The Alameda

The Alameda. . … "married officers of the post are quartered in the row of trim brown cottages on the brow of the eastern slope, and fronting along the road leading up from the main entrance [of Presidio Boulevard]. These pretty houses are surrounded by grounds in exquisite keeping. … The fences are aflame with geraniums of the most vivid colors." , Alta California, August 16, 1885, This short street was the formal entrance to the Presidio in the Victorian era and was known as the Alameda, a Spanish word meaning a tree-shaded avenue. It was planted with trees and decorated with cannonball curbs. The Alameda led to a bandstand on the east edge of the 1862 parade ground, where San Franciscans came for concerts and parades. In 1940, Building 39, the large building to the west, was built on the old parade ground. It became Army offices when the United States entered World War II., Captions , Top: Looking west toward the Alameda through the Presidio entrance gate at the head of Presidio Boulevard in 1868. The round building in the center behind the picket fence was the bandstand. The Graham Street barracks are visible in the distance. Eadweard Muybridge, Park Archives , Bottom row, left to right: , . View of the Main Post during a mock battle to celebrate the nation's centennial on July 3, 1876. Curving Presidio Boulevard is at the far left leading to the Alameda and the flagstaff. Officers' row is in the middle distance with the barracks behind them. Park Archives , . A bugler and two officers' children on tricycles at the Alameda in 1883-84. The bandstand is to the left. Old cannon balls were used as decorative curbs. Park Archives , . Beyond the bandstand was a walk sheltered by a windbreak that bisected the parade ground seen here about 1881. Park Archives , . The four large Eastlake Style quarters were built in 1885. The Greek Revival building to their south was built in 1889 and later served as the Army's guest house. To the north of the four large houses is a Greek Revival house from 1889 and an unusual 1893 house with a Mansard roof. Presidio Trust