Panorama of the Golden Gate - Thomas Edison 1902

From the Library of Congress:

SUMMARY
This film, photographed from the front of a moving steam engine, shows the scenic portion of the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad route along the bluffs and cliffs of Lands End (at the northwest corner of San Francisco) overlooking the Golden Gate and the Marin headlands. The line gave access to the famed Cliff House and Sutro Baths, previously accessed by the Point Lobos toll road through the sand dunes and by a nearby inland railroad. The Ferries and Cliff House line, the youngest and last of San Francisco's steam railroads (five in all) was built between 1886 and 1888 under the direction of owners W.H. Martin, John Ballard, W.J. Adams, Thomas Magee, and H.H. Lynch.

Today the trackbed, partly destroyed by landslides, is a trail in the Lands End unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Monterey cypress trees and other plants were subsequently introduced and have greatly altered the original coastal shrub landscape.

The film shows the first 1.5 miles of the 5.25 mile eastbound return trip from the Cliff House and Sutro Baths to the train terminal at California Street and Central Avenue (now Presidio Avenue). From the terminal, passengers could continue by cable car to downtown or to various outlying neighborhoods. The portion of the route not shown was along California Street, through the thinly-developed sand dunes of the Richmond district. The scenic portion was built at an elevation averaging 150 feet, affording superb views of the Golden Gate, the entrance strait to San Francisco Bay.

Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 11Jan1902; H13041

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Thomas Edison
• San Francisco 1902
• Golden Gate
• San Francisco Film Museum
• SFFM
• Silent Film
• Cliff House
• Marin Headlands