People elect the Mayor, Assessor, Treasurer, Sheriff,

Public Defender, Supervisors, District Attorney, City Attor- ney, Municipal and Superior Court Judges and the members of the Board of Education.

The salary of the Mayor is $10,000 per year and the major Departments under him include the Police, Fire, Park, Recreation, and Library, the Art Commission, the Utilities Commission, Civil Service Commission, and City Planning Commission.

The Chief Administrative Officer, appointed by the Mayor, receives a salary of $12,000 a year and has under him the fol- lowing: Departments of Finance and Records, Purchasing, Real Estate, Department of Public Works, Department of Elec- tricity, Street Traffic Advisory Board, Department of Public Health, County Welfare Department, Coroner's Office, Horti- cultural Inspection Department, and Department of Weights and Measures.

The Controller is responsible to the Mayor and is ap- pointed by him subject to the confirmation and approval of the Board of Supervisors.

HARBOR AND COMMERCE

Centered in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco is an important port of general commerce, handling a large and valuable domestic and foreign trade. It is the main gateway of commerce for the vast territory of the Central Pacific Coast Area and Intermountain States. The Bay extends from the Golden Gate to the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers on the northeast, and to a point near San Jose on the south, covering an area of 450 square miles. The deep- water commerce enters San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate, which is but one mile wide, thus affording natural pro- tection from the ocean to the waters of the San Francisco Bay. To this has been added the most comprehensive docking and berthing facilities, rail and freight connections, modern and well-equipped warehouses, etc. San Francisco harbor has 17.5 miles of berthing space; there are 195.62 acres of pier and wharf area, with a capacity of 4,719,000 tons of cargo; 43 modern piers; facilities to dock the largest vessels ; seven drydocks; 160 spur tracks; 61.83 miles of harbor trackage connecting piers and warehouses; car capacity for 3600 cars; 42 cranes, derricks and aerials.

The harbor is controlled by the State of California and is governed by a board of harbor commissioners appointed by the Governor. Of the 43 piers, most of them are assigned to steamship companies having their own fleets and operating their own schedules. San Francisco harbor facilities are val- ued at more than $100,000,000.

The water-borne commerce of San Francisco Bay ranks third in cargo tonnage of all ports in the United States, out- ranking all other Pacific Coast ports by some 9,000,000 cargo tons in 1945 (latest available).

Exports during 1947 amounted to. $388,894,000 Imports during 1947 amounted to $193,351,000

The principal exports by value have been bulk oil, dried and canned fruits, cotton, machine parts, barley, fresh fruits, auto parts, canned fish and lead.

The principal imports have been coffee, copra, tea, tung oil, paper, jute, burlap, liquor and spices.

The 1946 report of the U. S. Army Engineers shows the distribution of the cargo tonnage, domestic and foreign, as follows:

Total tonnage, San Francisco Bay 27,925,034 Tons

Foreign tonnage 4,155,335

Inland waterway tonnage. 10,706,470

Domestic Coastwise tonnage

13,063,229

Besides the movement of commodities by water, there is a large rail traffic in San Francisco; during 1947 it reached 265,244 freight car movements.

San Francisco is also the ocean port for the great inland empire of California, 500 miles in length, 50 miles wide and containing 16,100,000 acres of irrigable land, 5,000,000 acres of which is under irrigation.

San Francisco is normally a port of call for ships serving 90 trade routes.

TRANSPORTATION

Distribution Facilities-A vast transportation network, in- cluding transcontinental rail and highway facilities, air trans- port services, and steamship lines, converge in San Francisco, bringing unexcelled transportation to local industry and busi- ness. San Francisco's fortunate geographic position on the Pacific Coast, combined with excellent distribution facilities, makes it possible for business and industry located here to serve a larger portion of the Western markets at lower dis- tribution costs than can be reached from any other Pacific Coast city.

