Uploads from wallyg, tagged chl, with geodata

Berkeley: UC Berkeley - Sather Gate

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:23:25 -0700

wallyg posted a photo:

Sather Gate, separating Sproul Plaza from the bridge over Strawberry Creek, leading to the center of the UC Berkeley campus, was built in 1910 by Giovanni "John" Meneghetti to the Classical Revival Beaux Arts design of architect John Galen Howard. Atop the gate are eight panels of bas-relief figures, sculpted by Professor Earl Cummins--four nude men representing the disciplines of law, letters, medicine, and mining; and four nude women representing the disciplines of agriculture, architecture, art, and electricity. Before the university expanded, the gate served as the terminus of Telegraph avenue and campus' south entrance, with the circle in front the turning point for trolleys coming from Oakland. The gate was donated by Jane K. Sather, a benefactor of the university, in memory of her late husband Peder Sather, a trustee of the College of California.

The University of California, Berkeley, also referred to as UC Berkeley, California or simply Cal, is a public resarch university established in 1868 as the result of a merger between the private College of California and the public Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in Oakland. Generally considered the flagship institution in the University of California system, Berkeley co-manages three United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

California Historical Landmark #946
National Register #82004649 (1982)

San Francisco: View of Golden Gate from Seacliff

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:44:41 -0800

wallyg posted a photo:

The Golden Gate Bridge spans 8,981 feet across the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean, connecting San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. Designed by engineer Joseph Strauss and architect Irving Morrow, it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it opened on May 27, 1937. It has since been surpassed by eight other bridges, but still has the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York.

Before the bridge was built, the only practical route across the Golden Gate was by boat, which held San Francisco's growth rate below the national average. However, many experts believed that the 6,700-foot strait could not be bridged. It had strong swirling tides, strong winds, and reached depths of 500-feet at its center.

In 1916, former engineering student James Wilkins wrote an article with a proposed design for a crossing in the San Francisco Bulletin. The City Engineer estimated the cost at an impractical $100 million and challenged bridge engineers to reduce costs. Joseph Strauss, an ambitious but modestly accomplished engineer, responded with a plan for bookend cantilevers connected by a central suspension segment, which he promised could be built for $17 million. Strauss spent the better part of the next decade drumming up support and construction began on January 5, 1933.

As chief engineer in charge, Strauss, with an eye towards self promotion downplayed the contributions of his collaborators who were largely responsible for the bridge's final form Architect Irving Morrow designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme and Art Deco elements, and used the International Orange color as a sealant. And Charles Alton Ellis, collaborating remotely with Leon Moisseiff, was the principal engineer, producing the basic structural design, introducing Moisseiff's "deflection theory" by which a thin, flexible roadway would flex in the wind, greatly reducing stress by transmitting forces via suspension cables to the bridge towers

In 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge was ranked #5 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.

California Historical Landmark No. 974, San Francisco Landmark No. 222 (5/21/1999)

San Francisco: View of Golden Gate from Lincoln Park

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:20:37 -0800

wallyg posted a photo:

Lincoln Park, covering about 100 acres of the northwestern corner of the San Francisco Peninsula, was dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln in 1909. The park is the Western Terminus of Lincoln Highway, which was conceived and mapped in 1913 as the first coast-to-coast road across America, traversing 14 states. It stands on land that was a cemetery during the late 1860s. After local enthusiasts laid out a three-hole golf course in 1902, the land was turned over to the parks commission in 1909 and the graves were relocated. The course was expanded to 14 holes by 1914 and to a full 18 by 1917. In 1923, the park was chosen as the site of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and the San Francisco Holocaust Memorial, designed by George Segal, was dedicated in the park in 1984.

The Golden Gate Bridge spans 8,981 feet across the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean, connecting San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. Designed by engineer Joseph Strauss and architect Irving Morrow, it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it opened on May 27, 1937. It has since been surpassed by eight other bridges, but still has the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York.

