The Cliff House’s Tightrope Walker

Long before Sea Cliff became a residential neighborhood, San Franciscans would flock to the stunning views and rugged beauty of the area overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Its name derives from its location, which sits on the northwestern edge of the Richmond District and borders the Pacific Ocean.

Among the many attractions bringing City residents and tourists to the western beaches was The Cliff House. There have been five major incarnations since Samuel Brannan, a prosperous ex-Mormon elder from Maine, who bought salvaged lumber from a shipwreck beneath those same cliffs in 1858, built the first one.

All of which sets the stage for the daring antics performed at the Cliff House in September 1865. That’s when circus performer James Cooke said he would walk a tightrope between the Cliff House and Seal Rock. Local newspapers from the Daily Alta California to the Sacramento Daily Union carried stories about the event.

“About 5,000 persons were present at the Cliff House today to witness Mr. James Cooke, a circus performer, attempt the feat of walking a tight rope from the Cliff House to Seal Rocks. On September 26, 1865 at 12:15 precisely Cooke stepped upon the rope at the Cliff House and started out upon his perilous journey, the crowd standing in awe-struck silence. The crowd covered the Cliff House, balcony and roof and the whole beach below.

Cooke could not swim and had not practiced tight rope walking before the dare devil performance. The newspaper reported Cooke progressed finely until within 100 feet of the rock when a [wire] guy, which had been poorly secured gave way. The strong breeze, which had sprung up caused the rope to sway violently from side to side and caused Cooke to lose his footing and slip. He dropped astride the rope. He drew himself by his hands along the rope to the rock where the pole was handed him by the boatman who had retrieved it from the ocean. Cooke made his way back despite the rope swaying and safely reached the Cliff House where the crowd erupted into “one tremendous hurrah burst.”

A later in 1866, Congress passed the Outside Lands Act, officially adding the western half of the peninsula to the City of San Francisco and spurring the creation of Golden Gate Park. The park brought more weekend visitors to the area, as well as transportation lines, but full-time settlement on the sand and shrubs remote from downtown was slow throughout the 1870s.

Cable and electric streetcar lines were built in 1883 to deliver passengers to the park and beach, and would also end up serving Adolph Sutro’s third incarnation of the Cliff House in 1896 and the Sutro Baths built the same year. Those baths included six of the largest indoor swimming pools, a museum, skating rink and other pleasure grounds.

Cooke’s performance along with other attractions helped lure San Franciscans nearly seven miles to the Cliff House and surrounding areas in those early years.

For 25 years following the 1906 earthquake, the Sea Cliff neighborhood and the surrounding Richmond area experienced its most rapid growth. That’s when large institutions, including hospitals and orphanages, moved into the area, lured by the relatively inexpensive land.

As for Sea Cliff’s first residence, it was built in 1908, just two years after the 1906 earthquake brought the City to its knees. Thousands of San Franciscans were displaced from downtown and relocated to a refugee camp along today’s Park Presidio Boulevard. All of which brought many new settlers to the sparsely developed area.

The Sea Cliff neighborhood became one of eight master-planned “residence parks” in San Francisco. Its plan was developed by noted landscape architect Mark Daniels. It’s noted for its alluring architectural styles that varies from Mediterranean to Spanish colonial revival to French chateau to Georgian manor.

Among Sea Cliff’s notable architectural gems are 9, 25 and 45 Scenic Way built in 1914 by Willis Polk, The Hanson House at 126 27th Avenue by John Charles Flugger built in 1907, 50 Scenic Way by Julia Morgan, built in 1921 and 60 McLaren and 455 Sea Cliff by Albert L. Farr.