65-67 Ramona Street

65/67 Ramona Street
A Household History

Compiled for Liz Goodman and Mike Kuniavsky
by Stacy Kozakavich

Before Ramona Street
The Mission Dolores Neighborhood 1850-1906

From Louis Nagel’s “Mission Dolores, San Francisco, [California] 1860, from the Potrero Nuevo.”
Collection of The Bancroft Library

The Mission District, Before 1850

Approximate location of 65/67 Ramona St.

16th St.

Dolo Gue
res S rrero
t. St.
“Mission Dolores, Looking Toward San Francisco”, by William H. Dougal, 1850

In the centuries before Spanish, Mexican, and American settlement in San Francisco, Miwok-
Ohlonean speakers built villages and harvested acorns and shellfish for the base of their varied
diet.
The Mission San Francisco de Asís was the first Euro-American anchor of what later became
San Francisco’s Mission District. It was established near the Laguna de Nuestra Señora de
los Dolores in 1776. In the first two decades of the 19th century the mission stretched from
at least Church Street to Guerrero Street and 15th Street to 18th Street. Fields and orchards
surrounded this central core to the east and west and a neophyte village, with as many as
100 cabins for Native American residents, was set apart from the residences of the Fathers
and guards. By the end of the 1820s, the mission population had dropped drastically and its
buildings were falling into ruin.
An 1850 sketch of Mission Dolores (above), viewing to the northeast in the direction of San
Francisco, shows the area of the future Ramona Street to be mostly undeveloped and scrubby-
looking, with fenced pasture on the level areas. A trail connecting the Mission to the growing
settlement of San Francisco appears to have gone through what later became the 67 Ramona
lot.

65/67 Ramona - Page 4

The Mission District, 1853

As San Francisco grew following the 1848
American annexation of California and
the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, the
Mission Dolores area gradually transformed
from the autonomous village it had
been in previous decades to an outlying
neighborhood of the growing city. This
1853 U.S. Coast Survey map shows that the
location of 67-65 Ramona was north of the
main Mission compound, near the base of
a large undeveloped hill extending to the
northwest. 1853 U.S. Coast Survey Map



Market street later bisected the hill north
of the Mission, and developers cut and
filled slopes on neighborhood blocks to
achieve more level surfaces. By 1869, the
trails leading between the Mission and San
Francisco became a planned grid of blocks
and roads - at least in the imagination of
city planners and residents. Much of the
area surrounding the former mission was
still relatively open space occupied by small
agricultural holdings.
1869 U.S. Coast Survey Map



By the 1870s, residential and industrial
buildings were filling in the old fields
and gardens. However, vestiges of the
neighborhood’s agricultural history lingered
amidst the working class housing, lumber
yards, and commercial buildings until the
end of the 19th century.
1874 City Map of San Francisco


Mission Block 28, 1889

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map - San Francisco Sheet 70, 1889

In 1889, only a few houses faced onto the streets surrounding the block which is now
Ramona Street. The lot later occupied by 65/67 was in the middle of a large patch of
“Vegetable Garden.”

Peculiar in the Mission neighborhood to this block and the ones directly to the east and south,
these large gardens were likely tended by Chinese growers who sold to local merchants and
households.

Through the mid-late 19th century, these vegetable growers were among those most active
supporters for construction of a plank road between the agricultural areas surrounding
the old Mission to markets in the growing city of San Francisco (San Francisco Planning
Department 2007:25, 45)
Photo in collection of California Historical Society



The earliest available land ownership document for the block
containing today’s Ramona Street is the property map from an
1894 assessor’s block book for San Francisco. At this time, the block
was divided primarily into large north-south strips, appropriate in
size for industrial use, with only a few smaller residential parcels
in the southeast corner. The parcel that was later subdivided to
become the east side of Ramona Street belonged to capitalist
Frederick Hagemann, and the parcel that would become the
street to Hagemann and the estate of Claus Mangels. Hagemann
and Mangels were broadly involved in San Francisco’s industrial
development. Among other ventures, they were early trustees with
Claus and Peter Spreckels in The California Sugar Refinery.
Hicks-Judd 1894 Handy Block Book for San Francisco, page 374


Mission Block 28, The Hagemann Family

San Francisco Chronicle, March 31, 1915

By September of 1909, ownership of the parcel owned by F. Hagemann (see page 5) had transferred
to Adolph and Amelia F. Hagemann, the son and widow of the deceased millionaire. At the time of
its residential subdivision in 1911, the legal owners of the parcel were Adolph Hagemann and his new
wife, the actress Maud Odell, whom he had married in Denver, Colorado in 1909 to the great interest
of San Francisco Call readers (see article at left). Maude Odell returned to the stage soon after her
marriage, and continued acting until her death in New York City in 1937.
The Hagemann family met with considerable tragedy in the following decade, as Adolph died in a
hunting accident in Monterey in 1914, and his mother, Amelia, committed suicide in her own Hotel
Waldo in Santa Cruz in March, 1915 (San Francisco Chronicle, March 31, 1915)
San Francisco Call, February 19, 1909