Before the bridge was built, the only practical route across the Golden Gate was by boat, which held San Francisco's growth rate below the national average. However, many experts believed that the 6,700-foot strait could not be bridged. It had strong swirling tides, strong winds, and reached depths of 500-feet at its center.

In 1916, former engineering student James Wilkins wrote an article with a proposed design for a crossing in the San Francisco Bulletin. The City Engineer estimated the cost at an impractical $100 million and challenged bridge engineers to reduce costs. Joseph Strauss, an ambitious but modestly accomplished engineer, responded with a plan for bookend cantilevers connected by a central suspension segment, which he promised could be built for $17 million. Strauss spent the better part of the next decade drumming up support and construction began on January 5, 1933.

As chief engineer in charge, Strauss, with an eye towards self promotion downplayed the contributions of his collaborators who were largely responsible for the bridge's final form Architect Irving Morrow designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme and Art Deco elements, and used the International Orange color as a sealant. And Charles Alton Ellis, collaborating remotely with Leon Moisseiff, was the principal engineer, producing the basic structural design, introducing Moisseiff's "deflection theory" by which a thin, flexible roadway would flex in the wind, greatly reducing stress by transmitting forces via suspension cables to the bridge towers

In 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge was ranked #5 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.

California Historical Landmark No. 974, San Francisco Landmark No. 222 (5/21/1999)

San Francisco: View of Golden Gate from Lands End

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:51:38 -0800

wallyg posted a photo:

San Francisco: View of Golden Gate from Lands End

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 07:51:35 -0800

wallyg posted a photo:

Lands End Park, a rocky and windswept shoreline park at the mouth of the Golden Gate, is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. A memorial to the USS San Francisco stands in the park. Numerous hiking trails follow the former railbeds of the Ferries and Cliff House Railway along the cliffs and also down to the shore.

The Golden Gate Bridge spans 8,981 feet across the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean, connecting San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. Designed by engineer Joseph Strauss and architect Irving Morrow, it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it opened on May 27, 1937. It has since been surpassed by eight other bridges, but still has the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York.

Before the bridge was built, the only practical route across the Golden Gate was by boat, which held San Francisco's growth rate below the national average. However, many experts believed that the 6,700-foot strait could not be bridged. It had strong swirling tides, strong winds, and reached depths of 500-feet at its center.

In 1916, former engineering student James Wilkins wrote an article with a proposed design for a crossing in the San Francisco Bulletin. The City Engineer estimated the cost at an impractical $100 million and challenged bridge engineers to reduce costs. Joseph Strauss, an ambitious but modestly accomplished engineer, responded with a plan for bookend cantilevers connected by a central suspension segment, which he promised could be built for $17 million. Strauss spent the better part of the next decade drumming up support and construction began on January 5, 1933.

As chief engineer in charge, Strauss, with an eye towards self promotion downplayed the contributions of his collaborators who were largely responsible for the bridge's final form Architect Irving Morrow designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme and Art Deco elements, and used the International Orange color as a sealant. And Charles Alton Ellis, collaborating remotely with Leon Moisseiff, was the principal engineer, producing the basic structural design, introducing Moisseiff's "deflection theory" by which a thin, flexible roadway would flex in the wind, greatly reducing stress by transmitting forces via suspension cables to the bridge towers

In 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge was ranked #5 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.

California Historical Landmark No. 974, San Francisco Landmark No. 222 (5/21/1999)

San Francisco: Golden Gate Bridge

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:24:14 -0800

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San Francisco - Alcatraz: View of Golden Gate Bridge from the Prison Yard

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:00:05 -0800

wallyg posted a photo:

Time in the recreation yard on weekends and holidays were a valued and earned privilege at Alcatraz. Inmates could join in a game of baseball, shuffleboard, basketball, or horseshoes. Or they could play chess or chat in a quiet corner. On the weekdays, the inmates lined up in the recreation yard for their work assignments. As they mounted the steps above the yard, they could get a glimpse--beyond the concrete walls and barbed wire of the outside world--San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the city skyline.

