Check it out: gigantic model of 1940 San Francisco now viewable online

Piece AA1, showing Geneva Avenue, baseball diamonds, and Amazon Reservoir site.
Credit: DavidRumsey.com

In the late 1930s, the Works Progress Administration funded the construction of an enormous 42- by 38-foot wooden replica of 1940 San Francisco. The model consists of 158 pieces at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, and contains about 6,000 removable city blocks. It was first displayed in sections in the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in 1939. The model, now owned by UC Berkeley, has not been on public view in its entirety since 1942. Now, under the auspices of a joint SFMOMA and San Francisco Public Library project called “PublicKnowledge: Take Part,” the wooden sections have been retrieved from storage, cleaned, and photographed so the entire model can be viewed in detail online.

Renowned cartographer and map collector David Rumsey created a large composite image of the model, which he also georeferenced and placed in Google Earth. He hosts the metadata database of all 158 images. You can see the images and learn more about the project at his website.

Special thanks to Jacqueline Henderson for bringing this to our attention, via a post at Dick Eastman’s blog.

 Copyright © 2019 by California Genealogical Society

Wordless Wednesday: Senior Tech Fair, San Francisco Public Library

Maureen Hanlon speaks to a participant

Maureen Hanlon, Lynne Skelton and Kathleen Beitiks pictured

All photos by Linda Harms Okazaki

Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society

Saturday Genealogy Field Trip: San Francisco Public Library's Amazing History Center

San Francisco Public Library.  Photo by J. Ash Bowie 

Prepare to be wowed.

Please join field trip coordinator, Frances Silcox, and current president Linda Harms Okazaki this Sat, Feb 6th from 10am-12pm for a members only encore tour of the areas of genealogical interest at the San Francisco Main Public Library. Register here.

Susan Goldstein, San Francisco City Archivist

Attendees will gather at 10:00 a.m. inside the main library entrance, then head straight up to The San Francisco History Center on the sixth floor.  We'll tour the magnificent history room with it's amazing holdings.  It will be led by San Francisco City Archivist Susan Goldstein.  

Photo by Kathryn Doyle

Afterwards, we'll go downstairs for a fun classroom presentation to learn about the online catalog and the many San Francisco records the library has recently digitized through Archive.org and FamilySearch.org along with how to access them.

If you don't already have a San Francisco library card, then this will be a great opportunity to get one. Residents of California with identification may obtain one for free.  Interested? Detailed information is available at the library website.

Photo by Kathryn Doyle

After all that walking and listening, you might be ready for a bite to eat.  Grab someone from the tour and check out Café Asia at the Asian Art Museum.

Getting there

Remember to take BART (it's Super Bowl weekend).  Come to the Civic Center Station, then exit and walk towards the large blue medallion painted on the wall.  Next, go up the stairs or escalator. The library is across the street.

Date & Time

Saturday, February 6, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Where

San Francisco Main Public Library

100 Larkin Street

San Francisco, 94102

What

An exclusive members only event.  Register here today!

Not a member, but would like to go?  Join here for only $40.

We hope to see you there!

Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society

Saturday Field Trip to the San Francisco Public Library

Saturday, February 1, 2014
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco Main Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, 94102

For members only!

Join Past-president Jane Lindsey for an encore tour of the areas of genealogical interest at the San Francisco Main Public Library. Attendees will gather at 11:00 a.m. outside The San Francisco History Center on the sixth floor and split into two groups for a tour led by San Francisco City Archivist Susan Goldstein and library staff.

BART will be the transportation of choice. Travel to the Civic Center Station and walk towards the large blue medallion painted on the wall, then up the stairs or escalator. The library is across the street.

After the tour, members will gather to learn about the online catalog and the many San Francisco records the library has recently digitized through Archive.org and FamilySearch.org and how to access them.

If you don't already have a San Francisco library card this will be a great opportunity to get one. Residents of California with identification may obtain one for free. Applications are available at the Main and must be submitted in person. Detailed information is available at the library website.

Attendees may want have lunch together. The Mint Café is located on the lower level of the library. Café Asia at the Asian Art Museum is close by.

This field trip is organized for members of the California Genealogical Society. Non-members interested in participating are encouraged to become members. The maximum group size is forty members.

Photographs of the San Francisco Main Public Library by Sameer Vasta, October 24, 2006, Creative Commons License.

Copyright © 2014 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Wordless Wednesday

Field Trip to the San Francisco Public Library and

Tour by City Archivist Susan Goldstein and Staff

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Field Trip to the San Francisco Main Public Library

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m..

San Francisco Main Public Library
100 Larkin Street

100 Larkin St.

San Francisco, 94102

For members only!

Join Past-president Jane Lindsey for a tour of the areas of genealogical interest at the San Francisco Main Public Library. Attendees will gather at 11:00 a.m. outside The San Francisco History Center on the sixth floor and split into two groups for a tour led by San Francisco City Archivist Susan Goldstein and library staff.

