A view of Chinatown in San Francisco in 1926.

One hundred years ago, San Francisco was taking shape as the city we recognize today. Sand dunes had become neighborhoods, building towers were rising downtown and cars were taking over city streets. 

San Franciscans rang in 1926 with showers of streamers, filling the sidewalks with ankle-deep confetti. Restaurants were overflowing, and “many a party that started with caviar at an exclusive hotel ended with ham and eggs at the beach,” the San Francisco Chronicle wrote at the time.

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It was an eventful year. In February, a schooner called the Yosemite, which was filled with dynamite, wrecked near Point Reyes. A tugboat attempted to pull the schooner off the rocks, but the Yosemite broke free and drifted toward the Cliff House. The ship was completely destroyed, and its remnants sent thousands of souvenir seekers to San Francisco’s beaches to pick through the wreckage.

A busy day on San Francisco’s Great Highway in 1926 as people look for pieces of the Yosemite, a schooner that wrecked near Point Reyes. 

In the same area, the roadway near Sutro Heights was widened. Amazingly,........

© SFGate