Product Description

People who recall San Francisco's prior days bemoan that it just isn't the same... and they're right. San Francisco will always remain one of the world's great cities, but yesterday's San Francisco, with it's personalized style and charm, had no rival. With long-forgotten stories and evocative photographs, San Francisco's Lost Landmarks showcases the once-familiar sites that have faded into dim memories and hazy legends. Not just a list of places, facts, and dates, this pictorial history shows why San Francisco as been a legendary travel destination and one of the world's premier places to live and work for more than one hundred and fifty years. It not only tells of the lost landmarks, but also serves up the flavor of what it was like to experience these past treasures.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162181 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781884995446
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Author
When I meet people who used to live in San Francisco or visited in years gone by, they often give me the tired old line, "I used to love going there but it's no longer the same." That's the point of this book. San Francisco has never been "the same" in its entire history and it's not just because of the 1906 earthquake and fire. The city began in a state of metamorphosis and has never stopped. Fifty years from now, the complaints will be the same.

I've captured some of the fun places and events in the city with the goal of entertaining first, then educating. There's no test at the end of San Francisco's Lost Landmarks. With over 150 photos and graphic representations, it's written to be read.

About the Author
James R. (Jim) Smith has spent years chronicling the stories of San Francisco and the California Gold Country.

Smith is a well-respected expert on California history in several historical and genealogical forums, voluntarily fulfilling historical research requests. He volunteered his time to identify and document locations in photographs of the 1906 earthquake aftermath and received credit for the California research within the book "When all Roads Led to Tombstone" by W. Lane Rogers. Smith also completed the research for another joint project with that author. He was credited for his research for Wendy Lawton’s "Almost Home" and "Ransom’s Mark".

A member of the California Historical Society, the San Francisco History Association and the San Francisco Historical Society as well as an annual member of the Library Fund, University of California, Berkeley, Smith is active in the preservation and promotion of local history and lore. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the University of San Francisco and undertook his graduate studies at San Jose State University.

Smith is a fourth-generation native of San Francisco. He gained a deep respect for the city of his birth when listening to his grandparents tell their stories of San Francisco during the first half of the twentieth century. He’s often found haunting the libraries and archives of his native city and enjoying its social life with his wife Liberty.

Customer Reviews

De Alba comments on James Smiths' new book.
It is my pleasure to say to the readers here at the Amazon Web Site that Mr. James R. Smith's new book release "San Francisco's Lost Landmarks" has taken me back to a most delightful time when San Francisco was at its peak of glory.

I was extremely lucky to have lived and entertained in the San Francisco Bay Area between the Years of 1969 to 1989 and the best days of my life were spent there.

As I keep reading this most informative material about this wonderful City by the Bay and looking at the most interesting photos displayed on this book, I say to Mr. Smith...."Bravo, bravo, because you have breathed life into this book and San Francisco, at least while this book brings all its grandeur back and all the ghosts come rushing back smiling as if they were alive once again in the city where they lived, loved and worked. God bless, David de Alba, The Cuban Legend from Finocchio's.

Your personal gemstone of SF history
San Francisco's Lost Landmarks by James R. Smith
Whether you're a native, a relative or a tourist, this book will be your personal gemstone of historical information. From the gold rush through the twentieth century it takes you to the parks, the wharfs, the saloons, the theaters, the International Expositions, the restaurants, hotels and the history that have made San Francisco uniquely, The City.
Smith is a fourth generation native of The City and his passion for its special place in his life fills these pages. He tells the tale of its evolution from sand dunes to metropolis in a friendly conversational style that's accompanied by fascinating historical photographs and quoted inserts by natives who lived during times past. What develops as you read is a picture of people with determination who built a city first with gold, then with agriculture, trade and industry. There is no other place like San Francisco and Smith captures its uniqueness simply by documenting a reality that is frequently stranger than anyone could create with fiction. How many times did buildings burn to the ground only to be rebuilt in grander style?
My own personal history came alive reading this: The water chute at Playland, swimming at Sutro's, breakfast at the Cliff House, dancing at Bop City, riding the ferry boat to the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, my grandmother's memories of the 1906 earthquake and fire, brunch at the Palace Hotel or meeting Emperor Norton walking along Market Street. But more than nostalgia, I gained a perspective of San Francisco's place in the growth of our nation and the development of its place in the a global economy.
Reading this was a journey of discovery. I didn't know there was an earlier, 1894 International Exposition. I didn't know that Treasure Island was also intended to be the location of the San Francisco International Airport. And the list goes on.
Yes, there was crime and graft wherever there were people and money and it's included as part of the city's history. But San Francisco was and is a spectacular fairyland of sweeping vistas, rolling hills, wind swept beaches, amazing bridges and beautiful buildings. The fairy castle on the book's cover exemplifies this theme. It's the third Cliff House, built in the French Chateau style, completed by Adolph Sutro in 1896 and burned to the ground in 1907.
Reviewed August 24, 2005 Copyright 2005 Charles T. Markee

More San Francisco Memories
At age 83 I never thought a book would come along that would help me relive my memories of growing up in San Francisco in the 1930s.
Jim Smith has fulfilled that need.
I did not know all of his landmarks, but I remember with affection the Golden Gate International Exposition, Playland at the Beach, Topsy's Roost, Sutro Baths and many more from this wonderful and well written book.
Thank you, Jim, for taking me back.