San Francisco's West Portal Neighborhoods

by Richard Brandi

Overview

When you're in West Portal and the adjacent Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood, it's hard to believe you're still in San Francisco. These quiet and picturesque neighborhoods are decidedly non-urban, yet they are connected by a streetcar tunnel that leads under Twin Peaks to the bustling downtown area, two miles through the city's mountainous core. In fact, West Portal is named for the western end of this tunnel, which opened in 1917 to bring residents from the city center to what were new garden suburbs. Originally West Portal was sandy and scruffy, while Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood were heavily forested. The neighborhoods grew rapidly in the 1920s, and today West Portal is a popular shopping and entertainment district, while St. Francis Wood and Forest Hill boast some of the city's finest architecture and landscaping.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738529974
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	07/13/2005
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Historian and West Portal resident Richard Brandi pairs his knowledge with this collection of vintage images, illustrating the West Portal neighborhoods' journey from sand and forest to today's popular village-within-a-city. Brandi takes readers on a tour of the neighborhoods' architecture, people, businesses, and schools, showcasing a West Portal that retains the charms of yesterday in the heart of an ultra-modern city.

Table of Contents

The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.