From the Archive

China Beach in SanFrancisco on a warm day, September 9, 1951

SF’s China Beach and the irony behind its name

Despite its spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge, China Beach is sometimes thought of as a hidden gem of San Francisco. The name of the tiny cove — said to be a place where Chinese fisherman would ...

Hetch Hetchy Valley in 1917, left, before the construction of O’Shaughnessy Dam, and in 1933, right, after the area was flooded to create the reservoir.

How Hetch Hetchy Valley’s natural beauty was sacrificed to

By Bill Van Niekerken

It’s an environmental conflict that has been coursing through California for more than a century: the unrelenting thirst of San Francisco versus the pristine beauty of nature. After years of debate, ...

Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols are interviewed in their hotel room in San Francisco by Steve Rubenstein, 01/13/1978. The Sex Pistols would play their last concert before breaking up at Winterland on Jan. 14, 1978.

Sex Pistols in San Francisco: The lewd, crude punk pioneers’

By Bill Van Niekerken

“The Sex Pistols have been in town two days, and they haven’t thrown up on anyone yet.” That was the beginning of a Chronicle story in January 1978 on the notorious British punk rock band, and a ...

The happy crowds waits for midnight at New Year's Eve celebrations on Market Street in San Francisco, December 31, 1959

New Year’s in 1950s San Francisco: Photos of a city partying

By Bill Van Niekerken

No matter the decade, San Francisco has known how to throw a New Year’s bash. End-o’-year booze-soaked shindigs have always been spread throughout S.F., but in the 1950s Market Street was clearly the ...

Downtown Oakland Christmas Balloon Parade December 3, 1949

The Oakland holiday balloon parade that drew 300,000 people to

By Bill Van Niekerken

Nothing says “happy holidays” like a giant inflatable hippopotamus floating through the streets. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Oakland and San Mateo hosted balloon parades that drew hordes of ...

An All-Star night Oakland Athletics baseball players would perform in the Oakland Ballet's production of The Nutcracker, Here, they are rehearsing, December 15, 1990

When the Oakland A’s of the Bash Brothers era performed with

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Oakland A’s teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s were known for bashing home runs during the baseball season, but during the holiday season the players traded cleats for ballet slippers to help ...

One of the proposals for second crossing across San Francisco Bay, envisioned a giant cloverleaf interchange on Yerba Buena Island with the current and new Bay Bridge intersecting there. Photo ran October 31,1950, p. 2 Handout

Another Bay Bridge? 70 years of absurd, crazy and downright dumb

By Bill Van Niekerken

About 260,000 vehicles travel across the Bay Bridge every day. Nearly that many outrageous ideas have been floated for a second cross-bay span since the original’s 1936 opening. The Bay Bridge is a ...

Bay Area Civil Defense., Control board of the Aircraft Warning Service of the 4th Interceptor Command, 1942

Unearthed World War II-era photos a salute to the women who

By Bill Van Niekerken

Not all the women whose hard work helped on the home front during World War II were part of the Rosie the Riveter phenomenon. In the early 1940s, the American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) formed ...

Aerial photos from blimp, June 12, 1975 Envelope is No. 7 of a series of 13 packs, and covers According to the negative pack, covers San Francisco State College Sunset District Public Health Hospital Park Merced George Washington High School Golden Gate Bridge

Archive discovery: Aerial views of 1970s SF from the Goodyear

By Bill Van Niekerken

San Francisco is one of the most photographed cities in the world, but you’ve probably never seen it like this. In June 1975 one of The Chronicle’s photographers captured stunning sights: views of the ...

President Franklin D. Roosevelt salutes the troops at Fort Lewis, Washington, September 23, 1942. Associated Press Wirephoto from the U.S. Navy,

When the US president disappeared for 2 weeks on a secret trip

By Bill Van Niekerken

What would happen today if the public and Congress didn’t know the whereabouts of the president of the United States for two weeks? It seems inconceivable now, but it happened 75 years ago. President ...

Mime Robert Shields and Lorene Yarnell get married in front of a large crowd at Union Square ,October 27, 1972 Scott Beach would perform the ceremony photo ran 10/28/1972, p. 2

When 2 mimes had a resounding wedding in Union Square

By Bill Van Niekerken

Have you heard the one about the mimes who got married in Union Square? If you’re bracing for a groan-inducing punchline, rest easy. This isn’t a joke. It’s a quick retelling of a quaint San ...

Earthquake hits San Francisco March 22, 1957 Part of Lake Merced Blvd collapses

San Francisco’s forgotten earthquake of 1957

By Bill Van Niekerken

It was the most powerful earthquake to hit San Francisco since 1906, but it’s a foggy memory 60 years later. On the morning of March 22, 1957, the ground started shaking. Several small tremors came in ...

Police are using Mace to move anti-war demonstrators who are blocking access to the Oakland Induction Center, October 17, 1967 Draft and Vietnam War protesters Associated Press photo Photo ran 10/18/1967, p. 10

1967 Vietnam War protest photos show savagery by police in

By Bill Van Niekerken

Amid the chaos of the Vietnam War across the Pacific Ocean and the protests at home, a conflict in the Bay Area proved inevitable. Fifty years ago, anti-war demonstrators took a stand, shutting down the ...

Adults in costume for various Halloween events .. A couple workers with their witch hats return to work at the Embarcadero Center, 10/31/1989

Halloweens of SF’s past: Long-buried photos dug up from archive

By Bill Van Niekerken

More than a century ago, Halloween in San Francisco was all about adults getting dressed up in crazy outfits and letting loose at raucous parties. Clearly not much has changed. Hidden deep in The ...

Residents walk by houses in the Marina district, severely damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake They were allowed 15 minutes to go in to block and get some of their possesions October 20, 1889

Loma Prieta quake at 28: Long-forgotten photos show disaster’s

By Bill Van Niekerken

In the shadow of one Northern California disaster, we mark the anniversary of another. Twenty-eight years ago, the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the Bay Area to its core, killing 63 people, most in the ...

The Hanly fire September 1964 Vineyard workers, watch the brushfire in the foothills above the winery near Calistoga. Associated Press photo, ran 09/23/1964, p. 1

Wine Country fire of 1964: Eerie similarities to this week’s

By Bill Van Niekerken

Flames tearing through Napa and Sonoma counties and beyond. Tens of thousands of acres charred. Residents displaced from their homes. Fifty-three years ago, a fire with eerie similarities to this week’s ...

Fire destroys the Mills Estate, the home of Darius Mills, June 23,1954

When the Peninsula’s most lavish 19th century mansion went up

By Bill Van Niekerken

It took two hours for the mansion that defined Millbrae for decades to go from the centerpiece of one of the Bay Area’s most lavish estates to a pile of ash. Built in the 19th century and standing tall ...

The Death of the Hippie funeral event and procession would start at the Psychedelic Shop on Haight and proceed on to Buena Vista Park October 6, 1967

‘Death of the Hippies’: Haight-Ashbury’s 1967 funeral for

By Bill Van Niekerken

Rest in peace, hippies. Fifty years ago this week, Haight-Ashbury residents were ready to bury the counterculture movement that had come to define the neighborhood and the city itself. With the classic ...

Tom Petty and the heartbreakers playing at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley July 26, 1985

Tom Petty in the Bay Area: 5 decades of concerts in photos

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Shoreline. The Greek. The Cow Palace. Oracle Arena. The Pavilion. Tom Petty played them all. When news broke that the legendary rocker had died after suffering a cardiac arrest at his Southern ...

