Carville (San Francisco, California)
Encyclopedia
Carville, also known Carville-by-the-Sea, was an impromptu neighborhood in what is now the Outer Sunset District
of San Francisco, California
. It was notable for its reuse of abandoned horsecar
s (horse-drawn trolleys) and, later, cable cars
as or serving as parts of cottage, houses and public buildings.
. In 1895 the Market Street Railway Company
placed a newspaper advertisement in the San Francisco Examiner offering horse cars for $20 ($10 without seats). By September of that year the cars were already put to a wide variety of uses, including: a backyard children's playhouses, a real estate office, and a shoemaker's shop. Also notable was "The Annex", a "coffee saloon
" operated by Colonel Charles Dailey in one of three cars he rented from Adolph Sutro
.
Many of the cars were arranged along the Great Highway
and turned into domicile
s and businesses. Some cars were used singly, where other owners assembled two or more cars to make up multi-storied structures and U-shaped buildings with courtyards. These included St. Andrews by the Sea Episcopal Church: apparently made from North Beach and Mission line horse-cars. Even when the cars were subsumed into more conventional structures, their unique design was often apparent from the inside.
Because of unusual composition, the area became known as "Carville-by-the-Sea" or simply "Carville."
Fifty families lived in Carville by 1901, however, as San Francisco grew the once unwanted property surrounding and within Carville became desirable. By the 1930s and 1940s, as development increased and property became more valuable, the cars disappeared to razing or were engulfed by other structures.
While it is possible that a number of Carville-based structures still exist in the area, only one is widely known.
Sunset District, San Francisco, California
The Sunset District is a large neighborhood in the west-central part of San Francisco, California, United States.-Location:The Sunset District is the largest district within the city of San Francisco. Golden Gate Park forms the neighborhood's northern border, and the Pacific Ocean forms its...
of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. It was notable for its reuse of abandoned horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
s (horse-drawn trolleys) and, later, cable cars
Cable car (railway)
A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required...
as or serving as parts of cottage, houses and public buildings.
History
In the 1850s and 60s local San Francisco transit companies used horse-drawn railcars on city streets. The arrival of cable cars and electric streetcars spelled the doom of the equine-pulled variety. Many of these vehicles were dumped on the then-unsettled sand dunes near Ocean BeachOcean Beach, San Francisco, California
Ocean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco, California, United States, at the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside the beach, and Cliff House and the site of the former Sutro...
. In 1895 the Market Street Railway Company
Market Street Railway Company
The Market Street Railway Company was a commercial streetcar and bus operator in San Francisco. The company was named after the famous Market Street of that city, which formed the core of its transportation network...
placed a newspaper advertisement in the San Francisco Examiner offering horse cars for $20 ($10 without seats). By September of that year the cars were already put to a wide variety of uses, including: a backyard children's playhouses, a real estate office, and a shoemaker's shop. Also notable was "The Annex", a "coffee saloon
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
" operated by Colonel Charles Dailey in one of three cars he rented from Adolph Sutro
Adolph Sutro
Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro was the 24th mayor of San Francisco, and second Jewish mayor, serving in that office from 1894 until 1896...
.
Many of the cars were arranged along the Great Highway
Great Highway
The Great Highway is a road in San Francisco that forms the city's western edge along the Pacific coast. It runs for approximately next to Ocean Beach...
and turned into domicile
Domicile
*In architecture, a general term for a place of residence or "permanent residence" in legal terms*Domicile , the zodiac sign over which a planet has rulership...
s and businesses. Some cars were used singly, where other owners assembled two or more cars to make up multi-storied structures and U-shaped buildings with courtyards. These included St. Andrews by the Sea Episcopal Church: apparently made from North Beach and Mission line horse-cars. Even when the cars were subsumed into more conventional structures, their unique design was often apparent from the inside.
Because of unusual composition, the area became known as "Carville-by-the-Sea" or simply "Carville."
Fifty families lived in Carville by 1901, however, as San Francisco grew the once unwanted property surrounding and within Carville became desirable. By the 1930s and 1940s, as development increased and property became more valuable, the cars disappeared to razing or were engulfed by other structures.
While it is possible that a number of Carville-based structures still exist in the area, only one is widely known.