The morning call., 1891-02-12
OLD LANDMARKS.
Disappearing Before the. March
Of improvement.
only Few of Them Left-Reminiscence of
Early Days-Buildings That Have
Been Long Forgotten.

Inc latest of the old city landmarks to go
uoWn before the march of improvement is
'ne frame building on the southeast corner
ol hearny and Merchant streets. Erected
III 1901. alter the last of the great fires which
swept Tie rising town, it formed a connect
ing INK, I'LL few days ago, between the
present and fast-fadng generation.
here originally stood the old Empire
House In which Sandy Marshall kept his
famous restaurant and supplied the gour-
nlets OF the early sos with their game
dinners, teal duck being his leading
specially. Alongside of him was the dry
goods hrm of Davega & La Bait and over
neau Vhe famous gambling resort in which,
Oh inc night of the big fire in 1851, Pollock
was shot and killed.
oouth oil the structure was the Exchange
building, IN which the grand ball was given
~ honGr oil the admission of California into
I,e mon, aud due north were the Union
HoIei ana Parker House, now the site of the
oio City Hall. In the beginning, Merchant
street mad no existence. but after the first
oi@ IRE mad reduced everything in the neigh
poihood INTO ashes, it was pushed through
Ill oruer to make the center Of the block
a'"Haole Tor business purposes.
AN EXPENSIVE BREAKFAST.
About this time couple of actresses
known to the public as the Gougenheim sis
terS put up brick building in the rear of
Inc old Shanty which is now being removed.
1his was afterward continued through to
Gay street, and is now known as Court
BLOCK. Only the Merchant-street end of it,
however, belonged to the sisters, who, in
ADDITION to their own funds, were assisted
10 It's completion by loan of $50 900 from
II. Elliott fay
Inc ground floor Of this structure was
opened upon its completion as swell res
taurant, and was patrOnized by the arts
tocracy OF the times. Ii. NJ. Lewis, the
pioneer JeWeler, in mentioning the circum-
stance yesterday beamed over with smiles
as ne recalled the cost OF a particular visit
70 lhe establishment when he had the late
colonel James, brilliant lawyer, and the
Two oellgman Brothers. now the many
times milllonaires, to breakfast. Eggs were
me chief constituents of the meal, and the
Dill was 500, or S25 a cover. But in con-
sldering the bill ut this day it must be re-
memOered that eggs were special luxury
Whlch only the rich could afford at the time,
and That the monthly rent paid by the res
laurant was $1,000. Its glories have long
since faded away, and in its place is now a
struggling fve-cent beer saloon.
TIE LANDMARKS.
Worn out by repeated disaster, the owner
OF the ground on which the old Empire
building stood put up rude one-story
upon what remained of the lot after Mer
chant street was opened 1t is this very
building which is now being torn down,
alter 1Orty years service in which 1t had
never seen one idle day. Quite a fortune
has been received from it in rentals and vast
fortunes were also made within its walls by
the business men who occupied it.
There are but five other buildings OF its
class on kearny street to remind old Cali
fornIans now of bygone days Three Of
these are in the adjoining block, between
Clay and Commercial streets, fourth
stands at the northwest corner of California
and hedrny, and the fifth on the southeast
corner OF ,kearny ana Bush streets. The
latter at one time marked the southern
boundary of Kearny street, in conjunction
with Sandy Market" which was located
dIagonally opposite, about where the Maison
Doree now stands. An abrupt sand-hill
rose between these twO.pointS. A trail led
around the market, and, running in cir
cuttOus route, brought up at what is now
Mission and Third streets, where the plank
road " to the Mission had its beginning.
THE FOUNTAIN HEAD"
Tie three adjoining buildings at CONNER
| clal street present almost the same appear
ance to-day that they did thirty-siX years
| ago The "Old Corner" stood there till
very recently. Adjoining it was coffee :
stand that never closed Its doors from the
| day il first opened until it disappeared for
4 -
| fury. Then came the well-known New
| York Bakery. of which the same remark
| held good till recent years In its early
| days this was the famous Fountain Head"
| restaurant OF NJ. J.. Vim, who likewise
conducted a branch esta blishment of the
same business at Washington and Mont
| gomery streets. These were the most cele-
brated eating-hOuses OF the day, and were
! patronized by both ladies and gentlemen.
| An idea of the amount of business done In
| these may be arrived from learning that Mr..
| WInn employed in them 100 persons, at an
average monthly salary of 500 and board
| his meat. groceries, vegetables, etc, aver
| aged SO, 900 monthly; his rents amounted
| to S54, 900 per annum, aud his yearly bill for
retitting, altering and repairing average d
| about $4,000. The average daily receipts
| were $1,000
| THE CITY HOTEL.
To these might be added the building now
| occupied as drugstore by John Degiue, on
the southeast corner of Clay and kearny
| streets, which, though changed considerably
| in appearance since first built by an addi-
| tional story and other alterations, is sub
| Stantially, in its lower part, the same which
| was put up after the blaze of June, 1851.
| UrOn its site originally stood the City Hotel,
| which weathered the first three cOnfagra-
tons taat swept the neighborhood, only to
| snccumb to the fourth. 1t was the first
| hotel erected in the city, or rather in the
| village of Yerba Buena, and dated from 1916.
| During the early years of the gold excite
| of the settlement where fortunes were
nightly won aud lost on the turn of single
| card.