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| Sutro Heights - around 1880 |
History remembers Adolph Sutro as one of San
Francisco's finest citizens and its first populist mayor. A mining
engineer, he arrived in The City from Prussia in 1850. Among his early
accomplishments, Sutro designed and constructed a tunnel that drained
and ventilated the mining shafts of the Comstock in Nevada. Sutro
amassed millions from that and other mining endeavors, always as an
owner or partner in any project. He sold his shares in the Comstock
tunnel in 1880, just before the veins of gold played out. A man of
foresight, he acquired fully one-twelfth of San Francisco--all the
Western dunes and seashore deemed worthless by others. Developing that
worthless land increased his fortune many times over. Best remembered
for his attractions and gifts to the city, Adolph Sutro remains a city
icon.
Sutro built his home on a rocky ledge overlooking the Cliff House and
Seal Rocks just south of Point Lobos and north of Ocean Beach. The
grounds consisted of a spacious turreted mansion, a carriage house and
out buildings set in expansive gardens. The estate dominated the area.
He spent in excess of a million dollars trying to recreate an Italian
garden. Though the statues were plaster rather than marble and required
a fresh coat of white paint annually to avoid erosion, the effect
remained stunning. By 1883, Sutro opened his gardens to the public and
allowed strolling the grounds for the donation of a dime. That small
fee helped to pay the fifteen gardeners he employed to maintain the
grounds. An attendant collected picnic baskets and the ever-present hot
roasted peanuts at the gate returning them on departure. It seems Sutro
didn't want their leavings or shells cluttering up his estate. Even a
populist had his limits.
Adolph Sutro died in 1898, land rich but cash poor following his
frustrating tenure as Mayor of San Francisco. His daughter Emma lived
on the estate at Sutro Heights until her death in 1938. Becoming too
expensive to maintain, the family donated the estate to the City of San
Francisco that same year. The city demolished the buildings and removed
the statuary with the exception of the winged lions at the gate and a
few select pieces. The estate became Sutro Heights Park.
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| The Cliff House - 1890 |
The Cliff House still exists but only as a shadow of
the legendary landmark that existed before and during the reign of
Adolph Sutro. Few people agree how many Cliff Houses have actually
stood at the far end of San Francisco just south of Point Lobos. The
majority will say three; the knowledgeable will claim four and some
will argue five. It's all a matter of interpretation but in fact the
Cliff House has been built or rebuilt from nothing three times,
extensively expanded once and has undergone one major facelift with an
addition. Four is the best answer; five is what George Whitney, the
last private owner claimed.
While an early history states San Francisco pioneer Sam Brannon first
built the Cliff House in 1858, that structure was build on Sutro
Heights, not on the cliff overlooking Seal Rocks. The Mormon elder
built that structure from timbers salvaged from a ship that ran aground
on the cliffs below -- purchased for the sum of $1500. Thought it bore
the same name, it was not one of the progressions of the "Cliff House"
at its current location.
Senator John Buckley and C.C. Butler built the first Cliff House on the
current site in 1863. Captain Junius Foster assumed control as the
Lessee and proprietor of the Cliff House Restaurant. High prices and
limited access didn't deter San Franciscans--the carriage trade and
well-heeled populace had money to spend. A great restaurant and
wonderful view made the Cliff House an instant attraction. Feats of
daring drew crowds that were happy to pay a dollar a seat to watch the
outdoor acts of tightrope walkers or daring swimmers racing past the
rocks, braving treacherous riptides. One daredevil, the celebrated Rose
Celeste, walked a tightrope from the Cliff House across the ocean waves
to Seal Rocks and back.
Captain Foster expanded the Cliff House in 1868. The extensive
additions provided an expansive ocean view and promenade as well as two
wings on the existing structure. Photos show the old Cliff House
nestled safely inside the new, the second Cliff House. It attracted
greater crowds and became the meeting place for city and state bosses
as well as the seamier crowds from the Barbary Coast. Though it
remained the attraction of choice by tourists including three
Presidents, the genteel local clients abandoned the Cliff House. It
became famous for scandals and antics committed in the upstairs rooms.
This shift disturbed Adolph Sutro owner of Sutro Heights across the
road. Sutro purchased the Cliff House in 1883 and evicted Captain
Foster, installing his own man, Mr. Wilkins as manager. The enterprise
again drew crowds of local people with its renewed focus on families,
good food and entertainment. In 1887, the schooner Parallel, loaded
with dynamite, ran aground on the rock below the Cliff House,
demolishing the north wing. That same year, the Cliff House also hosted
the world's first parachute drop by Thomas Baldwin, carried aloft in a
hot air balloon and observed by President Benjamin Harrison among
others. A chimney fire destroyed the second Cliff House on the evening
of Christmas day, 1894.
