San Francisco to San Mateo

Acknowledgements Going to School, (Image 1 of 33)

Across from Claremont Middle School on College Ave. in Oakland, one can only marvel at all the different modes of transportation that contribute to getting kids to school. Getting to this school by an electric train is still an option, but for most schools in the Bay Area, this option no longer exits. East view, 2017.

L197-05-Stuart Swiedler Photos, (Image 2 of 33)

In the first half of the 20th century, electric trains and streetcars played an important role in getting kids to school in the Bay Area. All aboard the school train, SN 1017 as train 12, boys to the front, girls to the rear, heading to Concord’s Mt. Diablo HS. Conductor Ernest “Knobby” Knobloch collects the vouchers offered by the school, southwest view, Walnut Creek station, June 7, 1940.

L197-10-Dudley Thickens Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 61454sn, (Image 3 of 33)

Schools were sometimes the subject of or inadvertent participants in images taken by rail fans of electric railways. An unsuspecting participant is documented here in this northwest view in Apr. 1941 of a five-car no. 7 line SP Interurban Electric Railroad express train on the SP mainline heading to Dutton Ave. in East Oakland.

L197-15-Addison Laflin Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64375ier4 , (Image 4 of 33)

Recoding a streetcar passing a school was a more common occurrence. The scene on East 14th near 2nd Ave in Oakland caught more than inbound Key System no. 944 on the systems no. 1 line in a southeast view from Sept. 2, 1948. Today the Winn School of Jazz is occupied by Lakeside Hair Salon.

L197-20-Addison Laflin Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 78153ks, (Image 5 of 33)

A Key System no. 4 line-car sits at Telegraph at 36th Street in Oakland. This west view shows the training center for the California Center for the Blind or State Industrial Home for Adult Blind with interesting exterior artwork, Dec. 18, 1942.

L197-25-Vernon Sappers Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 72028ks, (Image 6 of 33)

Bridge-unit 186 on the Key System interurban A-line sits in front of the Alameda Court House to return a school group from downtown Oakland to Emeryville in May 1957, east view on 12th St.

L197-30- John Holt Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 101362ks, (Image 7 of 33)

The website for the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Strawberry states that Northwestern Pacific coaches in Tiburon were used for their Sunday School in the late 1950s. A picture is worth a thousand words.

L197-35-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 101132nwp, (Image 8 of 33)

A effort was made to find images showing kids going to school in the first half of the 20th century by electric railway or streetcar in the Bay Area. High schools (HS) seemed to be the best target, so this list was compiled. The image hunt suggested that this process would be futile, at least with the resources available. However, in the process, some great photos were found, and that is what follows.

L197-40-Compiled and Modified by Stuart Swiedler, (Image 9 of 33)

Starting in San Francisco, how about Muni 130 on the J-line climbing to Liberty St. above Mission Delores Park and Mission HS on the private right-of-way, Nov. 1954. Now for a more ordered review.

L197-45-Art Alter Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 71682msr, (Image 10 of 33)

The first variable is time period. Taking the Market St. Railway (MSR) Mission St. line to the San Francisco Industrial School at 1019 Ocean Ave. was possible in the 1890s. The school was actually a “House of Refuge” for those under 16 years of age, and closed in the early 1890s.

L197-50-F.D. Blakely Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 25316msr, (Image 11 of 33)

The second variable is distance. The MSR 40 line did what BART does today in terms of Peninsula service to San Mateo. San Mateo HS students at Poplar and Ellsworth Sts. eagerly await the arrival of “School Tripper” Muni 1230, circa 1946-1948, the car sporting an early post-1944, Muni-MSR merger paint scheme. This interurban line ran 21 miles from 5th and Market Sts. in San Francisco, and was abandoned on Jan. 15, 1949.

L197-55-Addison Laflin Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway, Museum Archives, 145061MSRy, (Image 12 of 33)

Sticking with the no. 40 line, closer to San Francisco was Burlingame HS, the Spanish Colonial Revival-Mission Revival style building from 1894, on the National Register of Historic Places. Photographing the school from the ground is not really possible to capture the Muni cars that also served the SP Burlingame Station, here in a northwest view circa 1949.

L197-60-Courtesy Robert P. Townley and Walt Vielbaum , (Image 13 of 33)

While war waged in the EU, United Railroads, URR, the precursor to Muni was waging war on the MSR. Here the J Church line right-of-way is being graded along Delores Park and Mission HS in this north view from July 28, 1916. This edition of the HS was the original 1896 structure.

L197-65-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 83057urr, (Image 14 of 33)

Mission High looks different in this north view from 1947 as Muni car 82 starts the ascent to the south on its private ROW. A fire destroyed the HS in 1922, and it took until 1927 to rebuild and expand the school.

L197-70-Waldemar Sievers Photo, Courtesy John Harder, (Image 15 of 33)

The real deal in terms of students waiting an electric streetcar is seen here in this 1947 north view at Mission HS.

