Threats to local institutions underscored the need to develop new strategies for protecting places with intangible cultural significance. “Legacy Bars and Restaurants,” Heritage’s a groundbreaking initiative from 2013 that invited users to experience the history of some of San Francisco’s most legendary eateries, watering holes, dives and haunts, was the first step in documenting the city’s vast commercial heritage and promoting businesses that did not necessarily qualify for formal historic designation. This program directly inspired the creation of the city’s now existing Legacy Business Registry program, administered by the Office of Small Business.

Recently, Heritage engaged filmmaker and native San Franciscan Joey Yee to create a special video segment on legacy businesses for our 2021 Soirée. Joey’s now popular videos “cut through the fog” to cover his favorite San Francisco things – big trees, bridges, city landmark show-downs, you name it. Here, Joey visits some of the city’s most beloved legacy spots — from Buena Vista Cafe to Green Apple Books and Beep’s Burgers — and shares Heritage’s history of advocating and protecting these special places.

Legacy businesses, like all small businesses in the city, have suffered greatly from the pandemic. While we continue to advocate and lobby for prioritization of aid and relief to these institutions holding the city’s intangible heritage, we encourage everyone to patronize them as the city recovers.

Designating Landmarks and Landmark Districts in San Francisco are an effective and proactive way of safeguarding important places from demolition, destruction, and displacement. On April 18, 2003, then Mayor Willie Brown signed an ordinance designating the Dogpatch Historic District, San Francisco’s 11th landmark district. It was the first city designation of a district since the Civic Center district in 1994, and extended Article 10 protections to 104 historic resources within an approximately nine block area bounded by Mariposa Street to the north, Minnesota Street to the west, Tubbs Street to the south and 3rd Street to the east (Article 10 of the Planning Code is the basic law governing historic preservation in the City and County of San Francisco.).

Map of the Dogpatch Historic District. A historic district is a collection of resources (buildings, structures, sites or objects) that are historically, architecturally and/or culturally significant. As an ensemble, resources in an historic district are worthy of protection because of what they collectively tell us about the past.

Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on the Land Use and Transportation Committee (Dean Preston, top left; Aaron Peskin, bottom left; Myrna Melgar, bottom middle) with Supervisor Connie Chan (top right) and Gordon Mar (bottom right).

We are pleased that yesterday, the Board of Supervisor’s Land Use and Transportation Committee unanimously voted to initiate landmark designation for Lincoln Park, formerly known as City Cemetery. We thank Supervisor Connie Chan for sponsoring this initiation, the San Francisco Planning Department staff, local researchers, and organizations such as APIAHiP, Angel Island Immigration Station, Western Neighborhoods Project, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Chinatown Community Development Center, and the dozens of individuals who wrote and called in (in English and Chinese) to voice their support for this designation.

Contrary to concerns expressed by some who use the Lincoln Park Golf Course, landmark designation should not affect the maintenance or golfing in any way.

Outside of the two remaining physical structures in the park, the Kong Chow funerary monument and Ladies’ Seaman’s Friend Society monument, nothing commemorates the estimated 20,000 individuals still buried beneath Lincoln Park. Landmarking is the first step in recognizing City Cemetery, where diverse communities of immigrants who built San Francisco still lie.

The Kong Chow funerary monument in Lincoln Park. Photo by John Martini.

In public comments, Mary Ann Ahtye, great-great-granddaughter of Yee Ah Tye, talked about the land her ancestor originally purchased for burials in the Chinese community: “This land is sacred, hallowed ground, as no one knows how many Chinese and other members of ethnic communities are buried here.” Robert Wong, from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association echoed this sentiment: “[Lincoln Park] is Chinese American heritage here in America…this was the beginning of Chinese Americans.”

The most significant piece of Lincoln Park are the thousands of bodies still remaining underground.

In closing out the agenda item, Supervisor Connie Chan reinforced the importance of commemorating the significant history of Lincoln Park and City Cemetery: “We need to know where we’ve been to know where we’re going.”

On the heels of this positive recommendation from Land Use, the Board of Supervisors will vote today (July 27) on initiating landmark designation. The Planning Department will have 180 days after Mayor London Breed approves initiation to prepare the landmark nomination for review by the Historic Preservation Commission. Heritage has offered to assist Planning with research and writing of the nomination as it moves along the process.

Exterior of Ingleside Presbyterian Church.
The Great Cloud of Witnesses inside Ingleside Presbyterian Church.

San Francisco Heritage is celebrating its 50th anniversary all through 2021. Each week we will share a short chapter of our history.

Desiree Aranda

For our #Heritage50 lookbacks, we are connecting with former staff and asking them to share their thoughts on favorite projects during their time at Heritage. This week, we hear from Desiree Aranda (formerly Desiree Smith), Heritage’s Preservation Project Manager from 2011-2016 and current Co-Chair of Latinos in Heritage Conservation (LHC).

Through the Landmark Fund, in 2016 Heritage designated the Ingleside United Presbyterian Church (1345 Ocean Avenue) and its spectacular interior collage, The Great Cloud of Witnesses, as San Francisco city landmarks. Reverend Roland Gordon started work on the sprawling mural collage in 1980 when he tacked an image of Muhammad Ali to the gymnasium wall in an effort to inspire African American youth, who made up much of his congregation. The collage has expanded over time into most rooms and hallways of the church, incorporating images of African American leaders, heroes, and artists that Rev. Gordon collected and/or donated by visitors and community members. The result is an unparalleled visual documentation of over three decades of African American history.

Desiree shared her experience working with Heritage on the landmarking effort:

I have such fond memories working on the landmark designation of Ingleside Presbyterian Church and its interior mural collage, Great Cloud of Witnesses by Reverend Roland Gordon. I still remember the first time I walked into the church’s gymnasium and looked up at the massive, awe-inspiring mural collage created of newspaper clippings and other ephemera that honor the experiences and contributions of African Americans from around the world. I still have never seen anything like it and I think it is a real treasure in the city that hopefully more people will learn about now that it is a city landmark.

Reverend Roland Gordon stands beside the Great Cloud of Witnesses.

Today, Desiree continues her efforts focusing on preservation advocacy in culturally diverse and underrepresented communities. In 2014, she co-founded Latinos in Heritage Conservation (LHC), a leading organization for the preservation of Latina/o places, stories, and cultural heritage in the United States. In Summer 2021 LHC will launch the Abuelas Project, a multi-year preservation initiative to collect, curate, and amplify stories about places that matter to Latinx communities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Keep up to date on LHC’s work by subscribing to La Herencia, their quarterly e-newsletter: https://www.latinoheritage.us/newsletter