Something about the poet and author Dr. Maya Angelou escaped most people’s attention, until now. She was once employed by our namesake, Market Street Railway Company, Muni’s old competitor, as a streetcar conductor. The first black female conductor in San Francisco history, in fact.
History Spotlight
Visit Us This Weekend at the SF History Expo
Our display of San Francisco transit artifacts at the first History Expo in 2011.
Muni’s First Schedule, From Our Archives
Muni’s first schedule, from the Market Street Railway Archives. Gift of Galen Sarno. Click to enlarge.
Celebrating Muni’s Big Day December 28
Muni’s famed streetcar No. 1, on its very first run, with Mayor James Rolph, Jr. at the controls, headed west on Geary at Jones, December 28, 1912. San Francisco History Room, San Francisco Public Library photo.
A Trip to the Boneyard!
1954 Hamburg, Germany tram No. 3557 (right) and two ex-Muni PCC streetcars are among the historic vehicles awaiting restoration at Muni’s "boneyard," as the streetcar storage facility is informally known. Todd Lappin photo.
Photo of the (Past) Moment: What Could Have Been
PCC No. 1006 carries a load of raifans on the H-line, crossing paths with Washington-Jackson cable car No. 509 at Van Ness Avenue and Jackson Street, around 1949. Walt Vielbaum photo. Click to enlarge.
Muni Past and Present on KQED-FM
Market Street Railway board chair and president Rick Laubscher was one of the guests on Michael Krasny’s “Forum” on KQED-FM this morning, discussing Muni’s history in this, its centennial month. He was joined by Ed Reiskin, SFMTA director of transportation, and Jerry Cauthen of savemuni.com.
San Francisco, in Color, in the 1940s
The GLBT Historical Society has a video on YouTube showing nine minutes of San Francisco scenes filmed by “gay filmmaker Harold T. O’Neal.” It opens with great night shots of Chinatown, then skips around the city before settling on a two-minute sequence on Market Street starting around five minutes in. That’s followed by a minute of cable car footage, including rare film of the O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde line, which disappeared in 1954. All well worth a look.
Thankful for Our Muni Partnership
On this Thanksgiving weekend, we’d like to shout out thanks to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni’s parent, for their continuing support of historic transit. There are few agencies in the country that meaningfully support their own legacies, and none that do so in four distinct vehicle modes. (Of course, no one else HAS four vehicle modes like Muni: streetcar/light rail, motor coach, trolley coach, and cable car).
Celebrating Civic Activism – With a Cable Car
Powell cable car No. 26 reenters service in its 1947 livery, November 14, 2012. On the running board, from right to left: SFMTA Chair Tom Nolan, Vice Chair Cheryl Brinkman, Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin, MSR President Rick Laubscher, MSR board member Bruce Agid. Frank Zepeda photo.
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