CIRCA 1877

Charles Braddock Gifford, artist; G. T. Brown & Co., lithographer, printer, and publisher; San Francisco. Looking South from North Point, copyright 1877. Lithograph on paper in black, with blue, green, and orange; color image 1913/16 x 307/16 in.; overall print 2313/16 x 3315/16 in. Reproduced by Anchor Brewing Co. from the original, courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

“The business part of the city, with its massive and monotonous blocks, here and there relieved by a tower or steeple rising far above the somber roofs—spreads out from the base of [Telegraph] hill far to the south, and to the water front on the east. Where now stand the principal business houses, a quarter of a century ago the waters of the bay were sparkling in the sunlight, and huge ships rode at anchor.” –B. E. Lloyd, Lights and Shades in San Francisco, A. L. Bancroft & Co., 1876.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania–born Grafton Tyler Brown (1841–1918) arrived in San Francisco two years before the outbreak of the Civil War. By 1866, the skilled African-American lithographer had his own business, printing everything from maps to stock certificates to bird’s-eye views. This lithograph was printed at 540 Clay Street, where the Transamerica Pyramid stands today.

More about Grafton Tyler Brown

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