USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 15
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Streets Thronged at Night
The street crowds at night were a particularly noticeable feature. The climatic conditions being such as to tempt people out doors after sun down, the evening saunter developed into a habit, and the south side of Market and the west side of Kearny became a fashionable promenade. The wide sidewalks were crowded from curb to house line with a leisurely moving throng, and rapid progress could only be made by taking to the street or passing over to the less popular side, which would be nearly deserted. This parade was repeated on Saturday afternoons after the matinee performances in the theaters, which were mostly situated on Bush street, the Baldwin having penetrated farthest west. The north side of Market street and the west side of Kearny continued to enjoy the favor of promenaders long after large department stores, erected on the south side of the principal thorough- fare, began to offer attractions in the way of brilliantly illuminated show windows, which rivalled those of the more popular side.
This tendency was so marked that it created an impression that the north side of Market street would always enjoy supremacy, and it had a decided effect on the prices of real estate. In the period we are now dealing with the region "south of the slot," a slang phrase suggested by the cable road on Market street, had not put forth any claims to recognition as a business center. Mission street was still a thoroughfare lined with private residences, some of which had seen better days, but none of which were remarkable either for size or beauty in the down town dis- trict. The owners of property, however, were not inclined to underrate its value, but with the prescience which such possession begets peered far into the future and predicted changes which were later wrought. But the public generally insisted upon thinking of "south of the slot" as a section destined to permanently hold the unenviable distinction which attaches to congested quarters in large cities.
Society Deserts the Mission
Beyond this region was one held in higher esteem and which was even thought by its admirers to possess advantages over other sections sufficient to make it the fashionable residence district of the City. Years after the prestige of the eminence between Third street and the bay had departed it was still thought that the charms of the Mission "warm belt" would outweigh any attraction offered by other parts of San Francisco, and that it would take the place successively occupied by South park and Rincon hill. Several commodious and some pretentious houses were built on spacious grounds, surrounded by the trees, shrubbery and flowers which
"South of the Slot"
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respond so readily to the effort of the cultivator in that part of the City, and for many years it was the established belief that certain localities in the Mission would always be selected by people of wealth as an ideal place for homes; but a changing taste, due to a growing appreciation of marine scenery, and the introduction of the cable traction street car system turned the tide in another direction, and left the once fashionable locality to develop itself along other lines.
No city in the world has been more affected by an improvement in transporta- tion facilities than San Francisco. All the large urban communities in the United States have been greatly benefited by the extension of street railways, and some may have profited more, but none has been so completely revolutionized as the metropolis of the Pacific coast. The topography of San Francisco was such that the Americans who established themselves on the shores of the little harbor of Yerba Buena marked out a line of growth for the future city which would have confined it to the flat lands lying along the bay, and to the gently undulating tract between the reclaimed part east of Montgomery street and the Mission. The abrupt rise commencing at Kearny street, it was supposed, would prove an obstacle to expan- sion westward, and the slow growth of the City in that direction justified this belief; for while there were some who ventured to make their homes on the hill which was afterward called "Nob," and in the valley and region beyond, they were few by comparison with those who elected to follow the line of least resistance which trended southward.
It was not until the cable scheme of traction was a demonstrated success that people began to find the marine views attractive, and to see merit in the region stretching westward towards the ocean. In the early part of the seventy decade A. S. Hallidie, a manufacturer of wire rope in San Francisco, conceived the possi- bility of pulling cars up the steep hills west of Kearny street, and devoted himself to the perfection of a plan to accomplish that object. The idea was not wholly new, for cars had been made to ascend and descend by gravity in English coal mines, but the application of the method to passenger transportation was entirely novel, and the devices for taking hold and letting go the cable and bringing the car to a stop were devised by Hallidie, who is accorded the honor of being the inventor of the system, which promised to come into general use in cities, and would have done so had electricity not superseded it as a motive power. In San Francisco the steep hills still make the use of the cable necessary in some parts of the City, and the probability of it being wholly displaced is remote.
The first cable road built in San Francisco was not an ambitious affair. Its starting point was at Clay and Kearny streets and it negotiated six short blocks, the terminal being at Jones street. It was sufficiently long, however, to demonstrate the feasibility of surmounting the hills by that mode of traction, and to give an impulse to the settlement of a hitherto neglected part of the City. The first trip over the new Clay street road was made on June 28, 1873, and the line was opened for general traffic in September, 1873. Shortly afterward it was extended to Leavenworth street, which remained the terminal point of the line until population caught up with and flowed past and into a section then regarded as far removed from the center of business.