People watch , as Barney Gould's future showboat is sinking March 14, 1952 Photo ran 3/15/1952, P. 3

SF’s most-hated boats: Remembering Barney Gould’s nautical

By Bill Van Niekerken

It would take quite a voyage to find more despised vessels than these in San Francisco’s seafaring history. While in The Chronicle’s archive looking through photos of Aquatic Park, I noticed a large, ...

The medfly invasion: How a tiny insect upended Bay Area life

By Bill Van Niekerken

A minuscule bug caused an ecological nightmare across Northern California nearly 40 years ago, and the fallout spread from the fields of Silicon Valley into the halls of the Capitol in Sacramento. When ...

U.S Navy blimps
Dirigibles served as anti-submarine patrol duty at Moffett Field flying over the Naval Air Station in the SanFrancisco Bay Area
02/11/1944

Wide World Photos

When behemoth blimps ruled the Bay Area’s skies

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Bay Area’s skies were graced by spectacular airships in the mid-20th century, and many had an equally awe-inspiring home for a brief time. In the 1920s, Sunnyvale won a hard-fought battle to become ...

49ers Joe Montana congratulates Jerry Rice after a 2nd quarter touchdown pass, November 29, 1987 Photo ran 11/30/1987, p. D1

49ers flashback: Snapshots of the Team of the 1980s’ strangest

By Bill Van Niekerken

A strike, “scabs,” success and a surprising playoff loss: 1987 was surely the strangest season for the 49ers in the 1980s, a decade that the team dominated. Sunday’s kickoff against the Carolina ...

Aerial view Mount St. Helens after the volcano erupted, March 31, 1980 a more massive and devastating eruption would happen May 18, 1980 Mount Ranier is seen in the background. Photo ran 07/13/1988, P. B4

A return to Mount St. Helens: rediscovered before-and-after

By Bill Van Niekerken

It was the deadliest volcanic eruption in U.S. history, and its reverberations are still being felt today. Thirty-seven years ago, Mount St. Helens exploded, killing 57 people, leveling more than 250 ...

Fog morning in the city around February 13, 1974, including the Transamerica Pyramid and St. Peter & Paul Church

Fog City: Found photos show SF’s signature weather spectacle in

By Bill Van Niekerken

Oh, “Fogust.” Some folks will miss you. Many of us won’t. But as we head toward San Francisco’s summery fall, we want to salute you and the city’s signature weather spectacle: the fog rolling in ...

Hells Angels to bury his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, with Harry the Horse Flamburis at Cypress Lawn Cemetery, April 22, 1977

When the Hells Angels buried a Harley-Davidson with their leader

By Bill Van Niekerken

This is a Hells Angels story that can’t remain buried. On Jan. 15, 1977, Harry “the Horse” Flamburis, president of the San Francisco chapter of the Hells Angels, was laid to rest at Cypress Lawn ...

Guy Armantrout, scientist at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory uses this solar surrey to test the reliaility of various solar cells. The public can ride the surrey on Sun Day, May 3, 1978 Handout Photo ran 04/28/1978, P. 19

When the solar-energy movement got its day in the sun in SF

By Bill Van Niekerken

The sun may be the scorching center of our solar system and the most vital energy source for our planet of 7.5 billion people, but in 1978 a collection of activists, poets, organizers and — ahem — ...

A section of the Embarcadero Freeway opens , February 1959, looking north

An ode to the Embarcadero Freeway, the blight by the bay

By Bill Van Niekerken

Not all “lost San Francisco” monuments are worth remembering. The Embarcadero Freeway once stood proud — well, maybe just stood — along San Francisco’s waterfront, helping connect the Golden ...

Tina Turner performs Photo ran December 11, 1984, P. 42

When celebrities invaded the Bay Area: From Tina Turner to Wonder

By Bill Van Niekerken

A view of a celebrity in the Bay Area can capture him or her in a new light. As part of a project to track down old oversize photos from The Chronicle’s basement archive, I turned up shots of famous ...

Chronicle photographer Barney Peterson hitched a ride on a United Airlines Mainliner in the summer of 1948 and captured stunning shots that included Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

Archive gold: The High Sierra 7 decades ago from 16,000 feet

By Bill Van Niekerken

While millions of visitors stream into the Lake Tahoe area, Yosemite National Park and other parts of the High Sierra for vacations every summer, few ever see views like this. While researching recently ...

The Who performed at the October 9-10 1976 Day on the Green with the Grateful Dead at the Oakland Coliseum
The crowd

When the Who met the Dead for the last time in Oakland

By Bill Van Niekerken

San Francisco is a city rich in rock music history, and The Chronicle has covered most of the big moments, but finding usable photos from these concerts or seminal events isn’t easy. The lighting can be ...

A fence controversy at the Bayshore Freeway, in Burlingame on the Peninsula October 17, 1947

When the Bayshore Freeway was the Bay Area’s ‘Highway of

By Bill Van Niekerken

Try not to snicker. The Bayshore Freeway was once dubbed the Bay Area’s “Highway of Tomorrow.” Decades ago, when many of us were growing up around the region, some of today’s most-driven highways ...

U.S.S. Enterprise enters San Francisco Bay and gets stuck on a sand bar off of Alameda .. Tugboats help the Navy ship get dislodged

Photos shot from helicopter 04/28/1983

3 tales of gigantic aircraft carriers getting stuck in SF Bay

By Bill Van Niekerken

U.S. Navy aircraft carriers are the military’s commanders of the seas, massive structures gliding across the world’s waterways with nearly unimaginable force and unbelievable ease — until they get ...

BRIDGE22D-C-20OCT01-DD-KR.jpg Neil Young during the Bridge School benefit at the Shoreline amphitheater .Photo By Kurt Rogers

also ran 04/11/04

Bridge School benefit concerts: A great run of shows for a worthy

I was stunned to read Aidin Vaziri’s report on the likely end of the Bridge School benefit concerts. The Bridge School benefit concerts organized by Neil Young and ex-wife Pegi Young ...

London double-decker buses on a tour of the United States to promote tourism to Great Britain

When London double-decker buses wowed SF crowds

By Bill Van Niekerken

Today, double-decker buses carry tourists around San Francisco. In the 1950s, they were the attraction. While refiling negatives in The Chronicle’s basement archive, I found a pack of ...

Shirley Temple on vacation in San Francisco July 31, 1936

The most famous girl in the world visits S.F.

By Bill Van Niekerken

The most famous girl in the world left her mark on San Francisco. Shirley Temple was an actor, singer, dancer and full-force celebrity in the 1930s, gaining fame before her teenage years. It shouldn’t ...

Alligators being transported back to the Steinhart Aquarium from the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. April 20, 1982

SF alligators: When giant reptiles were moved (ever so carefully)

By Bill Van Niekerken

Never trust a man who tells you it’s easy to move an alligator. The Academy of Sciences alligators have been a draw for decades for San Franciscans and tourists alike. Being a big fan of these huge ...

Mitch Richmond, left, Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin were known as Run TMC when they drove the Warriors’ fast-paced offense.

Warriors archive dive: An ode to Run TMC and more from 1980s,

By Bill Van Niekerken

Warriors fans, let’s take a trip back to the days of Don Nelson, Sleepy Floyd and Run TMC. With Stephen Curry and Co. being the hottest ticket around as they head to the NBA Finals for a third ...

