by Michael Helquist
Copyright 2007 All rights reserved, Michael Helquist
While a number of buildings in the North of Panhandle area were built in the late 1800s, the first decade of the new century brought rapid development to the area and the majority of single- family houses, two level flats, and apartment buildings were erected during this time. The city’s population certainly played a role in the demand for new housing. The 1900 city census recorded 342,800 residents; by 1910 the number had jumped to 416,900.
The square block which includes 854-856 Baker was fully developed with individual lots a number of years later than nearby blocks. An early investment company, Conroy and O’Connor, owned 75% of the block in 1894 and did not fully develop it until 1909. Much of the firm’s holding was used as a farm, with the foundations of outbuildings evident when lots along this part of Turk were being developed.
The 25’ by 100’ lot for 854-856 Baker remained within the vast holdings of Thomas and Sarah O’Connor until the spring of 1908. The corner apartment building at Turk and Baker Streets, next door to 854-856, was built a year later. The O’Connor’s sold the remaining lots along Turk and Baker soon thereafter. The other major change for the neighborhood was the conversion of the old Calvary Cemetery, sprawled across 48 acres along the north side of Turk from Masonic all the way to St. Josephs Street. In 1957 once the city had claimed the property for development and the graves had been moved to Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, the current church, located at Turk and Baker, was built. Four years later the congregation built a house for the priest next to the church.
In late May of 1908 John Walter and Catherine A. Riley realized a dream: their new house had been completed and they could now make it their home. The building presented an attractive exterior for the 800 block of Baker Street. It employed the popular two-level plus attic arrangement that became a norm for much of the development in the North of Panhandle area. Their Edwardian style house featured a pitched roof with one dormer, a pair of bay windows on the upper level overlooking the street, and a single bay window and entrance on the lower level.
The upper level (856 Baker) featured a fainting room and parlor at the front of the flat and were bright and expansive rooms with abundant western exposure. Coved ceilings, slanted bay windows, pocket doors, and picture railings complemented the fireplace with its speckled green and white tiles and today provide a sense of rich historical detail. The hallway greatly benefited from the wonderful wainscotting of preserved pressed metal work. Proceeding down the hallway from the front rooms, one finds today the bathroom on the left, now encompassing both the water closet and washroom, the bedroom further down the hallway to the left and the kitchen on the right with the original dining room on the right to the rear. The kitchen retains its original fireplace. The early dining room now serves as a bedroom with its own fireplace and mantel, picture railing, beautiful built-in cabinet, and a large bay window overlooking the garden.
The first property owner of 854-856 Baker appears to be Ms. Minnie McGraw, who also owned the property on Turk contingent to the corner apartment building. (There is some uncertainty due to conflicting information about the early property frontage, 25 feet or 50 feet, at the corner of Turk and Baker). John Riley, 52 years old when he and his wife became the first owners and residents of 854-856, was a carpet layer and worked a number of years for Joseph Fredericks & Company, an early San Francisco firm that offered furniture, carpets, upholstery, draperies and wall paper from their store at Stockton and Post. The Riley’s first tenant, living in the lower level at 854, was Jacob Meyer Preeman, a 32-year-old teacher and principal at Preeman Coaching School. Their other neighbors included a merchant at 826, an undertaker at 834, a laundryman at 840, a clerk at 842, and a builder at 848. In the early 1920s John Riley died, but his wife, Catherine, remained listed in city directories at the address until 1935. Their daughter, Agnes, a clerk for Shell Oil Company, lived with her mother from 1928 and continued at 856 until 1936.
There followed a period of numerous tenants residing in both levels of the house on Baker Street. During most of the 1970s a lady of Russian descent who rented 856 to Mr. and Mrs. John Rojas owned the building. The Rojas were Dutch and amassed an incredible collection of blue Delft china, which they displayed in the attic with plates attached to the walls along the gabled ceiling. The attic was cedar-lined for the storage of their china collection. Mrs. Rojas was also known to love feeding the birds that would gather in her back yard. The bird’s appearance was no coincidence! At the time of the Rojas’ residence, there was a huge yew and also a cherry tree in the garden area. Each morning Mrs. Rojas would cover the garden with birdseed, and thousands of birds would flock to the trees and garden for their daily feeding. One neighbor remembers that the commotion sounded like very heavy traffic next door!
Following his wife’s death, Mr. Rojas moved to an apartment on Lombard Street in the early 1980s. A series of renters resided in both levels of the building for a number of years thereafter. For some time, the attic was used as a separate, but illegal, housing unit, and modifications were made at the top of the entry stairs to accommodate a private entrance.
In 1994, Patty Delgrande and Don Richards, purchased 854-856 Baker. Patty and Don brought all the building’s electrical and plumbing systems up to code, lowered the second floor ceiling 18 inches to allow for a new heating system, and combined the water closet and washroom into one enlarged bathroom with a shower. The attic now serves as a large master bedroom extending from the single bay window overlooking the street to the rear of the house that affords a wonderful view of the new gleaming City Hall dome, downtown, and the East Bay.
A Note on Mr. Baker An illustrious lawyer, member of the U.S. Congress and Senate, and a decided opponent to slavery, Edward Dickinson Baker gave his name to Baker Street in the Western Addition. His career is rather remarkable. Baker served as a U.S. congressman from Springfield, Illinois during an 1854-1856 term. He then fought in the Mexican War as a colonel and returned to Congress in 1849-50. Following his second short term in Washington, Baker helped construct the Panama railway, and finally found his way to San Francisco in 1852. In the booming Gold Rush era, he was known for his oratory and his skills as a foremost attorney. Evidently not one to remain settled for long, Baker next relocated to Oregon and soon thereafter was elected as a U.S. Senator from that state. Today a city in northeast Oregon bears his name. During the Civil War the regiment that Baker organized suffered a major defeat in its first engagement, at Ball’s Bluff, and he was one of the casualties. Baker is buried in the Presidio.
Museum of the City of San Francisco (exhibits from website http://www.sfmuseum.org)
Streets of San Francisco, Louis K. Loewenstein, Wilderness Press, Berkeley, 1984.
Other sources include: The Index to Register, City Directories, Municipal Reports, SF Water Department, Sanborn maps.
(c) 1998 Michael Helquist