The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-06
OLD POINT LOBOS ROAD,
Once the Popular and Fash
ionabIe Toll Road Out
of the City.
Buses Carried Passengers, and a
Round Trip Cost One
Dollar.

The sale to-day by auction of 100 lots in
the Richmond District, that belonged to
the San Francisco and Point Lobos Road
Company, will wind up the affairs of a
corporation that was dissolved some time
ago.
The Point Lobos Toll Road Company, OF
which DR.. II. Gates was the head and front,
opened what is now known as the Point
Lobos avenue as toll road early in the
sixties. and at about the same time the
late Junius G. Foster opened the Cliff
House at the terminus of the road. The
new road was operated in opposition to
the Ocean House road, which started from
Seventeenth street, ran over the hills by
the old Ocean House race track and the
Lake House to the ocean beach, for many
years the only route for reaching that por-
ton of the county to view the seals, unless
one was willing to trudge over six miles OF
sand dunes.
The new road became popular and for
many years it was the fashio nable drive
out of the City. No sightseeing was COM
plete unless it included drive over the
Point Lobos road to Captain Foster, the
guardian of tn seals. TO enjoy a drive
over tn is road those who held the ribbons
were forced to pay toll in going from the
City at the toll house, which stood on the
north side of the road almost opposite
what is now known as Masonic avenue,
the thoroughfare that leads to the Masonic
Cemetery. The driver received ticket,
which he dropped at the second gate,
which stood near where the road took a
turn and was down grade to the Cliff.
In 1862 the late John A. McGlynn, who
had had experience in running buses for
the accommodation of the public (for in
those days there were no horSecarS, nor
cable-cars, nor electric-cars), operated a
line of omnibusses over the new road.
They started from the corner of Kearny
and Clay streets and ran out Kearny
street and then westward, passing DIR.
Gates beautiful gardens, fronting on Fill
more street, occupying two blocks from
Post to Suffer and from Suffer to Bush,
until they reached the road at Cemetery
avenue, as Central avenue was then
known, near Geary street. Then the
buses, with their loads of passengers on
pleasure bent, rolled out to the Seal Rocks.
For this ride the sum OF 30 cents was
charged. Now the same distance is
traversed in one-tenth of the time for a
nickel.
In 1864, when the Central line of street
cars established its western terminus at
the avenue its eastern terminus and re-
duced the fair one-half.
About twenty years ago those who OPP
Grated the road having in mind desire to
make it more attractive constructed on the
north side, commencing at the line of
Twenty-third avenue. a straight away half
mile speed track, and over this many of
the best horses that ever ran around a
track including Norfolk and Lodi, were
speeded. About the same time Jim Eoff,
noted horseman, opened near the speed
track the Agricultural Park and race track,
which, however, did not prove successful
venture.
With the increase of population the City
expanded, people moved westward and To-
Gated, new thoroughfares were opened, the
Richmond District began to be known,
horsecars superseded the omnibusses, the
tollgates came down, car line was oper-
ated on the Point Lobos road up to within
short distance of the Seal Rocks; then
came the lines of steam cars that drove the
horses out of business, and finally the
Point Lobos road became an open public
thoroughfare with the name changed to
Point Lobos avenue.
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