The Tubes show, August 28, 1975 show at Bimbo's

Let’s celebrate the Tubes, one of SF’s weirdest rock bands

By Bill Van Niekerken

It’s safe to say there has never been a band quite like the Tubes. The gonzo San Francisco rock group was formed in the early 1970s and was known for onstage antics that would make Ozzy Osbourne ...

The San Francisco Chronicle front page January 29, 1949 reporting on an air lift of hay for cattle and sheep stranded in Northern Nevada near Ely by one of the first blizzards to ever hit that area.

Operation Haylift: The 1940s mission to save starving, stranded

By Bill Van Niekerken

When a record-shattering blizzard threatened the lives of hundreds of thousands of livestock, Operation Haylift flew into action. I was searching The Chronicle’s archive recently for ...

Singer James Brown, November 18, 1980 Photo ran11/210/1980, P. 67 (batch 1)

Classic Bay Area concert photos unearthed: ‘Godfather of

By Bill Van Niekerken

Most times, an archive discovery is as small as a slide or a negative. This time, the find was “oversize.” The Chronicle’s basement has a room that houses 1 million photos or more, and ...

Unite State Army Stockton Depot with war surplus materials

$100 for a jeep? World War II surplus frenzy hits Bay Area

By Bill Van Niekerken

A new military jeep being sold for $100? Surely that couldn’t be true. While digging through The Chronicle’s archive, I found photos from 1946 and 1947 that showed row upon row of unused ...

Benny Bufano, Billy McGee and Governor Edmund G. Brown (r) and children at the Pittsburg Heights Elementary School admire the Benny Bufano statue Photo ran November 4, 1960-, p. 5

An ode to Benny Bufano, a San Francisco sculptor who broke the

By Bill Van Niekerken

Chances are you’ve seen Benny Bufano’s art, but you’ve never heard much about the artist. I certainly hadn’t heard of Bufano when I was a kid whose favorite part about visiting ...

1978 San Francisco Giants opening day Fans in the upper deck enjoy the sunny day Photo ran 04/8/1978, P. 1

Giants’ home openers: Classic moments spread across 60 years

By Bill Van Niekerken

For six decades, San Francisco baseball fans have celebrated the start of spring with the Giants’ home opener. Since the city’s first major-league Opening Day on April 15, 1958, San ...

Stanford’s secrets: Decades of surprises stashed in Hoover

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Hoover Tower rises high above Stanford University, but many students don’t know about the treasures housed inside. While doing research in The Chronicle’s archive for another project, I ...

New York artist Christo Javacheff pulls on parachute type nylon cloth, which he plans to use with his next project: a 24 mile long running fence through from Petaluma to the pacific Ocean at a cost of $500,000, January 17, 1974 United Press International photo

In the 1970s, this 25-mile-long art project wowed the Bay Area

By Bill Van Niekerken

It was one of the most ambitious art projects the Bay Area has ever seen, and its scale is staggering regardless of the decade from which it’s viewed. When I happened upon a photo of conceptual ...

3 Cal Poly students climb the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, on a lark Photo taken by Sgt. James C. Dukes, California Highway patrol Photo ran September 1, 1977, P. 18

Golden Gate Bridge stunts that have shocked the city over the

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Golden Gate Bridge: the perfect backdrop for a powerful protest or a stupid stunt. After writing about the exploits of Robert Niles, who parachuted from bridges in search of fame, I ...

Parachutist Robert Niles successfully parachuted off the Golden Gate Bridge, April 15, 1949.

A salute to the king of Golden Gate Bridge stunts

By Bill Van Niekerken

The father of modern-day BASE jumpers was a classic San Francisco character. On a recent trip to the archive, I turned up decades-old photos and articles on Robert Niles, the unquestioned king of Golden ...

The opening of the Maritime Museum in the old Aquatic Park Casino building, Negative pack says June 26, 1951

SF’s Aquatic Park: From dream to disaster to New Deal landmark

By Bill Van Niekerken

Aquatic Park is a San Francisco landmark, and like many of the city’s favorite spots, its history is as quirky as it is rich. Recently I headed down to The Chronicle’s archive to learn more ...

Close-up image of still purported to be Bigfoot, from a roll of film left at a San Francisco camera shop and never picked up.

Beyond Bigfoot: Rediscovering 60 years of Sasquatch stories

By Bill Van Niekerken

Keep reading. This isn’t a hoax. The search term “Bigfoot” recently rose up one of our trending lists, but it’s not because of a new sighting in Humboldt County or farther north. ...

Oursf Golden Gate Park
Man at the Shakespeare garden
Photo shot 04/22/1964

The mysteries of Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park

By Bill Van Niekerken

Even visitors who have strolled through Golden Gate Park dozens of times may have never wandered into Shakespeare Garden. It’s pretty easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. The same could be said ...

The Potomac, the former presidential yacht of Franklin D. Roosevelt was seized in a $40 million marijuana bust, September 11, 1980 Here is the Potomac, and the Valkeryie

USS Potomac, the ‘Floating White House,’ no stranger to wild

By Bill Van Niekerken

A president. A pot raid. A journey to the bottom of the bay. The USS Potomac has never failed to sail into stories during its decades in the Bay Area and beyond. Recent images of smiling children aboard ...

Humphrey the whale in the delta near Rio Vista

Photo shot 10/16/1985,
Humphrey the humpback whale

Remember Humphrey the Humpback's wild adventure?

By Bill Van Niekerken

Of all the marine animals to visit the Bay Area, the tale of Humphrey the whale is by far the most famous. It all started with a small inside story about a whale lost in the bay. By the next weekend, ...

Artist's drawing shows how underground power plant will be built beneath the Oroville Dam, on the Feather River. The plant will only one of it's kind in the nation. It will have a capacity of 600,000 kilowatts, and a dependable output of 2.2 billion kilowatt hours per year. United Press International photo, 05/23/1963

Oroville Dam: A look back at massive structure’s construction

By Bill Van Niekerken

Today, the Oroville Dam is the site of a disaster, but 50 years ago, its construction was a cornerstone of the California Water Plan. Construction of the dam kicked off amid flashbulbs ...

Bruce Springsteen concert in Tacoma Washington, on his next stop, he and the E St. Band would perform in the Bay Area. October 17, 1984

Boss flashback: Bruce Springsteen on the road to 1984 Oakland

By Bill Van Niekerken

Bruce Springsteen is still the Boss, but in 1984 his popularity was beyond belief. Thirty-two years ago, The Chronicle took the unusual step of sending a music critic and a photographer ...

Historic Chinese fashions at the Chinatown Rice Bowl Party & Parade 1940. (L to R) Rose Lum in a costume from the Tang Dynasty. Doreen Feng (c) played the part of hostess, Miss Babette Lau (right)

Chinatown charity: 79 years ago, SF’s Rice Bowl helped save

By Bill Van Niekerken

The good in Chinatown and San Francisco shined through in a time of war. While searching The Chronicle’s archive for photos and stories for the upcoming Lunar New Year, I turned up ...

Mrs. Hans Klussmann ( Friedel Klussmann) worked tirelessly to save the Cable Cars in San Francisco, 1982

The legend of the woman who saved the cable cars

By Bill Van Niekerken

Seventy years ago, San Francisco Mayor Roger Lapham proclaimed, “Junk the cable cars!” In his annual message to the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 27, 1947, he said, “I know there are ...