The main cell house on Alcatraz Island was the largest steel-reinforced concrete building in the world when it was built in 1912. Designed to hold up to 600 prisoners, it was the brainchild and pride of Major Reuben B. Turner, construction engineer and first commandant of the military. Central steam heat, skylights and electricity contributed to its reputation as a model, modern, facility.

Like any other structure on the island, construction presented challenges. Material and equipment had to be shipped in on barges. Mixing cement, the main building element, required fresh water not naturally available on the land. Labor was largely provided by unskilled inmates.

Like prisons within a prison, four free standing cellblocks stood within the cellhouse so that no cell adjoined an outside wall or ceiling that a prisoner might tunnel through. Before it assumed its role as a maximum-security lockup, tool-proof bars replaced the flat, soft-steel barriers of the military prison and gun galleries were built at either end of the two main cell blocks.

Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre island located 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay, has served as a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a prison. In 1972, the island often referred to as The Rock, became a national recreation area operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and is currently open to tours.

The island was first discovered in 1775 by Spaniard Juan Manuel de Ayala, who charted the bay and named it "La Isla de los Alcatraces," or "The Island of the Pelicans." The island's earliest recorded owner is Julian Workman was the island's earliest recorded owner, given it by Mexican governor Pio Pico in 1846 to build a lighthouse. Following the acquisition of California in 1848, the United States fortified the island for positioning of coastal batteries. When the civil War broke out in 1861, the island mounted 85 cannons (increased to 105 by 1866) and served as the San Francisco Arsenal. Alcatraz never fired its guns but was used to imprison Confederate sympathizers. In 1867, a brick jailhouse was built and in 1868, Alcatraz was designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners--a role it prominently played during the Spanish-American War.

After the 1906 Earthquake, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz, and the facilities were slowly expanded at the beginning of the century. Construction on Major Reuben Turner's huge concrete main cell block was completed in 1912. The Fortress was deactivated as a military prison in 1933 and transferred to the Department of Justice, becoming a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison the following year. During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed no prisoners had ever successfully escaped--36 prisoners were involved in 14 attempts; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed, and three were lost at sea and never found. Alcatraz held such notable criminals as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (better known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz"), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, James "Whitey" Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy Karpis" Karpowicz (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate).

Far more expensive to operate than other prisons, Alcatraz was closed on March 21, 1963 by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. From 1969-1971, the island was occupied by a multi-tribal group of Native Americans, culminating in the Trail of Broken Treaties.

National Register #76000209 (1976)

San Francisco: Alcatraz Island and Golden Gate Bridge

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:16:44 -0800

wallyg posted a photo:

Alcatraz Island, a 22-acre island located 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay, has served as a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a prison. In 1972, the island often referred to as The Rock, became a national recreation area operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and is currently open to tours.

The island was first discovered in 1775 by Spaniard Juan Manuel de Ayala, who charted the bay and named it "La Isla de los Alcatraces," or "The Island of the Pelicans." The island's earliest recorded owner is Julian Workman was the island's earliest recorded owner, given it by Mexican governor Pio Pico in 1846 to build a lighthouse. Following the acquisition of California in 1848, the United States fortified the island for positioning of coastal batteries. When the civil War broke out in 1861, the island mounted 85 cannons (increased to 105 by 1866) and served as the San Francisco Arsenal. Alcatraz never fired its guns but was used to imprison Confederate sympathizers. In 1867, a brick jailhouse was built and in 1868, Alcatraz was designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners--a role it prominently played during the Spanish-American War.

