33 Beautiful Color Snapshots That Capture Street Scenes of San Francisco in 1985

These beautiful photographs from Nurenberg Photographic Archive that were taken by William Nurenberg when he and his wife Isabel Nurenberg made a trip to the San Francisco area in August and September of 1985.

Chinatown, San Francisco, 1985

Chinatown, San Francisco, 1985

Chinatown, San Francisco, 1985

Isabel Nurenberg in San Francisco, 1985

Isabel Nurenberg in San Francisco, 1985

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45 Amazing Snaps That Capture Street Scenes of San Francisco in the 1950s

These amazing color snaps show what San Francisco looked life in the 1950s.

Cable car, San Francisco

Cable car, San Francisco

California Street, San Francisco

Chinatown from California St. looking up Grant Ave., San Francisco

Chinatown, San Francisco

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Old San Francisco MUNI: Looking Back on Cable Car System of the City in the 1970s

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni) is the public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco, California. It is the seventh largest transit system in the United States and the second largest in California behind Metro in Los Angeles.

With a fleet average speed of 8.1 mph (13.0 km/h), it is the slowest major urban transit system in America and one of the most expensive to operate. However, it has more boardings per mile and more vehicles in operation than similar transit agencies.

Muni is an integral part of public transit in the city of San Francisco, operating 365 days a year and connecting with regional transportation services, such as Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Caltrain, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit, and AC Transit.

The Muni's network consists of 54 bus lines, 17 trolley bus lines, 7 light rail lines that operate above ground and in the city's lone subway tube (called Muni Metro), 3 cable car lines, and 2 heritage streetcar lines, the E Embarcadero and F Market.

Take a look at these fascinating photos from David Pirmann to see what the San Francisco MUNI looked like in the 1970s.

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37 Cool Pics That Capture Young People of Berkeley, California in the Early 1970s

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills.

Berkeley is home to the oldest campus in the University of California system, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is managed and operated by the University. It also has the Graduate Theological Union, one of the largest religious studies institutions in the world.

Berkeley is one of the most socially liberal cities in the United States.

These cool pics were taken by Nick DeWolf that show young people of Berkely in August 1971.

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46 Amazing Black and White Photos That Capture Street Scenes of San Francisco in the 1970s

The 1970s in San Francisco were flamboyant, alive, full of color and passion, marked by dark periods and electric highs. It was known worldwide for hippies and radicals. The city was heavily affected by drugs, prostitution and crime. Outcasts and the socially marginalized were attracted by a greater tolerance and acceptance of diverse cultures in the city. It grew as one of world's biggest centres for the LGBT community and LGBT rights.

To grow up in San Francisco in this era was extraordinary, and anyone who spent their early years here in the 1970s has vivid memories swirling around in the mind.

These amazing photos were taken by Dave Glass that show street scenes of San Francisco during the 1970s.

DuPont Market, Grant and Pacific, Chinatown San Francisco, 1970

DuPont Market, Grant and Pacific, Chinatown San Francisco, 1970

Grant Street grocery, Chinatown-North Beach district, San Francisco, 1970

Man trying on shoes at the Salvation Army store on Howard and 6th Street, San Francisco, 1970

Watch repairman, Polk Street, Tenderloin, San Francisco, 1970

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Candid Behind the Scenes Photos of Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company Rehearsing for the Summer of Love

Bob Seidemann took photographs that graced the covers of some of the 1960s and ’70s most iconic record albums. But when he was hanging with Janis Joplin and the rest of Big Brother and the Holding Company in San Francisco, he was just a friend of theirs, so the pictures he took were mostly candid shots. His fame as a photographer would come later. Now, we get to take a peek at the pictures he took during their rehearsals in 1967, some for the very first time.

“I heard that a band called Big Brother and the Holding Company was playing at a place on Fillmore, so I went.” – Bob Seidemann

The black-and-white, Kodak Tri X Pan photographs Seidemann took of the band rehearsing in the warehouse appear to be from two different days, identifiable because of the change in clothes worn by band members. Joplin’s garb is easiest to describe. In one group of photographs, she’s wearing a T-shirt with the JOB cigarette-papers woman on it. This was probably not a random choice on her part—the image had been popularized by artists Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse on a poster for a Big Brother show dated October, 7, 1966, at the Avalon Ballroom.

One of dozens of proof sheets of black-and-white photographs taken by the band’s friend and resident photographer, Bob Seidemann.

The rest of Joplin’s attire—pin-striped jeans tied at the waist by a braided belt, a pair of kitten-heeled sandals beneath her feet—is defiantly casual, which is surprising since these photographs were definitely taken after Big Brother’s triumphant performances at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967, which means Joplin was on her way to being a full-fledged rock star, and all the wretched excess that implies.

