LAYERS OF LIFE

A layer of fog moves into San Francisco

Where we stand on this earth is unlikely to be the original layer. If you visit Rome, you can find the excavations of a city street that dig down to Roman times and show how the eras have built on top of each other. San Francisco has a similar layering of history with the city gradually being built on top of areas occupied by the early Ohlone settlements, then the missionaries who traveled up the Pacific Coast, then the Gold Rush with abandoned ships broken down and buried under what is now a modern city in the aftermath of the earthquake and fire in 1906. The smaller town of Danville where we lived for many years has its own layers including a quarry containing animal bones and plant life from the Miocene era (9 to 10 million years ago) and the burial sites of the Bay Miwok people who lived in the area for over 5000 years.

Alphabet based on lettering style used in Ancient Rome

When we lived in Paris and walked through various neighborhoods, I noticed small brass signs posted on the walls of buildings. Many sites indicated the residence of a famous writer such as Oscar Wilde, but others made their particular spot a memory of an atrocity from WWII. The plaque indicated where someone was executed by either the Nazis or Vichy police. When I read the plaques, I couldn't help thinking that the building still held an artist or writer's creative mind or felt intense sadness over the results of war. I guess those connections with past history are why people still visit the graves in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris -- a reminder of who came before.

Jack London's birthplace in San Francisco
The plaque is designed with Roman Capitals lettering

In San Francisco, the more I walk the streets, the more I notice brass plaques embedded in the pavement or on buildings' walls. Part of the Barbary Coast Trail runs along King Street near the Caltrain Station. As I walk along the street, I stop to read a line of small plaques with words from Rammaytush, the language of the area's original inhabitants. Each word has an English translation beside it. The language has almost disappeared with just over 100 words still known.

Two Rammaytush words written in Roman Capitals without thick and thin lines

At the intersection of Townsend Street and the Embarcadero are cement posts that explain a brief history of Rincon Hill, where the first wealthy residents from the Gold Rush built mansions, none of which are still there. Rincon Hill never recovered from the 1906 earthquake and fire. At the base, large warehouses and inexpensive housing covered the area. The hill itself almost disappeared when the Bay Bridge was built in the 1930s. Now it is home to a few high-rise condominiums (including ours). Some of the brick warehouses are still in place, converted to office spaces. When I walk in our neighborhood, I find more and more history at my feet and on plaques on buildings that help me remember what came before.

Stunt Roman and Draftsman,
variations of Roman Capitals developed in early 20th Century

Check out information here:

Rammaytush, one of the eight Ohlone languages:

https://artandarchitecture-sf.com/ramaytush.html

Rincon Hill, San Francisco:

https://www.spur.org/publications/urbanist-article/2003-01-01/history-ever-changing-rincon-hill 

Danville first peoples and animals from a quarry:

https://museumsrv.org/remembering-the-valleys-first-people/

https://baynature.org/article/mastadons-in-our-midst/