The tunnel not only connected two parts of the city, but also created a shopping district along West Portal Avenue, which serves a number of the neighborhoods, which seemed to sprout as a result of the tunnel’s proximity. One of them is called Monterey Heights. This is where we bought our house in 1984. It was built in 1928 and has the charm of old homes, like other buildings in the adjacent neighborhoods, like St. Francis Wood and Forest Hill. During the centennial celebration in the library, there will be a display of historical photographs of the area, courtesy of MUNI.
You do not have to be a history buff to appreciate the way things once were. It is part of San Francisco’s illustrious history. In the book “San Francisco’s West Portal Neighborhoods”, from the Images of America series written by Richard Brandi, I found out that Adolph Sutro who made money during the Silver Rush, and after being a politician and philanthropist, served as the 24th mayor of San Francisco from 1895 and 1897. In 1880, he bought Rancho San Miguel, which was the name of the area. After his death, the eastern portions were sold for development in 1909. It was the vision of the city engineer Michael O’ Shaughnessy to build a tunnel through Twin Peaks, to provide streetcar service to the new developing area. The book contains many photographs (which can be found in the San Francisco History Center of the Public Library). It was especially interesting to see images of West Portal Avenue, which still has the same original buildings with different tenants. We eat at the local restaurants, visit stores and watch movies in the movie theatre, which opened in 1926. The question crossed my mind – will it look the same after next one hundred years?