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain visits San Francisco. She is seen here arriving at San Francisco International Airport. Mayor Dianne Feinstein and First Lady Nancy Reagan are here to greet her, March 2, 1983 Photo ran 03/03/1983, p. 1

Queen Elizabeth II’s whirlwind West Coast tour lit up SF

By Bill Van Niekerken

With the popularity of Netflix’s “The Crown,” the life of Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is being streamed into homes across the Bay Area. In early 1983, she was here in person, ...

Rolling Stones concert at Oakland Coliseum July 26, 1978.

Rolling Stones in the Bay Area: 50 years of huge shows

By Bill Van Niekerken

It’s hard to believe, but the Rolling Stones debuted in the Bay Area more than 50 years ago. After reading about the Stones’ big 2016 — which included a major tour, a concert in Cuba, a ...

FLOOD 4/C/06JAN97/CD/VM =Home owners on their way to their flooded homes by boat in front of the flooded Rusty Anchor at Vieiras Resort on the Sacramento river in the delta. by Vince Maggiora

Stunning photos from Northern California’s great flood of 1997

By Bill Van Niekerken

With one of the biggest storms in years set to hit Northern California this weekend, we headed to The Chronicle’s archive to find photos and stories from the infamous New Year’s storm of 1997 ...

Balclutha (Pacific Queen) being towed from Sausalito, July 12, 1954, after being purchased by the San Francisco Maritime Museum

SF’s Balclutha: Tracing the 130-year voyage of a landmark ship

By Bill Van Niekerken

It might seem like the iconic Balclutha ship has been docked at the Hyde Street Pier forever, but the National Historic Landmark’s history has taken a circuitous path over the decades. ...

Aerial photos from blimp, June 12, 1975 Envelope is No. 1 of a series of 13 packs, and covers According to the negative pack, covers Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco Candlestick park Alameda Flea market Oakland and Berkeley area

Bay Area by blimp: A new look at rediscovered aerial photos

By Bill Van Niekerken

San Francisco may have the iconic landmarks, beautiful bridges and scenic skyline, but the rest of the Bay Area looked captivating from the Goodyear Blimp’s viewpoint in the 1970s. A ...

ThePacific Telephone & Telegraph building was covered by sandbags, to protect it from bomb blasts after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 9, 1941

Post-Pearl Harbor photos show San Francisco bracing for war

By Bill Van Niekerken

The fear felt in San Francisco after Pearl Harbor is often forgotten. When the Japanese attacked Hawaii, many people thought the Bay Area would be the next target. The Chronicle has been ...

The Last Waltz concert at Winterland November 25, 1976, was filmed by Martin Scorcese

The Band and many guest musicians performed, including Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison Eric Clapton Ron Wood, Ringo Starr, Dr. John and Joni Mitchell

Long-lost photos capture legendary S.F. 'Last Waltz' concert from

By Bill Van Niekerken

Editor's note: This article originally appeared on our premium website, SFChronicle.com . SF GATE is re-publishing this photo archive discovery to mark the 40th anniversary of 'The Last Waltz" on ...

Armistice Day parade around San Francisco City Hall, 1945 Envelope stamped 11/30/1945

How San Francisco has celebrated its veterans for decades

By Bill Van Niekerken

San Francisco is a city that knows how to salute its heroes. With Veterans Day coming on the heels of a big election, I headed to The Chronicle’s archive in search of stories and images ...

Glomar Explorer at the Bay Bridge. Photographer John O'Hara, June 1 1978.

Howard Hughes, the CIA and a mysterious ship in the Bay Area

By Bill Van Niekerken

International secrecy. A Soviet submarine. Howard Hughes. The CIA. This story wasn’t short on intrigue. The Glomar Explorer was a giant vessel ostensibly built by the reclusive Hughes ...

Neil Young and David Crosby Laughter, Love & Music concert in memory of Bill Graham who was killed in a helicopter crash. The concert to place on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park,11/03/1991

A tribute to Bill Graham: Memorial concert was a worthy goodbye

By Bill Van Niekerken

Bill Graham got a goodbye concert that he would have been proud to promote. With the 25th anniversary of Graham’s death approaching, I headed to The Chronicle’s archive in search of ...

Bill Graham n his old office January 30, 1980 Photo, ran 11/3/1991, P. 39, Sunday Datebook

Celebrating Bill Graham’s legacy on death’s anniversary

By Bill Van Niekerken

Rock promoter Bill Graham’s influence reaches far beyond the Bay Area music scene. He forever changed how fans and musicians come together and how concerts are organized. Oct. 25 marks ...

Opening of Whitney Bros. Aerial Tramway, Sky Tram ran from Cliff House past the Sutro Baths to Point Lobos is nearing completion 05/021955

San Francisco’s Sky Tram, a tourist oddity lost to history

By Bill Van Niekerken

San Francisco has been home to many quirky tourist attractions. The Sky Tram was one of the greatest. From late 1955 to 1966, an aerial tram ran from the Cliff House to Point Lobos. It ...

San Francisco Giants 1st baseman Will Clark and Shawon Dunston, being restrained here by coach Jose Martinez would get in a beef after Game 4 against the Chicago Cubs, October 8, 1989. The Giants would clinch in Game 5 of National League Championship Series at Candlestick. They won the series 4-1.

A classic Giants-Cubs playoff matchup 27 years ago

By Bill Van Niekerken

Candlestick vs. Wrigleyville. Fog City vs. the Windy City. Will the Thrill vs. the Wild Thing. The Giants and Cubs squared off in the playoffs 27 years before this season’s National ...

John Easterby, engineering specialist, (left), and Colonel John A Graf, check readings on the Bay Model, June 12 1957 Photo ran 06/15/1957, p. 5

How a giant model of SF Bay helped science in Sausalito

By Bill Van Niekerken

If you know where to go, you can walk around the entirety of San Francisco Bay in just a few minutes. The giant Bay Model in Sausalito isn't the most popular tourist attraction in the region, but it ...

San Francisco Giants Game 1 action from 1962 playoff series against the Los Angeles Dodger 10/1/1962

54 years ago, a Giants-Dodgers series for the ages

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Giants and Dodgers have had their share of memorable series through the decades, but 54 years ago fans were treated to the most memorable of them all. With the baseball season in its ...

CHRONICLE 02/13/94 // TRE COOL & MIKE DIRNT & BILLIE JOE FROM THE BAND GREEN DAY

Green Day’s early days: A hunt for lost photos from 1990s

By Bill Van Niekerken

Green Day played a BFD show before they were, well, a BFD. Readers have been asking for an archive dive in search of classic Bay Area band and concert photos. One suggestion was to hunt down early shots ...

The 172 foot tower is being hauled into place at Marin County Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Photographed 012/14/1961 Photo ran 12/18/1961,P. 4

How Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin Civic Center was finally built

By Bill Van Niekerken

It was designed by one of the world’s most renowned architects, but it’s a miracle it got built at all. The Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael is the last building from famed architect ...

Sheriff's officers struggle with houseboat owners try to prevent them from moving a houseboat moored near Sausalito Photo shot 06/7/1971 Photo ran 06/8/1971, p. 5

Sausalito’s houseboat wars: Decades of bay battles

By Bill Van Niekerken

For decades, a battle in the bay raged between Sausalito houseboat dwellers and government agencies. During a recent visit to Sausalito, I was taken with the charming vessels bobbing ...