The success of the new system in overcoming the steep grades of Clay street, not only settled the problem of bringing the hilly region lying west of the busy down town section within easy reaching distance, it also suggested the feasibility of
Changes Due to Improved Trans- portation
Invention of the Cable System
The First Cable Road
Success of Cahle Roads
1
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employing the cable for the purpose of drawing the cars operated in the level dis- tricts, thus doing away with horses. The improved method of traction was adopted for roads on Sutter, California and Geary streets before the close of the decade, and by the Presidio and Ferries line. The Market street system (which was first operated as a dummy line and later with horses) turned to the cable in 1883, the Valencia, Haight and McAllister street cars being drawn by wire ropes after that date. At that time the Valencia street branch of the Market street line terminated at 28th street and the Haight and McAllister street lines at Stanyan street.
Terminals of Street Car Lines
Although the cable had proved its merit, and was being adopted in other cities, it did not succeed in displacing all the horse-drawn cars in San Francisco. The original tram line, the North Beach and Mission, and the omnibus system, adhered to the old-fashioned mode of propulsion until electricity began to be employed as a motive power. For various reasons no attempt was made by those companies to dispense with horses, even after the cable was voted a complete success, and regarded as the final thing in street railway locomotion. For many years the cable of the Sutter street line extended no further in the direction of the Ferry than to the inter- section of Sansome and Market, and that of the California street line ended at Kearny street, where a Y was employed to reverse the cars. The Geary street line had its terminus at the intersection of Kearny and Market, where it maintained a turntable in front of what is now the Chronicle building, but which when the new system was first opened in 1880 was a saloon and a noted rendezvous of poli- ticians.
Types of Cars Used
The adoption of the cable resulted in a resort to varied types of cars. The evolution of these is interesting, as it exhibited a disposition to break away from adherence to a style of vehicle which departed only very slightly from the stage coach or omnibus which it supplanted. The early roads were provided with cars of the sort used in Eastern cities, with small windows and very low tops, and were drawn by two horses. There were also some one-horse cars operated from motives of economy, the passengers upon which were expected to deposit their fares in a box which was under the supervision of the driver who, when his searching glance failed to discover the dime or ticket, reminded the negligent rider of his omission by vigorously ringing a bell. The desire for innovation, or the assumption that it would provide a greater seating capacity, led to the adoption by the Presidio and Ferries road of a car circular in shape, a queer looking affair, which was abandoned when the cable was substituted for horse power.
The real or fancied necessity of using a dummy to draw the car, and the strong predilection of San Franciscans for open air, suggested the placing of seats on the side and in front after the manner of an Irish jaunting car, the space in the center being occupied by the gripman and the machinery for taking hold and letting go the cable and to manipulate the brakes. The great popularity of these outside seats determined the type used on several of the cable roads, which became a combina- tion of open and closed car; but the Sutter street line retained its dummies, which were of the same construction as the one first operated on Clay street, until the wire rope was discontinued as did also the Presidio and Ferries line. The Market street system reconstructed its old cars, building an addition to them which was used by the gripman and which was provided with side seats, the passengers on which could be reached by the conductor. The California street line later adopted a car which was termed a double ender, as it permitted the gripman to operate the
Riders Like Open Cars
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car from either end. It was provided with open air seats in front and rear and contained an inclosed space in the center. The Market street system and the Geary street line also embraced in their equipment cars that were wholly open, but the boisterous breezes at certain seasons of the year made them undesirable and they fell into disuse, not, however, until an attempt was made which was fairly successful, to secure a coach which could speedily be converted into an open or closed car at will.
Although urban transportation facilities occupied a large share of public atten- tion during the Seventies it did not take the form it assumed at a later day, when the various systems had become well developed. There is no evidence whatever that the public at that time regarded the conferring of a franchise on anybody seeking one as the granting of a valuable privilege. Precisely the opposite state of mind existed, and those who proposed to build new lines, which would open outlying districts, were hailed as public benefactors; and if they had needed such assistance they could easily have procured the backing of the entire community. This attitude was by no means due to ignorance of the possibilities which the future had in store for those who would invest their money in such enterprises. The curious, by turning to the files of the newspapers of the period, will discover editorials in which the writers, sometimes coaxingly, pointed out the rich returns which the venturesome might expect. The profitable experience of investors in Eastern cities was much dwelt upon, and the probability that it would be repeated in San Francisco was alluringly presented.
There was but one thought entertained generally in connection with street car extension, and that revolved wholly about the consideration that the City would be vastly benefited by making all parts of it easily accessible. And it is a singular fact illustrative of the attitude of San Francisco toward the subject of street car service, that the bill introduced by Frank McCoppin in the state senate in the session of 1877-78, fixing the street car fare at five cents, was not in response to any extraor- dinary pressure either for reduction or uniformity, but was due to the conviction of the author that cheap urban transportation was desirable, and would promote the development of the City. There was so little opposition on the part of the corporations to the passage of the act that some over-suspicious persons feared that the strange display of acquiescence was owing to the presence of a "bug" which would make its appearance later.