After the 1906 Earthquake, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz, and the facilities were slowly expanded at the beginning of the century. Construction on Major Reuben Turner's huge concrete main cell block was completed in 1912. The Fortress was deactivated as a military prison in 1933 and transferred to the Department of Justice, becoming a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison the following year. During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed no prisoners had ever successfully escaped--36 prisoners were involved in 14 attempts; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed, and three were lost at sea and never found. Alcatraz held such notable criminals as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (better known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz"), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, James "Whitey" Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy Karpis" Karpowicz (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate).

Far more expensive to operate than other prisons, Alcatraz was closed on March 21, 1963 by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. From 1969-1971, the island was occupied by a multi-tribal group of Native Americans, culminating in the Trail of Broken Treaties.

National Register #76000209 (1976)

San Francisco - Chinatown: Site of Old St Mary's

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:42:29 -0800

wallyg posted a photo:

Old St Mary's Cathedral, at 660 California Street, built as the first cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, was dedicated at the Midnight Mass on Christmas Day, 1854. Designed in the neo-Gothic style by William Craine and Thomas England, it was built primarily by Chinese laborers.

Old Saint Mary's was replaced as a cathedral in 1891 by the first Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption at Van Ness and O'Farrell, but retained its name as a parish church. The church managed to survive the 1906 earthquake, only to be gutted by a fire the next day, leaving only the outer walls and bell tower. On June 20, 1909, Archbishop Riordan rededicated a renovated Old St. Mary's, with minimally changed lines and several structural improvements. In 1929, in response to a growing population, another fifty feet were added to the sturcture and the sanctuary was extended enabling the addition of a sacristy, three chapels and a transept. An enlarged seating capacity of over 2,000 made Old St. Mary's the largest church of the time in San Francisco. Beneath the church, a 500 seat auditorium with a stage was constructed.

California Landmark No. 810

San Francisco - SoMa: Old United States Mint

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:20:44 -0800

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The Old United States Mint, located at 88 Fifth Street, was built from 1869 to 1874 by English architect Alfred B. Mullett. The Granite Lady, as it is affectionately known, is actually compromised mostly of sandstone with only the basement and foundation--designed to thwart tunneling into its vaults--consisting of granite. The building was designed in a conservative Greek Revival style with a sober Doric order and a central pedimented portico flanked by projecting wings. A central enclosed courtyard contains a well, which allowed it to be one of the few buildings to survive the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Coining operations continued in this building until 1937 when production moved to more modern building on Hermann Street. The Old Mint building was restored is being restored in 1972-1976 and renovated in 2011-2012 when it opened to the public as the San Francisco Museum at the Mint.

The San Francisco Mint, a branch of the United States Mint, was first opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California Gold Rush. Within the first year of operation, it turned over $4 million in miners' gold bullion into coins and quickly outgrew their first building. Today the San Francisco Mint is used only for proof coinage.

San Francisco Landmark #236
California Landmark #875
National Register #66000231 (1966)

CA - Marin County: Fort Baker - Battery Spencer and Golden Gate Bridge

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:34:04 -0800

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Battery Spencer, completed in 1897, was one of the most strategically important sites guarding the Golden Gate for over half a cetury. Named for Joseph Spencer, a Major General in the American Revolutionary War, saw continuous service until 1943 when it was declared obsolete. Early fortifications such as Alcatraz and Fort Point focused their short range firepower on the inner harbor. AS the range and accuracy of artillery increased, gun batteries were built westward. Typical of the late 1890's, Battery Spencer was constructed of concrete and partially buried behind a parapet of earth. Ammunition magazines were on the lower level. The approach road was below ground level to protect it from enemy view. Battery Spencer was armed with three 12-inch breech-loading rifles aimed offshore to sink enemy ships before they could reach the gate. After World War II, aircraft, radar and anticraft missles replaced gun batteries as the new generation of coastla-defense technology.

The Golden Gate Bridge spans 8,981 feet across the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean, connecting San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. Designed by engineer Joseph Strauss and architect Irving Morrow, it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it opened on May 27, 1937. It has since been surpassed by eight other bridges, but still has the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York.