Elvis Presley performs at the Oakland Auditorium June 3, 1956

When Elvis Presley got the Bay Area all shook up

By Bill Van Niekerken

Elvis Presley got his start in the South, but his music and moves made an impression in the Bay Area before he was crowned the King. Presley died 39 years ago this month, and the anniversary sparked ...

Map of the location of the collision of the SS Mary Luckenbach with the hospital ship USS Benevolence in the fog off the Golden Gate, Aug 25 1950. Chronicle staff-produced map. Ran Aug 27 1950, p.2

When the bay’s fog claimed a Navy ship and 23 souls

By Bill Van Niekerken

The U.S. Navy hospital ship Benevolence was meant to be a symbol of goodwill, but it became one of the most tragic examples of San Francisco Bay’s nautical dangers. On Aug. 25, 1950, ...

Paul Prudhomme set up a version of his K Paul restaurant at the Old Waldorf nightclub in San Francisco Photos shot 07/20/1983

The original SF pop-up restaurant: Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul’s

By Bill Van Nielerken

A restaurant opens in town. It closes after a month, costing the bombastic chef-owner a cool $45,000. Yet, he considers it a success. Sound like just another day in the modern San Francisco food scene? ...

The Beatles play the Cow Palace on Aug. 31, 1965. Security had to carry fainting girls off the stage.

Beatles in SF: Treasure trove of photos found 50 years after

By Bill Van Niekerken

San Francisco will always have a special place in Beatles lore. With the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four’s famous Candlestick Park performance — their final paid concert — coming ...

Delegates wave flags at the 1984 Democratic National Convention held at Moscone Center in San Francisco Photo ran 07/20/1984, P. 5

SF’s 1984 Democratic convention: Historic, but not smooth

By Bill Van Niekerken

Thirty-two years ago, the Democrats held a rowdy convention in San Francisco before a walloping in November. The 1984 Democratic National Convention was held at Moscone Center in ...

CORE Civil Rights protesters at the 1964 Republican National Convention at the Cow Palace, July 13 1964

When the GOP held a wild national convention in the Bay Area

By Bill Van Niekerken

Imagine for a moment that this year’s Republican National Convention and all the craziness that came with it had been held in the Bay Area, not Cleveland. Fifty-two years ago, it ...

The SeaWall warehouse, known as Fort SeaWall, was partially demolished when protesters occupied it on Dec. 30, 1968.

The battle to save SF’s Gold Rush-era SeaWall Warehouse

By Bill Van Niekerken

It was one of the last surviving buildings from San Francisco’s Gold Rush era, but conservationists’ best efforts couldn’t save it from the wrecking ball. While I was refiling ...

Final beam and small tree is hoisted up as part of a topping off ceremony for the Bank of America building, 06/03/1968
555 California Street

Trees get lifted to new heights atop S.F. skyline

By Bill Van Niekerken

I was asked to find some photos of the topping ceremony, in 1968, of the Bank of America building at 555 California St. I found photos of the final steel beam being raised to the top of the building, ...

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant protests organized by Abalone Alliance Demonstrators blockade and police arrest at the front gate Photos dated 9/-/1981

Diablo Canyon nuclear plant: A legacy of powerful protests

By Bill Van Niekerken

California’s last nuclear power plant has sparked heated protests since before its opening decades ago. After reading the news that Pacific Gas & Electric Co. plans to close the Diablo Canyon ...

Double Bicentennial celebration and parade in Golden Gate Park Independence Day 07/04/1976

40 years ago: The biggest Bay Area July 4 bash in two centuries

By Bill Van Niekerken

The bicentennial was big, and it was a blast. In 1976, our country celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing from coast to coast. It was a time of jubilation ...

Bodie Wagner singd to the crowd at the concert at Sigmund Stern Grove. Photo ran 08/15/1977, P. 23

A look back at SF’s Stern Grove shows: 1970s to today

By Bill Van Niekerken

San Francisco’s Stern Grove has had more than its share of memorable concerts, and when I wrote a post on the early days of the venue , I found more than a fair share of classic photos that hadn’t ...

A free concert at Sigmund Stern Grove June, 1948

Tracing the history of Stern Grove’s summer concerts

By Bill Van Niekerken

For 79 years, the sounds of song and summer have filled the air around Stern Grove, one of San Francisco’s outdoor gems. With the annual concert series having started on Father’s Day, ...

The Golden Gate bridge was closed for the 3 hours the evening of December 1, 1951. It swayed several feet in each direction Repairs to the "safety pin" whose bushings had been broken, were made over the last two weeks of December 1951 Photo ran 12/10/1951

When the Golden Gate Bridge was closed by a violent storm

By Bill Van Niekerken

When the Golden Gate Bridge closes, that’s front-page news. When it closes because it’s swaying 12 feet in either direction, that’s worth a trip to The Chronicle’s archive 65 years ...

The funeral procession for Hells Angel Chocolate George Hendricks Photo shot 08/281967 After the funeral Angels and Hippies gathered in Golden Gate Park for a wake ... The Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company performed

A heavenly goodbye to a Hells Angel in 1960s San Francisco

By Bill Van Niekerken

It was the kind of last run a Hells Angel would love. On Aug. 29, 1967, San Francisco hosted the funeral and wake for Hells Angel Chocolate George Hendricks, and seeing the classic photos prompted a ...

This is an undated photo showing Seabiscuit and trainer Tom Smith, at an unknown location. The leather saddle worn by Seabiscuit and Australian champion Phar Lap and the riding silks and crop that belonged to jockey George Woolf will be sold at auction this Sunday July 20, 2003 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/File)

When Seabiscuit galloped into Northern California retirement

By Bill Van Niekerken

What happened to Seabiscuit after his retirement in Northern California? That question drove me to The Chronicle’s basement archive in search of photos, newspaper pages and stories ...

S.S. Angelo Petri, the world's largest wine tanker in distress off the coast of San Francisco Photo ran 02/10/1960, p. 1

When world’s largest wine ship nearly sunk outside the Golden

By Bill Van Niekerken

Let it never be said that San Franciscans will sit idly by when 1.7 million gallons of wine are at risk. The story of the S.S. Angelo Petri jumps off the page 56 years after the massive ...

The Beatles' Ringo Starr encountered bedlam, and a lot of microphones, when he stopped at San Francisco International Airport on June 12, 1964, on his way to Australia to meet up with the band.

The lost photos of Ringo Starr’s chaotic SFO stopover

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Beatles were so big in the mid-1960s that a quick SFO stopover by Ringo Starr brought bedlam to the airport. Here at The Chronicle, we’ve been searching for and scanning classic ...

Andrea Brown, who's father Ted Brown bought a Doggie Dinner head at a KQED auction. The neighbors were displeased.

KQED needed saving, and Bay Area’s weirdest auction was born

By Bill Van Niekerken

Sixty-one years ago, the Bay Area’s quirkiest auction helped save KQED and created an only-in-San Francisco story. The popular local public television station was struggling in June ...

The Golden Hinde II sails near the Golden Gate Bridge as it arrives in San Francisco Bay photo ran 03/16/1975, P. 5 (This World) UPI photo

The epic journey of the Golden Hinde of Sir Francis Drake fame

By Bill Van Niekerken

It’s been a long, winding voyage for the Golden Hinde, the 20th century version of Sir Francis Drake’s fabled Golden Hind. In the 1970s, it seemed like a sure thing: build a sea-worthy replica of ...

Surprise concert a Deadhead delight

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Grateful Dead are scheduled to play their final concerts, so we have been digging through the archives to find historic photos to spice up our coverage of the band's long history. The Grateful Dead ...

