Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #44
By Tonya McQuade
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When I started these Wedding and Honeymoon Album posts, I certainly did not expect them to become a five-part endeavor, but it looks like that is what they are becoming. I’ve been having so much fun following in the footsteps of my great-grandparents William Francis “Frank” Traughber and Nora Elma Petree Traughber on their amazingly adventurous 1905 honeymoon and doing the research to learn more about the places they visited! It has been quite a history lesson.
In Part I, I wrote about their first stops on their honeymoon: Del Monte (Monterey), Pacific Grove, and Santa Cruz. In Part II, I described their adventures on Catalina Island and their return to San Jose before heading to San Francisco. In San Francisco, according to their album, they visited the Cliff House, Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park’s Conservatory of Flowers, Strawberry Hill, and Stow Lake to enjoy some views. As I looked into what they might have seen at these sights, though, I learned a lot of San Francisco history I never knew - and I have lived in the Bay Area for more than fifty years!
One of Frank and Nora’s first San Francisco stops was at the Cliff House, which is a building I have driven past but never actually stopped to see. I had no idea it had such a storied history – or that the building that exists there now is not the one that existed in 1905. The Cliff House sits on the headland above the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach, in the northwest corner of San Francisco. Based on the photos in their honeymoon album, Nora seemed more interested in the scene on the beach than the actual Cliff House.
Captions: Cliff House, San Francisco, Cal. Aug. 26, 1905
A daily scene on the beach.
Here are closer up views of my favorite photos from the bunch.
The Cliff House itself, however, was quite a beautiful, impressive structure. The first Cliff House opened in 1863 and became a popular tourist destination, especially after the opening of the privately built Point Lobos toll road (now Geary Street) made it easy for carriages to get there. Guests visited to enjoy the ocean views, look at the sea lions sunning themselves on Seal Rocks just off the cliffs, and enjoy meals at the restaurant. Some came to race their horses at the two-mile speedway built adjacent to the Cliff House.
The First Cliff House as it appeared, with Sea Lion Rock in the background, c. 1868 [2]
That first Cliff House structure, however, “was severely damaged when the schooner Parallel, abandoned with burning oil lamps and a cargo including dynamite powder, exploded while aground at Lands End early in the morning of January 16, 1887. The blast was heard a hundred miles away and demolished the entire north wing of the tavern. The building was repaired, but was later completely destroyed by fire on Christmas night 1894 due to a defective flue. [Manager James. M.] Wilkins was unable to save the guest register, which included the signatures of three U.S. Presidents and dozens of world-famous visitors.” [3]
The Cliff House Frank and Nora would have seen is the one shown at the top of this post. As the caption attached to the photo describes it, “The stately six-story Victorian structure is perched on the edge of the palisade overlooking the ocean. An elevated wooden walkway leading to it is visible at right. The seal rocks stick up in a mound out of the ocean in the distance at left. Seven people stand on the beach in the foreground.” [4] Interestingly, this same iteration of the Cliff House appeared on the cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s Imaginos album (not an album I’ve listened to, but a fun bit of trivia).
The cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s 1988 album “Imaginos” featured the 1896 Cliff House. [5]
This structure was built in 1896 by Adolph Sutro, who had made his fortune in silver in Nevada’s Comstock Lode. Called by some "the Gingerbread Palace," the new Cliff House sat below Sutro’s estate on the bluffs of Sutro Heights. That same year he also built the Sutro Baths in a small cove just north of the restaurant: “The baths included six of the large indoor swimming pools, a museum, a skating rink and other pleasure grounds. Great throngs of San Franciscans arrived on steam trains, bicycles, carts and horse wagons on Sunday excursions.” [6]
The Sutro Baths, located north of Ocean Beach, c. 1896. Wikipedia Commons.
Sutro Baths interior, c. 1896. Wikipedia Commons.
As described online, “During high tides, water would flow directly into the pools from the nearby ocean, recycling the two million US gallons (7,600 m3) of water in about an hour. During low tides, a powerful turbine water pump, built inside a cave at sea level, could be switched on from a control room and could fill the tanks at a rate of 6,000 US gallons a minute (380 L/s), recycling all the water in five hours.” [7]
The 1896 Cliff House survived the 1906 earthquake with little damage, but burned to the ground in 1907. A fire also destroyed the Sutro Baths in 1966. While the Cliff House was eventually rebuilt, “all that remains of the [Sutro Baths] site are concrete walls, blocked-off stairs and passageways, and a tunnel with a deep crevice in the middle.” [8]
Sutro’s daughter had the Cliff House rebuilt in a neoclassical style, which is the basis for the structure still seen there today (though it has gone through many changes and additions over the years). The area at various times also featured a Playground-at-the-Beach, a "Sky Tram,” and the Musée Mécanique, which is now located at Fisherman’s Wharf and serves as a museum of 20th-century penny arcade games. Mike and I stumbled upon the Musée Mécanique during one of our visits to San Francisco and had fun checking out its more than 200 coin-operated fortune tellers, love testers, video games, music boxes, player pianos, peep shows, elaborate dioramas, automatons, Mutoscopes, and pinball machines.
