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.

Jackson Square

Life on Osgood Place

A long look at a short street near Jackson Square.

Presidio

Balloons Over the Presidio

Lobos Creek Valley's lighter-than-air days.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #014

An apology, some grand views, and other Woody grab-baggery.

Cow Hollow

Accordion House

The San Francisco building which once had a keyboard parapet.

Downtown

House Cleaning Day

On March 3, 1907, San Francisco gave its rubble-strewn streets a good sweeping.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #013

Ocean Beach

The Legacy of Uncle Cliff

Cliff Kamaka ruled Fleishhacker Pool and influenced a generation of Kelly's Cove surfers.

Union Square

Castle on the Square

The mini-citadel which once faced Union Square.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #012

Movie houses, monoku, and membership cards in one big Woody Grab Bag.

Ocean Beach

The Girl from Wyoming

Crossing the continent to San Francisco with $2, a horse, and a dog.

Sunset District

The House Built on Sand

A 1904 DIY house built in the barren sand dunes of San Francisco's Sunset District still stands today.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #011

A man who sleeps a week, Karl Malden, my Dad, and where to eat in 1953.

Pacific Heights

The Irving Institute

The scholastic past of a grand California Street apartment building.

Children's Playground

The Goat Cart Man

Many San Francisco children posed holding the reins of a goat-harnessed rig in the early 1900s. Who was the mysterious King of the Goat Carts?

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #010

Appreciating Skid Row, Juanita's Midwinter Fair act, and the idea of a San Francisco Historian Laureate.

Christmas

The 12 Firehouses of Christmas

From 1948–1950, San Francisco fire stations went crazy with an annual Christmas decoration contest. Here are Woody's top dozen.

Mission District

Maguire's Houses

Life on one Mission District block on February 22, 1887 at 11:35 a.m.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Grab Bag #009

A true Woody LaBounty Grab Bag: Pawn Stars, Chinatown revealed, historic real estate for sale, and the first San Francisco Story Annual released.

North Point

The Cobweb Palace

Abe Warner's cobweb-filled saloon in San Francisco's North Point neighborhood was captured on film before demolition and now we know when.

Golden Gate Park

Riding the Windmill

In the early 1920s, riding one of the blades of Golden Gate Park's Dutch windmill was kind of a thing.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Woody Grab Bag #008

A preview of Woody's San Francisco Story Annual 2022 featuring an excerpt about the larger-than-life diva, Lilian Slinkey, AKA "Madame Durini."

Mission District

A Day Trip on the Mission Road, Part 2

Sunday pleasure resorts like Woodward's Gardens made San Francisco's Mission District more family-friendly in the 1860s and 1870s.

Mission Dolores

A Day Trip on the Mission Road, Part 1

In the 1850s, San Francisco Sunday recreation meant getting across sand dunes and marsh to the Mission.

Paid-members only

Grab Bag

Woody Grab Bag #007

A history of where you can put your car...and more.

Downtown

1868: The First “Big One”

The "great San Francisco earthquake" of 1868 and the next one on the way.