If you’re like me* you’ve seen the occasional flyer tacked up in the neighborhood for Velcrow, but haven’t taken the time to look them up. Well, good news, everyone, Velcrow is having a holiday sale! It’s the perfect excuse for me to look them up for all of us*! So, here is their flyer and address, with everything linked for your* convenience.

Velcrow Studios

900 TENNESSEE ST #21
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107

A Victorian steampunk loft in Dogpatch at Tennessee and 20th

Featuring over 20 artists from the Bay Area

THURSDAY NIGHT OPENING Dec 8th 6-9pm

SAT & SUN 12-5PM

Kim Smith‘s “Words of Wisdom”
Framed collages printed on Archival paper, 5×5″

Our annual Holiday show has a record number of artists participating this year. Join us for opening night for a chance to meet the artists and share in a glass of wine. We will have Jewelry, small objects, paintings, sculpture and artists’ books, something for everyone on your list. Shopping has never been so fun. In Dogpatch, we offer different shopping experience, inside an artist’s live work loft. Where you can buy original work as gifts, directly from the artist and in a welcoming underground Industrial loft setting. We are open all weekend, if you can’t make the opening. Get your shopping done here!

Participating artists

Painting/Prints

• April Hankins
• Eric Joyner
• Jenny Robinson
• Kim Smith
• Leila Noorani
• Zannah Noe
• Sirima Sataman
• Zue Acker

Sculpture/Objects

• Yong Han
• Alex MacLeitch
• Paula Clark
• Indu Krishnan

Jewelry/Textiles

• Jen Lake
• Indu Krishnan
• Petra Benach
• Cassia Appell
• Sirima Sataman
• Min Hwan Park

Books

• Kim Smith
• Eric Joyner

* Okay, chances are that you are me. I’ve seen the stats for this site.

When I was trying to get the final word on when my apartment building was constructed, I found that prior to 1891, I couldn’t find any house numbers on Tennessee, and nearby buildings were addressed in relation to Sierra and Nevada.

From 1886 Langley’s San Francisco directory:
Swan John, groceries and liquors, SW cor Tennessee and Sierra

That’s the “Swan Building,” now (briefly) home to Lemon Twist.

Sierra, though? Nevada?

After hours of bleary-eyed paging through scans of city directories and maps from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, I came up with the following list of mappings:

Alameda Street still exists.
El Dorado Street is now 15th Street.
Center Street is now 16th Street
Santa Clara Street is now 17th Street.
Mariposa Street still exists.
Solano Street is now 18th Street.
Butte Street is now 19th Street.
Napa Street is now 20th Street.
Shasta Street is kind of a mystery — some maps show it, some don’t. It lines up with 21st, which doesn’t exist in the Dogpatch.
Sierra Street is now 22nd Street [edit: except for one block between Texas and Missouri — thanks, Glenn!]
Humboldt Street still exists.
Nevada Street is now 23rd Street.
Sonoma Street is now 24th Street.
Yolo Street is now 25th Street.
Yuba Street is now 26th Street.
Colusa Street is now Army Street / Cesar Chavez
Marin Street still exists.
Tulare Street still exists.

Langley maps from 1861, 1873, and 1890 show the old names, but Sanborn Fire maps from 1905 show numeric street names. Boo!

Interestingly, in 1909, many San Francisco streets got changed from numbers to various other things. Burrito Justice has that story.

In any case, I think that in 1886, a “Catherine Sullivan” was living in my building or a building next door. Since a “Thomas Sullivan” built this set of three, that implies that my apartment is from 1886 or 1887.

From Langley Directory again:
Sullivan Catherine, widow, r. W s Tennessee, bet. Sierra and Nevada