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Sidebar -- The Cliff House and the Parallel
On the afternoon of Thursday, January 13 1887, the 98-foot schooner
Parallel left Hay Wharf in San Francisco bound for Astoria, Oregon. She
was loaded with kerosene, a cask of dynamite caps and 1,685 50-pound
cases (about 42 tons) of black powder. By Saturday evening, the captain
still fought for open sea, tacking against strong headwinds. The
Parallel, gripped by on the tide, slowly approached the Cliff House.
Captain Miller ordered his men into the lifeboats and abandoned the
ship at 8:30 p.m.
Mr. Wilkins, manager of the Cliff House, telephoned John Hyslop at the
Point Lobos signal station an hour later to report a ship that was
about to hit the rocks. Descending to the bluff below the signal
station, Hyslop saw the ship was heading toward a small cove below the
restaurant. Sutro arrived at his restaurant with several of his
gardeners and under the direction of Hyslop, they lowered ropes to the
ship below. When no one took the ropes, it was obvious the crew had
abandoned the ship. The Parallel hit the rocks at 10:30 p.m. and began
breaking up.
A life-saving crew arrived on scene but with no one to save, Captain
Kroeger, the chief put two members, Henry Smith and John Wilson on
watch. The crowd gathered there slowly dispersed leaving just Smith and
Wilson. At 12:34 a.m. the cask of dynamite caps detonated touching off
the black powder and kerosene. The ship exploded in a deafening blast
shooting a great wall of flame and debris up the cliff. The explosion
catapulted Smith and Wilson 200 feet back from their position at the
cliff edge. The sound of the blast carried all the way to Oakland and
San Jose. The shock wave struck the ship Commodore 15 miles off the
Golden Gate. Its crew scrambled to their stations thinking they had
struck a reef. Sutro's mansion took considerable damage and houses
nearby were nearly torn apart.
Both men caught in the blast had serious injuries but survived. The
cliff face had forced the blast skyward along with the fact that the
Cliff House had taken most of the brunt of the blast. The event
destroyed the north wing and blew out every remaining window. Doors
shot off their hinges and balconies inside and out collapsed. Each room
was a mass of debris. Crowds gathered that morning to view the remains.
Wilkins, spotting an opportunity, had one of the bars swept out and
immediately opened for business. The bar had record sales that Sunday.
Souvenir hunters had a field day looking for scraps of the Parallel.
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| Gawkers view the destruction
following the Parallel exploded - January 14, 1887 |
Sutro paid $75,000 for the construction of the third
Cliff House, a French Chateau-inspired eight-story structure. Completed
in February 1896, it boasted a large public dining room and numerous
private lunch and dining rooms, a bar, a ballroom, a parlor, an
observation tower 200 feet above sea level and art galleries displaying
some of Sutro's fine collections. Visited by two U. S. Presidents,
William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt, the Cliff House still remained a
place for the common person to enjoy. Sutro's nickel streetcar line
coupled with fair prices meant that a workingman could bring his family
to share in the luxury, the stunning views and fine food all reasonably
priced.
After Adolph Sutro's death, the Cliff House sold to John Tait of Tait's
at the Beach, an earlier successful Ocean Beach resort. On September 7,
1907, the most opulent of all Cliff House reincarnations burned to its
foundation. A remodeling project was underway and may have been the
cause.
Tait rebuilt the Cliff House again with the support of Dr. Emma
Merritt, daughter of Adolph Sutro. Steel reinforcing bar and poured
concrete meant this version would not suffer the fate of the previous
two. With the appearance of a giant gray shoebox, the Cliff House now
depended on the local view rather than its own visage to attract
customers. Tait reopened the fourth version of the Cliff House on July
1, 1909. In spite of its lackluster appearance, it remained the place
to visit for locals and tourists. It still provided a ballroom for
dancing as well as fine dining rooms and its one of a kind view.
The Cliff House again shut down in 1918. Located next to Fort Miley,
the military had it shut down due to infractions by military personnel.
It reopened in December of 1920 under the new ownership of Shorty
Roberts, another beach resort owner, famous for Roberts at the Beach.
Unfortunately, prohibition now reigned and a dry Cliff House lacked the
previous allure. Roberts shut down all but the coffee shop in 1925.
The Cliff House changed hands twice more, purchased in 1952 by George
Whitney, owner of Playland at the Beach, then acquired by the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area in 1977. It continues as a favorite for
locals and tourists alike. Renovation is underway again, creating on
more version of this famous landmark. After viewing the plans, the
results promise to be disappointing.
