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San Francisco Then and Now
San Francisco is many things to many people. The popular slogan calls it "Everybody's favourite city," an appellation confirmed year after year as Conde Nast's 'Traveller' magazine rates the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Most San Franciscans call it simply "the City", with a capital "C", a convention followed in this book. Perhaps Rudyard Kipling summed it up best when he said, "San Francisco has only one drawback. 'Tis hard to leave."
'San Francisco Then and Now' looks at where San Francisco has been, and how it appears today. Photographs of San Francisco at the end of the twentieth century are compared to views of San Francisco as it was in years past; from the 1850s to the 1950s. The pictures have been selected for their ability to tell a story about a particular landmark or part of the city. In some photos the changes are dramatic; in others, the changes at subtle but still revealing. In some cases two historical photographs are compared to show how certain parts of the city changed in the first decade after the 1906 earthquake. While the book's primary focus is on famous vistas and familiar landmarks, it also explores well-known neighbourhoods to provide a look how the places where most San Franciscans live have changed.
This is the story of San Francisco and its people and how they have moulded this beautiful and picturesque place into one of the most visually exciting cities in the world.
'San Francisco Then and Now' looks at where San Francisco has been, and how it appears today. Photographs of San Francisco at the end of the twentieth century are compared to views of San Francisco as it was in years past; from the 1850s to the 1950s. The pictures have been selected for their ability to tell a story about a particular landmark or part of the city. In some photos the changes are dramatic; in others, the changes at subtle but still revealing. In some cases two historical photographs are compared to show how certain parts of the city changed in the first decade after the 1906 earthquake. While the book's primary focus is on famous vistas and familiar landmarks, it also explores well-known neighbourhoods to provide a look how the places where most San Franciscans live have changed.
This is the story of San Francisco and its people and how they have moulded this beautiful and picturesque place into one of the most visually exciting cities in the world.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published May 6, 2002
About the author
Bill Yenne
208 books52 followersBill Yenne is the author of several novels and over three dozen books on historical topics. He has also been a contributor to encyclopedias of both world wars.
The New Yorker wrote of Sitting Bull, his biography of the great Lakota leader, that it "excels as a study in leadership." This book was named to the number 14 spot among Amazon's 100 Best Books of the Year.
Library Journal observed that "enthusiastic World War II readers will be drawn to" his dual biography, Aces High: The Heroic Story of the Two Top Scoring American Aces of World War II.
Recently, his book Convair Deltas was named as Book of the Month by Air Classics, while his book Tommy Gun was named Pick of the Month by Shooting Illustrated.
His book Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint was listed among the top business books of the year by Cond Nast Portfolio Magazine, which rated Yenne's tome as its TOP pick for "Cocktail Conversation."
Yenne's Rising Sons: The Japanese American GIs Who Fought for the United States in World War II, was praised by Walter Boyne, former Director of the National Air & Space Museum, who called it "a fast moving... page turner," and the "best book yet written on the saga."
The Wall Street Journal wrote, when reviewing his Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West, that Yenne writes with "cinematic vividness," and says of his work that it "has the rare quality of being both an excellent reference work and a pleasure to read."
The author lives in San Francisco, California, and on the web at www.BillYenne.com
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 2, 2017
I have never been to San Francisco (I only know it through the eyes of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young et al and via Karl Malden and Michael Douglas in 'The Streets of San Francisco') but I have always had a fascination for the city so when I saw this book I decided that I would purchase it and get to know a little bit more!
The photographs throughout are excellent, be they black and white, sepia or full colour, and the most significant thing that comes out of them is how much San Francisco has changed. Obviously any very early photographs show the city before the 1906 earthquake and the subsequent fires so one expects great change in the comparable modern view but even shots from the 1940s and 1950s show great change, even if it is mostly upwards!
Obviously some early buildings remain, even if many are dwarfed, or even obscured, by what has been built around them. But one place that seems to have survived almost intact is around the Alamo Square area where most of the Victorian built houses are still standing and what is more are still instantly recognisable. And in the Richmond district around Geary Boulevard and 19th Avenue the art deco Alexandria movie palace still stands but the adjacent Will King's Koffee Kup had poured its last cup of coffee many years prior to the modern day photograph - a pity for it is such a great name!
Sadly Playland-At-The-Beach, San Francisco's answer to Coney Island or even to Blackpool's Pleasure Beach complete with Fun House, disappeared after 56 years, having been opened in 1916 (being expanded in 1928 to 10 acres) and having closed on 4 September 1972. Immediately thereafter the bulldozers moved in and for a time the area was just an empty field of drifting sand. However, some enterprising entrepreneur built a group of apartment complexes and on Fulton Street where the Big Dipper once stood there is now a fairly large apartment house.
The progress of the building of the Golden Gate Bridge is well charted from work in progress in May 1935 to the modern day when traffic is inbound on the top deck and outbound on the bottom deck; even as late as 1954 two-way traffic still ran on the top deck. On California Street in 1880 Old St Mary's church, then St Mary's Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, stands proud but it ceased to be a cathedral in 1891 when a "New" St Mary's was built across town on Geary Street. That burnt down in 1962 and today a third St Mary's has replaced it while Old St Mary's still stands, almost next to the 33-story Hartford Insurance Building.
The skyline perhaps shows the biggest change looking west from Yerba Buena Island with the Southern Pacific Building and the Ferry Building still visible but flanked by such as the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the four similar towers of the Embarcadero Center, In the background of the earlier photograph of the two, about 1939, the Mark Hopkins Hotel can be seen atop Nob Hill. And Nob Hill has changed considerably, for everything that was present in 1900 went up in smoke in 1906 and now there is the 1,200-room Westin St Francis Hotel and the 1,914-room San Francisco Hilton, which at the time of publication, were San Francisco's two largest hotels.