From 1897 - 1900, Hagemann’s parcel
was occupied by the stables and grading
camp of the Buckman Contracting Co.,
with utility buildings and a lodging house
clustered at the northern edge of the
parcel near a large stable (the building with
the “X” over the roof). The contracting
company used this location to store and
repair equipment, stable draft animals, and
feed and house temporary laborers.
Buckman’s camp relocated here after their
previous camp at Waller and Steiner was
deemed unsanitary and was ordered to
move by the San Francisco Health Officer
(San Francisco Call, August 23, 1896).
Buckman’s workers may not have cleaned
up their camp in this new location - they
just had fewer middle-class residential
neighbors to complain about the noise and
smell.
The Market Street Planing Mill and
Lumber Yard to the northwest across
Dolores and 14th, the Chinese camp
and vegetable gardens across Guerrero
to the east, bocce ball courts on this and
neighboring blocks, and rental houses
interspersed with “vacant,” “ruined” or
“dilapidated” buildings on neighboring
blocks lent a mixed industrial and
working-class residential character to the
neighborhood.

San Francisco Crocker-Langley City Directory, 1899
Page 342.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map - San Francisco Sheet 201, 1899


The Devastation of 1906

S t.
rero
Guer 14th St.

Dolores St.
Clinton Park

View south down Dolores Street from Market Street , 1906, California State Library
Much of the northern part of the Mission Dolores neighborhood was destroyed by the April
1906 earthquake and fire, with the blocks between Valencia and Dolores Streets as far south
as 20th Street devastated by the flames.
In photos taken soon after the disaster, few buildings remain on the blocks east of Dolores
Street. Piles of rubble and scattered temporary shacks pictured in these photos are now part
of the fill beneath today’s homes and businesses of Ramona and neighboring streets.


The Devastation of 1906

14th St.

14th St.

15th St. .
St
ro
r re
ue
G

Arrows on map above show the approximate camera
.
location and direction of the photos at right. 15th St. St
ro
Map: “Map of part of San Francisco, California, April 18, 1908:
r re
showing buildings constructed and buildings under construction ue
during two years after fire of April 18, 1906,” UCLA Library G
Photos: View northwest from 14th Street and Guerrero Street toward
Clinton Park and view northwest from 15th Street and Guerrero
Street across Ramona St. block 1906. California Historical Society


Ramona in the 20th Century
The Neighborhood 1911-1996

From “North on Guerrero St. between 15th and 16th Sts. Feb. 1928.”
Collection of The Bancroft Library

New Flats on Ramona Street

San Francisco Call, October 11, 1911
A massive effort to provide new housing and services in the Mission District following the 1906
earthquake and fire led to a boom in construction. By 1914, as shown in the Sanborn Fire
Insurance Map at right, most of the lots on Ramona Street were occupied by 2-family homes.
Ramona Street itself was formed from lands owned together by the Hagemann and Mangels
families. The Hagemann family and their agents subdivided their own parcel on the eastern
side of Ramona Street, and sold the land to individual owners prior to building. The Mangels
family agents subivided the western side of Ramona Street and built homes before selling the
properties, as seen in their October 1, 1911 San Francisco Call advertisement above. The ad’s
emphasis on short hallways and adjoined living and dining room spaces is in direct contrast
to the older narrow flat style exemplified by 65/67 Ramona. By 1914, the west side of the
street was almost fully developed with only 2 lots still vacant. Five vacant lots on the east side
of the street may indicate the slower progress of a less intensive property selling and building
campaign undertaken by the Hagemann family’s agents.
Though Ramona Street was fully residential in 1914, in contrast to the horticultural and
industrial uses of the block before the earthquake and fire, the surrounding neighborhood was
still mixed in character. The Leonard Lumber Co. sheds and office were directly across 15th to
the south of Ramona Street, and the Matt C. McElerham and Spencer St. planing mills were in
the same block to the south of the lumber yard. A contractor’s storage yard and stable was just
across 14th Street to the north. When residents of Ramona Street stepped outside their front
doors and looked up and down the street, they would see and hear the booming construction
industry just beyond their residential enclave.
According to 1920 and 1930 U.S. Census data, most households on Ramona Street consisted
of a nuclear family in each unit of the 2-6-unit buildings on the street. A few families also had
extended family members or non-family lodgers in their households. The homes along Ramona
Street represent an eclectic mixture of architectural styles, but the predominance of two-family
residential units with integrated, ground-floor garages built between 1911 and 1923 constitute
a potentially National Register eligible historic district (San Francisco Planning Department
2005, page 45). Exterior alterations to most buildings since the initial period of construction
have been minimal, and as such the integrity of Ramona Street’s historic character is good.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, San Francisco Sheet 665, 1914


