Photos

1926 Westwood Highlands

The electric powerhouse for the railroad (built by Joost) is on the right. See also “San Francisco and San Mateo Railway Company” on the Cable Car Museum website.

Photograph provided compliments of Ken and Kathy Hoegger, residents of Westwood Highlands.

— Scanned, 2003, from copy made in 1979 by Gregory Gaar.

Islais Creek (after being filled; see a small amount of water near bottom left). See “History of Islais Creek”, “Rivers in San Francisco in the Late 1800s,” and “Vanished Waters of Southeastern San Francisco.”

Near Geneva Car Barn (center), Mount Davidson on left. There is an artichoke patch behind the old car barn at San Jose and Geneva. The tree line runs along Ridgewood Ave. (formerly known as Hamburg; changed during World War II).

Photograph provided compliments of Ken and Kathy Hoegger, residents of Westwood Highlands.

— Photo scanned, 2003, from copy made by Gregory Gaar in 1970s

Mt. Davidson, 1922

Considered a suburb of the inner City, the newly built Westwood Park (1) subdivision was built on the site of the Sutro Forest, which extended to Ocean Avenue (2) on the south, and Ridgewood Avenue (3) on the east slope of Mt. Davidson.

The area would feel the impact of World War II as the future site of the the Phelan Avenue Reservoir (4) would be used as W.A.C. barracks and Hamburg St. would be changed to Ridgewood Avenue, after General Ridgewood.

The future sites of Monterey Heights (5) and Westwood Highlands (6) remain cloaked in the shadows of the Sutro Eucalyptus Forest. Farragut Elementary School (7) and Homewood Terrace (8), an orphanage, have been replaced with housing developments.

Historical notes above reproduced with permission from Ken and Kathy Hoegger’s “In the Community” newsletter, March 2003. Photograph provided compliments of Ken and Kathy Hoegger, residents of Westwood Highlands.

— Photo scanned, 2003, from copy made by Gregory Gaar.

West of Twin Peaks Aerial View, 1930

Sloat Blvd. heads upward, easterly, from center, toward Mount Davidson. Left of Sloat, a line demarcates a “proposed site” for a new neighborhood; to the right of Sloat is “Merced Manor, under construction, 16 blocks. All 1st residential, no apartments, Project estimated at $5,500,000.00.” Just to the north of it is “22nd Ave, Zoned for business,” 19th Ave., and Junipero Serra Blvd., winding northeast into Portola Drive.

Photograph provided compliments of Ken and Kathy Hoegger, residents of Westwood Highlands.

— Photo scanned, 2003, from copy made by Gregory Gaar in 1970s.

Cattle on Twin Peaks during snow of 1932. The cows were moved temporarily to Twin Peaks from Good Brothers in Glen Canyon during construction of O’Shaughnessy Blvd. The cattle are grazing on what is now Panorama Drive, site of Midtown Terrace. Note reservoir on Aqua Way off Teresita. Historical notes courtesy of Ken Hoegger and Gregory Gaar.

Photograph provided compliments of Ken and Kathy Hoegger, residents of Westwood Highlands.

— Photo scanned, 2003, from copy made by Gregory Gaar in 1970s

Photograph provided compliments of Ken and Kathy Hoegger, residents of Westwood Highlands.

— Photo scanned, 2003, from copy made in 1979 by Gregory Gaar.

This photograph depicts the original Conservatory, prior to restoration in the early 1980s. The east wing (right) was eliminated annd windows were removed after restoration. A $500,000 grant allowed for the complete replacement of the Conservatory building and the installation of a sprinkler system throughout the grounds. Ted Kipping, an arborist and adjacent property owner, has generously donated maintenance time and plants over the years to help create the high cloud forest theme of the current landscape. [Thanks to Ken and Kathy Hoegger for these historical notes, reprinted with permission from their April 2001 newsletter, “In the Community.”]

Photograph provided compliments of Ken and Kathy Hoegger, residents of Westwood Highlands.

— Photo scanned, 2003, from original photo by Gregory Gaar, 1975

A MUNI bus and cars on Monterey, turning into Westwood Highlands.

Photograph — John McKane collection.

The sales office for Westwood Highlands, and probably also for Monterey Heights, was located at Yerba Buena and Casitas. The building is now a private residence. The Stoneson Brothers were one of the five “big builders” in San Francisco from the late 1920s on. See a profile of the brothers and also a discussion of the dominant builders and changes in architecture in western San Francisco over the years.