Charles Phillips: Great Hwy. from 1929 to 1941

When Mayor "Sunny Jim" Rolph dedicated the "huge roadway" in June 1929, the stock market crash was still four months away.

According to the publication "Municipal Employee," a "monster celebration with more than 50,000 people gathered at the end of Lincoln Way. Music from a band of 1,014 musicians filled the air in joyous riot, while thousands of autoists tooted horns to add to the noise of the occasion."

Pre-Depression optimism was very much in evidence, with the oratory studded with superlatives and visionary predictions, including Rolph saw "a city with its street cars in a great underground boulevard under Market Street, a city connected by enormous bridges with Marin County and the East Bay and with vast sheets of traffic arteries belting all the confines of the city and county."

In addition to the mayor, City Engineer M.M. O'Shaughnessy was on hand to describe how the work on both the Highway and esplanade was to be done. Bert Meeks, chief of the state Highway Department, made some remarks and Timothy Reardon, president of the San Francisco Board of Public Works, was in attendance along with Supervisors Andrew Gallagher and Fred Suhr. Another supervisor, Alfred Roncovieri, directed the assembled musicians.

According to the "Municipal Employee," "the beautiful daughter of Gov. C.C. Young" cut the ribbon held by Rita Du Fossee of the Sunset District to officially open the highway. All this under the benevolent eye of John McLaren, the superintendent of Golden Gate Park. Add to this a marathon race, swimming contests at Fleishacker Pool and a parade, complete with motorists, bandsmen and Boy Scouts, and it must have been a great day.

With underpasses at Fulton, Judah, Taraval, and Sloat designed so pedestrians could reach the beach without having to cross the highway, the pavement fronting Golden Gate Park was proclaimed "the widest stretch of pavement for a distance of approximately 3,000 feet anywhere in the United States."

And then there was the Esplanade, "wonderfully constructed of enduring concrete," which, we were assured, would "for all time" keep the beach safe from the destructive effects of the ocean. And what about the innovative Equestrian Ramp? This allowed horsemen to ride down the face of the esplanade to the ocean and provided protection against high tides during storms.

More than $1 million had been spent to build two 50-foot-wide ribbons of roadway running from Lincoln Way to Sloat Boulevard. With John McLaren contributing the ornamental grass plots and shrubs that flanked it and Michael O'Shaughnessy providing "the most up-to-date system of ornamental lightoliers," along with traffic signals for peak days, the Great Highway was off to a roaring start.

In the 12 years following the stock market crash and preceding Pearl Harbor, San Francisco experienced some of its most memorable moments. The Maritime Strike and "Bloody Thursday," with its battles between the police and strikers in July of 1934, is remembered still. A year later, the China Clipper made its maiden flight from San Francisco to Manila. In 1936 and 1937, at least two of Rolph's predictions came to pass - the Bay and Golden Gate bridges were opened were opened for vehicles and trains.

Meanwhile, out on the Great Highway a the Beach Chalet, French expatriate artist and clothing designer Lucien Labaudt was commissioned to design and execute the creation of the murals that decorate its first floor. Unlike much of the "W.P.A. art" from that time, the murals seem to emphasize the leisurely life of middle class San Francisco in various scenes, including picnics, horseback riding, a Bohemian Club outing and children at play with their families.

It was also the time during which Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" was coming of age. An old golf crony and onetime chief engineer of the city and county, Cliff Geertz, was a member of that generation. He loved to tell tales of racing cars on the Great Highway after dancing at the Fairmont, St. Francis or wherever, and stopping at some watering holes along the way. All this was followed by some putting practice at Lincoln Park while waiting for the starter to show up. It must have been something to see. All these "bright young things" togged out in their finest evening clothes; rolling along in their Packards, Cords, Chevys and Fords; ignoring the speed limit, the Depression, and the disturbing news from Europe and Asia.

In the years "before the war" with the Cliff House looming in the background and the Pacific crashing against Ocean Beach, the Great Highway was certainly (if not deeply) involved in one of San Francisco's golden ages.