The Neighborhood Reconstructed

The dramatically increased residential density
in the neighborhood created a need for new
services for local residents. A few of these
built in the vicinity of Ramona Street by 1911
included health care facilities, a child care
center, and a baseball park.
The Mary’s Help Hospital at the corner of
Guerrero and Clinton Park offered care at
reduced fees to the poor, and included a large
maternity ward. As seen in the article below,
however, some women in the neighborhood
still sought care from private, and potentially
dangerous sources.
Baseball fans could watch the San Francisco
Seals play at Recreation Park at 15th and
Valencia between 1907 and 1930.
The Holy Family Day Home, which still
operates at the northeast corner of Dolores
Street and 16th Street, served the needs of
working mothers of pre-school aged children.

Map from “The Chevalier Commercial Pictorial and Tourist Map” of San Francisco, 1911 San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 28, 1915


20th-Century Demography
Many working class San Franciscans whose South of Market homes had been destroyed in the 1906 earthquake
and fire relocated to new developments in the Mission Dolores neighborhood through the subsequent
years of neighborhood reconstruction. The neighborhood character was then, and for decades remained,
predominantly working class until the influx of technology professionals in the early 1990s.
Most Ramona Street men worked as skilled laborers or tradesmen in the early decades of the 20th century.
The first recorded resident of #67 Ramona Street was machinist, Malcolm Vance, who resided there in 1912.
The first family of #65 Ramona was that of printer and lino operator, Louis Muir, in 1913 and 1914. In
1920, Hippolyte Cauwet, in #65, worked as a superintendent at the F. Thomas Parisian Cleaning and Dyeing
Works. In the same year, Christopher Merchant of #67 was a building contractor. In 1930, Howard Knoll
of #65 was a shipping clerk at a candy factory, and John Boland was a laborer. Among the street’s other male
residents in these years was a glass blower, ‘packer,’ auto dealer, miner, veterinary surgeon, chiropodist, janitor,
fireman, stevedore, laundry driver, auto mechanic, accountant, liquor merchant, iron worker, bookkeeper, and
laborer.
Though women of #65 and #67 Ramona Street; Marguerite Cauwet, Thora Merchant, Marie Knoll, and
Tessie Boland; have no listed occupations in 1920 and 1930, many other women on the block contributed
economically to their families by working outside the home. In 1920 these included a grocer (age 44), a
decorator for Pacific Novelty (age 17), a bank bookkeeper (27), a wrapper in a dyeing company (32), a laundry
worker (34), and a worker in an overall factory (24). One woman was the head of her own household, a New
York-born unmarried music teacher (42), who owned #69 Ramona Ave. and lived there with her 75 year old,
German-born mother. Working women in 1930 included two bank clerks (ages 18 and 23), an office clerk (23),
a “marker” at a Dryer & Cleaner (18), and a hospital “janitress” (41).
After the Bolands and Knolls left Ramona Street in the 1950s, #65 and #67 continued to be occupied by
skilled tradesmen, laborers, and clerical workers. In 1958, William Holster of #65 was a carpenter, and Chris
Carlsen, the owner and resident of #67, was a steel worker. In 1962, Rodney Welch of #67 was a machinist.
John Simmons, of #65 in 1964, was an office worker. Rafael Baca, of #67 was a surgery assistant in 1966.
Hector Valenzuela, who lived in #65 between 1968 and 1972, was a dye specialist at a bridal-wear shop. Juan
Coto, an electrician, lived in #67 from 1969 to 1984.
Ramona Street’s residents reflected the broad change seen in many parts of the Mission District through the
1990s, as young technology workers at the leading edge of the Internet boom years moved to San Francisco.
Jonathan Steuer, who lived in #67 between 1991 and 1997, led the growth of the Cyborganic community
which combined the company’s offices with a residential group sharing technological and social interests. The
project started upstairs in #67 in 1991, expanding to include the residents of #65 in 1993, #59 (next door) and
#80/82 (across the street) in 1994, and 1834-1836 15th Street (on the corner) in 1995. From 1995, “Thursday
Night Dinners” hosted at #65/67 connected the Cyborganic group to a broader community of like minds.
Jenny Cool describes the growth of the Ramona residential group in her 2008 doctoral dissertation:
The housemates at 67 Ramona, single and in their mid-twenties, made a conscious choice to live communally, sharing
groceries, household chores and expenses, and social lives. Having lived before in groups that shared nothing but the
rent, they decided to create a household where food in the refrigerator was not labeled as personal property, and residents
did not simply come and go, as if living in a hotel. Their Ramona Avenue apartment became a gathering place for
young techies, ravers, and artists in the City’s burgeoning rave and multimedia scenes. When neighbors moved out of
the apartment below (65 Ramona), the household expanded, adding two new members, and beginning the process
through which more than thirty community members moved into apartments on the street as they came up for rent over
the next few years. Each new apartment was connected to the group’s local computer network via Ethernet cable run-
ning over rooftops and across the street. (Cool 2008, page 212).
In 1996, the Cyborganic offices moved away from Ramona Street, though some of the telecommunications
infrastructure still remains in the basement of #65/67. No obvious evidence exists to show the reported use
of #65’s kitchen as a server room.