Rail

San Francisco is served directly by four Class I railroads opertaing more than 27,000 miles of line. These railroads with their connections thoroughly blanket California and neighboring States, and by means of seven major transcon- tinental routes and connecting routes provide fast, depend- able service to and from all parts of the United States, Can- ada, and Mexico. Passenger trains second to none are oper- ated to and from the city. Reciprocal switching arrange- ments are in effect, under which the line haul carrier will absorb the charges of the switching carrier on competitive traffic.

State Belt Railroad-These four railroads connect with the State Belt which serves the San Francisco piers and many industries near the waterfront. They absorb the Belt's switch- ing charge on line haul carload traffic and in part on interline switching movements subject to stated minimum revenue per car.

L. C. L. Service-Storedoor pickup and delivery service for less than carload traffic is available between San Francisco and practically all points in California and neighboring States, including overnight service to points in the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, along the Coast, and to Los Angeles.

Water

Fast new freighters provide regular service between San Francisco and the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, New Zealand, the South Seas, the Orient, Central and South America, the West Indies, Europe, South Africa and North Africa, also the Atlan- tic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Luxurious and recon- verted passenger liners operate to the Hawaiian Islands, the Orient and around the world. Limited passenger accommoda-

tions are available on freighters to Australia, the Orient Central and South America, Europe and South Africa. Barge services for bulk and general cargo are maintained to points on San Francisco Bay and connecting waters.

Highway

Truck Lines-Over forty common carrier truck lines pro- vide scheduled service between San Francisco and points in California and neighboring States. Overnight service is avail- able to all important points in California and to Southern Oregon and Western Nevada. In addition, more than six hundred truck operators having headquarters or agencies in San Francisco hold intrastate permits from the Public Utilities Commission of California or interstate permits from the In- terstate Commerce Commission.

Bus Lines-Bus lines radiate north, east and south, pro- viding frequent service between San Francisco and all impor- tant points in California and in the eleven Western States. Four lines provide transcontinental service. Sightseeing buses operate between San Francisco and neighboring points of in- terest, as well as in the city proper. Buses and limousines are available for charter.

Air

San Francisco is the air terminal of the Pacific, the en- trance to North America from points in the Orient and the exit from points in North America to the cities of Asia and the Far East. Offices are maintained here by eight major air- lines which offer regular scheduled service linking the San Francisco Bay Area to the rest of the United States and to the world.

In addition, San Francisco is the base of operations for one of the Pacific Coast's major feeder-air line services, link- ing innumerable smaller communities throughout California to San Francisco and the rest of the nation. It is also the Western operations base and the system-wide maintenance base of one of the largest U. S. scheduled air carriers. Four of the nation's larger non-scheduled, or "irregular" air car- riers also operate into and out of San Francisco and the Bay Area carrying annually thousands of tons of air cargo.

San Francisco Municipal Airport, recognized as one of the world's major airports and one which carried an unprece- dented war-time load of passengers and cargo traffic, has entered an era of peace with a twenty million dollar mod- ernization and expansion program designed to serve the air age as the major passenger, cargo and mail "gateway" to the world.

Charter air services, fixed base operations, flight training, airplane repair and maintenance and distribution and sale of airplanes are services available through an ever expanding network of smaller airports intended to meet the needs of private plane owners.

San Francisco is the base of operations for three trans- oceanic carriers offering regularly scheduled service to our neighbors in Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, the Philippines, Australia, China and the Orient.

MANUFACTURERS

San Francisco-The manufacturing industries in San Francisco comprise an important part of the city's activities, leading the nine major fields of activity in San Francisco in number of employees and amount of payroll. About one- quarter of all the people engaged in industry and business in San Francisco were employed by the manufacturing indus- tries in 1940. The ratio rose to one-third during the war

period, due to emphasis on production of war goods, but the current trend is toward the pre-war ratio.