BART will be the transportation of choice. Travel to the Civic Center Station and walk towards the large blue medallion painted on the wall, then up the stairs or escalator. The library is across the street.

After the tour, members will gather to learn about the online catalog and the many San Francisco records the library has recently digitized through Archive.org and FamilySearch.org and how to access them.

Register online.

If you don't already have a San Francisco library card this will be a great opportunity to get one. Residents of California with identification may obtain one for free. Applications are available at the Main and must be submitted in person. Detailed information is available at the library website.

Attendees may want have lunch together. The Mint Café is located on the lower level of the library. Café Asia at the Asian Art Museum is close by.

This field trip is organized for members of the California Genealogical Society. Non-members interested in participating are encouraged to become members prior to July 1, 2013. The maximum group size is forty members.

Photographs of the San Francisco Main Public Library by Sameer Vasta, October 24, 2006, Creative Commons License.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

A San Francisco Public Library Talk by Jane Lindsey: Using Familysearch.org for Your Genealogy Research

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

San Francisco Main Public Library
Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A

100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Jane Knowles Lindsey will present a lecture at the  San Francisco Main Library on using FamilySearch.org. This free website provides a collection of records, resources, and services to help people with their genealogical research. Records on the site come from the United States and from countries around the world. It is one of the most heavily used genealogy sites on the Internet.

This talk will focus primarily on learning to search the records, finding information in the card catalog and the exploring the Learn tab which includes the Familysearch Wiki.

Come discover what you can find about your family on this incredible website!

Jane Knowles Lindsey is past-president of the California Genealogical Society. She continues to serves on its events committee. Jane's specialty is events planning and she has arranged genealogical research cruises to Alaska, Canada and the Carribbean. In addition, she leads annual group research tours to major genealogical libraries in Salt Lake City and Boston.

Mrs. Lindsey, a native of Massachusettes, received her R.N. degree from Boston University and practiced nursing until 1983. She did extensive volunteer fundraising for Children’s Hospital, Oakland, until 1998. Jane is also a past Trustee and Council member for the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. She travels to Salt Lake City at least twice a year to do her own family research and for private clients.

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

San Francisco Pioneer Cemeteries

This week the co-founder of SFgenealogy.com (and CGS member) Ron Filion turned a media double-play just in time for Halloween. Last night KPIX anchor Ken Bastida asked another Good Question of Ron, this time: Are There Any Unmarked Graves in San Francisco? Be sure to watch the footage and learn the fascinating history of the burials at the Lincoln Park Golf Course.

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=57299@kpix.dayport.com

You can hear more from Ron, in person, this weekend at the San Francisco Main Library. Today's 96 Hours section of the San Francisco Chronicle features 'S.F. Pioneer Cemeteries': Where the dead lived stating the "presentation offers the chance to find out what neighborhood the City's dead used to reside in before they all up and moved to Colma." Ron's lecture about the earliest cemeteries in San Francisco is part of the One City One Book October Events.

Ron tells me that his talk will be a "fast romp through all the cemeteries in San Francisco." He will cover the cemetery locations, discuss how the City's growth affected them, and share stories about their relocations. The library's promotional material carries this warning: This presentation will not be for the faint of heart.

San Francisco Pioneer Cemeteries
Saturday, October 31, 2009
10:30 a.m.
San Francisco Main Library
Latino/Hispanic Room B
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, California 94102

Old San Francisco Cemetery Records

Saturday, October 17, 2009
11 a.m.–1 p.m.
San Francisco Main Library
Latino/Hispanic Room B
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, California 94102

Our own Nancy Peterson, Research Director for the California Genealogical Society and Library presents Old San Francisco Cemetery Records as part of the One City One Book September Events line-up at the San Francisco Main Library.

Her lecture will answer questions about San Francisco’s old cemeteries – Where did the bodies go and what records followed them? Who and what was left behind and never moved at all?

Nancy tells me that she will spend some time on "determining the date of death in order to locate the correct old cemetery." She's created a summary handout of available records so she can concentrate her talk on "the colorful history of disinterment and reinterment (and no disinterment)" in the second hour of her presentation.

Nancy Simons Peterson is a certified genealogist and author of numerous articles. She won the Society of Genealogists Scholar Award in 2003. Her narrative genealogy Guarded Pasts: The Lives and Offspring of Colonel George and Clara (Baldwin) Bomford was the winning entry in the 1998 National Genealogical Society Family History Writing Contest and is used as an example of quality work in the NGS Quarterly style on the Board for Certification of Genealogists Web site.

Nancy's search for her maternal San Francisco ancestors led ultimately to the publication of Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research, published by the society in 2006 to coincide with the centennial of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.

As Research Director, Nancy provides expert assistance for members and non-members alike. The charge is $30 per hour ($20 for members) which covers research time, analysis, documentation and a report. Rarely can one obtain the services of a certified genealogist at such bargain prices, and, as with the proceeds from her book, all monies collected benefit the society.

Photograph of the old IOOF Cemetery is part of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, used for this promotion with permission of Christina Moretta, Photo Curator, San Francisco Main Library.