Cliff House Project
A Program of Western Neighborhoods Project

[ Chambers ] [ CC Butler Purchase ] [ Samuel Tetlow ] [ 1863 ] [ Mark Twain ] [ Wreck of the Ann Parry ] [ James Cook ] [ Wreck of the Elizabeth Owens ] [ Jack Lee ] [ Rosa Celeste ] [ 1868 ] [ Brignardello Wreck ] [ George Francis Train ] [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ] [ Josephine Wilcutt Wreck ] [ King Kalakaua ] [ General Sherman ] [ King Philip Wreck ] [ Grant ] [ Ben Butler ] [ Hayes ] [ Sutro Visits Lands End ] [ Sutro Purchase ] [ Ocean & Park RR ] [ Foster Leaves ] [ Adelina Patti ] [ Bridge Collapse ] [ OB Pavilion ] [ Sutro Heights Opens ] [ Baldwin Tightrope ] [ Boyton ] [ Atlantic Wreck ] [ Baldwin ] [ Parallel Wreck ] [ Aquarium ] [ Ferries and Cliff House RR ] [ Davison Bros ] [ Capt Jack Williams ] [ John Williams ] [ balloon ] [ Bullet hits Cliff House ] [ Harrison ] [ Boxers ] [ Millie Lavelle ] [ Sutro Baths Opening ] [ Andrew Carnegie ] [ Storm 1892 ] [ Leland Stanford ] [ Balloon Crash ] [ Sutro fights with Southern Pacific ] [ Burglary 1894 ] [ Sutro Elected Mayor ] [ Xmas fire ] [ 1895 ] [ Caroline Miskell ] [ 1896 ] [ Storm 1896 ] [ Sutro Railroad ] [ Vanderbilt ] [ Olcott ] [ Airship ] [ Mayor Phelan ] [ William Jennings Bryan ] [ High Dive ] [ Sutro Illness ] [ John Harris ] [ Sutro Death ] [ Political Banners 1896 or 1898 ] [ Post Office Branch ] [ Rockefeller ] [ Train wreck ] [ Dive Cancelled ] [ Wireless ] [ CSAA ] [ Storm 1900 ] [ Storm 1901 ] [ Shriners Visit 1901 ] [ McKinley ] [ Henri Turot ] [ Moonlight Run ] [ Fritzi Scheff ] [ Reporter Wreck ] [ Shriners Visit 1902 ] [ Buffalo Bill ] [ Political Banners 1902 ] [ Pacific Cable ] [ Roosevelt ] [ Union Strike ] [ Coast to Coast ] [ Debt ] [ Storm 1904 ] [ Storm 1904 Sept ] [ Storm 1905 ] [ Knights of Columbus ] [ Reopens ] [ Cliff Line ] [ Radio ] [ Storm 1905 Dec ] [ Storm 1906 Jan ] [ Earthquake ] [ Minor Fire ] [ Storm 1906 ] [ Remodel ] [ Fire ] [ Atlantic Fleet ] [ 1908 ] [ 1909 ] [ Fannie Brice ] [ Taft ] [ Telegraph Tower ] [ Landslide 1916 ] [ War Takeover Threat ] [ Rudolph Valentino ] [ Sarah Bernhardt ] [ Closes 1918 ] [ Reopens 1920 ] [ Remodel 1922 ] [ DPW Roadwork ] [ Shriners 1922 ] [ Prohibition Bust 1923 ] [ Prohibition Bust, 1925 ] [ Landslide ] [ Faux Rock ] [ Coffee Shop Opens ] [ Closes 1925 ] [ Storm 1926 ] [ Ohioan Wreck ] [ Charles Sutro Death ] [ Whitney Purchase ] [ 1949 Remodel ] [ Sutro Baths Sold ] [ Skytram ] [ Sold 1964 ] [ Baths Fire ] [ Blue Cliff House ] [ 2003 Remodel ] [ Closed 2021 ]

 

Faux Rock Formation
1925 - 1977

 


Note scaffolding to right of road (close-up below)


 

 

 

 

 


ebary image

 


Photocopy of postcard purchased on ebay, dated 1934 by seller

 

 

 


"VIEW FROM CLIFF HOUSE, OCEAN BEACH  SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.   #313"
John Martini (5/15/2022):  "The fake rocks weren’t all built at the same time. This photo dates to c.1929 based on the presence of Topsy’s Roost
in the background, which opened that year."
Image courtesy of Frank Mitchell

 

 

 

 


 


Herb Cain reference
The San Francisco Examiner - Aug 22 1971

 

Workmen begin dismantling the giant fake rocks on the oceanside slope of Sutro Heights Park across from the Cliff House. The artificial rocks were built in 1925 when the city widened the Point Lobos link with the Great Highway and took away part of the cliff side. The National Park Service plans to cover the exposed surfaces with a concrete coating.

The Chronicle - 1977 AUG. 10

 


The San Francisco Examiner - Aug 10 1977