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The home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and 153 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond

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A rainbow appears outside of Fort Mason in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, February 2, 2019. Rain is expected in the Bay Area through Tuesday.

Not just Washington High murals: WPA’s work lives on, all over San Francisco

Virtually every neighborhood in San Francisco bears the imprint of the Works Progress Administration and other Depression-era federal work agencies.

PACIFICA/B/01JAN22/MN/HO THE ENTRANCE TO THE PACIFIC CITY AMUSEMENT PARK AT COYOTE POINT IN SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, OPENED FOR ONLY TWO YEARS IN THE 1920S. BILLED AS A RIVAL TO NEW YORK'S CONEY ISLAND, PACIAFIC CITY INCLUDED A HUGE FOLLER COASTER (THEN CALLED A "SCENIC RAILWAY"_, FERRIS WHEEL, BOARDWALK AND SUNBATHING BEACH AT SAN MATEO'S COYOTE POINT. IT OPENED IN 1922, BUT DESPITE ATTENDANCE THAT REACHED 1 MILLION IN 1923, IT QUICKLY FAILED AS THE UNABASHED ENTHUSIASM MET FISCAL REALITY--AND THE SUNBAT�RS MET THE UNPLEASANTNESS OF BAY WINDS AND FOUL SMELLS FROM NEARBY SEWWAGE.

When Peninsula’s ‘Coney Island of the West’ was snuffed out by a stench

It was supposed to be a beach paradise for San Francisco and Bay Area residents — but Pacific City fell apart within two years.

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Peter Hartlaub's Our San Francisco
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