20th-Century Demography

A predominance of Irish-Americans and Irish immigrants among the first residents of the
reconstructed Mission District after the 1906 earthquake and fire created what is popularly seen
as the neighborhood’s early 20th century ethnic character. Between 1906 and 1940, the mixture
of German, Irish, Scandinavian, and American immigrants living as neighbors in the district
apparently led to the development of a Mission “accent” heard only in the neighborhood (San
Francisco Planning Department 2005, page 31). Its working class, primarily Euro-American
character was relatively stable until the Second World War, when wartime industrial workers
moved into the dense residential areas of the Mission during the 1940s. These migrant workers
- including many African-Americans from the southeastern United States - were a first wave of
20th-century population change in the neighborhood, and were followed by Hispanic families
from Mexico and Central America through the 1950s, as well as Asian immigrant families in
the 1960s.
The 1920 and 1930 United States Federal Census schedules are the most recent censuses
with household-level information currently available to researchers. These records give us
demographic snapshots of the families living at 65/67 Ramona Street and their neighbors in
the second and third decades of the street’s history. In these years, most adult residents of the
street were born in the United States, though some immigrated from England, Ireland (or the
Irish Free State, such as John and Tessie Boland in #67 in 1930), Norway, Canada, Romania,
Bohemia, Wales, Germany, and Switzerland. Anthony Valenzuela, an office clerk rooming at
#59 in 1930, was born in “South America.” American-born adults with foreign-born parents
had roots in Denmark, Austria, Ireland, France, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, England,
Norway, Sweden, Poland, Russia, and Italy.

1920 United States Federal Census entries for 65 and 67 Ramona Street

1930 United States Federal Census entries for 65 and 67 Ramona Street


65/67 Ramona Street
The house and its residents

Old and new door hardware, 67 Ramona Street

65/67 Ramona Street is Built

View northeast on east side of Ramona St., 2010
Throughout 1911, Adolph and Maud Hagemann subdivided their property between Dolores
and Guerrero into 75’ by 25’ residential lots for individual buyers’ residential development. On
May 4 of that year, the parcel located at 180’ North of 15th Street, later 65/67 Ramona Street,
was sold to August C. & Anna Hollin.
The following April, August Hollin applied for a building permit from the City of San Francisco
to erect a two story house with a basement on the property. Intended to be occupied by two
families, the building would have 9’6” ceilings in both units, patent flues, and a gravel covered
roof (SF Permit application No. 41985). The construction contract with A. Debenedetti was
reported in the April 17, 1912 issues of the San Francisco Call and Daily Pacific Builder. The
Spring Valley Water Company tap records show that water was connected to the residence on
June 17, 1912 (#69362, Volume 5, page 1755). The address was “retapped” June 29, 1932.
The Hollin’s new investment, and #59/61 next door, was designed by San Francisco
architect John A. Porporato. A prolific designer of residential buildings and Italian-American Daily Pacific Builder, April 17, 1912
mausoleums, Porporato was recognized alongside several Italian-American professionals at
the 1911 Turin International Exposition with a silver medal for his architectural work in the
city of San Francisco (San Francisco Call, October 25 1911, page 2). Although the 1911 Davis
Commercial Encyclopedia describes Porporato as a “prominent young San Francisco Architect who
has achieved against tremendous odds” (page 176) he is not individually recognized as a “great”
San Francisco architect. San Francisco Call, April 17, 1912


67 Ramona Street, rooms and renovations

Dining Kitchen

chin.

clos.
Partially covered bathroom windows viewed from the air shaft
Bath
The larger front rooms, more elaborate fireplace, better lighting, and possibly
more dining-room details in the upper unit (#67) made this a more desirable
A w/c
home. For most of the years during which the house was occupied by the property

clos.
owners, the owning family lived upstairs and renters lived in #65. When owners
John and Tessie Boland moved downstairs from #67 to #65 in the early 1950s, clos.
they may have done so to lessen the climb in their advanced age, or because they
needed the greater income possible from renting out #67.

