RON HENGGELER

Storm clouds seen from Bush and Franklin Streets in San Francisco while on the way to work

Detail of an oil painting in an art gallery window on Post Street, at Union Square in San Francisco

The Golden Gate Bridge in my rear view mirror, on Merchant Road in San Francisco’s Presidio

The gold California bear in the Big 4 Restaurant, Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill, San Francisco

Fulton and Masonic, in San Francisco

A December sunset at Lands End in San Francisco

The Big Four Restaurant dining room decorated for Thanksgiving week
Nob Hill in San Francisco

The Big Four Restaurant dining room decorated for Thanksgiving week
Nob Hill in San Francisco

A tourist photographing the Golden Gate Bridge from atop Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands

The towering sugar castle in the Saint Francis Hotel lobby,
At Union Square in San Francisco

The Golden Gate Bridge at dusk seen from atop Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands

Deer on Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge

One of two cable car candle operas that I created for the Big Four Restaurant’s dining room
as part of the holiday decorations

Detail of the Big Four Restaurant’s dining room decorated for December

Detail of the Big Four Restaurant’s bar

Sunset at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

A great face at Maitri, in San Francisco
Maitri. . . Providing services to those severely debilitated by HIV/AIDS who are in need of either hospice care or 24-hour nursing care.

Mural on a wall at Duboce Ave near Church Street in San Francisco

Detail of the 12 ft. tall Christmas tree that I created for the Huntington Hotel lobby

One of the framed pictures hanging on the Christmas tree that stands in the front lobby of the Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco
A mid 19th century cartoon illustrating a 49er California gold miner.
Gold was discovered by James Marshall at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento on Jan 24, 1848.
News of this event spread quickly to the east - for 1848. There was a mad rush to find gold in California in 1849.
The gold prospectors were called '49ers for the year 1849. San Francisco’s population in 1848 was around 200 people.
A year and a half later, at the end of 1849, the city’s population had exploded to over 32, 000.
In the same time period, California saw over 86,000 from from every continent come pouring into the state seeking their fortunes.
San Francisco was born out of the Gold Rush, and from its very beginning we were an international community.

One of the framed pictures hanging on the Christmas tree that stands in the front lobby of the Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco.
It is a photo of Leland Stanford Jr. on his pony Gypsy. The image was taken by Eadweard Muybridge, (considered the Father of Cinema), who in the same time period, shot the panoramic view of San Francisco from the top of the Mark Hopkins mansion in 1878. Not long after the photo of Junior and Gypsy was taken, the 15 year old boy died. Leland Senior and Jane, so devastated by the sudden and unexpected death of their only child, created Leland Stanford Jr. University in their son’s honor and memory. The original Muybridge photo of Jr. and Gypsy is on permanent display in the Cantor Museum on campus at Stanford University.

San Francisco in December’s fading light, seen from atop Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands

Detail of the decorations at Macy’s on Union Square in San Francisco

Nob Hill in San Francisco seen from the Top Of The Mark in the Mark Hopkins Hotel

The Huntington Hotel’s neon sign seen from Union Square in San Francisco

A detail at the Big 4 Restaurant, Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill, San Francisco

A detail at the Big 4 Restaurant, Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill, San Francisco

Detail of the decorations at Macy’s on Union Square in San Francisco

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

One of the framed pictures hanging on the Christmas tree that stands in the front lobby of the Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco
One of the first photos of Gold Rush San Francisco taken in 1849 from Portsmouth Square in today’s Chinatown.
The buildings on the shoreline stand in the area where the Transamerica Pyramid stands today.
At the height of the Gold Rush, over 700 sailing ships lay abandoned in Yerba Buena Cove (today’s Financial District).
Because of the mass hysteria for seeking gold, sailors could not be found for taking the ships back out to sea.
We know of the remains of at least 40 Gold Rush ships still under the buildings in the Financial District.
In 1978 we uncovered the hulk of the famous Boston whaler the Niantic next to the Transamerica Pyramid.
Click here for photos 15, 16, 17, & 18 are of the Niantic http://www.ronhenggeler.com/History/yerba_buena/yerba_buena_index.htm
In 2001 the General Harrison was uncovered at the corner of Clay and Battery. A new 12 story hotel stands over the hulk.
For more on San Francisco in 1849, the original shore line, and the abandoned ships, click here. . .
http://www.ronhenggeler.com/History/yerba_buena/yerba_buena_index.htm

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Rodeo Lagoon in the Marin Headlands, Sunday, December 9, 2012

Peace on Earth, Good Will to All