by Michael Helquist
Copyright 2007 All rights reserved, Michael Helquist
Think about how frequently people re-locate today: every five years, maybe ten; those residing in the same house for twenty years or more are the exception for our North of the Panhandle neighborhood. When this “cable car suburb” was first being developed in the late 1890s and early 1900s, it was not uncommon for people to move as frequently as they do today. But consider one family owning the same property for nearly 60 years and living on the same block for almost 75 years. Such is the case with the second family to own the two-story Victorian at 921 Central Avenue, between Golden Gate Avenue and Turk Street. In addition, this same family originally lived only two doors down the block before taking up their long-term residence at 921. Perhaps there is something about the house that encourages such long stays; three of the other five families to own the property resided there for periods of 16, 13, and 17 years respectively.
In April of 1889 when Michael Hanley completed the application for water service at his new house on Central Avenue, he likely felt a great deal of satisfaction and comfort. He had built a two-level house on the city’s outer edge, close to cable car transportation into town and out to the amusement parks at the ocean, within easy walking distance of Golden Gate Park, and among neighbors who he knew well. In fact, he had a relative just next door at 919 Central, Jeremiah Hanley. One house further south, at 917, was the Kane family: Thomas Kane, his wife, Delia, and their son, Joseph.
Michael Hanley was a laborer in the fast-growing city, and one can imagine that work was plentiful. On his days off, he may have joined his neighbors for a stroll through Golden Gate Park; they no doubt joined the more than two million people who visited the popular 1894 Midwinter Fair in the park. They may have even taken in the exhibits at the Fine Arts Building, which was the first museum amid the former sand dunes now covered with flowering shrubs and 25 year-old trees. A year later they may have walked to Haight Street, caught a cable car ride there, and proceeded west to the end of the street where they could spend a day riding The Chutes, riding up the sixty foot high tower in a gondola. Most people were thrilled to experience the 60 miles per hour speed that the ride achieved on its descent to the artificial lake at the bottom of the tower.
In 1894 the block bounded by Central, Golden Gate, Masonic, and Turk streets had been surveyed with the various properties sold to investors and home-owners. All of Central Avenue and the eastern half of Golden Gate were drawn up in the lot sizes that exist today, primarily in 27.6 foot widths. More than half of the block was owned by investor George Brown. He owned, with Willer Culver, the corner lot at Masonic and Golden Gate (current site of the San Francisco Day School). This general make-up of the block remained through at least 1901.
On Golden Gate, next to George Brown’s corner lot, was the Protestant Episcopal Old Ladies Home (currently part of the Day School property). The nearby blocks, across Central and Golden Gate, were more fully laid out for individual property owners in standard size lots. Golden Gate and Central Avenues were each 68.9 feet wide, conforming to the standard established for street widths west of Larkin.
By October of 1906 George Brown and Willer Culver had sold their corner property to an expanded Old Ladies Home. Brown had also sub-divided his large holding into eleven lots (along Masonic and Turk), three of which he retained for himself, including a smaller corner lot at Masonic and Turk.
In 1906 this corner block was bordered by city cemeteries. On the north side of Turk Street from Broderick to Masonic was the Calvary Cemetery. A large northwest corner lot at Masonic and Turk (current site of Lincoln University) also belonged to the Calvary Cemetery. Along Masonic on the west side from Turk to Fulton Streets was the Masonic Cemetery.
City maps of 1913 indicate that the property sizes and development of this block were established and reflected today’s patterns. Along Central Avenue from Turk Street to half-way down the block were single family residences (923, 921, 919,and 917) while the next two buildings (at 915-915 1/2 and 911-909) were two-flat residences.
Michael Hanley, the original owner, continued to make 921 Central his home for another 16 years, until 1905 when he sold the property to the son of his neighbor, Thomas Kane, an immigrant from Ireland. Joseph Kane was just 23 years old when he and his wife, Mary, moved into the former Hanley house. Kane was a laborer for the Santa Fe Railway and a painter the first few years of the new twentieth century; he later became a teamster and then a city policeman.
The Kane family likely got to know their neighbors even better in 1906, when, in the aftermath of the earthquake and fire, they all had to make do with cooking outdoors on the street in front of their homes. For at least six weeks no one was permitted, by proclamation of the mayor, to cook inside for fear of more fires in the city. The Kanes’ neighbors on their block of Central Avenue included salesmen at 900 and 902, a veterinarian and a journalist at 908, another police officer next door at 919 and a second at 926, a merchant at 923, and a sign writer at 932 1/2. The Kanes and their neighbors were a pretty homogenous group, many of them were of Irish background and most were Republicans, although a few aligned themselves with the Union Labor party instead.
Joseph and Mary Kane reared their three children at the Central Avenue house: Joseph, Jr., George W., and Madeleine. The Kane children had the benefit of living just two doors away from their grandparents for several years. (Thomas Kane died in the late 1920s; his widow, Delia, remained at 917 until the early 1930s before moving to 2425 16th Avenue). Joseph Jr. and his wife, Marianne, would follow the familiar pattern of moving into the Richmond district; they had moved to 26th Avenue by 1940, and Joseph became a policeman like his father. George Kane lived with his parents, working as a cyclist for the Bank of Italy (forerunner of the Bank of America) and as a clerk before enlisting in the U.S. Army during World War II. When George returned home from the war, he became a clerk and mail handler for the U.S. Post Office. His parents remained at the family home until the early 1950s. Real estate records list George Kane as the owner of 921 Central in 1952. Representing the third generation of Kane family members on the block, George remained in the house he had lived in most of his life until 1963.
Although 921 passed to new owners in 1963, they were no strangers to life on Central Avenue. George Chen and his wife, Fannie Frances, had been living just across the street at 964 Central. Chen was a cook at the St. Francis Hotel; he and his wife would reside at 921 until 1977. A few years later, in 1984, the current owner, S--- L---, purchased the property. She is today following the pattern of previous long-term ownership established by the Hanleys, the Kanes, and the Chens.
S--- recalls today that she purchased the property 17 years ago because it represented the best value for the money. She liked the neighborhood and also the fact that nearly everyone on her block of Central Avenue was a homeowner, providing a greater sense of continuity while she raised her family there. S---- is a strong advocate of the public school system; she is especially proud that her daughter attended a local High School and is now enrolled at University in Canada.
The house at 921 Central is distinctive both for its age, built nearly 112 years ago, and its simplified, almost plain, exterior. Its architect and builder borrowed heavily from the Victorian Italianate style. Slanted bay windows on each of the two levels feature flat hoods but little other ornamentation. The front porch has a clean style with a straightforward wood railing. The Victorian flourishes that do appear are the incised brackets at the roof line, the series of dentils (little square blocks suggesting teeth) across the top of the porch, and the unusually wide framing of the door and single window beside it. Each of the first floor windows feature a fleur de lis stained glass inset. The house is one of the few buildings on the block to retain its original wood siding, painted an off-white with a creamy brown trim. A slate blue highlights each of the windows and the rooftop cornice.
San Francisco Block books, Sanborn Maps, Great Index to Register, city directories, real estate records, San Francisco Water Department records, and San Francisco Architecture, Woodbridge, Woodbridge, and Byrne, Chronicle Books, San Francisco 1992.