Many of the large key industries in the San Francisco Metropolitan Area, with their plants outside the corporate city limits, have their headquarters in San Francisco, from which they conduct their finances, purchases, and sales.

Manufacturing-Value of Product-U. S. Census 1939

Industry Group

San Francisco

San Francisco- Oakland Industrial Area

Food and Kindred Products

$114,963,000

$269,381,000

Tobacco Manufacturers

10,332,000

18,482,000

Textile-mill Products

5,161,000

14,751,000

290

7,270

Building Materials and Fixtures . .

848

83,213

Caskets and Tombstones.

1,467

Clothing

1,810

109,454

Confectionery and Soft Drinks.

458

8,170

Drugs

496

34,042

Durable Farm and Dairy Equip- ment

6,383

Flowers and Nursery Stock

426

-30

5,931

Fuel and Ice ..

-2

2,991

General Merchandise

844

152

133,396

Groceries

1,829

34,162

Hardware

298

15,318

Heating, Plumbing and Air Condi- tioning

304

16,861

Home Furnishings and Appliances 1,736

218

110,977

Jewelry

662

19,008

Limited-Price Varieties

120

11,583

Luggage and Leather Goods.

140

2,720

Meals and Drinks.

3,183

186,095

Motor Vehicles

324

107,937

Nondurable Farm and Garden Supplies

232

5,381

Office, School Supplies and Equip- ment

544

39,136

Packaged Liquor

559

26,649

Photographic Supplies and Equip- ment

451

7,142

Radios, Musical Instruments .

552

12,792

Secondhand Merchandise

324

-17

4,903

Service Stations and Auto Supplies 1,727

50,911

Shoes and Shoe Repairing ..

457

17,930

Sporting Goods and Amusements.

224

3,535

Stationery, Printing and Paper

989

50,286

Tobacco Products

603

-13

13,178

Unallocated

3,362

117

211,003

Total

24,585

1,155

$1,346,357

Service Establishments-In addition to the retail trade in San Francisco there were 6,576 service establishments re- ported by the 1939 U. S. Census (latest), with annual receipts of $61,893,000. These establishments reported 19,239 em- ployees and an annual payroll of $24,467,000.

Summary of Principal Service Groups in San Francisco in 1939

Group

No. of Establish- ments

Receipts (Add 000)

No. of Employees 19,239

Payroll (Add 000)

TOTALS

6,576

$61,893

$24,467

Personal Services

3,965

23,224

6,595

8,283

Business Services

617

15,379

5,639

6,985

Automotive Repairs and Services

620

8,466

1,359

1,983

Services Allied to Transportation

6,677

4,028

4,673

Repair Services, except Autos, Apparel, Shoes

645

2,682

353

445

Manufacture Census

503

1,832

359

342

Miscellaneous Services

173

3,633

906

1,756

*California State Chamber of Commerce estimates revised.

(a ) Includes some taxable sales of manufacturers and wholesalers. Reported by the State Board of Equalization.

*Includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. (a) California Department of Industrial relations.

San Francisco Retail Sales-Estimate*

1940

$ 398,896,000

1944.

1941

539,865,000

1945.

1942.

598,783,000

1946. 1,046,564,000

1943

654,857,000

1947

1,204,655,000

Outlets in San Francisco Licensed to Sell Tangible Personal Property at Retail (a)

Principal Line of Business

Outlets on

Outlets

Net Galn

During 1947

Turnover Per

100 Outlets

During 1947

Total Sales 1947

(Add 000)

Art Goods and Novelties.

639

$ 6,540

Books

Apparel and Other Finished Products. . .

26,715,000

28,743,000

Lumber and Timber Basic Products. . ..

1,951,000

13,458,000

Furniture and Finished Lumber Products

12,803,000

18,160,000

Paper and Allied Products

11,024,000

17,649,000

Printing, Publishing, and Allied.

42,313,000

54,260,000

Chemicals and Allied Products.

