Explore the history, lore and architecture of California with “everybody’s favorite guide.’’ Walks start from locations accessible by public transit and are repeated several times for your convenience. If you have any questions regarding the tours, please contact Kathy Jacobson at kjacobson@calhist.org or 415-357-1848 x229.

Receive free walkabout passes with select Membership Levels.

Walks start from locations accessible by public transit and are repeated several times for your convenience. Gary walks rain or shine, so dress for the weather. See order form for complete schedule and prices.

HAPPY VALLEY (San Francisco)
Friday, Aug. 6th at 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 7th at 11 a.m. and Sunday, Aug. 8th at 10 a.m.
$25 Member, $40 Non-Member

History tells that the residents of this area were so happy living there that they named their neighborhood Happy Valley. It is south of Market Street and stretched towards Rincon Hill, one of the city’s Seven Hills. Composed of 20,000 Irish living in Victorian homes and apartments, interspersed with heavy industry such as carriage makers and a steel mill, this entire area was destroyed in the great firestorm which followed the 1906 earthquake including the original landmark Palace Hotel. When it was rebuilt, the neighborhood had completely changed, from residential to mixed commercial and offices, and the parish which had attended St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church had dissolved. On this walk, we will find the original street pattern, curbing and fire plugs from early San Francisco, and walk among what were tremendous sand dunes that impeded the original development. We’ll course through the Palace Hotel, by the California Historical Society, the Yerba Buena Center, and St. Patrick’s. We will find new office buildings and public plazas replete with great artwork, all part of the renaissance of SOMA, the South of Market Area. Walk is easy, but parking is not. Public transit highly suggested.

BENICIA AND MARTINEZ (Bus trip)
Saturday, August 21st, from 9a.m. to 5 p.m.
$95 Member, $115 Non-Member (Price includes transportation from CHS, guide and admissions, lunch is not included)

Our first CHS Tale of Two Cities bus trip will be two cities which frame the Carquinez Strait. In the morning we will drive around and walkabout Benicia, laid out by City Surveyor Jasper O’Farrell to be the metropolis of the West, due to its strategic location between the Great Valley and the Bay Area. Our third of four American-period capitals, Benicia is full of great architecture and many stories of early California. We will have our lunch here. Then we will cross to the south side of the Strait to visit Martinez by bus and by walking. Here we will find a very healthy downtown area, complimented by the Contra Costa County Courthouses and a thriving stream habitat, complete with beavers! And we’ll find the birthplace of Joe Dimaggio, and the longtime home of John Muir. Walk is easy.

SAN MATEO COUNTY COASTSIDE (Bus trip)
Saturday, September 18th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
$95 Member, $115 Non-Member (Price includes transportation from CHS, guide, and admissions, lunch is not included)

This beautiful and historic area is our destination for the day. Starting at CHS, we drive south along the California coast, amidst artichoke and brussels sprouts fields to Pigeon Point, one of our famous lighthouses. The lighthouse has experienced some structural damage, so we are not be able to enter it, but we will hear of its history and naming. Then we’ll drive north to the coastal village of Pescadero (Spanish for “fisherman”). Following a break for lunch, we will head north to the city of Half Moon Bay, originally called Spanishtown, and do a walk about the city as well as visit the James Johnston House. If time permits we will visit the fabulous Ritz Carlton Hotel, atop the coastal cliffs just southwest of Half Moon Bay, and return via Devil’s Slide. Walk is easy.

PALO ALTO AND STANFORD UNIVERSITY (Bus trip)
Saturday, October 2nd, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
$95 Member, $115 Non-Member (Price includes transportation from CHS, guide, and admissions, lunch is not included)

The city of Palo Alto was established in the early 1890s by Timothy Hopkins to serve the newly opened Leland Stanford Junior University. The university was located on 8,000 acres of the Stanford family’s horse breeding farm called Palo Alto, Spanish for tall tree. On this bus trip, we will explore this wonderful place, known as the “tree city” of California, walking downtown and visiting Professorville, where all of the original University department heads lived, as well as a stop at the Hewlett Packard garage. Lunch will be on your own in downtown Palo Alto. After lunch we will drive around the magnificent campus of Stanford, laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted. We’ll also stroll about the quadrangle and Memorial Chapel, and ascend the Hoover Tower to gain unsurpassed vistas of the red tiled roofed campus and the southern peninsula area.

SOUTH PARK AND RINCON HILL (San Francisco)
Friday, Oct. 15th at 10 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 16th at 11 a.m. and Sunday, Oct. 17th at 10 a.m.
$25 Member, $40 Non-Member

The South Park area was developed on Rincon (Spanish for “corner”) Point in the 1850’s, and attracted residents with its balmy climate and Bay views. Many grand estates were located here, until 1906, when the development was destroyed and the wealthy residents moved to Nob and other hills for the views. On this walk we’ll find South Park, the only public park in the area, as well as the birthplace of Jack London. And we’ll be in the heart of a burgeoning digital arts district, where many video games are produced by talented artisans. Subsequent landfill disguised the original Rincon Point, and construction of the Bay Bridge in the 1930’s pretty well finished off was left of Rincon Hill. However we’ll explore the new neighborhood which was developed just north of AT&T Park, and get a good feel for the myriad of changes which have occurred in the SOMA area. Walk and parking are easy.

PARNASSUS HEIGHTS TOUR AND TEA (San Francisco) Walkabout
Thursday, Dec. 9th, Friday, Dec. 10th, Saturday, Dec. 11th, and Sunday Dec. 12th from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day (Walk begins at 11:30 a.m. each day, followed by tea service at 1:30 p.m.)
$75 Member, $95 Non-Member

Named for the 8,000-ft-high peak in southern Greece, sacred Apollo and the Muses, this is the home of University of California’s first school of Medicine, Dentistry, and Psychiatry, and the second campus of the university. Employing thousands of people in the medical arts, this campus on the slopes of Mt. Sutro is a landmark of the City. On this walk, which will end with our holiday tea, we’ll head up the slope to the Heights via a swift lift, and walkabout the public areas of the campus, seeing a great statue of Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine. Following this, we’ll thread our way downhill through the Inner Sunset neighborhood to find our sumptuous Holiday Tea awaiting us at one of our favorite places, the Secret Garden Tea House, located on Lincoln Way, between 8th and 9th Avenues. Our Holiday repast will consist of various black and herbal teas, plus fresh baked scones, savories, festive sandwiches and Christmas cider or egg nog! Walk is easy.

A Classic Walk on the Waterfront with Carl Nolte
Sunday, Nov. 14 at 11:00 am
CHS members $35, Nonmembers $50
Space is limited – Reservations required.
Please call (415) 357-1848, ext. 229

Join us for one of the most scenic and historic waterfront walks anywhere: from San Francisco's 112 year old Ferry Building south along the Embarcadero to AT&T Park, the most beautiful baseball park in the country. On the way, walkers will see fireboats, monuments, classy restaurants, waterfront dives, and more pieces of history than you can shake a walking stick at. The southern waterfront once was the biggest whaling port in the country, once was the place where thousands of Chinese and other Asian immigrants landed to start a new life in America. The walk begins at the reborn Ferry Building and ends at McCovey cove, a place of baseball legends.
Carl Nolte is a veteran newspaper reporter, and has been with the San Francisco Chronicle for 49 years. His column, Native Son, is featured every Sunday in the Chronicle. Nolte is a 4th generation San Franciscan, and a graduate of the University of San Francisco. He has received many awards for his colorful stories about California and San Francisco history; he recently received the San Franciscan of the Year award from the San Francisco