L197-75-Waldemar Sievers Photo, Courtesy John Harder, (Image 16 of 33)

Presidents’ Conference Committe, PCC, cars were constructed from 1936-1952 by St. Louis Company and Pullman Standard, and eventually replaced the traditional Muni streetcars. This north view shows one of these at Mission HS on the J-line, 1972. In 2019. In San Francisco, PCC cars survive in 2019 as part of the F-line with the J-line using the modern day version of an electric streetcar.

L197-80-John Harder Photo, Courtesy John Harder, (Image 17 of 33)

While on the subject of public HS in San Francisco, two K-line Muni trains line up on Onondaga St. in front of Balboa HS, northwest view, 1951.

L197-85-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 110844muni, (Image 18 of 33)

While the Muni K-line did serve Balboa HS in the late 1940s-early 1950s, the MSR no. 12 streetcar served the school up to the Muni-MSR merger in 1944 as indicated on these maps.

L197-90-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, (Image 19 of 33)

The Muni K-line and MSR no. 12-line shared tracks once on Ocean Avenue. Shown here are students packed into and around MSR 136 on Ocean Ave. circa 1944.

L197-95-J.G. Graham Photo, Courtesy Courtesy Robert P. Townley and Walt Vielbaum , (Image 20 of 33)

Muni streetcar 55 passes Galileo HS in this east view at Bay St. as it crosses Van Ness Ave and begins the turn into Fort Mason, the terminus for the H Potrero-line. This line originated when the Panama-Pacific Exposition opened in 1914, running from Army St., now Caesar Chavez, and Potrero to this spot.

L197-100-Philip Hoffman Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 52134muni, (Image 21 of 33)

Galileo HS was also the spot for a competition by military branches. Here Muni car 86 on the H-line near Van Ness and Bay Street makes its case on Feb. 18, 1950, Northwest view.

L197-105-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64477muni, (Image 22 of 33)

Later in March 1950, the marines get into the act at Galileo HS, northwest view.

L197-110-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 64488muni, (Image 23 of 33)

In the Richmond, only a piece of George Washington HS could be gotten at the same time as a Muni line no. 31 car, here at the end of the line at Balboa just west of 30th St. circa 1950, northwest view. In the Sunset, a photo of Abraham Lincoln HS is not possible from a streetcar shot due to its location.

L197-115-Addison Laflin Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 33683muni, (Image 24 of 33)

An image of a MSR no. 21 streetcar in front of the original Lowell HS at Hayes and Masonic Sts. could not be found, but this northeast image from Apr. 29, 1913 at least shows the tracks. Today this building is the City College of San Francisco’s John Adams Center.

L197-120-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives , (Image 25 of 33)

The west wing of West Portal School can be seen above Muni car no. 60 on the K-Line at Illoa St., the latter about to enter the Twin Peaks Tunnel at West Portal in this northeast view from 1927.

L197-125-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 81848muni, (Image 26 of 33)

A small fire truck is double-parked along Everett Jr. High School at 17th and Church St., but does not impede the streetcar no. 51 on Muni’s J-line in this north view, Sept. 24, 1934.

L197-130-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 110835muni, (Image 27 of 33)

Another north view from 17th and Church, but now it is Apr. 13, 1980 and this Muni PCC is using track not seen previously onto 17th St.

L197-135-Norman Rolfe Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 50843muni, (Image 28 of 33)

In this northwest view, also from Apr. 13, 1980 at 17th and Church, the L Taraval sign marks this PCC, and represents track built when the current BART-Muni-F-line track arrangement was under construction on Market St. as a way to bypass that area to head for the Ferry Building.

L197-140-Norman Rolfe Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 50844muni, (Image 29 of 33)

St. Ignatius and USF can be appreciated in this scene of a no. 5 McAllister-line streetcar at Fulton St. and Parker Ave. from May 18, 1946, northeast view.

L197-145-Addison Laflin Photo, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 42468MSry , (Image 30 of 33)

Another view of a no. 31 line streetcar, here further east on Turk at Masonic on Jan. 15, 1950, the ad for “Brigadoon”, consistent with this date. The SF College for Women was purchased when it was called Lone Mountain College by the U. of San Francisco in 1978. Its lineage goes back to Menlo Park in 1898.

L197-150-Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 145062MSRy, (Image 31 of 33)

Another view of the H Potrero-line, but here passing the HS of Commerce on Van Ness Ave. between Hayes and Fell Sts. in 1950, northwest view. Built in 1926 with a Spanish Colonial architectural design, the building was used by the school district until 1989. In 2019, the recently renovated Nourse Auditorium is in this structure.

L197-155-Jack Tomany Collection, Courtesy BAERA, Western Railway Museum Archives, 72697sn, (Image 32 of 33)

No topic of schools in San Francisco would be complete without the MSR excursion car "San Francisco", converted to a school car for special events. The scene is Raphael Weill Grammer School at O'Farrell and Buchanan Sts., Dec. 1927. The location today would be at Rosa Parks School off the stub of O’Farrell St. near Webster St.

L197-160-J.G. Graham Photo, Courtesy Robert P. Townley and Walt Vielbaum, (Image 33 of 33)