Noted transit historian Grant Ute, who has curated some great displays at our San Francisco Railway Museum, will be presenting the story of Muni’s first two decades at a most appropriate place — the West Portal Branch of the San Francisco Public Library — next Monday evening, October 22, starting at 7:15 p.m. The library is located just around the corner from today’s West Portal Station, at 190 Lenox Way (at Ulloa).
West Portal, 1935. Image courtesy of the SFMTA Photo Archive. (c) 2012, SFMTA. sfmta.com/photo.
West Portal, the neighborhood, is named for – and was enabled by – the digging of the Twin Peaks Tunnel, which brought Muni streetcars to the southwest quadrant of the city in 1918.
Grant will be focusing on Muni’s first 20 years with emphasis on its pioneering into the Sunset and Parkside. The talk will be illustrated by images from Cam Beach, Philip Hoffman, Walt Vielbaum, Bob Townley and the book they and Grant wrote together, *”Muni: San Francisco’s Municipal Railway.*
A native San Franciscan, Grant really knows his stuff and relates it in a very entertaining way. Well worth a ride on today’s K, L, or M lines to learn how they were born!