13,723,000

61,501,000

Products of Petroleum and Coal.

1,722,000

125,462,000

Rubber Products

260,000

6,072,000

Leather and Leather Products

4,275,000

6,053,000

Stone, Clay, and Glass Products

2,635,000

18,563,000

Iron and Steel and Their Products

31,099,000

88,469,000

Nonferrous Metals and Their Products . .

9,676,000

87,284,000

Electrical Machinery

3,587,000

12,624,000

Machinery (except Electrical) .

10,408,000

29,181,000

Automobiles and Automobile Equipment

1,078,000

53,225,000

Trans. Equipment except Automobiles . .

6,134,000

14,822,000

Miscellaneous Industries

3,888,000

6,744,000

Manufacturing-San Francisco-Oakland Industrial Area *- Trend (a) U. S. Census 1939

3,441

Wage-Earners

76,374

Wages

.$110,964,281

Cost of Materials.

$600,156,725

Value of Products .

$960,636,411

Average Production Workers

Annual Wages (Millions)

Weekly Earnings

Average Hourly Earnings

Hours Per Week

1939

76,400

$111

$30.00

$ .808

37.1

1940

83,900

124

30.63

.820

37.4

1943

279,100

752

56.93

1.285

44.3

1944

255,700

721

59.67

1.333

44.8

1945

174,900

478

57.71

1.319

43.8

1946

113,800

278

51.30

1.316

39.0

1947

123,900

341

57.67

1.466

39.3

Expansion and New Plant Outlays- reported during 1947 by 202 manufacturers in San Francisco amounted to $16,464,- 200, and by 664 in the Bay Region amounted to $126,- 067,750.

RETAIL TRADE AND SERVICE ESTABLISHMENTS

Retail Trade-Retail trade is one of the major activities among the business groups in San Francisco, ranking impor- tantly in number of employees and amount of payroll. Sales in 1947 are estimated at $1,204,655,000 compared to $1,046,- 564,000 in 1946. Food Store estimated sales in 1947 amount to $257,555,000; General Merchandise Stores sales to $148,- 293,000, and Drug Store sales to $31,802,000.

The per capita sales for San Francisco amounted to $1,491 in 1947. Per capita sales for California amounted to $1,093.

Number of

Dec. 31, 1947

$ 743,834,000 850,770,000

Custom Industries, excluded from

Year

Number of Establishments

SAN FRANCISCO LOCAL MARKET

Compact Market-San Francisco contains the most com- pact market in the West and has a population of about 807,- 700. Only a few cities in the nation exceed San Francisco's population density of over 18,000 persons per square mile. The effective buying net income per family in San Francisco in 1947 was $6,365 compared to $4,501 in California and $4,309 in the nation. The 1947 cash income of civilians in San Francisco was estimated at $2,069,260,000 or 161 per cent above 1940.

Rank-Among the two hundred largest cities in the na- tion in 1947, San Francisco ranked eleventh in population, first in net effective buying income per capita, sixth in total income, sixth in retail sales, fourth in wholesale sales, and fifth in average monthly wages.

Trade-The 1947 retail sales in San Francisco was esti- mated at $1,204,655,000. The retail sales reported in 1939 by the United States Census amounted to only $383,554,000. Wholesale trade in 1947 was estimated at $4,314,175,000, compared to $1,377,614,000 reported in the 1939 United States Census.

Business Activity-1947

Bay Area-The Bay Area post-war business and industrial growth is healthy and sound. Nearly all lines of trade and industry are expanding to serve new markets. National ob- servers select this area to rank with the highest potential growth regions in the Nation, and proclaim compelling evi- dence that the outlook is excellent. The flow of new indus- tries and industrial expansions into the Bay Area brought the 1945-47 three-year total to 2,399 projects with outlays of about $361,000,000. For 1947 alone they reached 664 proj- ects with outlays of $126,067,750, of which 392 were new plants to cost $57,993,400 and 272 expansions to cost $68,- 074,350. Bay Area retail sales for 1947 of $2,991,357,000 were 241 per cent above the 1940 level, wholesale sales of $5,664,832,000 up 246 per cent; bank debits of $32,807,- 415,000 up 172 per cent, and wages of manufacturing pro- duction workers were up 207 per cent. Civilian employment in the San Francisco Industrial Area currently estimated at 891,000 is one-third of a million above 1940.