A In 1977, permits were issued were partially blocked to accommodate the is likely
when the bathroom windows
to install modern bathroom fixtures. This
current
bath/shower placement.
Bedroom
B A doorway appears to have originally connected the parlor to the main bedroom
in #67, but it was closed and plastered over at some later time in the century.
clos.
Other residences built between 1910 and 1920 in this neighborhood still have
sliding doors connecting the parlor to the adjacent bedroom, showing how resi-
dents could choose to open the doors for light and ventilation or close them for clos.
privacy. The door in #67 may have been blocked to provide greater security, B
sound insulation, and privacy for unrelated renters and boarders who used the
parlor as a bedroom. C
C The mirrored sliding doors for theexpanding#67’s frontthe storage space toare a
later-20th-century addition, likely
closet in
access to
bedroom/library
suit firepl. Parlor
modern preferences for a wide opening into clothing storage. The pieced-togeth- Bedroom /
er top moulding of the closet and discontinuous flooring show changes made to
accommodate modern hardware. The existing, small swinging closet doors in the
Library
front bedroom/library of #65 are likely close to what was originally present in
#67.


65 Ramona Street, rooms and renovations

E Dining Kitchen
D
clos.

Bath
w/c
clos.

clos.
clos.

Bedroom

clos. In the lower unit, #65, the door between the kitchen and former dining room
is semi-permanently blocked to provide privacy for tenants using the room as a D
firepl.

bedroom.
Parlor
Bedroom /
Library
#65 also lacks built-in dining room storage like that in #67. Future cosmetic
or structural upgrades to the wall in #65 could reveal whether this feature was E
originally absent, or removed at a later time to make #65s dining room more
“bedroom-like.”


Basement and exterior renovations
Permit applications filed with the City of San Francisco show major structural work done at
65/67 Ramona Street has consisted of multiple upgrades to the rear staircase and a significant
repair to raise settled portions of the building’s front.
On April 24, 1961, owner Mr. Carlsen filed a building permit application to “Alter base of
partition and install masonry base. Alter low post at back stairs and one under building and install

Covered Passage
masonry bases. Where marked P on attached diagram remove soil and install sill on concrete
base.” Permit #222851 was issued May 2, 1961. As the work was done at the same time the
Carlsen’s sold the property to Angela Borgen, it was likely a condition of the sale. Unfortunately,
the diagram mentioned in the application is not on file at the City of San Francisco.
Studio
On November 16, 1973, Angela and Roger Borgen filed a permit to “Replace old stairs and
landings on dwelling. Change to switch back type.” Work was completed under permit #383681.
These stairs were repaired in 1993 under permit #719053, also issued to Angela Borgen. Though
no drawings remain of the original staircase, it likely resembled others on the block which extend
perpendicular to the back wall of the house, with switchbacks connecting the two residences to
ground level.
On August 2, 1962, Angela Borgen applied for a permit to “Raise front portion of bldg. approx.
2 inches where it has settled. It appears that one or more posts may have been removed in
basement, under central lateral girder. Repair sidewalk in front of bldg. (area approx. 108 sq. ft.)
Permit #240728 was issued August 8, 1962. It may have been during this work that the second
story decorative column bases were cut level with the artificial stone portion of the lower story
facade.
Many alterations to homes, especially those not visible from the exterior, are made without
city permits. The unframed room subdivisions in the basement of 65/67 Ramona St., and the
boarded and altered lower story windows like those pictured below, are evidence of past repairs
and renovations made outside of the permit process.

Raised Walk
Garage


Urban apartment design

William Tuthill’s 1890 generalized plan for an urban apartment, shown at left, is similar
to the layout Porporato used for his 1912 Ramona St. flats. City lots 25’ wide and between
75’ and 100’ in depth presented the same challenges to designers in many cities through
these decades, with the needs for room function, light, ventilation, and privacy finding
balance in a limited number of ways. Of this plan, Tuthill writes:
The rooms required in an apartment are: a parlor, dining-room, three or four bedrooms, as servant’s
room, kitchen and bath-room, together with proper closets and store-rooms. A library is added if
the plan permits.
In laying out the following plan, care has been taken to give each room and staircase the maximum
ventilation possible, with a free use of smaller light shafts… They have been made as nearly as
possible square, that form giving the most light for the space covered…
The location of the dining-room and kitchen at the rear of the building has favor generally from
the fact that it removes the noise and odors of the kitchen as far as possible away from the parlor
(pages 38-40).
The lack of a servant’s room (like that pictured on Tuthill’s 1890 plan) in the Ramona
Street flats shows, in part, to the decline in hired household help employed by working and
middle-class American families after the turn of the 20th century.


