Corporate People

It may have been the rails of the Pacific Street cable car which spurred the opening of Pacific Heights west of Van Ness in late 1800's, or simply the on going westward expansion to accommodate San Francisco's continuing growth after the Gold Rush. Since then, our neighborhood has been distinguished by a colorful and often famous cast of characters. We have also seen an intriguing architectural evolution as the elegance of corner Victorian mansions and homes yielded to the tasteful apartments and coops of the early 1900's and finally the high rise residences of today.

This note comments on a few of those colorful and famous characters as well as portrays them and the homes, in which they lived and played. It is meant to accompany the images of http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rpjhand@pacbell.net/slideshow?.dir=/c53d&.src=ph. These images are mostly grouped by families and provide a view of old homes, people, new homes and panoramas over past century in area bounded by Pacific, Gough, Laguna and Sacramento. Related image groupings of Lafayette Park are at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rpjhand@pacbell.net/slideshow?.dir=/3db6&.src=ph and of Broadway Pacific are at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rpjhand@pacbell.net/slideshow?.dir=/1798&.src=ph. Similar material for Van Ness - Franklin and other neighborhoods may be assembled later.

William Philip "Phil" Gramm (born July 8, 1942, in Fort Benning, Georgia, USA) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a Democratic Congressman (1978-1983), a Republican Congressman (1983-1985) and a Republican Senator from Texas (1985-2002).