Foremost among these hardworking musicians were the members of Big Brother and the Holding Company, which performed 135 concerts during 1967, occasionally grinding out two or three gigs in a single day.

Janis Joplin of Big Brother and the Holding Company at the band’s rehearsal space in 1967.

Big Brother and the Holding Company in the spring of 1966 behind the Old Spaghetti Factory, where drummer Dave Getz (far left) worked part time.

Before Janis Joplin jined the group in June 1966, lead guitarist James Gurley has been the group’s most popular member.

Big Brother and the Holding Company

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27 Historical Photos That Show Construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the 1930s

Construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge began with the groundbreaking ceremony on July 9, 1933. Discussion of connecting both sides of the Bay with a bridge began in the early part of the 20th century.

In 1929, the California Legislature established the California Toll Bridge Authority with the responsibility of connecting the counties of San Francisco and Alameda with a bridge. The construction of the bridge continued through the Great Depression employing many workers on both sides of the Bay.

Construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the 1930s

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic on November 12, 1936 at 12:30 p.m. Celebrations included a boat parade, Navy air show, yacht regatta, Navy ship race, air parade of China Clippers and lasted for five days.

Train service across the Bay Bridge began on September 23, 1938 and ended in April 1958. The upper deck carried three lanes of automobile traffic in each direction, while the lower deck carried three lanes of truck and auto traffic on the north side and two railroad tracks on the south side.

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge continues to be well-known landmark of the San Francisco Bay Area.

A historical photo collection from San Francisco Public Library that shows construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the 1930s.

President Herbert Hoover, Governor James Rolph and beauty pageant winners pose at Bay Bridge groundbreaking ceremony on Yerba Buena Island, July 9, 1933

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge east span under construction, circa 1934

Workers posing with reinforcing bars during construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, September 26, 1934

Aerial view looking west toward San Francisco showing towers, anchorage, and Yerba Buena Island span being erected for San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, March 1, 1935

Aerial view of east end of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge under construction, June 7, 1935

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Incredible Found Photos That Capture Street Scenes of San Francisco After the 1906 Earthquake

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18 with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). High intensity shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley, an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Devastating fires soon broke out in the city and lasted for several days.

Thousands of homes were dismantled. As a result, up to 3,000 people died and over 80% of the city of San Francisco was destroyed. The events are remembered as one of the worst and deadliest earthquakes in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history and high in the lists of American disasters.

These incredible photos of the San Francisco 1906 Earthquake and Fire came to the San Francisco Public Library in 1975. The photos were discovered in the San Francisco Police Department Photo Lab in the Hall of Justice. The photographer is not known. It is believed that the the San Francisco Police Department photo laboratory was used as an emergency center for photographers immediately after the 1906 catastrophe.

Street scenes of San Francisco after the earthquake, April 1906

General view, 1906

General view, 1906

General view, 1906

General view, 1906

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Rare Pictures of San Francisco in 1856

These photographs of beautiful views and public buildings of San Francisco were taken by photographer G. R. Fardon, published in 1856, and held by the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

Views within this album include that of City Hall, California Street, Telegraph Hill, and Alcatraz Island.

California Street

City Hall

East side of Montgomery Street

Former Post Office, the rally of the 'Law and Order' Party

Fort Vigilance

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Earliest Known Color Photographs of San Francisco After the 1906 Earthquake

The California earthquake of April 18, 1906 ranks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time. Today, its importance comes more from the wealth of scientific knowledge derived from it than from its sheer size. Rupturing the northernmost 296 miles (477 kilometers) of the San Andreas fault from northwest of San Juan Bautista to the triple junction at Cape Mendocino, the earthquake confounded contemporary geologists with its large, horizontal displacements and great rupture length.

These six rarely-seen images were snapped by photography innovator Frederick Eugene Ives several months after the April 1906 "Great Quake". Most were taken from the roof of the hotel where Ives stayed during an October 1906 visit. Using the photochromoscope, a very early color and 3D camera, Ives captured these images, which is believed to be the first -- and perhaps only -- color photographs of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake.

The photographs were stowed amid other items donated by Ives' son, Herbert, and discovered in 2009 by National Museum of American History volunteer Anthony Brooks while he was cataloguing the collection. Although hand-colored photographs of the quake's destruction have surfaced before, Ives' work is probably the only true color documentary evidence.

Street-level view of earthquake-damaged San Francisco near City Hall, looking North East. October 1906. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History)

Rooftop-view of earthquake-damaged San Francisco - Sutter St. looking east from the top of Majestic Hall. October 1906. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History)

Street-level view of earthquake-damaged San Francisco, showing the Flood Building on Market Street. October 1906. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History)

Van Ness Ave. City Hall R. - Rooftop-view of earthquake-damaged San Francisco. October 1906. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History)