Lagoon and 1906 Mission
Unfinished History
The old lagoon, near which the original Franciscans built their mission, underlies the heart of today's Mission District, including Clarion Alley. Note the creek running down 18th.
The 4-story Valencia Street Hotel sunk three floors into the underlying marsh. This scene is the morning of April 18, 1906, and the street is awash in water from the broken Spring Valley water mains.
Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
This 1870 oil painting depicts a rather distorted landscape of the Mission District, including the lagoon, which might have been a tidal inlet, but probably wasn't a year-round lake as it appears here. In the foreground is today's Dolores Park, then a Jewish cemetery.