In 1977, the Cliff House was taken over by the National Park Service and became part of the Golden Gate Park National Recreation Area. In 2003, during extensive renovations, many of the later additions – including the Musée Mécanique, which had been operating there since Playland closed in 1972 – were removed, and the building was restored to its 1909 appearance. [9]
Cliffhouse from Ocean Beach, 2010. [10]
For all the years I have lived in the Bay Area and the many times I have visited San Francisco, including Golden Gate Park, I have never actually stopped at the Cliff House and had never heard of the Sutro Baths. I now have another destination to add to my list. The Cliff House closed in 2020 after 157 years in operation due to a combination of a lease lap and Covid, but it is set to reopen soon with three new restaurants (see this ABC News Report, with both a 2020 report on its closure and news of its reopening).
Another place I had never heard of that Frank and Nora visited is Strawberry Hill in Golden Gate Park, which occupies an entire island in one of the park's man-made lakes and is connected to the mainland of the park by two bridges. Named for the many wild strawberries that used to grow there, the island is covered with a variety of trees and shrubbery. Several trails and dirt steps encircle the island and lead to the top of the hill. Strawberry Hill’s summit measures more than 400 feet in height and offers great views of the surrounding area, including Mount Tamalpais and the Golden Gate Bridge (though that didn’t exist when Frank and Nora were there). Here is the view Frank and Nora saw when they were there.
A View of San Francisco from Strawberry Hill, Golden Gate Park, Aug. 26, ‘05.
They would have enjoyed this view, however, from Sweeny’s Observatory, a “mini-castle of red-tinted concrete,” dedicated on September 19, 1891, atop Strawberry Hill. The observatory took its name from Thomas U. Sweeny, who donated money for its construction.
As described online, “A gravel path wound up the hill to lead carriages between bastion towers into an oval of windows. Visitors had dozens of frames to enjoy the 360˚ view in slices. From a distance, the observatory appeared as a decorative crown on the hill or a half-collapsed fortification from antiquity. A glassed-in second story was added in 1892 to offer visitors a more elevated prospect. A plaque set in the crenelated entry arch read “Park Panorama, Gift of Thos. U. Sweeny, 1891.” [11]
So, why is this something I never saw during any of my visits to Golden Gate Park? Because it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, which occurred less than eight months after Frank and Nora climbed to its observation deck. It was never rebuilt – though part of its foundation can still be seen today atop Strawberry Hill. I will definitely look for it when Mike and I finally make that climb.
The April 18, 1906 earthquake caused significant damage to Sweeny Observatory. [12]
Frank and Nora also enjoyed this lake view. The lake was originally called Stow Lake after William W. Stow, who was a State Assembly Member between 1854 and 1857 and served on San Francisco’s Park Commission in the 1890s. He also gave $60,000 for its construction. However, in January of 2024 (yes, this year!), San Francisco Recreation and Park commissioners voted to rename it Blue Heron Lake after concerns were raised about Stow’s anti-semitism.
A lake on Strawberry Hill
According to a January press release, Stow was “an antisemite who openly wished to rid California of its Jewish population and attempted to tax Jews in order to discourage them from opening businesses.” The new name was chosen because “blue Herons nest on Stow Lake’s Strawberry Hill in April and May, and are a symbol of resilience, progress and evolution for the indigenous community.” [13]
They most likely also enjoyed a view of Huntington Falls, a 110-foot tall artificial waterfall installed in Golden Gate Park that drops into the lake. It was the vision of Park Superintendent John McLaren, who decided to incorporate artificial lakes, waterways, and waterfalls in Golden Gate Park after hiking in the Sierras with famed naturalist John Muir, who is considered Father of the National Parks.
A view across Stow Lake to Huntington Falls and Sweeny Observatory on
Strawberry Hill in Golden Gate Park, 1894. [14]
The waterfall was named after railroad baron Collis Potter Huntington, who donated $25,000 to its construction. Yet another sight I have never seen! The falls, which began flowing in 1894, were designed to face the fairgrounds of the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 in the Music Concourse. Clearly, the next time I visit Golden Gate Park, I need to go somewhere other than the De Young Museum, Japanese Tea Garden, the California Academy of Sciences, the Steinhart Aquarium, the Music Concourse, or the Conservatory of Flowers.