Robin Williams would M.C. at the 1980 Bread & Roses concert, at Greek Theater, Berkeley photos shot 10/04/1980

Bread & Roses: 3 decades of classic concerts in the Bay Area

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Bay Area’s Bread & Roses nonprofit had an important mission, but that didn’t stop its organizers from putting on rockin’ and riotous shows in the 1970s and ’80s. A few ...

Baseball fans during opeaning game at Seals Stadium. (Photo by Jon Brenneis//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

58 years of windy and wild Giants home openers

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Giants are home again, unofficially marking the start of San Francisco springtime. This year, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in town, and tickets have long been sold out. The home opener always draws a ...

House in Haight where Rudoplph Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn are busted for marijuana Illustration of the attempt to escape via the roof Envelope says 07/11/1967

The great Haight ballet bust of 1967

By Bill Van Niekerken

“Dancers’ Hippie Spree.” “The Great Ballet Bust.” “A Heck of a Haight Performance.” By any name, the arrests of two of the world’s foremost ballet dancers in San Francisco ...

USF Dons at the airport as they return home from Kansas City March 25, 1955, after winning NCAA championship in basketball title

Title towns: The Bay Area’s golden era of college basketball

By Bill Van Niekerken

It has been a long time since a Bay Area team was on top of the college basketball world. With the NCAA basketball tournaments on the Final Four stage, we headed to The Chronicle’s ...

The crew of the scuttled German ship Columbus on a Japanese ship Asama Maru. January 1940

When Nazi sailors were forced to live on Angel Island

By Bill Van Niekerken

As World War II escalated in Europe, Nazi sailors sat stuck on Angel Island. A recent trip to The Chronicle’s archive produced negative packs marked “P&G (Politics and Government) — Nazis — ...

GIANTS BONDS-C-25FEB00-SP-KL ---Barry Bonds trades places with the media getting behind a TV camera, and jokes that he could be a cameraman. The Giants are in Spring Training at Indian School Park in Scottsdale.
(KENDRA LUCK/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE)

Giants in the desert: From Bonds to Barry (Zito) to Bochy

By Bill Van Niekerken

Every March, you can see Giants if you travel to the desert, and evidence of their existence amid the sweltering heat has surged in recent years. With baseball season fast approaching and ...

The train City of San Francisco Streamliner was stuck in snow drifts near Yuba Pass in the Sierra Nevada for 4 days. Ken McLaughlin used skis and snow shoes to get to the train long before any other journalists

Snowbound in the Sierra: 3 days of hell on a train in 1952

By Bill Van Niekerken

Getting stuck on a stalled BART train for 10 minutes during the commute can seem like a disaster. Next time, count your blessings. In 1952 more than 200 passengers survived three days stuck on a train near ...

HOLLISTER9/B/07JUL47/MN/BP - EDDIE DAVENPORT, OF TULARE, CA, DRINKS A BEER ON HIS MOTORCYCLE IN HOLLISTER, CA. DURING THE DISRUPTION OF JULY 7, 1947. The attitude of the motorcyclists was expressed by one youth today in the words: "Well, the American Legion goes into a town and raises hell. It's a convention. We're just hvaing a convention..." Photo by Barney Peterson Over the years, confusion of the name of the biker has been reported as Eddie Davenport or Don Middleton.

These biker photos defined the boozy, bloody Hollister riots

By Bill Van Niekerken

Bikers’ rowdy reputation was born in Hollister in 1947, and that booze-fueled, brawling image was crystallized in a series of Chronicle photos that were seen by millions of people and sunk into the ...

1962: San Francisco Giants player Willie Mays looking at his bats during spring training on February 23, 1962. (Photo by Rogers Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Giants in the desert: Spring training gold mine unearthed

By Bill Van Niekerken

Giants pitchers and catchers reported to camp in Scottsdale last week and the Orange-and-Black faithful are excited about their bolstered rotation and even-year prospects. The franchise, though, ...

Topping off ceremony at the Transamerica Pyramid Building
Photos shot 03/29/1972

See the Transamerica Pyramid rise amid rancor

By Bill Van Niekerken

At least for a little while longer, the Transamerica Pyramid will reign as San Francisco’s tallest building. The pyramid stands at 853 feet, but it will soon be dwarfed by the 1,070-foot Salesforce Tower ...

COSTNER-GALLERY/C/1FEB96/SP/LI
Kevin Costner along with the galley look on as Cosner's pro Lee Janzen puts on the 8th green at Poppy Hills. By Lance Iversen/San Francisco Chronicle AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM GOLF TOURNAMENT

Trump, Costner and Murray: Pebble Beach stars of past 20 years

By Bill Van Niekerken

Even though Bing Crosby’s name is no longer attached , the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am stills draws A-list entertainers to hit the links with the golfers. Stars from that past two decades have included ...

(L to R) Jack Nicholas ads body english at the 1963 Crosby National Pro=Am Golf Tournament

AP photo

Photo ran 01/19/1963, p. 33

Pebble Beach Pro-Am’s Bing Crosby years: Big names, big fun

By Bill Van Niekerken

Before there was the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, there was the Crosby Clambake. Classic crooner Bing Crosby started the Crosby National Pro-Amateur Tournament in 1937 at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club ...

Super Bowl society party 01/19/1985

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hope (Herb Caen is between them) and Lee Iacococa

Take a look inside S.F.’s 1985 Super Bowl parties

By Bill Van Niekerken

Super Bowl 50 has come to town, and while we dodge tourists on our way to work and fight through lines at our favorite lunch spots, let’s remember a calmer time: 1985, the last time the Super Bowl circus ...

Long-lost 'Last Waltz' photos from legendary S.F. concert

By Bill Van Niekerken

For decades, The Chronicle’s photos from “The Last Waltz,” one of San Francisco’s greatest rock music events, were lost, thought never to be seen again. The concert at Winterland ...

The Raiders play the Dallas Texans 09/26/1961 at Candlestick Park

Raiders’ home headaches: From 1960 in S.F. to today

By Bill Van Niekerken

Raiders stadium issues: It’s a story as old as the franchise. The Silver-and-Black spent their first season, 1960, playing in San Francisco at Kezar Stadium, then the home of the 49ers. Sharing the ...

Schooner Zaca, August 1942, in WWII service with the US Navy.

The 118' schooner was designed by Garland Rotch for Templeton Crocker, grandson of the railroad baron. She was built in Sausalito, California by the Nunes Brothers Boat and Ways Co. and launched in 1930. Crocker, with Rotch as captain, took the vessel around the world. In 1942 the Navy took the schooner for defense purposes. After the war Errol Flynn owned the boat and the vessel was know for wild parties. After Flynn's death in 1959, the boat deteriorated in the Mediterranean area but was finally saved and elegantly restored by Italian Roberto Memmo and home ported in Monaco.

Scanned Chronicle file negatives, one packet dated August, 1942

Zaca’s voyage: Bay Area yacht’s history filled with splashy

By Bill Van Niekerken

It’s a storied yacht born in the Bay Area whose 20th century voyage was filled with more tales than most fleets see in a lifetime — and whose exploits were covered in great depth in The Chronicle. ...

David Bowie in the Bay Area: From his first flop to many stunners

By Bill Van Niekerken and Joel Selvin

David Bowie’s first Bay Area show was a Halloween event at Winterland in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 1972. The show flopped, with only a few hundred people buying tickets to see the ...

