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| Landmark #650 | San Francisco County | Visited: February 23, 2013 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque in an alley! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: This is the site of the famous What Cheer House, a unique hotel opened in 1852 by R. B. Woodward and destroyed by the fire of 1906. The What Cheer House catered to men only, permitted no liquor on the premises, and housed San Francisco’s first free library and first museum.
OTHER TIDBITS: Robert Woodward’s hotel was so popular among sailors that they started bringing him gifts and trinkets from all over the world, making him into a de facto collector. As his collection grew, more people wanted to see his exotic plants, animals, and works of art, so he opened up the massive park, Woodward’s Gardens! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: SW corner of Sacramento and Leidesdorff Sts San Francisco, CA 94111 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~382mi (615km) — 6.4hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |
Just curious. Have any of the lists or records of the boarders or residents who lived in the What Cheer House in the mid 1860’s survive? I have a great grand uncle who listed his address in 1860 as the What Cheer House.
Hi Lynnette! Great question! Thanks for asking. While I don’t have a guest list for the What Cheer House, you might try the San Francisco Historical Society or the California Historical Society. Let me know what you find!
The Internet Archive has pdfs of Langley City Directories going back that far–should be easy to confirm the address if you search by name.
Lynette, here is a list of boarders at the What Cheer House from 1860 census
L Gamber 32
F Amelia 25
Jos Bugbee 56
G W Buns 37
W B Fairman 26
P B Quinlan 47
Edwd A Lambent 49
M H Blum 27
W Hopkins 38
R H McKay 32
Thos Cutler 33
J B McQuillan 28
J N Thomas 27
E H Wilson 30
H M Beach 30