Solved! - San Francisco building numbers 1850s

[billnkempsey]

Hi All,

I've found my relative in San Francisco in the 1850s. She was running a boarding house in First Street from 1850 into the late 1860s.

She first appears at the address 'First n Mission' in the SF directory, then at '40 First' and finally at '62 First'. Her name was Anna Mordecai, but she appears variously as Mrs Mordica (in 1850), or Anna Mordacai and so on.

My question is: Did the street numbering change as First street filled in across the 1850s? So that these three addresses might all refer to the same building? (This area is outside all the great fires, but a little fire might also have forced a move.)

It seems clear that there was at least one change between now and then. The location of #40 now is at a place that is clear of buldings on the 1853 Coastal Survey map.

Any ideas?

For the record, she arrived in Oct 1849 on the Alhambra.

Cheers

Bill

[Erato]

Here are a few street maps:

1849 map
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4364s.ct000187/?r=0.66,0.67,0.384,0.158,0

1850 map (lot numbers hard to read)
https://museumoutlets.com/california-antique-maps/1850-san-francisco-antique-california-map#gsc.tab=0

1851 map (numbers hard to read)
https://www.historicpictoric.com/products/historic-map-official-city-san-francisco-1851-vintage

1854 map
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:kh04p696p

1860 map (no numbers)
https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~2290~180032:City-And-County-Of-San-Francisco-?qvq=mgid:11649&mi=11&trs=14

1860 map (numbers impossible to read)
https://www.historicpictoric.com/products/historic-map-beideman-tract-san-francisco-1860-vintage

1869 map (numbers hard to read)
https://shop.old-maps.com/california/city-maps/san-francisco-1869-goddard-old-map-reprint-california-cities/

[billnkempsey]

Thanks for that.

I'd found most of those already, sadly they show block numbers, not the actual house numbers.

The only maps I've seen with individual buildings are the survey maps, and they don't use any numbers.

B

[jorose]

Looking at who her neighbours were in that period and if/when/how they move might also help.

For example if when she moved to "40 First" her neighbour from the previous directory becomes "42 First" you can guess it's a renumbering.

But if she moved to "60 First" and the other person/business stayed at 42, then probably it's a move.

[billnkempsey]

Ooo, sneaky, I should have thought of that. Luckily, the SF directories (the site I found, anyway) allow you do download as text, so I can search easily.

I'm on it.

Ta!

[billnkempsey]

And, done!

From 1860 to 1861,
Anna 'moved' from 40 First to 62 First
Horace Hoag (a sign-painter) moved from 42 First to 64 First, exactly as you predicted.

Between 1860 and 1861, the house numbers on First Street in San Francisco changed.

I would note that prior to the surname Hoag, most who lived on First St and had a number in 1860 had either moved or left SF (or, at least, the directory).
Also, in 1860, most of the address give were of the 'bet This Street and Another Street' rather than having numbers. But the problem is solved.

Many thanks