Peter Hartlaub is one of the best things about the Chronicle today. He mines the newspaper’s archives, finding some real photographic gems along with contemporary news coverage. Then he puts them into context, sometimes in the newspaper itself but more often on his blog on sfgate.com.
Today, his article talks about Market Street’s history. It’s a good read and we recommend it. You should also look at his blog post from a few days ago, that has lots of additional photos of Market Street in the 1800s, including the one at the top of this post. That’s a temporary “triumphal arch” over Market Street’s relatively new cable car tracks in 1886, celebrating the gathering of the Grand Army of the Republic (Civil War veterans who fought for the Union).
Peter’s pieces dovetail nicely with the talk MSR’s Rick Laubscher will be giving this coming Thursday night, February 19, at the Mechanic’s Institute. It’s free for Market Street Railway members. Details here. Hope to see lots of you on Thursday.
