Film, Video Panoramic view of the Golden Gate Panorama of the Golden Gate

Title

• Panoramic view of the Golden Gate

Other Title

• Panorama of the Golden Gate

Summary

• This film, photographed from the front of a moving steam engine, shows the scenic portion of the Market Street Railway (formerly the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad route) along the bluffs and cliffs of Lands End, at the northwest corner of San Francisco, overlooking the Golden Gate and the Marin headlands. The film shows the first 1.5 miles of the 5.25 mile eastbound return trip from the Cliff House and Sutro Baths to the train terminal at California Street and Central Avenue (now Presidio Avenue). This scenic portion of the line was built at an elevation averaging 150 feet, affording superb views of the Golden Gate, the entrance strait to San Francisco Bay.
• Scene-by-scene description: The train heads just west of north from the Sutro Baths Station, near the Cliff House. Swinging right (northeast) the camera looks across the water to Marin County and Point Bonita, the northwest entrance of the Golden Gate. Mount Tamalpais rises in the background. The Marin headlands stretch to the right, along the north shore of the Golden Gate (now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). The Narrows, the mile-wide inner mouth of the Golden Gate, and the later site of the Golden Gate Bridge, are visible. The view is northeast. Beyond, in San Francisco Bay, is Angel Island. The Presidio occupies the cliff-edged peninsula extending north to the Narrows. Below, in the foreground, is the actual Lands End Point. The small adjacent beach was a popular picnic site. Rounding a corner, the trail down to Lands End beach comes into view. The small station marks the upper end of the beach trail. Note the advertisements papered on its walls, one touting a popular liniment. [0:47 min.] A sign warns of the approaching entry into the 100 foot tunnel; another sign appears at left. The train exits the tunnel and provides a fine view of the Presidio cliffs and Baker Beach (right). [1:40 min.] Deadman's Point is in the foreground (named years later by Coast Guard rescuers for foolhardy cliff climbers). In the distance are white buildings of the Richmond district, south of the Presidio. Partly behind the slope at right is Lone Mountain, then Laurel Hill Cemetery. Beyond the cut, on the rise at right, are a fence and row of cypress trees marking the northeast corner of the 200-acre City Cemetery (1888-1909, also called Golden Gate Cemetery). [2:20 min.] Lone Mountain is again visible beyond the utility pole. The camera views the central hills of San Francisco (from left to right): Mount Sutro, Strawberry Hill (in middleground, in Golden Gate Park), Mount Davidson, and Golden Gate Heights. A few dwellings are seen along Point Lobos Avenue (now Geary Boulevard) in the left foreground. Behind at right is a partly quarried hill now called Washington Heights. Heading due south (in line with today's 33rd Avenue), an abandoned windmill (left) and a station inscribed "San Francisco City Cemetery" (right) can be seen.

Names

• Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
• Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

• United States : Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1902.

Headings

• -  Golden Gate (Calif. : Strait)
• -  San Francisco Bay (Calif.)
• -  Market Street Railway
• -  Marin County (Calif.)
• -  Tamalpais, Mount (Calif.)
• -  Beaches--California--San Francisco
• -  Cemeteries--California--San Francisco

Genre

• Actualities (Motion pictures)
• Silent films
• Short films
• Nonfiction films

Notes

• -  H13041 U.S. Copyright Office
• -  Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 11Jan1902; H13041.
• -  Duration: 2:39 at 15 fps.
• -  Photographed: San Francisco, California, probably in late December 1901, or early January, 1902.
• -  Paper print shelf number (LC 2135) was changed when the paper prints were re-housed.
• -  The Ferries and Cliff House line was built between 1886 and 1888. It gave access to the famed Cliff House and Sutro Baths, previously accessed by the Point Lobos toll road through the sand dunes, and by a nearby inland railroad. The Ferries and Cliff House line merged into the Market Street Railway in October, 1893, which was absorbed into the United Railroads of San Francisco in March,1902. It ceased operation shortly before the 1906 earthquake, and was replaced with electric streetcars of the Sutter and California Street Railroad's #1 line. Today the trackbed is a trail in the Land's End unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Monterey cypress trees and other plants were subsequently introduced and have greatly altered the original coastal shrub landscape.
• -  Additional holdings for this title may be available. Contact reference librarian.
• -  Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as digital files.
• -  Sources used: Niver, K. Early motion pictures, p. 243; AFI catalog, film beginnings, 1893-1910, p. 795; Edison films catalog, no. 135, September, 1902, p. 54; Cable Car Museum WWW site, viewed March 26, 2020 (the Ferries & Cliff House Railway; the Eight Original San Francisco Cable Car Companies).
• -  Early motion pictures : the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress / by Kemp R. Niver. Library of Congress. 1985.
• -  paper pos (copies 1 and 2) Received: 1903-01-11; copyright deposit; Paper Print Collection.
• -  Paper print roll lacking suffix.

Medium

• viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (69 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
• viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (ca. 150 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
• dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (69 ft.) : si., b&w ; 16 mm.
• dupe neg pic 1 film reel of 1 (ca. 150 ft.) : si., b&w ; 35 mm.
• paper pos 1 roll of 1 (150 ft) : b&w ; 35 mm.
• paper pos (copy 2) 1 roll of 1 (ca. 150 ft.) : b&w ; 35 mm.

Call Number/Physical Location

• FLA 5149 (viewing print)
• FEC 1499 (viewing print)
• FRA 2097 (dupe neg pic)
• FPE 6807 (dupe neg pic)
• Box 0899 (paper pos)
• Box 5690 (paper pos, copy 2)

Repository

• Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu

Digital Id

• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/lcmp003.m3a34536

Library of Congress Control Number

• 00694423

Online Format

• image
• video

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/00694423

Additional Metadata Formats

• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record