Woody LaBounty

Stephen "Woody LaBounty" is a San Francisco history writer, speaker, and general gadabout. San Francisco Story is his side project, done for his own enjoyment of researching and sharing local history.

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Grab Bag

Grab Bag #023

Real pyramids, faux antiquities, hoodlums, and San Francisco's "Crabville-by-the-Sea."

Mission District

Hot Air Sundays

In the 1860s and 1870s, balloon mishaps were a weekly draw in San Francisco's Mission District.

Golden Gate Park

Sweeny’s Observatory

Golden Gate Park's former castle on the hill.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #022

Moving picture on a moving streetcar, roller-skate stunts, and return of the SF time machine.

Lone Mountain

Lone Mountain

Today the site of the University of San Francisco, in 1892 Lone Mountain was a scrubby cross-crowned hill.

Van Ness Auto Row

The Buick Bug

An important early racing car lost, found, donated to a museum, lost again, and found again in a different museum.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #021

Change, Kodachrome, an Egyptian temple, and a fire house ditty.

Chinatown

Telephone Temple

A mash-up architectural style helped save San Francisco's Chinatown and made a utilitarian building a tourist attraction.

Elephants

Seeing the Elephant

The world's largest land mammals, metaphorical and real, in San Francisco history.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #020

The latest ruminations and admiration sent from a fogged-in outpost of San Francisco.

Russian Hill

Jobson’s Folly

In the 1860s, San Francisco's Russian Hill was where one could get above it all thanks to one man's failed scheme.

Visitacion Valley

Visitacion Valley Mile Houses

Water for the horse, something stronger for the driver at these 19th century San Francisco roadhouses.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #019

The Spreckels legacy in San Francisco: sugar factory, skyscraper, museum, my nephew's band name...

Richmond District

Corner Store

In the Richmond District you can still get milk, beer, or a candy bar at the neighborhood market.

Civic Center

The Queen of California and the Booster Ball

All a sluggish San Francisco needed in 1921 was some pageantry and one killer dance party.

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #018

Employment for Woody, Grab Bags to the people.

Sunset District

The Milk Punch Janitress

Reading, 'riting, and rum? An 1895 conflict between an Inner Sunset roadhouse and a San Francisco school.

Woody life

San Francisco Story: Chapter 2

One year of San Francisco Story

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #017

Biplane autos, prison waffles, and the world isn't that different (good and bad).

Time Machine

San Francisco Time Machine

Woody's top 5 trips using a San Francisco Time Machine.

Western Addition

Tower Trouble

Much of the clean up after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire was done with muscle, including pulling down part of the tower of St. Dominic's Church.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #016

Downtown

Atlas Displaced

Searching for surviving pieces of a unique 1874 San Francisco building.

Earthquake Shacks

Mother Minerva’s Fort

In 1926, a woman fought for her home made of three earthquake refugee shacks.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #015

Earthquake, fires, and true love found... all in one Woody LaBounty Grab Bag.