Cliff House Project
A Program of Western Neighborhoods Project

[ Introduction ] [ History ] [ Photos ] [ Photos 2 ] [ Albums ] [ stories ] [ Virtual Tour ] [ Postcards ] [ trade cards ] [ Stereoviews ] [ Tintypes ] [ Slides ] [ Film ] [ Theater ] [ Interiors ] [ Illustrations ] [ Multimedia ] [ Model ] [ Exonumia ] [ Commercial ] [ Documents ] [ Books ] [ Environs ] [ Studio ] [ Transportation ] [ Blueprints ] [ Maps ] [ Other Cliff Houses ] [ Detractors ] [ Then-Now ] [ research ] [ Prints ] [ FAQ ] [ Wish ] [ Links ] [ Thanks ]

 

Photo Gallery 2

Page 1       Page 2

 


"CHOIR NEAR CLIFF HOUSE"
 

 

 

 


"Taken on rocks at beach of Pacific Ocean, San Francisco California.  Sunday Oct 9 '04"
(reverse)




 

 

 


"73. CLIFF HOUSE, Geo. A. McDonald"
The photographer, George A. McDonald, was the son of A.J. McDonald

 


Courtesy of Frank Mitchell

 


 

 


cyanotype

 

 


(reverse)

 

 


Note crane structure (3-legged gin pole) along side of road
Photo taken a month before it was destroyed by fire, per writing on reverse (rev)
Courtesy of Frank Mitchel


 


Photographer: Waters

 



Note: An unidentified object can be seen on the side of the road (enlarged below).
 

 

 

 

 


"March 3 1905"
(reverse)

 


"Nov 27-05  895 Harrison St
Cousin Martha: I am having a good time going up in the Country for the Holidays. The Building on the rocks is the Cliff House.
Don't you envy me: This scene is the beach near the Golden gate. Write soon Harley"
(text rotated) (reverse)
Reverse:  "FRED RANSOM   PHOTOGRAPHER", "AUG 20 1903", "317 O'FARRELL ST." (reverse)

 


 

 


"611 - Cliff House from Sutro Heights"  "WATERS NICKEL SERIES"
(colorized postcard of same image here)

 


Cliff House, showing construction in the foreground and scaffolding around the upper windows (reverse)


 



 



Postcard from Bess to sister Mrs. Katharine Goodwin, postmarked May 5, 1907  (rev)

Further research with Ancestry.com by Frank Sternad provides the following:
Sarah Elizabeth Borden (“Bess,” b. 1881 Gallup, NM)
Stepsister Katharine May Allen Borden (b. 1868 Michigan)
By the time the photo was taken on the beach in 1907, Bess had married Thomas
Burton Drury (“B.” in the message) and Katharine had married Ralph Goodwin.
Ten years later both Katharine (now surname Zimmerman) and Elizabeth Drury were
living in Richmond, CA.
 


 


8" x 10" Large Format Antique Copy Film Negative, purchased from the Marilyn Blaisdell collection,  photographer unidentified.
Provenance: Image derives from the Wyland Stanley Collection of historical memorabilia which included thousands of photographs and antique negatives.
The entire collection was purchased by Marilyn Blaisdell in the late 1970s.

 


Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

 


Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

 

 


The above image is retouched to remove damage.  Here is the original scan:  link
Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

 


Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke
 

 


"Cliff House, San Francisco, Sept 1st 1903"
(reverse)

 


"Cliff House, 03"

 


Reverse: "Harry Sanderson, Aug 30 1901" (image)

 

 


Reverse: "Cliff House, Little Miss Pierson on the beach"  (link)

 


Sign on wagon: "WAFFLE BAKERY"

 


Courtesy of John Hall Collection

 


(additional photos here)

 


Reverse:  "FRED RANSOME, MT. TAMALPAIS, PHOTOGRAPHER, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.  FEB 22 1899"
(reverse)

 



"Worden, SF"

Zooming in on this photo reveals what appears to be a man on the roof...


 

 


Taken by D.H. Wulzen or D.H. Wilkins (manager of the Cliff House)
GGNRA Park Archives & Records Center

 


"LOWER PORCH, CLIFF HOUSE, TO VIEW THE SEALS - PABST BEER 5 ¢, ADMISSION FREE"
Scan courtesy of Bill & Shelly Bronsch

 

 

 


"Cliff House 1902"

 


"Cliff House Beach, 1908, Iva and Rae"

 


"227. The Pacific, from Cliff House by Moonlight"


 


Window washer hanging from the side of the building
(click here for more information)

 


From a box of unrelated glass negatives (posted here)

 


Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke


 


Image courtesy of Paul Clinton
(The above image was modified...the original is visible here.)
 

 


Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

 



boys and bicycle   (reverse)
Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke
 

 

 

Panoramas


"Birds Eye View of the Beach, Seal Rocks, Cliff House and Sutro Heights, Copyrighted by W. C. Billington, Sutro Heights"
John Hall Collection

 


~ Buffalo Bill & his Wild West Show ~

(Albumen print panoramic view of Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show, members on the beach in front of the Cliff House, San Francisco, CA, ca. 1900-07. Photographer unknown. Presented by Mrs. Nate Salsbury, photo courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian)

 


Image courtesy of Robert Tat Gallery
 

 

 

 


 



fold-out postcard

 

 

The Fire

            

For additional photos of the fire, click here.

 

Page 1       Page 2

 

Top of Page