This being the situation, it is not surprising that in 1879, when a sudden demand for franchises manifested itself, there was little or no concern displayed by the public, although a warning note was sounded here and there, and attempts to divine the cause of the activity were made by editors who were in the habit of explaining the reasons that moved municipal servants to action. It was suggested that the provisions of the constitution adopted earlier in the year might result in the fram- ing of a city charter which would be less liberal in the matter of conferring fran- chises than the existing Consolidation Act. It is more than probable, however, that the movement was due to an awakening on the part of those who had given atten- tion to the subject to the possibilities of a privilege which was not estimated by the community generally as a very great one, becoming extremely valuable in the future.
Whatever the moving cause in the year named, there were franchises granted to numerous companies, all of which were simultaneously seized with the desire to extend their lines. The most of these were to run fifty years and the demands for
Coaxing Interests to Build Railways
Street Car Fares Reduced to 5 Cents
Franchises In Great Demand
Extension of Street Car Lines
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some of them were framed in a manner highly suggestive of a desire to occupy as many streets as possible with the view of excluding future competitors. It was in 1879 that the corkscrew privilege was extended to the Central railroad to build from the intersection of Market with East street, along East to Jackson, along Jackson to Sansome, thence to Bush, up Bush to Kearny and one block on that street to Post and along Post to Stockton and on Stockton to Geary and out the latter street to Taylor, along which it ran to Market street, crossing that thorough- fare into Sixth, which it traversed as far as Brannan street, along which the tracks were laid as far as the Brannan street bridge. This same company was also per- mitted to extend a line from the intersection of Taylor and Turk, along Turk, Fill- more and Post to Lone Mountain cemetery, and from the intersection of Turk and Fillmore along Turk to First avenue to D strcet and thence along D to Sixth avenue. It was also granted the privilege of constructing from Taylor along Turk to Market and down the latter to Dupont and across to Post. It also reached out for a line from the intersection of Sansome with Bush and along the latter street to Market and along Market to the city front. Still another line, commencing at the inter- section of Sansome and Pine, and along Pine to Market and two more, one from Sansome and Washington, thence along Washington to East, and the other from the intersection of Geary and Powell streets, along Powell to Market.
It is possible that the supervisors, in extending the privilege to operate over the sinuous route described, thought they were conferring a benefit upon the com- munity, for the line mapped out by the Central seemed to have been dictated by the idea of extending its car service to all the developed business and residential portions of the City, but it is in the highest degree improbable that the projectors of the road believed that a zigzagging route, such as they had provided, would become popular or retain its popularity as the inhabited area of the City extended. Even in the days when the horse-drawn vehicles had accustomed the average citizen to patience, it was deemed too circuitous for practical purposes, and was used only by those to whom time was no object. But the crookedness of the line proved a valuable asset in the end, and when the work of consolidating began the foresight of the projectors in preempting all the down town streets was well rewarded.
Although no other franchise granted at this time disregarded the public inter- est as flagrantly as the Central, the supervisors were extremely liberal in dealing with the Market street system. A description of all the privileges asked for and granted to this corporation would be as uninteresting as the catalogue of the ships of the allies of Agamemnon before Troy. But it is worth noting that it was the Market Street Company which set the ball rolling in 1879. There was a breathing space of some months after the California Street Company, which had obtained its franchise in June, 1876, and on February 17, 1879, had its duration extended to 50 years, at the same time that a franchise was asked for a road, to be operated by steam dummies westward from Central avenue. On September 20th the Market street people began to get busy and put in a big batch of demands, all of which were granted. In the November following the North Beach and Mission came to the front and secured many privileges, some of which it never availed itself of as, for instance, to operate its lines by cable. On the same day, November 14th, the Sutter Street Company obtained a batch of 50-year franchises, and two weeks later the City Railroad Company came to the fore with several requests, as did also the Omnibus Company. On the 29th of November the Clay Street Hill Company was
Wholesale Grants of
Franchises
Corkscrew Routes
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permitted to extend its operations as far west as Van Ness avenue, and the project of constructing a road from the intersection of Haight and Stanyan streets to the beach near the Cliff house was launched, not, however, without calling out protests against cutting off a corner of Golden Gate park.
One of the anomalies of this scramble for franchises was the failure of some of those seeking privileges to realize the possibility of their growing in value with the increase of the City in population and wealth. When A. R. Baldwin, Andrew S. Hallidie, James Moffitt, Nathaniel J. Brittain and Arthur M. Bowman on December 30, 1879, sought the privilege of building and operating a road to the presidio from the intersection of Montgomery avenue and Union street, they thought that a period of twenty-five years was sufficiently long for their purpose. They were sagacious business men, presumably gifted with an average degree of foresight, but they were evidently convinced that the granting of a franchise was a mere matter of form, and that its extension could be procured whenever asked for by those interested. Their course was in marked contrast to that of the California street and some of the other roads which seized the opportunity to lengthen their franchises, some with the view of harmonizing the duration of the privileges they had previously obtained, and others for the purpose of prolonging the life of their grants as long as possible.