San Francisco-Final 1947 Business Activity reports con- firm indications that San Francisco and the Bay Area are tak- ing great strides to consolidate this phenomenal development. Business activity in San Francisco during 1947 was more than double that of 1940 and 6 per cent above the preceding year. Our December Index at 295.4 was up 7 per cent above a year ago.

Retail Sales of $1,204,655,000 surpassed the previous year sales by 15.1 per cent. Placements of Industrial and Commer- cial applicants in San Francisco totaled 46,358 during 1947, of these 34,902 were in industry and 11,457 were commercial. At the end of 1947 with 8.1 per cent of State's population, San Francisco accounted for 7.5 per cent of Insured workers' claims, 7.4 per cent of the continued claims and 7.6 per cent of the Veteran claims. Stock exchange transactions during 1947 totaled 10,753,000 shares with a market value of $160,- 952,234. San Francisco chalked up another great year in its history of construction and real estate activity. During 1947 there were 8,570 building permits issued amounting to $36,183,464, and 18,858 real estate sales amounting to $228,267,030. Postal receipts totaled $20,163,743. San Fran- cisco airport traffic established a new all-time annual high of

67,585 planes in and out, or 27 per cent above last year; and the number of passengers on and off soared to a total of 834,360, or 86 per cent above a year ago. Sales of electrical energy were up 16 per cent and industrial and commercial gas sales 5 per cent. Living costs in San Francisco were up 12.3 per cent over the previous year.

FINANCE

Financial Capital-San Francisco, the financial and insur- ance capital of the West, is headquarters of the world's largest bank and is the nation's second most important financial cen- ter. Seven of the nation's one hundred largest commercial banks are located in San Francisco.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is the head- quarters of the Twelfth Federal Reserve District which ranked third in volume of business during 1947 measured by bank debits.

Many hundreds of firms with national reputation have established their Western headquarters in San Francisco and some their national headquarters, including railroad and banking systems of world rank. Today San Francisco is head- quarters of the largest bank in the world.

Stock Exchange-The expeditious handling of widely di- versified financial transactions has contributed greatly to the sound industrial and trade relations between San Francisco and the Western Regional Markets. The San Francisco Stock Exchange early in 1948 continued to hold its place as the nation's second largest regional security market.

Banking-There are 19 banks in San Francisco, several of which operate branches. A few banks with headquarters here operate branch systems throughout the State. Fourteen banks are under State supervision-3 commercial and savings, 1 strictly savings, 1 savings and trust, and 2 title insurance companies operating trust departments. There are 5 national banks and each has a trust department; the trust departments are under State supervision.

Federal Reserve District Debits

1947

1946

New York

$442,978,544,000

$450,682,070,000

Chicago

173,142,108,000

147,330,265,000

San Francisco

107,312,086,000

98,078,466,000

Cleveland

74,350,811,000

64,415,349,000 46,233,024,000

Boston

49,355,773,000

Philadelphia

48,694,279,000

45,948,221,000

S. F. Bank Clearings

S. F. Bank Debits

1942

.$11,336,876,000

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Polk's Crocker-Langley San Francisco city directory, 1948-49, Part 2

Author: R.L. Polk & Co Publication date: 1930 Publisher: San Francisco, Cal. : R.L. Polk & Co. Number of Pages: 2494

Author: R.L. Polk & Co
Publication date: 1930
Publisher: San Francisco, Cal. : R.L. Polk & Co.
Number of Pages: 2494