I would like any information on THE Richmond District in SF. How did it come to be? who settled there first? Where did the name come from? What are the historical influences that make it so different from the rest of the city? Any other historical or current info would be great!

-- Wendy Darling (wdarling99@hotmail.com), April 19, 2000

Answers

Between the City and the Ocean...

Just to contribute something about the name: Before Adolph Sutro owned this area (with about a tenth of the whole area that is now S.F.) it was still called "Outside Lands" or "The Great Sand Waste" not exactly a crowd pleaser of a name. The new name "Richmond" was given in 1890, after the Australian birthplace of General Turner Marsh, which in turn was named after the English Tudor Castle on the river Thames. Since 1917 the official name is "Park Presidio District". The two big early draws of civilization, after strawberries and potatoes, were Point Lobos Tollroad from 1853, now known as Geary (first mayor of S.F.) Blvd, and the Cliffhouse, since 1858. The Sutro legacy still lives on in his Baths, the Heights, and the Cliff House.

Check out snow in the Richmond in 1882 at: http://206.14.7.7/multimedia/sfphotos/AAC-0567.jpg

-- Wolfgang Schubert (chouby@aol.com), April 19, 2000.

Marsh built a structure around what is now 12th and Clement and called it "Richmond House".

-- Joe Thompson (cable_car_guy@hotmail.com), April 20, 2000.

The RichmondDistrict is a creation of the Assessor's office. This office of city government has to asess the value of land for tax puproses. In it's original assessment, it saw the city as two districts "Fifty Vara" (the downtown area around Portsmouth Square) and Hundred Vara" (the area south of Market).

Towards the 1860's other districts were added including the Mission District, the Richmond and the Sunset.

the assessor assigned block numbers 1332 through 1692 to the Richmond District.

Check out the assessors maps and books in City Hall.

Good Luck

-- KURT IVERSEN (IVERSENK@AOL.COM), April 24, 2000.