Before the bridge was built, the only practical route across the Golden Gate was by boat, which held San Francisco's growth rate below the national average. However, many experts believed that the 6,700-foot strait could not be bridged. It had strong swirling tides, strong winds, and reached depths of 500-feet at its center.

In 1916, former engineering student James Wilkins wrote an article with a proposed design for a crossing in the San Francisco Bulletin. The City Engineer estimated the cost at an impractical $100 million and challenged bridge engineers to reduce costs. Joseph Strauss, an ambitious but modestly accomplished engineer, responded with a plan for bookend cantilevers connected by a central suspension segment, which he promised could be built for $17 million. Strauss spent the better part of the next decade drumming up support and construction began on January 5, 1933.

As chief engineer in charge, Strauss, with an eye towards self promotion downplayed the contributions of his collaborators who were largely responsible for the bridge's final form Architect Irving Morrow designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme and Art Deco elements, and used the International Orange color as a sealant. And Charles Alton Ellis, collaborating remotely with Leon Moisseiff, was the principal engineer, producing the basic structural design, introducing Moisseiff's "deflection theory" by which a thin, flexible roadway would flex in the wind, greatly reducing stress by transmitting forces via suspension cables to the bridge towers

In 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge was ranked #5 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.

California Historical Landmark No. 974, San Francisco Landmark No. 222 (5/21/1999)

California - Palo Alto: Lou Henry Hoover House

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:57:52 -0700

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The Lou Henry Hoover House, located on Stanford University's campus at 623 Mirada Road, was built from 1919-1920 to the design of Lou Henry Hoover, wife of Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States. The the couple's first and only permanent residence, they lived here only a short time before Herbert was appointed Secretary of Commerce by President Warren G. Harding in 1921, a role he continued under President Calvin Coolidge. It was here that Hoover awaited the Presidential election returns in 1928, when he won against Alfred E. Smith, and 1932, when he lost the election to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They returned to this house after 1932, while maintaining a New York apartment as a second residence. After Lou's death in 1944, Herbert deeded the house to Stanford University to serve as a home for university professors. It is now the official home of the president of Stanford.

Lou and Herbert, then the head of the U.S. Food Administration, originally commissioned architect Louis Mulgardt to design their home. Mulgardt angered the Hoovers by publicizing his appointment prior to the end of World War I, and was summarily dismissed. The Hoovers instead convinced Stanford art professor and freelance architect, Arthur B. Clark, to build the house. Aided by architectural draftsman Charles Davis and Clark's architect son, Birge, he agreed under the stipulation that Lou designed the house.

In order to minimize ostentation, the large, rambling International style house, resembling "blocks piled up", was built on a hillside site with the house appearing to disappear into the slope of San Juan Hill. The irregularly shaped house was built on a reinforced concrete slab foundation and rises two stories in the front and three stories in the rear. Resembling early International style homes, Mrs. Hoovers designs were modeled after North African Algerian homes.

California Historical Landmark No. 913
National Register #78000786 (1978)

California - Calistoga: Schramsberg Vineyard

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:27:09 -0700

wallyg posted a photo:

The three barrels in the Schramsberg Vineyards wine cave, brought over from Germany, feature a cast of the Schram family seal. Jacob Schram had lost two of the barrels during a poker game to Frederick and Jacob Beringer of Beringer Beringer Vineyards. When the Davies bought the vineyard, they approached Beringer about the barrels and they jointly staged a fixed poker game, which doubled as a marketing event, allowing Jamie Davies to "win" back the missing barrels.