1948: Workers paint the western span of the Bay Bridge when it was more than a decade old. The Bay Bridge was erected less than a year before the Golden Gate Bridge and declared by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be the greatest construction project in U.S. history. Photo taken by Duke Downey, a longtime Chronicle photographer who often put himself in precarious places to get a great result.

What it was like to be a Bay Bridge painter in the 1940s

By Bill Van Niekerken

These working-class heroes risked life and limb to keep a landmark looking good. Our post last month on the Golden Gate Bridge painters of decades past was one of our most popular ever, ...

The Emporium Santa leads his followers on Market Street. Nov. 7, 1964.

When S.F. gave Emporium, and its Santa, a final Christmas

By Bill Van Niekerken and Carl Nolte

When readers reminisce about past Christmases in San Francisco, the Emporium is often at the top of their lists. It closed 20 years ago, but the store and its holiday extravaganza live on in countless ...

KESEY/26APR67/MN/JR - Ken Kesey, on top of the Furthur Bus, holding a flute in San Francisco. Photo by Joe Rosenthal. Also ran 11/30/03

ALSO Ran on: 01-15-2006
Ken Kesey, holding a flute, rode on top of &quo;Furthur&quo; with some of the Merry Pranksters in 1967 during a rollicking trip to San Francisco from his home in La Honda.

Ken Kesey vs. the cops: Looking back at author’s 1965 pot bust

By Bill Van Niekerken

Let’s take a trip back in time (onus on the “trip”). Author Ken Kesey was busy painting flowers on his toilet when police burst into his La Honda mountain hideaway. Seventeen sheriff’s ...

Noor is ahead of Citation by a nose here in the Forty Niners Handicap at Golden Gate Fields 06/17/1950

Photo ran 06/18/1950, P. 1H

When the Bay Area hosted horse races for the ages

By Bill Van Niekerken

Two horse races for the ages took place at Golden Gate Fields in 1950, but their memory has faded for all but the sport’s biggest fans. Sam Spear remembers. He’s been recapping horse-racing results at ...

These workers are painting the South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, June 1950

These Golden Gate Bridge daredevils kept span sparkling in 1950s

By Bill Van Niekerken

Sometimes you need to be down in the basement to discover photos that take an icon to a higher level. While refiling images in The Chronicle’s bottom-floor archive, I came across a photo looking down ...

The Play, 1982 Big Game in BerkeleyFILE--Cal's Kevin Moen (26) leaps with the ball on the air after scoring Cal's winning touchdown while the Stanford band runs to get out of his way in Berkeley, Calif. in this Nov. 18, 1982 file photo. Moen weaved his way through hundreds of people to score with no time remaining to give Cal a 25-20 win over Stanford. Cal and Stanford meet again on Saturday, Nov. 22, 1997. (AP Photo/Robert Stinnett, Oakland Tribune)
Ran on: 11-02-2008

Big Game, bigger moments: Cal-Stanford rivalry treasure trove

By Bill Van Niekerken

It doesn’t take much investigating to find great photos, articles and illustrations that showcase Big Game moments. Since the first Cal-Stanford matchup on March 19, 1892, students and alumni have ...

Portola Festival closing parade .. evening parade
October 23, 1948

When S.F. had visions of its own Mardi Gras

By Bill Van Niekerken

For a little while, San Francisco had visions of its own Mardi Gras. San Francisco author and Chronicle contributor Gary Kamiya writes his Portals of the Past columns on Bay Area history, and finding ...

Oakland Athletics

A's World Series victory parade in downtown Oakland.

According to the back of the photo, Stephanie Maze was a freelancer when she took this photo. Would be hired full-time Feb. 20, 1973.

Photo was taken: 10/23/1972.

When the A’s grew mustaches and grew into champions

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Kansas City Royals won their second World Series this week, and 43 years ago the Oakland A’s, who had moved from Kansas City five years before, defeated the Cincinnati Reds to become the Bay Area’s ...

Nine girls from San Rafael High School crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on open day May 23,1937

‘Girls of the Golden Gate’: What happened after famous photo?

By Bill Van Niekerken

You’ve probably seen the photo. Nine girls, locked arm in arm, excitement spread across their faces, dashing across the Golden Gate Bridge on its opening day, May 27, 1937. I was hunting for a bit more ...

l tp r Carey Baldwin, Shell Qvale ad Don Pickford hunting the dunes for Pokey the Himalayan Bear and escape artist, was on the loos for 11 days from Fleishhacker Zoo

January 1949

When the ‘Bear Hunt for Pokey’ transfixed San Francisco

By Bill Van Niekerken

For three weeks in the 1940s, San Francisco was enraptured by a bear who moonlighted as an escape artist. I was refiling negatives in The Chronicle archive recently and came across envelopes that read ...

Using explosives to demolish the Drawbridge portion of the Dumbarton Bridge in the South Bay

Photo ran 09/24/1984, p. 1

The day a Bay Area bridge was blown sky-high

By Bill Van Niekerken

After decades as a traffic nightmare, this Bay Area bridge went kaboom. The Dumbarton Bridge doesn’t get the glory of the Golden Gate or Bay bridges, but it has had a few days in the limelight. I was ...

New cars made by the Kaiser-Frazer Corp,

Photo ran 05/14/1950, p. 6 Leisure
Handout

When Kaiser was known for cars, not care

By Bill Van Niekerken

Kaiser used to be known for much more than medical care. Henry J. Kaiser, a name most of us know from the Oakland-based hospital chain, took on the Big 3 automobile manufacturers — ...

Frank Sinatra performs at the Cow Palace June 1957

Sinatra in San Francisco: 57 years ago, a concert to remember

By Bill Van Niekerken

Decade after decade, Frank Sinatra’s voice remains one that never grows old. This year, on Dec. 12, Ol’ Blue Eyes would have turned 100, so I set out to find the earliest staff shots of him in The ...

Picture Day for the the 1960 Oakland Raiders, their inaugural season. Quarterback Tom Flores wouldn't get the Raiders to the Super Bowl as quarterback, but would be the head coach of the Raiders in 1980 & 1983 when they won the Super Bowl.

Just grin, baby: Classic Raiders training camp photos, 1960-2015

By Bill Van Niekerken

Two weeks ago, I searched The Chronicle archive and compiled an NFL training camp post that focused solely on the 49ers, knowing I would soon dig around for Raiders photos featuring ...

A December 1948 show at the De Young Museum ... of some of the art found in the salt mines in Bavaria by the United States Army in 1945

from the negatives, staff photos, but no photographer information

Tight security for art found in German salt mines

By Bill Van Niekerken

Peter Hartlaub says it often, and it’s really true, “We find some of the most interesting photos and negatives when we’re down in the basement looking for something else.” I was looking for the ...

freeway protest.jpg

Freeway foes who crowded into the San Francisco board of supervisors hearing expressed their sentiments on their hats. The writing says, "Save us from the freeway." The hearing was on the topic of the Panhandle and Golden Gate Freeways.

Photo taken Febraury 23, 1966.

Bill Young Chronicle File

150 Anniversary maybe

Save us from the ‘Cement Octopus’

By Bill Van Niekerken

The photo of freeway protesters from 1966 always puts a smile on my face. At first glance, it’s looks like a silly little NIMBY protest. In fact, these San Francisco residents along with other concerned ...

