Page:The city that was; a requiem of old San Francisco (IA citythatwasrequi00irwi).djvu/21

THE CITY THAT WAS of the world, excepting perhaps Naples, could be so viewed at first sight. It rose above the passenger, as he reached dock-age, in a succession of hill terraces. At one side was Telegraph Hill, the end of the peninsula, a height so abrupt that it had a one hundred and fifty foot sheer cliff on its seaward frontage. Further along lay Nob Hill, crowned with the Mark Hopkins mansion, which had the effect of a citadel, and in later years by the great, white Fairmount. Further along was Russian Hill, the highest point. Below was the business district, whose low site caused all the trouble.

Except for the modern buildings, the fruit of the last ten years, the town presented at first sight a disreputable appearance. Most of the buildings were low and of wood. In the middle period of the ’70's, when a great part of San Francisco was building, the newly-rich perpetrated some atrocious architecture. [15]