Postcard Caption: Huntington Falls, Strawberry Hill, Golden Gate Park,
This waterfall was constructed at cost of over $30,000. Issued in 1905. [15]
Speaking of the Conservatory of Flowers, that was definitely another place that Frank and Nora visited since they included a photo from it in their album. The Conservatory, which opened in 1879, is the oldest building in Golden Gate Park and the oldest public wood-and-glass conservatory in North America.
Historic view of the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco, California, 1879. Wikipedia Commons.
According to what I read online, the Conservatory “houses some 1,700 species of aquatic and tropical plants, many of them rare, including a 100-year-old giant Imperial philodendron, a world-renowned collection of orchids, giant water lilies, and carnivorous plants. Special exhibits have included such popular favorites as the Butterfly Zone and the miniature garden railroad.” [16]
Nora standing in the Conservatory, Golden Gate Park.
They may have also visited the Japanese Tea Garden, which was originally created by George Turner Mash for 1894’s California Midwinter International Exposition. Most of the fair’s attractions surrounded the Grand Court, now the plaza between the de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences, also known as the Music Concourse (built between 1896-1900). While most of the exhibits created for the fair were later destroyed, “People loved the tea garden so much that organizers left it when they demolished the rest of the fair. Later, a Japanese landscape architect named Makoto Hagiwara took over care of the garden, building it out and importing plants and animals to make it more authentic.” [17]
The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, circa 1894
I was also surprised to learn that the De Young Museum was built in 1895, so it’s possible they visited the museum. AND, it’s possible they even saw American bison in the park! Who knew? Apparently, “these huge, shaggy Great Plains denizens have been a beloved institution since 1892. Before San Francisco opened its first zoo in the 1930s, a menagerie of creatures were kept in Golden Gate Park, including elk, deer, bear, sheep, and bison. The herd’s first home was in the park’s eastern end, but in 1899 they were moved to the meadow where you see them today, just west of Spreckels Lake along John F. Kennedy Drive.” [18]
Whatever the case, Frank and Nora must have enjoyed their time in San Francisco and enjoyed the many sights along the way. From here, they hopped back on the train and headed through Northern California to Portland, Oregon, to enjoy the “Lewis and Clark Centennial” World’s Fair.
But more on that in Part IV … if you want to be sure not to miss out, subscribe to my email list by emailing me at tonyagrahammcquade@gmail.com.
Endnotes:
- “Cliff House, San Francisco.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House,_San_Francisco#/media/File:San_Francisco's_Cliff_House_Restaurant_and_Seal_Rocks,_ca.1900_(CHS-4756)_crop.jpg.
- “Cliff House, San Francisco.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House,_San_Francisco#/media/File:Sea_Lion_Rock,_the_Cliff_House,_San_Francisco_LACMA_M.91.359.74.jpg.
- "Cliff House, San Francisco.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House,_San_Francisco.
- “Cliff House, San Francisco.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House,_San_Francisco#/media/File:San_Francisco's_Cliff_House_Restaurant_and_Seal_Rocks,_ca.1900_(CHS-4756)_crop.jpg.
- King, Stephen, and Bryce Van Patten. “Imaginos.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginos.
- “Sutro Baths.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutro_Baths.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Cliff House, San Francisco.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House,_San_Francisco.
Inaglory, Brocken. “Cliff House from Ocean Beach.” Wikipedia Commons, 22 Nov 2010,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cliff_House_from_Ocean_Beach_crop.jpg.
LaBounty, Woody. “Sweeny's Observatory - Golden Gate Park.” San Francisco Story, 13 September 2023, https://www.sanfranciscostory.com/sweenys-observatory/.
- Ibid.
- “Golden Gate Park's Stow Lake Renamed Blue Heron Lake.” San Francisco Recreation and Parks, 18 January 2024, https://sfrecpark.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1696.
- Bourn, Jennifer. “Huntington Falls, Strawberry Hill Island At Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park.” Inspired Imperfection, 30 August 2016, https://inspiredimperfection.com/adventures/huntington-falls-strawberry-hill-stow-lake/.
- Gardner, Louise. “Huntington Falls, Strawberry Hill, Golden Gate Park | San Diego State University Digital Collections.” SDSU Syllabus Collection, 10 May 2024, https://digitalcollections.sdsu.edu/do/cf751860-6389-49f4-91b6-cceef74bca84#page/1.
- “Golden Gate Park Points of Interest.” San Francisco Recreation and Parks, https://sfrecpark.org/1116/Golden-Gate-Park-Points-of-Interest.
- “The Complicated Origins of SF's Beloved Japanese Tea Garden.” KQED, 1 June 2022, https://www.kqed.org/news/11915583/the-japanese-tea-garden-a-beloved-s-f-landmark-with-a-troubling-past.
- “Parks and Facilities • Bison Paddock.” San Francisco Recreation and Parks, https://sfrecpark.org/facilities/facility/details/Bison-Paddock-224.
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