Railroad Map Of The City Of San Francisco
If were to rewind the Mission Bay area of San Francisco a few hundred years, we’d find a large shallow inlet of water, with Mission Creek flowing into it. Tidal marshes and 100 foot dunes would stand in what is now SOMA.
Vanished Waters tells the story of how that changed to what it is today. Chris Carlsson edited the second version of the book originally written by Nancy Olmsted for the Mission Creek Conservancy. He led us through the history of the area.
Of course, people have been there for thousands of years. The coastal area provided well for the Native American tribes who lived there. But in the last two centuries it changed rapidly from marsh, to agricultural land, to an industrial zone. The bay became smaller and smaller, the dunes pushed into the area as fill.
The Mission became a tourist attraction. The agricultural changed to gardens. Racetracks came about, then disappeared. Steamboats were built, all sorts of shipping from hay for city horses. The largest whaling port on the west coast was there.
The creek became a horrible place as industries moved in. There was corruption from railroads. There were property booms, and violently suppressed strikes. All in all, like many places it has a complicated history!
It wasn’t of course until the 60s that a lot of people started to take a second look at the bay, and what remains of Mission Creek and the Mission Bay. The Mission Creek Conservancy worked hard to move development of the Mission Bay into better directions from what originally were planned.
The last 10 years has seen the area fill with new development and new life. New parks, new people, and restoration. The creek, as the people living in the houseboats along it can attest, has now slowly come back to life with all sorts of life: birds, fish, invertebrates, seals, and more finding their way into the channel.
It will be interesting to see what the next few hundred years bring.
For many of the details, check out the book. It is full of wonderful pictures and maps. Find out more about the Mission Creek Conservancy.
You can follow and write about what happened and happens in the Mission Bay at Chris Carlsson’s ShapingSF.org.
SF Natural History Series 