This Day in History: McAllister Street 1909 By Jeremy Menzies Here’s a look back to April 29,1909 with two photos showing an important change to McAllister Street in the Western Addition. McAllister has been served by a transit line since at least the 1880s. Beginning with a cable car run by the Market Street Cable Railway, McAllister served as an important part of the city’s east-west transit system. These two photos show construction work to remove the old cable car tracks and replace them with electric streetcar rails: Laborers dig cable car “yokes” out of the street on McAllister between Scott and Pierce streets. Yokes are heavy steel frames that support both the rails and the cable channel on a cable car trackway. Prior to the 1906 Earthquake and Fires, San Francisco’s transit system was largely made up of cable car lines, which made navigating the steep hills easy. However, the cable cars were slow and costly to operate compared to newer electric streetcars. Following the
A straightforward view on the stark reality of state of affairs surrounding us. A reflection of feeling for the event happening around us with a perspective of common masses being affected and whose feelings do not capture the focus of mainstream media and persons.