Dupont Street was named for Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, who commanded the flagship Congress and afterwards the sloop-of-war Cyane. This street was the original "Calle de la Fundacion" of William A. Richardson and ran from about the line of California Street north-northwest. It was later swung into line with the other streets by Jasper O' Farrell. The street acquired an unsavory reputation by becoming the residence of an undesirable class of citizens. These disreputable residents were removed and following the earthquake and fire of 1906, the name of the street was changed to Grant Avenue.
The Oldest Street in San Francisco

In 1861, a new city ordinance called for the numbering of San Francisco's streets. Read the story.

According to the San Francisco Municipal Reports of 1871-72, there was a fire hydrant at the sw corner of Greenwich and Dupont.

Saving Telegraph Hill 1890-1918 - "George and Harry Gray dug at the east face of Telegraph Hill for about 20 years, mostly with the blessing of City Hall. They persevered through bankruptcies, barrages of rocks from irate Irish and Italian hill dwellers who sometimes saw their small homes tumbling down the cliffside after a quarry explosion."

Read the Article

December 27, 1900 | The San Francisco Call from San Francisco, California · Page 12 | Grocery Entered by Burglars | J. G. Druhe. grocer, 439 Greenwich Street, reported to the police yesterday that his store had been entered Tuesday night by burglars. They broke open the cash drawer and stole $10 besides taking away a lot of tobacco and other articles.

From the report of (Fire) Chief McCluskey, District No. 1: DUPONT & GREENWICH STREETS: 32,000 gallons; April 20th, The fire was then sweeping over Telegraph Hill rendering it impossible to reach the only unused cistern at Dupont and Greenwich Sts. Read more about the cisterns used and unused during the quake and fire of 1906.

San Francisco City Hall and the Hall of Records were destroyed. The documents proving the marriage of Vittorio and Luisa, the births of Bill and Jack, and land purchase records were lost.

Refugees Leaving the City

"Long ago, at the northeast corner of Grant and Gerke was a restaurant and a rooming house. The house at the end of the alley, No. 6, was built in 1884 and later became the property of Frank Bacigalupi. (Bacigalupi is the maiden name of Luisa Traverso, the mother of the three Traverso brothers.) When the house next door was for sale, Bacigalupi withdrew $2,000 in gold coin from his savings on April 17, 1906, to buy the building the next day. Of course the sale was not consummated; instead Bacigalupi joined the other refugees trudging out to the presidio. Guarding his suitcase full of gold, he was able to act quickly after the fire had been subdued. Instead of buying the property next door, he used his money to purchase 18-inch redwood boards which the army had bought to help rebuild the ravaged city. Brushing aside the still-warm embers and using the old foundations, Bacigalupi built two houses on his lot within a week. These structures, one fronting on Greenwich and the other at 6 Gerke Alley, were among the first post-fire buildings on Telegraph Hill. San Francisco's Telegraph Hill by David F. Myrick, page 127.

North Beach: Little Italy "After the 1906 earthquake and fire, Germans, Russians, Eastern Europeans moved out permanently while Italian migration into the neighborhood continued. The Italian influence on North Beach peaked between the two World Wars when over 60,000 of its residents claimed Italian ancestry and five Italian language newspapers circulated the neighborhood. By the 1920s, North Beach was predominantly Italian and known as "Little Italy."

Telegraph Hill Historic District "Telegraph Hill is one of the most famous hills in the world, as well-known as Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro, and a visual landmark to sailors entering the Bay since its European discovery by Capt. Juan Manuel de Ayala in the San Carlos on August 5, 1775."

NO. 1010 ORIGINAL SITE OF THE THIRD BAPTIST CHURCH (FORMERLY THE FIRST COLORED BAPTIST CHURCH) - In August 1852, Abraham Brown, Thomas Bundy, Thomas Davenport, Willie Denton, Harry Fields, George Lewis, Fielding Spotts, and Eliza and William Davis organized the church in the Davis home. The congregation purchased the old First Baptist Church and moved it to this location in 1854. The church is now located at 1399 McAllister Street.
Location of plaque: Corner Grant Avenue and Greenwich Street, San Francisco (1654 Dupont Street)

According to David F. Myrick (San Francisco's Telegraph Hill, Page 197, 1972), "Mike's Grocery is at the corner of Grant, and in the same building during the 1930s was a lodging house, more grandly listed in the directory as the Telegraph Hill Hotel, with the entrance at 485 Greenwich Street."

Current business: The Telegraph Hill Gallery