Early 20th-century kitchen and bath styles

The catalog-perfect bathroom (Sears Roebuck Co. 1912, page 1162) and
kitchen (Alabastine Co. 1906) at right show the basic fixture styles that may
have been original to the Ramona Street flats. The kitchen range could either
have burned solid fuel (coal or wood) or gas.
The Westinghouse refrigerator in the basement of 65/67 matches those
advertised as “Dual Automatic” models during the early 1930s. If it was
purchased new for this house, it was either the Knolls’ or the Bolands’ fridge.


Early 20th-century interior paint and wallpaper

The original decoration of the Ramona
Street flats probably wasn’t dominated by
the plain white typical of today’s rental
units. Combinations of wallpaper, paint,
and stenciling decorated walls of the period,
framed by painted or stained woodwork.
Each wallpaper style from the 1912 Sears
Roebuck Company catalog (left) included
complementary patterns for walls, borders
and ceiling. The interior paint colors
available in 1915 to Montgomery Ward
customers (bottom left) offer vibrant options
compared to our current tastes.
Almost equally vibrant is the foliage-
adorned wallpaper found in the basement
studio of 65/67 Ramona (bottom right).
this remnant might be an insight into decor
from the 1960s-1970s.


Early 20th-century lighting and floor coverings

Gas, and later electric lights such as those offered in The Harris
Brothers Co. 1915 catalog (excerpt below), illuminated the rooms.
Samples of basic hall carpet and linoleum patterns from the 1912
Sears Roebuck Catalog show a penchant for bold, floral and geo-
metric patterns in high-contrast colors. Though the Ramona
Street flats have hardwood floors throughout, rugs would have
provided insulation and quiet in most rooms, including the hall
and stairs. The kitchen may have had wood or linoleum flooring.


Appendices
Residential Timeline and Documents

Sears Roebuck & Co. 1912 Catalog, Page 1053

Residential Timeline
Year Property Owner #65 Residents #67 Residents

1912 August C. & Anna Hollin Vance, Malcolm Trimble - Machinist (GRV Oct. 12, 1912)
(May 4, 1911 - May 2, 1922)
Muir, Louis Joseph and Stella
Louis Joseph Muir was a printer and lino
1914 operator. (GRV 1913; CLSF 1913:1320, 1914:1360*) Merchant, Christopher T. and Mrs. Thora M.
Christopher T. Merchant was born in California
Cauwet, Hippolyte N. Jr. and Marguerite, in 1876 to Australian-born parents. Between
Hippolyte Cauwet was born in France in 1887, 1915 and 1920 he worked as a contractor in
1916
and immigrated to the United States in 1908. house building, for Holm & Son, later Holm
Through the 1920s, Cauwet was a Foreman, & Merchant. Thora Merchant was born in
Superintendent, and Carpet Manager for the F. Michigan in 1888 to Danish-born parents.
1918 Thomas Parisian Cleaning and Dyeing Works Christopher and Thora had two daughters,
of San Francisco. Marguerite Cauwet was born Gladys, born in about 1908, and Flora, born in
in California in 1887 to German-born parents. about 1914. (GRV 1914, 1918, 1920; CLSF 1914:1298,
Hippolyte and Margaret’s son, Raymond, was 1915-16:1309; USFC 1920)
1920 born in California in about 1913.
(CLSF 1915-16:432 1923:453, 1924:356, 1925:468; GRV
1916, 1918, 1920, 1924, USFC 1920)

1922 Jacob & Katherina Straessler
(May 2 1922 - May 8, 1926)
Straessler, Jacob, Katherina, and Miss Margaret J.,
Jacob Straessler was a grocer. His daughter,
1924 Margaret, was a bookkeeper and cashier. (CLSF
1924, 1925:1770; GRV 1923, 1924)

1926 John J. & Tessie B. Boland
(May 8, 1926 - February 6, 1956)

1928 Cauwets’ East Bay misadventure
San Francisco Chronicle,
February 28, 1921

1930 Knoll, Howard and Marie Boland, John and Tessie
Howard Knoll was born in California in 1897 John and Tessie bought the Ramona Street
to German-born parents. A war veteran, in house in 1926 and had moved in by 1929. In
1930 he worked as a shipping clerk at a candy the following year, Boland estimated the value
1932
factory, in 1945 as a teamster, and in 1949 as of the property at $8500.
a driver for the Valley Exp. Co. Marie, born in
California in 1907 to a New York-born father John Boland was born in the Irish Free State
1934 and German-born mother, married Howard in (Ireland minus Northern Ireland) in 1889 and
1930. It was his second marriage and her first. immigrated to the United States in1908. John
The couple paid $50/month rent, and their was a veteran of the First World War, and in
home was equipped with a “radio set.” 1930 worked as a laborer. He married Tessie
1936 Boland who was born in the Irish Free State in
In 1932, lodger Frank J. Shields shared the flat 1890, in 1917.
with Howard and Marie.