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| Sutro Baths - 1895 |
The Victorian age charmed San Francisco. The city
loved the grandiose, the ornate and the obscenely overblown. The
popularity of public baths encouraged Adolph Sutro, flamboyant mayor
and leading citizen, to build the Sutro Baths. Completed in 1894 and
opened officially in 1896, it debuted as the largest public bath in the
world. It had seven pools of various depths, temperatures and sizes,
all but one being saltwater. The largest, an indoor L-shaped, unheated
saltwater pool measured 300 feet long by 175 feet wide. The pools
contained a total of 1,685,000 gallons of ocean water. It took one hour
to empty or fill them using the action of the high and low tides. The
accommodations included 500 dressing rooms and grandstands built for
5000 spectators. The magnificent Victorian building, roofed in crystal
glass (100,000 panes), boasted an ornate Victorian d?cor with a Grecian
temple-like entrance, sweeping staircases and gardens of tropical
ferns, palms and climbers. Sutro Baths covered two acres of the coast
at Point Lobos just north of the Cliff House; in all it could
accommodate 25,000 guests.
Sutro built his baths for all the people of San Francisco, not just for
the elite. A populist, he wanted all to share the current prosperity
and opportunities. His baths included a theater with ongoing stage
productions, three restaurants with combined seating of up to 1,000
diners, a gymnasium and a museum. A single modest fee offered entry to
all. The Sutro Railroad (trolley) made regular runs out to the Beach
and the people came in droves. Swimming cost a quarter and it was only
a dime for spectators to view the pools and use remainder of the
facility. Sutro's provided bathers with a locker, towel, woolen suit,
soap, and showering facilities. The Baths boasted room for 1,600
bathers and maintained 20,000 suits and 40,000 towels.
Swimming at the Sutro Baths elevated aquatic sports and activities to a
passion in San Francisco. In a place too chilly for outdoor swimming,
now anyone could do so in warmth and comfort. At one point in its
history, Sutro's carried a gigantic neon sign that proclaimed "Tropical
Beach" and indeed, it was, with an abundance of plants and a warm,
humid climate. Swimming classes overflowed, kids barreled down to the
water in chutes and splashed in the pools. Competitions of every sort
as well as special exhibitions took up significant space in the
newspapers. Sutro Baths blazed with excitement and the town loved it.
The museum at Sutro's Baths inspired awe and curiosity. Artifacts from
around the world and from other eras graced Sutro's museum. Old
Woodward's Gardens provided some of the exhibits, puchased when they
closed. Many of the exhibits had the air of a bygone morbidity. The
statue of a Chinese man who had plucked each hair from his body and
inserted it into his likeness to accurately copy himself featured in
Ripleys "Believe It or Not!" column in the San Francisco Chronicle. The
museum displayed the travel trunk and assorted clothing from Tom Thumb,
midget of P.T. Barnum fame and it included a carnival created from
toothpicks by a prison inmate at San Quentin State Prison. A real
Tucker automobile was in residence by the late 1950s. Sutro's Museum
even had authentic Egyptian mummies. Not leaving anything to the
imagination, some were unwrapped. Those were the stuff of children's
exclamations during the visit and their nightmares that night.
The museum also sported a large collection of historic amusement
machines of an earlier era. Automata, coin-operated musical
instruments, penny-arcade machines and mechanical sports games provided
amusement for the mechanically obsessed. The automata were amazing,
including a mechanical carnival, can-can dancers kicking up their legs
and pirouetting to a lively tune, pioneers crossing the plains in
covered wagons and scenes of Americana, all performing complicated
mechanical activities.
The Baths struggled financially in the 1930s. A skating rink replaced
the largest pool in 1937. San Francisco gained a toehold into winter
sports. The city's kids learned to ice skate but it never drew the
adults. Maintenance costs and dwindling attendance necessitated the
Sutro's shutting down in 1952. Sutro's grandson, Adolph G. Sutro
immediately sold Sutro's Baths to George Whitney who by then owned
Playland and the nearby Cliff House. Whitney reopened the Sutro Baths
but closed the remaining pools in 1954. Sutro's closed for good in
early 1966--the land slated for an apartment complex. On June 26, 1966,
during the early demolition, Sutro's Baths burned to its foundations.
What's left are the finest ruins in the city, now part of the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area. People still gather to imagine the lost
grandeur. Anyone lucky enough to have visited recalls unforgettable
memories of one of Adolph Sutro's most memorable achievements.
Jim@HistorySmith.com
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