There are plenty of other comparisons to be made for Bill Yenne has produced an absolutely fascinating portrait of the city and revealed a beautiful picturesque place which is, arguably, one of the most visually exciting cities in the world. Perhaps Rudyard Kipling summed it up best when he said, "San Francisco has only one drawback. 'Tis hard to leave."
The photographs throughout are excellent, be they black and white, sepia or full colour, and the most significant thing that comes out of them is how much San Francisco has changed. Obviously any very early photographs show the city before the 1906 earthquake and the subsequent fires so one expects great change in the comparable modern view but even shots from the 1940s and 1950s show great change, even if it is mostly upwards!
Obviously some early buildings remain, even if many are dwarfed, or even obscured, by what has been built around them. But one place that seems to have survived almost intact is around the Alamo Square area where most of the Victorian built houses are still standing and what is more are still instantly recognisable. And in the Richmond district around Geary Boulevard and 19th Avenue the art deco Alexandria movie palace still stands but the adjacent Will King's Koffee Kup had poured its last cup of coffee many years prior to the modern day photograph - a pity for it is such a great name!
Sadly Playland-At-The-Beach, San Francisco's answer to Coney Island or even to Blackpool's Pleasure Beach complete with Fun House, disappeared after 56 years, having been opened in 1916 (being expanded in 1928 to 10 acres) and having closed on 4 September 1972. Immediately thereafter the bulldozers moved in and for a time the area was just an empty field of drifting sand. However, some enterprising entrepreneur built a group of apartment complexes and on Fulton Street where the Big Dipper once stood there is now a fairly large apartment house.
The progress of the building of the Golden Gate Bridge is well charted from work in progress in May 1935 to the modern day when traffic is inbound on the top deck and outbound on the bottom deck; even as late as 1954 two-way traffic still ran on the top deck. On California Street in 1880 Old St Mary's church, then St Mary's Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, stands proud but it ceased to be a cathedral in 1891 when a "New" St Mary's was built across town on Geary Street. That burnt down in 1962 and today a third St Mary's has replaced it while Old St Mary's still stands, almost next to the 33-story Hartford Insurance Building.
The skyline perhaps shows the biggest change looking west from Yerba Buena Island with the Southern Pacific Building and the Ferry Building still visible but flanked by such as the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the four similar towers of the Embarcadero Center, In the background of the earlier photograph of the two, about 1939, the Mark Hopkins Hotel can be seen atop Nob Hill. And Nob Hill has changed considerably, for everything that was present in 1900 went up in smoke in 1906 and now there is the 1,200-room Westin St Francis Hotel and the 1,914-room San Francisco Hilton, which at the time of publication, were San Francisco's two largest hotels.
There are plenty of other comparisons to be made for Bill Yenne has produced an absolutely fascinating portrait of the city and revealed a beautiful picturesque place which is, arguably, one of the most visually exciting cities in the world. Perhaps Rudyard Kipling summed it up best when he said, "San Francisco has only one drawback. 'Tis hard to leave."
December 26, 2017
Mostly captioned pictures from the past juxtaposed with modern day pics. A neat book. Coffee table hb book
April 12, 2022
This book is a little outdated, but I still enjoyed it. It’s cool to see old pictures side-by-side with a current picture. I would read more of these books if they were available.
November 30, 2010
San Francisco Then and Now by Bill Yenne was one of the first books to go on my wishlist. Now I know as a computer geek, I should take the last on, first off approach but I feel like I should go with the first on the list books first. It's one of those books that's been on my wishlist for so long, I can't remember why exactly I added it.
The book as the title implies, is a photographic comparison of present day places with places photographed in previous decades. With each pair of photographs there is a short explanation of what has changed and what has stayed the same.
It's the sort of book that needs to be read twice. The fist time I suggest just going through to enjoy the photographs. The second time, go back and read the captions. A third time might be good to go through the places in city in person with the book in hand.
The book is almost nine years old and the city has changed since the present day photographs were taken. Now San Francisco isn't one of those places that changes rapidly and repeatedly. It's more of a slow evolution except when mother nature shakes things up with earthquakes and the fire storms that so typically follow.
The book as the title implies, is a photographic comparison of present day places with places photographed in previous decades. With each pair of photographs there is a short explanation of what has changed and what has stayed the same.
It's the sort of book that needs to be read twice. The fist time I suggest just going through to enjoy the photographs. The second time, go back and read the captions. A third time might be good to go through the places in city in person with the book in hand.
The book is almost nine years old and the city has changed since the present day photographs were taken. Now San Francisco isn't one of those places that changes rapidly and repeatedly. It's more of a slow evolution except when mother nature shakes things up with earthquakes and the fire storms that so typically follow.
September 7, 2014
Really interesting. Especially for California residents who've grown up around San Francisco. I go to SF all the time and still learned a lot of new things about some of my favorite places. And it's just fun and incredibke to see how it looked in the past, through all its tragedies. Really great little book. I'm glad my grandma thought to get it for me. She knows I love history.
The photography was amazing (particularly the ones from the past) and the information was kept short, simple, yet intriguing. Good read.
The photography was amazing (particularly the ones from the past) and the information was kept short, simple, yet intriguing. Good read.
January 2, 2010
Great pictures of the city from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. I never realized how developed San Francisco was before the 1906 earthquake!
April 13, 2012
I'm a sucker for San Francisco history, and side-by-side past/present comparison photos of familiar spots in the city are endlessly fascinating.
May 29, 2014
Excellent book on historic San Francisco
May 30, 2015
Another very well done book of photos taken from the same vantage point decades and even up to a hundred years apart...great captions and historical summaries as well.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews