The world's first cable car, built in 1873. (Courtesy of State Library)
#TBT: San Francisco's Stagecoaches, Steamboats, Trains and Cable Cars, 1849-1917
28 September 2017
To celebrate Transit Week (Sep. 25-Oct. 1) in San Francisco, we're taking a gander back at the various modes of transportation that got San Franciscans from point A to point B from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.
1849
via Bruce C. Ruiz
The ship was the original mode of transport for those wanting to travel to and from San Francisco. Thousands fled to the city to begin their search for gold near Sutter's Mill. As you can see in the photo above, several of these ships were abandoned in the bay.
▲1853
(Photo from a daguerreotype series by William Shew, via Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Here's a closer look at the many ships that were left behind during the days of the Gold Rush.
▲1858
(via SVCHistory.com)
This illustration, from the December 11, 1858 issue of Harper's Weekly, depicts the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach departing from SF. The company transported mail and passengers between SF and St. Louis, taking a whopping 25 days while traveling 24 hours a day.
▲1860-1875
(Photo by Lawrence & Houseworth, publisher, via Online Archive of California)
The Chrysopolis was a side-wheel steamboat that transported locals between SF and Sacramento. It ran from 1860 to 1875, when it was rebuilt as the steam ferry Oakland.
▲1870
(via University of California California Digital Library)
The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad was the first to connect the two cities. It ran the length of the peninsula.
▲1871
(via SFPL)
This horsecar from the Sutter Street Railroad Company was known as a "baloon car." It's destinations were Lone Mountain and City Front, and an inscription on the back of this photo also claimed this particular one was "famous."
▲1873
(Courtesy of State Library)
You are taking a look at the very first cable car, built in 1873. Of course, over 150 years later, the mobile national monument is still transporting San Franciscans around town.
▲1912
(via SFMTA)
On December 28, 1912, thousands of San Franciscans gathered on Geary Street near Grant Avenue to witness the opening of the Municipal Railway. It was the nation's first publicly owned transit system, and it's first streetcar line was known as the A Geary-Park.
▲1917
(Photo by Horace Chaffee, via SFMTA Photography Department & Archive)
Taken almost 100 years ago, on December 18, 1917, this snap shows both the first Muni Motor Coach 01 and the first Streetcar 101 (at the end of A Line, on 10th Avenue and Fulton Street). It also gives us a first glimpse at the original MUNI uniforms.
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