Product Description

Before the discovery of silver and gold, San Francisco was a frontier missionary town. From these modest beginnings, the city overcame great adversity to become one of the world s most significant metropolitan centers. Throughout its history San Francisco has been an entrepreneurial center. Beginning with new transportation technologies of railroads and shipping, to services such as banking and insurance, the entrepreneurial community has a long history of overcoming challenges to reach prosperity.
This volume, Historic Photos of San Francisco, captures the evolution of this great city in still photography from various collections of the San Francisco Public Library. The book follows life, government, education, and events spanning two centuries of San Francisco's history. It captures unique and rare scenes through the original lens of hundreds of historic photographs. These images portray the events and people that have played a part in the building of a unique and prosperous city.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #160803 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 206 pages

Review
'Historic Photos of San Francisco' is no average coffee-table book... the captions are...full of rich , well-researched historical facts and anecdotes from the 1860s to the 1960s. --SF Richmond Review

I've recently been enjoying a hefty, beautiful book about San Francisco, called, simply, Historic Photos of San Francisco, with text and captions by Rebecca Schall. Dozens of photographs culled from the collections of the San Francisco Public Library span two centuries of the city's development, from its beginnings as The Paris of the West in the late 19th century to the turbulent sixties. A great coffee table book for anyone with an interest in San Francisco history. --michellerichmond.com

Whatever your pleasure, it's probably here in glorious and crisply detailed black and white - each photo dated, documented, and nicely put into context. There are other books in the category of cool shots of the old city, but if you're looking for instant transportation to every decade of San Francisco's history, give this one a look. --sparkletack.com

About the Author
Rebecca Schall grew up in San Francisco s Richmond district, graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and psychology from Occidental College in Southern California, and received a master's degree in history from San Francisco State University. She has conducted historical research on the Ohlone Indians, San Francisco during the Civil War, and the experience of the Japanese population in San Francisco during World War II. In addition to her academic research, she has developed exhibits for the Mission Dolores Museum of Bay Area Indian History, contributed articles to the Encyclopedia of San Francisco, and has worked on an archaeological excavation in San Francisco's Presidio. She is a member of the San Francisco and California Historical societies, as well as other local historical organizations. She is currently living in Paris, where she continues her studies at the Sorbonne.

Customer Reviews

A photographic memoir of a resilient city
With two parents that were professors on the topic, I grew up in a household where history was always at the top of the agenda. To complement that, I have always been a fan of photography, doing my own share of it when I get the opportunity. So the book "Historic Photos of San Francisco" came like a perfect blend for me, even more so because San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world.

As the title implies, the book offers a photographic history of the city, going from 1860, through the turn of the century (including the earthquake of 1906 and the post-earthquake period), all the way through to the 1960s and the "Summer of Love". The photos not only capture key moments and memories in the city's life: they also help the reader understand the resilient nature of San Fran.

"Historic Photos of San Francisco" makes for more than just a nice coffee table book: it's an invaluable testimonial and historic reference for the generations to come.

Historical San Francisco Seen Through a Representative Parade of Images
With this handsome coffee table book, author Rebecca Schall offers a thoughtful pictorial history into San Francisco that offers a treasure trove of historical photos accompanied by her observant text. She has obviously researched her project with a keen eye as she culled what must have been quite an archive of photos from various collections in the San Francisco Public Library.

The result is a vivid parade of images that traces the city's growth from the days after the Gold Rush through the 1906 earthquake and up to 1967. Her thumbnail-style text is a bit on the cursory side to get a full picture of the various changes that transformed the city, but you get enough insights to appreciate the various factors that have shaped the city's unique character. It makes a suitable companion piece to Bill Yenne's San Francisco Then & Now, which shows how many of the locations featured in Schall's book look now.

Down memory lane in the Bay Area.
This is a spectacularly beautiful book of archival photos of old San Francisco with interesting and stimulating text. It will be of particular interest to locals and to all people who love San Francsico (and that is just about everyone). Residents will find it fun to visit the sites of long-gone attractions and to check out the buildings and vistas that are still there.

Well done!