Western Neighborhoods Project

Western Neighborhoods Project WNP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 1999, that preserves, interprets, and shares the history and culture of San Francisco's west side.

We also manage the OpenSFHistory archive. General Rules of Conduct for Community Members

Western Neighborhoods Project (WNP) strives to create an inspiring, informative, and engaging online community filled with a range of voices. We welcome engagement and constructive dialogue, and every WNP community member has the right to participate in respectful discussions. These guidelines will help foste

r a courteous and dynamic environment for all community members. WNP adheres to the user policy described below on all our platforms. Please understand that our social media moderators check each platform at different intervals throughout and we are not always able to address issues or questions immediately. We reserve the right to hide, delete, or report any content posted that does not adhere to our policy, and block or report users who share such content. The following WILL NOT be tolerated:

- Deliberately misleading or false information
- Complaints about current affairs, contemporary San Francisco, politics etc.
- Hate language or demeaning remarks based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, religion, age, education, ability or physicality
- Disrespectful, bullying or slanderous remarks
- Excessively foul language (determined at the discretion of the moderator)
- The suggestion or encouragement of illegal activities or anything that compromises the safety of individuals
- Pornographic images or statements
- Spam or fraudulent links
- Repetitive posts copied and pasted or duplicated by single or multiple users
- Advertisements, solicitations, and commercial postings

We expect the following standards to be upheld:

- Make all comments and posts related to the topics at hand.
- Engage in historical debate respectfully. You can question facts and ideas without questioning the person who posted them
- Listen and read with an open mind.
- Be dedicated to factual accuracy and evidence-based posts, understanding that many topics are open to an ongoing historical debate. We encourage the following:

- Share your own research, memories, and family stories, not as an ultimate authority but as fellow history enthusiast
- Ask questions of one another and ourselves
- Learn from ongoing dialog. Don’t be afraid to ask for more information, say you’re wrong, or apologize. Please note that WNP is not responsible for conversations about our posts that take place on another account’s page. In addition, each social media platform has its own terms and conditions; we are not responsible for the actions of said platforms. Thank you for being part of the WNP family and engaging in thoughtful, respectful dialogue on this platform.

You're looking at the backside of Sunnyside School from Hearst and Forrester circa 1940. If you're interested in learnin...
09/03/2026

You're looking at the backside of Sunnyside School from Hearst and Forrester circa 1940.

If you're interested in learning more about the history of this school and the neighborhood, we encourage you to check out Amy O'Hair's Sunnyside History Project! https://sunnysidehistory.org/

We just purchased a copy of her new book, "History Walks in Sunnyside: Neighborhood Paths through San Francisco's Past," and can't wait to read it.

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp26.1911]

You're looking at the Goldsworthy gas station and Pontiac dealership on the corner of 16th and Irving circa 1938. Jack G...
09/02/2026

You're looking at the Goldsworthy gas station and Pontiac dealership on the corner of 16th and Irving circa 1938.

Jack Goldsworthy was interviewed by WNP board member Lorri Ungaretti in 2007, and you can read an article about his life and this beloved little gas station on our website: https://www.outsidelands.org/goldsworthy-gas.php

After he passed in 2012, we all worried what would happen to this unique building and, sure enough, it was surreptitiously demolished a few years later with an emergency "public safety" permit. It's been an empty lot every since.

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp4.1604]

You're looking at a busy sidewalk scene in front of Quasar's Ice Cream Store on Haight near Cole circa 1967. [Photo cour...
09/01/2026

You're looking at a busy sidewalk scene in front of Quasar's Ice Cream Store on Haight near Cole circa 1967.

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp28.1266]

You're looking at track being laid by United Railroads workers on Stanyan at Page in March 1906. The two-story building ...
08/31/2026

You're looking at track being laid by United Railroads workers on Stanyan at Page in March 1906. The two-story building at center survives with a modified second story at 644 Stanyan!

[Photo by John Henry Mentz for United Railraods from the McCormick Collection courtesy of WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp60.0031]

Here's another location mystery we hope y'all can help us solve. Can you pinpoint where this circa 1964 photo was taken?...
08/27/2026

Here's another location mystery we hope y'all can help us solve. Can you pinpoint where this circa 1964 photo was taken?

We think it might be in Cole Valley because the same three people are seen in similar images we were able to identify at Stanyan and Grattan. And here's another clue: we see overhead wires for a Muni trolleybus line.

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp25.6101]

You're looking at Muni 6-line streetcar 178 cresting the hill at Clayton and Frederick in 1948. That's Mt. Olympus in th...
08/26/2026

You're looking at Muni 6-line streetcar 178 cresting the hill at Clayton and Frederick in 1948. That's Mt. Olympus in the background.

[Photo from the Jack Tillmany Collection courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp67.0263]

Two unidentified women enjoying Ocean Beach (seemingly dressed for anyplace but the beach) as a man pauses at the seawal...
08/21/2026

Two unidentified women enjoying Ocean Beach (seemingly dressed for anyplace but the beach) as a man pauses at the seawall behind them circa 1925.

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp27.0613]

You're looking at theatre owner, producer, and philanthropist Walter Morosco's carriaged pulled by a whopping 8-horse te...
08/20/2026

You're looking at theatre owner, producer, and philanthropist Walter Morosco's carriaged pulled by a whopping 8-horse team on a drive through Golden Gate Park circa 1900.

At the turn of the 20th-century it was very fashionable to drive through the park for San Francisco's rich and famous. Note the woman on the left wearing a fur coat, as well.

Rich men loved riding their horses through park so much they banded together to fund Speed Road so they could push their steeds beyond the 10 mph speed limit enforced throughout the park. To make a long story short, the road had maintenance issues and became Speedway Meadow (now known as Hellman Hollow) after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

Learn more about this history in an article written by Angus Macfarlane: https://www.outsidelands.org/speed-road.php

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp27.2556]

You're looking at a very quiet Portola Drive from about Dorchester in April 1968.[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector ...
08/19/2026

You're looking at a very quiet Portola Drive from about Dorchester in April 1968.

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp25.1384]

Did you know the OpenSFHistory archive, a program of WNP, encompasses all of San Francisco (not just the west side)? Inc...
08/18/2026

Did you know the OpenSFHistory archive, a program of WNP, encompasses all of San Francisco (not just the west side)? Including this view of two girls walking towards McLaren Park on Delta near Teddy in 1953.

[Photo courtesy of a Private Collector & WNP / OpenSFHistory, wnp28.1115]

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1617 Balboa Street
San Francisco, CA
94121

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