July 2009New Book Celebrates Potrero Hill HistoryBy Jim Van BuskirkOn a Saturday in May Goat Hill Pizza’s back room was filled with library supporters, history buffs, and Hill dwellers new and old. The event, a fundraiser for the Potrero Library Campaign and a book launch party for Then & Now: Potrero Hill, the new volume by Peter Linenthal and Abigail Johnston, was coordinated by Linda Clark and Melinda Lee of Coldwell Banker Real Estate and Tina Tom of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). Goat Hill Pizza was a perfect venue, having served the community “sourdough crust and City views” for almost thirty-five years. Linenthal and Johnston each spoke for a few minutes, relating how they’d expected the project to be a piece of cake after having worked together on the 2005 San Francisco’s Potrero Hill. It turned out, however, that the new book contains almost completely new material, demanding many hours of collecting, sorting, and photographing. Taking some “new” photographs was risky, necessitating parking on the side of Highway 280. Other images prompted immediate responses from community members, with one book purchaser excitedly calling an old friend to tell him that, “Your house is on the cover.” The book is the first San Francisco title in Arcadia’s recently-launched Then & Now series, which pairs an historic photo with one taken recently, allowing readers to witness the often dramatic changes in a neighborhood. One two-page spread features a building just south of Goat Hill Pizza. The four images show the history of the 200-seat Alta nickelodeon, also know as “the Nick,” that opened in 1913. A 1968 image displays the defunct theater serving “briefly as a practice studio for the Grateful Dead. That is Jerry Garcia to the right of the flower.” An image by Jo Babcock, circa 1979, shows the theater as the Lighthouse Church of God in Christ, and the contemporary photograph displays the building with the marquee removed in its present incarnation as home to the Gurdjieff Society. A journey of nearly a century without turning a page. The “then” photographs were chiefly collected by the Potrero Hill Archives Project – which Linenthal and Johnston coordinate – supplemented by selections from the California Historical Society, SFPL’s San Francisco History Center, and other sources. Most of the “now” images were taken by Linenthal. While the first book was arranged chronologically, this volume is plotted geographically, starting with the “Top of the Hill”, and progressing North, East, South, and West. It inspires one to take walking tours around the Hill to the various locations, comparing the changes. For information about the Potrero Hill Archives Project, including a link to the book: http://www.potreroarchives.com/. For information about the Branch Library Improvement Program: http://sfpl.org/news/blip/improvementprogram.htm. For information about donating to the Potrero Branch Campaign: Tina Tom, 626.7512 x 106 or friendssfpl.org |
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