See San Francisco's sandy Sunset District 100 years ago

. . Photo: OpenHistorySF Photo: OpenHistorySF Image 1 of / 72 Caption Close See San Francisco's sandy Sunset District 100 years ago 1 / 72 Back to Gallery

The Sunset District lies south of Golden Gate Park and west of Stanyan Street in San Francisco. Before the creation of Golden Gate Park and the naming of the area, it was part of a vast western stretch of the city (including the Richmond District) called Outside Lands.

In the early 1900s, the Sunset was mostly windswept sand dunes and considered inaccessible by most people. But, even though it did not receive major development until the 1920s and 30s, people still went out to this part of town, mostly to spend time at Ocean Beach.

Beginning in the 1880s, beachgoers would take the Park and Ocean Railroad past the dunes and out to the coast. And in the 1890s, there were artists living out near the western edge of the city in an area known as Carville, a cluster of decrepit streetcars transformed into bohemian residences, once described as "the most idiosyncratic, bohemian and unique neighborhood in the city's history."

Before major development in the 1920s transformed the Sunset into "Doelger City," big projects to settle the area like the Great Highway and major sewer pipelines were already underway, and pockets of the Inner Sunset were also developing.

In the above gallery, take a look at the Sunset of a century ago before the development that tamed this once uninhabitable land. Thanks to OpenHistorySF for the use of photos.