*See Page 33 for source abbreviations


1938 John J. & Tessie B. Boland Knoll, Howard and Marie (cont’d) Boland, John and Tessie (cont’d)
(May 8, 1926 - February 6, 1956) (CLSF 1945:974, 1949:1041; GRV 1930, 1932, 1944; SFTD In the late 1940s, John worked as a laborer and
1938; USFC 1930) “hod carrier” (an assistant to a bricklayer or
plasterer) for San Francisco Buildings and Public
1940 Works.

In 1932, lodgers James Hughes and James Fee-
1942 ney lived with the Bolands in #67.

(CLSF 1929:333, 1945:205, 1949:205; GRV 1930, 1932,
1944; PSF 1951:164, 1953:1877, 1954:506; SFTD 1938;
1944 USFC 1930)

1946

1948

1950

Edwards, Adolph E. and Tamara
Adolph was a clerk (PSF 1951:399)
1952

Boland, John
About a year before Tessie Boland’s death in No-
1954 vember 1954, John and Tessie moved downstairs Skrash, C. (PSF 1954:1152)
to #65. (PSF 1953:1877, 1954:506; SFAR Ledgers 1954)

1956 Thorlief & Barbara Lindstrom
(February 6 - August 28, 1956)

Chris J. & Ida Carlsen Vacant (PSF 1957:2118) Carlsen, Chris J (steel worker) and Ida
(PSF 1957:209, 1958:218)
(August 28, 1956 - April 21, 1961) Holster, William (carpenter) and Margaret
1958
(PSF 1958:654)

1960

Welger, Mrs. Mary (widow of Martin) (PSF 1961:1571) Vacant (PSF 1961:692)
Angela Borgen
1962 (April 21, 1961 - February 4, 2008) Vacant (PSF 1962:739) Welch, Rodney J. (machinist, California Screw Co.) and
Ligia R. (PSF 1962:1698)



1964 Angela Borgen Simmons, John (office worker) and Cristina
(April 21, 1961 - February 4, 2008) (PSF 1964:1413)

1966 Vargas, Mrs. Lisa (PSF 1966:739) Baca, Rafael (surgery assistant, St. Luke’s Hospital) and
Olga M. (PSF 1966:64)

1968 Valenzuela, Hector and Maria L. Welch, R. J. (PSF 1968:1425)
Hector was a Dye Specialist at Chance Bridal
Company (PSF 1968:1380, 1969-70:1404, 1971:403, Coto, Juan (electrician, Pacific Telephone Co.) and Mina
1972:410) (HDSF 1980:415, 1981:411, 1982:318, 1983:315, 1984:312;
1970 PSF 1969-70:293, 1971:403, 1972:410, 1973:410,
1976:210, 1978:435, 1980:218, 1981:215)

1972

Morales, Mrs. Myrna
(PSF 1973:410, 1976:422, 1978:715, 1980:709, 1981:560)
1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988



1990 Angela Borgen
(April 21, 1961 - February 4, 2008)
Cantrell, David
(HDSF 1991:312; 1992:311)
1992

Steuer, Jonathan S. (HDSF 1993:306, 1996:323, 1997:344, )
1994 In 1994, with Clerici, Gianmaria; Rennella,
Viviana (HDSF 1994:313)

1996 In 1995, with Francis, A. (HDSF 1995:321)

Schneider, Rick (HDSF 1997:344, 1998:370, 1999:379, 2000:425)

1998 In 1999, with Josh Dorff Kuniavsky, Mike (HDSF 1998:370; HDSF 1999:379; HDSF
2000:425)

In 1999, with John Slenk (HDSF 1999:379)
2000

Timeline Source Abbreviations:
GRV: Great Register of Voters
USFC: United States Federal Census
CLSF: Crocker Langley San Francisco City Directory
PSF: Polk’s San Francisco City Directory
SFTD: San Francisco Telephone Directory
HDSF: Haines Directory for San Francisco


Documents

Left: Transfer of land title from Adolph and Maud Hagemann to August C. Hollin and wife,
May 4, 1911, San Francisco Assessor-Recorder book 534, page 130.

Opposite: Application for Building Permit (front and back) by A. Hollin to erect a residence at
65 Ramona, filed April 10, 1912.


Documents


Documents

Transfer of land title from August C. and Anna Hollin to Jacob and Katharina
Straessler, May 2, 1922. San Francisco Assessor-Recorder book 547, page 227.


Documents

Transfer of land title from Katharina Straessler (“a widow”) to John J.
and Tessie B. Boland, May 8, 1926. San Francisco Assessor-Recorder
volume 1260, page 449. (quality poor in microfilm)


Documents

Application for building permit by Chris J. Carlsen to alter and repair the partition wall, sill, and
staircase posts and bases. April 14, 1961.