Facts of the sort described, and the perfectly acquiescent attitude of the com-, munity would seem to indicate the utter absence of turpitude in the city officials, but it is nevertheless true that more or less suspicion was aroused by the readiness of the supervisors to bestow any favor that might be asked of them; and it was broadly intimated that their complaisance was not wholly due to public spirit. Still the criticism was by no means harsh, even the public press opposed to the party in power accepting their action as a matter of course. Indeed it may be said that from this time forward, no matter what the character of the men elected to office may have been, the assumption was more or less general that supervisors were not in office, to use the slang of the day, "for their health."
There had been too much laxity of public sentiment in previous years to warrant the assumption that the mania for speculation which manifested itself during the three or four years following the discovery of the big bonanza was responsible for the lowering of the moral tone which marked the close of the decade. There was a period of comparative immunity from municipal scandal after 1856, but that was due to the fact that the people were content to vegetate and refused to make any public improvements whatever. As soon as the fever for development took hold of the community there was a different story to tell. The sternness of opinion pro- duced by the Vigilante experience relaxed, and the best of citizens became absorbed in projects for the expansion of the City, and were not inclined to narrowly scru- tinize the methods by which the desired result was to be achieved. This state of mind explains the complacency with which the giving away of franchises was viewed. Attention was concentrated on visible effects and future results were in- ferrcd, and their benefits anticipated and sometimes discounted.
In 1874 Leland Stanford began the erection of his mansion on the corner of Powell and California streets. Although constructed of wood it was imposing in appearance, owing to its proportions and its commanding situation, and when it was occupied in 1875 the people of the City spoke of it as palatial. This description was also applied to the mansions erected by Crocker and Hopkins, the partners of Stanford, who selected that neighborhood as a place of residence, as did also David
Men Who Overlooked Possibilities
Criticism of Supervisors
Relaxation of Vigilance
Mansions Erected on Nob Hill
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Colton, a man high in the councils of the railroad magnates, and usually regarded as one of them. This circumstance caused the locality to be popularly designated Nob hill, the word "Nob" being drawn from the English reservoir of slang, a fact worth emphasizing, as there has been a disposition since the fire for the unin- formed to speak of it as "Knob" hill. The effect of this selection was very marked. It at once decided that the movement of the fashionable world would be westward. There was not an immediate abandonment of the localities formerly affected by the well-to-do, but the least observant were able to perceive that the stamp of fash- ionable approval and improved transportation facilities would cause the filling up of the western addition. In some way this movement responded to the instinctive desire for compactness, which manifests itself in all cities, and which perhaps is due as much to the gregarious tendencies of man as to the realization of the advantages of contiguity for business and purely social purposes.
New Localities Opened to Settlement
While the major part of the community was merely pleased to see the results which followed the inauguration of the Clay street road in 1873, the few long headed ones, foreseeing that there would be profit in opening up other localities, and binding them to the business center, were prolific in schemes to that end. It was natural that the Central Pacific coterie should be prominent in such a move- ment, for the prime reason for building a transcontinental railroad was the convic- tion that it would open the country to settlement and thus enhance the value of land which was lying useless.
Thus it happened that owners and speculators in real estate proved a great fac- tor in the promotion of railroad extension, and as is usual under such circumstances, while appearing to be catering to a demand for expansion, they were in reality creating the demand to which they responded. This is made clear by the presence of the names of prominent real estate operators in many of the grants of franchises in the closing year of the seventy decade and in the opening years of the eighties. They are found associated in many cases with those of men known to be closely connected with the railroad, and sometimes with those of the magnates themselves. It is not possible that in thus allying themselves with the latter that they regarded their action as an evasion of the spirit of the law, which required corporations to confine themselves strictly to the purpose for which they were created; if they did they acted openly and the community as a rule regarded them as enterprising citizens.
The part played by the active speculator in real estate in a growing city is not always clearly recognized by the community, which sometimes views his operations with distrust. This is especially true of a city whose development has been rapid by comparison with that of cities on the Atlantic seaboard, where the enhancement of the value of real estate seems to be dependent on the immediate rather than the remote demand for business and residential purposes. The history of real estate movements in San Francisco reflects the speculative tendencies of the people and to some extent the course of business. From the very beginning an astonishing de- gree of confidence was shown in the future. It has been remarked by a competent observer that "the record of sales since 1867 show that Market street values never dropped except in the case of a few sales after the fire of 1906." The significance of this statement becomes apparent when accompanied by the information that there have been periods of stagnation, during which the high water mark of a particu- larly active real estate movement would remain stationary for many years. The hand on the dial never moved backward. A Market street owner may have been
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