San Francisco 49ers training camp 8/5/1957 .. 49ers unit on field

Fun times at 49ers’ training camps over the years

By Bill Van Niekerken

With the 49ers starting training camp this week, it seemed like it would be fun to look at photos from the training camps of old. While working on a project for ...

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1930: Dutch Windmill, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California Postcard. ca. 1915-1925, Dutch Windmill, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California Postcard (Photo by LCDM Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The Golden Gate Park windmills are survivors

By Bill Van Niekerken

Having been born in Holland, it was only a matter of time before I checked to see what images we have of the lovely windmills of Golden Gate Park. I’m old enough to remember their many years of disrepair ...

Giants Bob Brenly and Chili Davis at the 1984 All-Star Game held at Candlestick Park

All-Star Games by the bay over the years

By Bill Van Niekerken

Baseball’s All-Star Game was played Tuesday in Cincinnati, so I thought it would be fun to see what photos we had from the first three All-Star Games played in the Bay Area. Though I figured I ...

San Francisco International Airport grand opening August 27-29 1954
over 200,000 visitors visited on Sunday August 28, 1954,

Photo ran 08/27/1954, Special section

Huge turnout for SFO’s grand opening

By Bill Van Niekerken

While doing research on aviation in the Bay Area, I was surprised to find out about the huge turnout for the opening of the San Francisco International Airport terminal in 1954. Over the years, huge crowds ...

MONUMENTS 2/C/20DEC96/CD/CS - A visitor to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park poses for a souvenir photo in front of the bronze statue of Buddha. Cast in Japan 206 years ago, the memorial is in need of nearly $81,000 in repairs. SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE PHOTO BY CHRIS STEWART

Unexpected history lesson from the Buddha

By Bill Van Niekerken

While looking for images to illustrate the OurSF article this past Sunday, I came across a negative pack tagged “G.G. Park — Buddha installed.” I couldn’t picture where this buddha was located. ...

Amelia Earhart in Oakland preparing for her around-the-world flight
L to r Paul Mantz, Earhart, Harry Manning, Fred Noonan
Likely staff photo negative files

Amelia Earhart’s final flight

By Bill Van Niekerken

I was surprised to discover a few packs of Amelia Earhart negatives while looking for Bob Dylan playing with the Grateful Dead. The heading on the first pack I looked at, “Earhart, Amelia — Final Fatal ...

The Graf Zeppelin flies near the Chronicle building, August 25 1929
Photo ran 08/26/1929

Lost photos found in doomed building

By Bill Van Niekerken

The Hearst Corp. has big plans for the area around the historic Chronicle building. Major construction is planned, and as with any construction project of any size, first what currently occupies the space ...

Artist's Soap Box Derby held in McLaren Park, 05/18/1975

Pre-Burning Man, S.F. soap box derby a bastion of expressionism

By Bill Van Niekerken

The folks from Hearst Digital Media who produce “This Forgotten Day in The San Francisco Chronicle” came across an event from 1975 that I’m sorry I missed. It was called the Artists’ Soap Box ...

Wilt Chamberlain battles for a rebound with Zelmo Beatty

The Warriors’ first drive to the playoffs

By Bill Van Niekerken

While looking for photos for a gallery that would accompany Bruce Jenkins' excellent piece on the Warriors' playoff history, I came upon a couple of negative packs from the Warriors' first West Coast ...

Harvey's Resort Hotel and Casino bombing, Stateline, Nevada at Lake Tahoe.
John Birges was convicted as the mastermind behind the explosive device and extortion plot .
Here is a t-shirt to commemorate the event, modeled by Vicky McDonald
Photos shot 08/27/1980 UPI photo

Harvey’s Big Bang

By Bill Van Niekerken

Our oversize prints are stored in a separate room from the rest of the photo collection and are often missed when we are looking to illustrate a story. It seemed like the perfect place to start our photo ...

Guardsmen auto racing in Golden Gate Park

Historic Chronicle page

'Stay off the road’ was slogan of the day in Golden Gate Park

By Bill Van Niekerken

A number of large and loud charitable events have been held in Golden Gate Park, but the Guardsmen Races were like no others. In 1952, the Guardsmen, a group of young professionals who worked to help ...

Air travel as it should be — Part Two

By Bill Van Niekerken

From the very beginning, Clipper plane service stirred the imagination of the Bay Area. The Clippers opened up the exotic locations of the Far East to manageable, timely access, compared to ships. The ...

17 hours to Hawaii - Part One

By Bill Van Niekerken

I had always thought the oldest negatives we had were those taken of the Golden Gate Bridge construction and opening, but last week I discovered an even older negative. We do have a number of older photos, ...

Mount Tamalpais Fantasy Fair Music Festival put on by KFRC
oursf concert gallery

A glorious weekend on the mountain

By Bill Van Niekerken

Before there was Monterey Pop or Woodstock, there was the KFRC Fantasy Fair and Mountain Music Festival on Mount Tamalpais, which was held June 10-11, 1967. The poster advertised a thousand wonders, a ...

Attorney Terence Hallinan and Ron Thelin before the Mr. Thelin's trial .. arrested on the City Hall steps while reading poetry while masked.

Photo ran 05/23/1968

Behind the bandage

By Bill Van Niekerken

While looking for historic photos of Terence Hallinan , San Francisco’s famed progressive prosecutor and former amateur boxer, I came across this image of a bandaged Hallinan with a client who appeared ...

Much of the artwork was removed, and then reattached to the new structure. Photo shot Aug. 13, 1964.

Where did the rest go?

By Bill Van Niekerken

While searching for photos to illustrate the retrospective coverage of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, I came across this image of half of the Palace of Fine Arts. I was stunned. It ...

Baseball Old-timers game at Candlestick Park likely before an San Francisco Giants game, August 4,1962
unknown, Joe DiMaggio on right
Joe DiMaggio, Dom DiMaggio, and Vince DiMaggio participated

A Day for Hall of Famers

By Bill Van Niekerken

While looking for photos of the old Fleishhacker pool, I found 5 misfiled negative packs. One of these was of an Old-Timers baseball game held at Candlestick Park, before the August 4, 1962 San Francisco ...

The first prize of The Chronicle Prize Bungalow Campaign: a newly built house in Westwood Park (a $12,500 value). The winner, Wilson E.L. of Palo Alto, CA, also received a $2,500 furniture order. The winner was announced on Sat. April, 8, 1922.

Win a house!

By Bill Van Niekerken

While sifting through The Chronicle’s photo collection to select images for scanning into the digital archive, editorial assistant Christina Noori and I found a folder marked “Chronicle Contests.” ...

Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating the San Franciscoâ€“Oakland Bay Bridge which opened in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937. The exposition opened from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939.

Assorted views
A new Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress attracts a crowd. This version is the prototype YB-17.

Chronicle negative, photographer unknown

World’s Fair Flying Fortress

By Stephen Cooney

When an archivist finds an interesting photograph with little information accompanying it, the fun begins. The Chronicle’s modern digital photo database cataloging is precise. We know who took the ...

Clint Eastwood and Jayne Mansfield greeted by local artist Bob McClay. Eastwood and Mansfield are in San Francisco to appear at the Barbary Coast Fandango, a fair to benefit the California Historical Society
Photo shot August 1962

Come one, come all, to the Barbary Coast Fandango

By Bill Van Niekerken

When long-entrenched Chronicle departments move from one part of 901 Mission St. to another, reporters, editors and photographers often discover old photos and newspapers. These treasures get sent to the ...

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