11 July 2017

San Francisco – Noe Valley, the Mission District, and Mission Dolores Basilica: 11 July 2017


  Here is a view of Noe Valley as seen from Twenty-seventh Street at Castro Street. This view is looking north. 

The distance traveled was approximately 6.9 miles (11 kilometers). The cumulative elevation gain was about 995 feet (303 meters). Mile markers are displayed on the GPS-generated track. 

The rocky and partially tree-covered Duncan & Castro Open Space is located in Upper Noe Valley. 

Here is a view from the summit of Corona Heights Hill. The vista is looking northeast. 

The 500 Club is a quintessential San Francisco dive bar. It is located in the Mission District on the southwest corner of Guerrero Street and Seventeenth Street. Yes, that is Donna, across the street.

NOW  Mission San Francisco de Asis was founded in 1776. This structure is the oldest intact building in San Francisco. 

THEN  This picture of Mission San Francisco de Asis is circa 1890. A portion of its cemetery is visible; it is the only cemetery still sited in the City and County of San Francisco. The view is looking west. 

Glen Canyon Park. The view is looking northwest. 

NOW  The New Mission Theater. The theater was built in 1916 and was updated in 1932. The theater closed in 1993 and was converted to a furniture store. After many bizarre twists and turns, the theater was renovated and reopened in 2015. The view is looking northwest. 

THEN  This photo was taken in 1943. The theater was designed by the Reid Brothers. The Nasser brothers, who owned the theater, commissioned architect Timothy Pflueger to update the theater in the early 1930s. Image courtesy of Jack Tillmany.

THEN The New Mission Theater in 1935. The theater is on the west side of Mission Street, between Twenty-first Street and Twenty-second Street. Visible on the east side of Mission Street is the New Rialto Theater. It opened in 1916, and through 1987, a period of over ninety years, the building was occupied by numerous theaters. The building then remained vacant for twenty-two years until 2009, when it reopened as a Billiard Palace and amusement arcade. 

This graph shows the elevation changes encountered in this ramble

"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams

"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view these photo galleries.

Sony RX-100 camera was used to take these photographs.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.

01 July 2017

Tilden Park to San Pablo Reservoir. Included are views of Nike Missile Batteries SL-08 & SL-09: 1 July 2017

This ramble started in Berkeley at the Little Farm in Tilden Park. We climbed to the summit of Wildcat Peak and then strolled past the site of Nike Missile Launch Battery SL-08L and Nike Missile Launch Battery SL-09L. This was an unusual dual battery configuration. The location housed two missile-launching batteries, each of which had three missile launchers. Each missile launcher could launch four missiles simultaneously, if necessary. This dual missile battery site, therefore, had the ability to launch twenty-four missiles within a very short timeframe. 

We then descended the east side of the Berkeley Hills and passed by San Pablo Reservoir. After which, there was a steep ascent of the east side of the Berkeley Hills to Inspiration Point and then, finally, back down to the Little Farm.



 San Pablo Reservoir. The view is looking east. 


Nike Missile Launching Stations SF-08L and SF-09L
The route: The distance traveled was approximately 10.6 miles (17 kilometers). The cumulative elevation gain was about 1,705 feet (520 meters). Mile markers are displayed on the GPS generated track.
 Another scene of San Pablo Reservoir looking east. 
 NOW  This is a view of the former location of Nike Missile Launching Stations SF-08L and SF-09L. The view is looking northeast. 

THEN  This photograph of Nike Missile Launching Stations SF-08L and SF-09L was taken from the cockpit of a small single-engine military reconnaissance plane. The airspace above this area was off-limits to all civilian aircraft. A partial view of Missile site SF-09L is barely visible at the upper left side of the photo. This view looks northeast and is circa 1959. 

NOW  Nike Missile Radar Station SF-09C was located on the top of this hill. The view is looking north. 

THEN  This photograph of Nike Missile Radar Station SF-09C was taken from the cockpit of a small single-engine military reconnaissance plane. The airspace above this area was off-limits to all civilian aircraft. This view looks northeast and is circa 1959.

 Mount Vollmer, at 1,905 feet (535 meters), is shrouded in fog and is not entirely visible. The summit of Mount Vollmer was the location of Nike Missile Radar Station SF-08C. A segment of Nimitz Way is visible in the lower portion of this image. This view looks south. 
This graph shows the elevation changes encountered in this ramble

"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.” Dorothea Lange 

"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." Ansel Adams
"The important thing is not the camera but the eye." Alfred Eisenstaedt

The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs that were posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view these photo galleries.

A Sony RX-100 camera was used to take these photographs.

Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com