By the way, Loewenstein didn't know the origins Clementina or Clara Streets - he said for each, "After a friend or relative of a pioneer." That covers all the bases. Jim -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [CASANFRA] San Francisco, Ca. 1848-1854 Date: Wed, 07 May 2008 10:50:01 -0700 From: James R. Smith <jim@historysmith.com> To: James R. Smith <jim@historysmith.com> References: <621816.57993.qm@web82606.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <4821E3BC.4060306@historysmith.com> Oops - the text from the website didn't come up in italics. I didn't write the paragraphs below - only copied. Jim James R. Smith wrote: >I can't vouch for this but... > >I saw a fascinating special on the San Francisco PBS station this past >week. It was called "Madams of the Barbary Coast," and told the story of >the prostitutes of San Francisco and the bawdy houses that flourished >during the Gold Rush era. > >I remember as a young child going through the area of town still called, >in the 1940s "The Barbary Coast." You'd be hard pressed to find it now, >as it is filled with designer warehouses and places to buy expensive >stuff for your fabulous apartment. But when I was a kid it had some of >the more seedy of the area nightclubs. Up on Broadway St. there were the >clubs that had not yet gone totally topless and were, in themselves, >risque, but a couple of blocks away whatever dubious quality existed on >Broadway disappeared. > >What I found funny in watching the special was learning that the names >of some of the streets I know so well came from the prostitutes who >worked the city in the late 1800s. Maiden Lane, for example, is now the >home of exclusive boutique shops, but was named for the "girls" of San >Francisco. I was amused to learn that Clementina St., on which was >located the sister convent school to my high school, was named for one >of San Francisco's prostitutes, as were Harriet St. and Clara St. and >probably several others. > >http://airypersiflage.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-naming-of-things.html > >Cheers, >Jim > > -- James R. Smith Author: San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks ISBN: 1884995446 www.HistorySmith.com <http://www.historysmith.com/> -- James R. Smith Author: San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks ISBN: 1884995446 www.HistorySmith.com <http://www.historysmith.com/>