One of SF Heritage’s first projects, in 1974, was to purchase and move twelve Victorian homes in the Western Addition that were targeted for demolition during the days of Urban Renewal. By visiting these homes, now nearly 50 years later, you’ll see how “Finding a Sense of Place” has been firmly re-established and understand the role historic homes and buildings play in promoting that sense of place. SF Heritage founders’ heroic effort to move these homes and permanently save them from destruction is recorded in the article. Be sure to see the recently moved Englander House (see map below), now at 635 Fulton Street (from 807 Franklin Street) featured on VASF’s originally produced video being shown at both the October 6 and October 22 events.

 

Scroll down in the article above to see the Western Addition map showing all the moves—where they were and where they are now!

 

Nearly all of the Western Addition, between Geary and Market Streets between Van Ness and Divisdero, was intended for removal, making way for “clean and modern” new communities. While the full scale destruction of all the Western Addition did not happen, many neighborhoods were destroyed and rebuilt in ways that sometimes lost the “sense of place” that had been there. This saga of the Redevelopment Agency is very complicated and goes beyond the scope of this tour, but there are many stories, studies, and books chronicling the Agency’s history and its impact on people and their neighborhoods.