Schramsberg Vineyard, at 1400 Schramsberg Road in Calistoga, was the first winery established on the hillsides of the Napa Valley, founded in 1862 by German immigrant Jacob Schram. By 1870, Schramsberg had 30,000 vines and, with the help of Chinese laborers, had dug Napa's first hillside caves. In 1875, Schram built his Victorian mansion was completed replacing an earlier rustic cabin. And by 1879, Schramsberg was producing 5,500 cases of wine. After visiting in 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson devoted a chapter of his "Silverado Squatters" to Schramsberg and its wines. Amborse Bierce and Lily Hitchcock Coit were other

In 1916, Jacob's son, Herman, sold the property to the Sterling Investment company, who in 1916 sold it to a wealthy San Francisco contractor, W. J. McKillop for use as a summer home. He later sold it to a Captain Raymond C. Naylor. Following him, John Gargano purchased the property in 1940. In 1951, he sold the property to Douglas Pringle and the Grande Dame, Katharine Cebrian. Cebian sold the 200-acre property to Jack and Jamie Davies in 1965, who re-established Schramsberg as a producer of premium methode champenoise sparkling. The Davies got their big break in 1972 when President Richard Nixon and Premier Chou Enlai enjoyed a "Toast to Peace" in Beijing with the 1969 Blanc de Blancs. Schramsberg wines have been served by every subsequent presidential administration.

National Register #98001251 (1998)

California Historical Landmark No. 561

California - Calistoga: Schramsberg Vineyard

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:27:16 -0700

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Berkeley: UC Berkeley - Sather Gate

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:22:18 -0700

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Oakland: Site of College of California

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 08:49:20 -0700

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Site of College of California
Original Campus of University of California

University of California, chartered March 23, 1868. Located between Franklin and Harrison, 12th and 14th Streets, from 1869 to 1873. Using buildings of former College of California, successor to Contra Costa Academy founded by Henry Durant, June 1853. He was elected first university president in June 1870. University moved to present Berkeley site September 1873.

California Registered Historical Landmark No. 45

Plaque placed by State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the University of California, The Alameda County Historical Society, and the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. May 22, 1968

San Francisco: View Northwest from Coit Tower

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:42:50 -0700

wallyg posted a photo:

View from Coit Tower

The Golden Gate Bridge spans 8,981 feet across the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean, connecting San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. Designed by engineer Joseph Strauss and architect Irving Morrow, it was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it opened on May 27, 1937.

California Historical Landmark No. 974, San Francisco Landmark No. 222 (5/21/1999)

San Francisco: View Northwest from Coit Tower

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:42:54 -0700

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California - Palo Alto: Lou Henry Hoover House

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:57:43 -0700

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California - Calistoga: Schramsberg Vineyard

nobody@flickr.com (wallyg) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:27:06 -0700

wallyg posted a photo:

Schramsberg Vineyard, at 1400 Schramsberg Road in Calistoga, was the first winery established on the hillsides of the Napa Valley, founded in 1862 by German immigrant Jacob Schram. By 1870, Schramsberg had 30,000 vines and, with the help of Chinese laborers, had dug Napa's first hillside caves. In 1875, Schram built his Victorian mansion was completed replacing an earlier rustic cabin. And by 1879, Schramsberg was producing 5,500 cases of wine. After visiting in 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson devoted a chapter of his "Silverado Squatters" to Schramsberg and its wines. Amborse Bierce and Lily Hitchcock Coit were other

In 1916, Jacob's son, Herman, sold the property to the Sterling Investment company, who in 1916 sold it to a wealthy San Francisco contractor, W. J. McKillop for use as a summer home. He later sold it to a Captain Raymond C. Naylor. Following him, John Gargano purchased the property in 1940. In 1951, he sold the property to Douglas Pringle and the Grande Dame, Katharine Cebrian. Cebian sold the 200-acre property to Jack and Jamie Davies in 1965, who re-established Schramsberg as a producer of premium methode champenoise sparkling. The Davies got their big break in 1972 when President Richard Nixon and Premier Chou Enlai enjoyed a "Toast to Peace" in Beijing with the 1969 Blanc de Blancs. Schramsberg wines have been served by every subsequent presidential administration.

National Register #98001251 (1998)

California Historical Landmark No. 561