California Historical Society presents
Gary L. Holloway
History Walkabouts

Explore the history, lore and architecture of California with “everybody’s favorite guide.’’ Walks start from locations accessible by public transit and are repeated several times for your convenience.

JUNE 17 & JULY 15 8 am to 5pm
WEST MARIN & NORTH BAY EARTHQUAKE TOUR DAY
(Marin & Sonoma Counties)

In an ongoing effort to commemorate the Great Quake of 1906, CHS is planning a full day with Gary Holloway as guide on a motor coach, leaving from CHS headquarters downtown and driving to West Marin County to visit such earthquake-devastated sites as Bolinas, Olema and Point Reyes Station. From there we will drive to Santa Rosa and view sites where there was much damage and loss of life in that city in 1906. Pulitzer Prize winning author Philip Fradkin will join us on the June 17th tour (another noted author will join the July 15th tour) leading us to the famous earthquake trail near Bear Valley. Lunch will be on your own in downtown Point Reyes Station. There will be a southern Marin County bus pickup point for those who do not wish to come into San Francisco.

Due to keen interest, we are repeating this outing on two different dates.

JULY 7, 8 & 9
HERB CAEN PROMENADE CENTENNIAL (San Francisco)

A decade has now passed since former mayor Willie Brown designated the entire Embarcadero waterfront as the seven-mile-long Herb Caen Promenade. So much has happened on our city’s bayside during this period, that it is time to revisit it and see all of the changes. On this stroll we’ll look both north and south of our restored Ferry Building at public access, artwork, new buildings, and carefully restored old ones. Interspersed with these sights will be quotes from a variety of Mr. Caen’s columns about the city, which he seemed to prefer to heaven.

Walk is easy, parking is not.

JULY 21, 22 & 23
MISSION DOLORES VILLAGE (San Francisco)

While there were no large Native American villages in what is now San Francisco, the building of Mission San Francisco de Asis (aka Misison Dolores) served as a catalyst for the creation of a settlement around the Mission, consisting of Native Americans, Mexicans and Europeans. On this walk we’ll explore this now-urban neighborhood, emphasizing it’s Native American roots and the presence of many Ohlone Indians, adjacent to the two spring-fed creeks which still run in the area, only now relegated to underground pipes. An interesting portion of this walk will be along the original shoreline of Laguna Dolores, where we’ll actually be able to see the drop in ground-level elevation indicating the historic lakeshore. This walk is meant to complement an exhibit at CHS arriving in October featuring California’s Native American people.

Walk is easy, parking is not.

AUGUST 4, 5, & 6
NANNY GOAT HILL (San Francisco)

The conspicuous ridge, sometimes called Dolores Heights, separates Eureka Valley (also known as The Castro or Upper Market) from Noe Valley. It is fully developed with beautiful homes and offers incredible views of the city in all directions. On this walk we’ll return to an area that we strolled through some ten years ago, and find that the only changes have been in a few new homes, lots of remodeling of homes and in astronomical home prices. Using some back paths and stairs, we’ll climb along the ridgeline, viewing such homes as those of former mayor Sunny Jim Rolph and the street used in the sentimental films based on the “I Remember Mama” stories.

Walk is easy to moderate; parking is not too bad.

AUGUST 18, 19 & 20
INDIAN ROCK AND NORTHBRAE (Berkeley)

Within one year of the 1906 Earthquake and Firestorms, east bay developer Mason-McDuffie was offering over 1,000 acres of developed land for home sites at the north end of Berkeley. Between 1900 and 1910, Berkeley was the fastest growing city in the nation. Coupled with this was a new electric interurban train service that connected this area to downtown Oakland and on to San Francisco by ferry. The developers were so confident about this new area that they even tried (unsuccessfully) to move the site of the State Capitol to the neighborhood! We’ll complement this walk with a stroll through the adjacent Thousand Oaks neighborhood. There will be block-upon-block of Craftsmen and stucco homes, all built with the idea of capturing the Bay views, and located on streets named for most of our Californian counties, a legacy of the ill-advised “Capitol caper”. Featured architects will be John Hudson Thomas, Julia Morgan, Henry Gutterson and Walter Ratcliff, Jr. In conjunction with our Native American theme of the upcoming CHS exhibit, we will visit Indian Rock and Mortar Rock parks, where we’ll find dozens of Native American ground-out mortars for food preparation.

Walk is easy to moderate; parking is easy.

OCTOBER 6, 7 & 8
PARK NORTH (San Francisco)

This interesting neighborhood immediately north of the Golden Gate Park Panhandle is the exact geographic center of our city. Fortunately located outside the fire zone of 1906, it contains some of the oldest homes in San Francisco, including many by noted architects and builders such as the Cranstons, as well as Julia Morgan. On this walk we’ll see a varied streetscape of homes and apartments from many periods of architecture, including the city’s oldest hospital complex and oldest veterinarian (predates the Great Earthquake and Firestorms). We’ll also view the corner Victorian which graced the cover of the first edition of “Painted Ladies”.

Walk and parking are both easy.

OCTOBER 27, 28 & 29
SAN FRANCISCO NATIONAL CEMETERY
(Presidio of San Francisco)           

For Our annual Halloween cemetery walk, we’ll saunter through one of the most famous military cemeteries in the nation, beautifully situated on a hill, with sweeping views of the San Francsico Bay and the Bay Area. Covering some 30 acres of prime land, this cemetery is the final resting place of many famous military and political persons. The remains of General Funston, Baker, Liggett, McDowell and Shafter are all here, along with Congresspersons Phillip and Sala Burton, plus Union spies from the Civil War and Native Americans who served in the U.S. Army. Even with over 40,000 burials, there is still some room left for a few others, mainly surviving spouses. This will truly be a walk through time.

Walk is easy and so is parking.