Documents

Transfer of land title from Chris J. and Ida Carlsen to Angela Borgen, April
19, 1961. San Francisco Assessor-Recorder, book A255, page 908.


Documents

Application for building permit by Angela Borgen to raise settled portions of building front and
repair front sidewalk, August 2, 1962.


Documents

Application for building permit by Angela Borgen to replace exterior staircase and landings,
November 16, 1962.


Documents

Application for permit by Angela Borgen, charge notice, and inspector’s record to install updated bathroom fixtures. June, 1977.


Documents

Application for building permit by Angela Borgen to repair exterior staircase and landings,
April 9, 1993. Plans are enclosed in back folder.


Primary Sources Secondary Sources

Many primary sources for this project were sought in the online sources listed below. If The Alabastine Co. Homes Healthful and Beautiful: Sane and Sanitary Decoration of
you’re interested in finding out more about your home, neighborhood, or city, these are Homes, Illustrated with Designs in Alabastine Tints with Descriptive Letter Press.
good places to start. Paris, Ontario. Alabastine Co., 1906.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: Maps for San Francisco (1887 - 1950) can be Carey & Co., Inc. Revised Mission Dolores Neighborhood Survey, Volumes 1 and 2. San
accessed online by San Francisco Public Library card-holders. A few original map Francisco, CA: Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association, 2009.
books, showing color coding for building construction types, are available to researchers
Cool, Jennifer. Communities of Innovation: Cyborganic and the Birth of Networked
in the SFPL San Francisco History Center.
Social Media. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Southern California, 2008.
Neighborhood Photographs: Hundreds of historical photos from multiple California
Harris Brothers Co. A Plan Book of Harris Homes. Chicago, Ill. Harris Brothers Co.,
repositories can be searched and viewed through Calisphere.
1915.
City Directories: The names, addresses and, in some cases, occupations of your
Montgomery Ward & Co. Montgomery Ward & Co.’s Paint Book. 1915.
home’s past residents are listed in the Crocker-Langley, Polk’s Crocker-Langley, Polks,
and Haines directories for San Francisco. A limited range of years are available online San Francisco Planning Department. City Within a City: Historic Context Statement for
at the Internet Archive, and a more complete hard-copy set are stored for public use San Francisco’s Mission District. San Francisco, CA: City of San Francisco, 2007.
in the Magazines & Newspapers section on the 5th floor of the San Francisco Public San Francisco Planning Department. Inner Mission North 1853-1943 Context Statement.
Library’s main branch. San Francisco, CA: City of San Francisco, 2005.
Federal Census Schedules and Voter Registry Indexes: A wide range of these Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalog No. 124. Chicago, Ill. Sears Roebuck & Co., 1912.
government documents are available online to subscribers of Ancestry.com. The full
federal census schedules and limited voter registries are also available on microfilm Tuthill, William. The City Residence: Its Design and Construction. New York, NY. William
in the San Francisco Public Library’s Magazines & Newspapers section and San T. Comstock, 1890
Francisco History Center. These and other online and print resources for learning
about individual Californians can also be accessed for a small fee at the California
Genealogical Society and Library in Oakland.
Some documents can only be found in person at a library, archive, or government agency.
For this house history, these included:
City of San Francisco Department of Building Inspection Permit Services:
Building construction and alteration permits.
City and County of San Francisco Office of the Assessor-Recorder: Sales ledgers
and title documents, assessor’s block books.
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library: Spring Valley Wa-
ter Company records, assessor’s block books, Edward’s Abstracts of real estate, original
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map books.


About the Author

Stacy Kozakavich is an archaeologist and
historian with a Ph.D. in Anthropology
from the University of California, Berkeley;
a specialization in nineteenth and early
twentieth-century communities, sites,
artifacts, and documents; and over fifteen
years of experience working with historical
resources in California and western Canada.
Her past projects have included researching
and documenting historical intentional
communities such as the Kaweah Cooperative
Commonwealth of Tulare County, conducting
archaeological surveys and excavations at sites
such as the buried remains of the demolished
UC Botanical Conservatory in Berkeley, and
researching historical artifact collections
for sites such as San Jose’s 19th-century
Market Street Chinatown. Stacy has taught
university level courses in American material
culture, introductory archaeology, historical
archaeology and archaeological field methods.
Stacy’s interest in house histories grew from
her experience researching historic buildings
for cultural resources management projects in
the Bay Area, and through her discovery of
the past lives connected to her own Berkeley
home.
Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
Canada, Stacy has resided in the San Francisco
Bay Area since 2001. She currently resides in
Oakland with her family.


65-67 Ramona Street

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

En vedette

En vedette (14)

Similaire à 65-67 Ramona Street

Similaire à 65-67 Ramona Street (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

65-67 Ramona Street