Muni is celebrating too — since July 1, the agency has offered a special $5 day pass for Line C, which runs on California Street between Embarcadero and Van Ness. The day pass will be available for the rest of the year.
On August 2, 1873, San Francisco’s first cable car made its debut. Now, the city is celebrating that day’s 150th anniversary.
Earlier today, San Franciscans commemorated a century and a half of the cable car with a historical reenactment. Transit history enthusiasts can also visit an exhibition at the public library’s main branch, and will soon be able to tour the shop where the cars are built.
Reenactors dressed in 19th century regalia boarded a cable car at Hallidie Plaza on Powell Street and rode it to Aquatic Park, where they celebrated with onlookers. The Market Street Railway, a nonprofit that co-hosted the celebration, encouraged spectators to don historical garb as well.
The library exhibition, which opened last month, features historical photographs from SFMTA’s photo archive and the San Francisco History Center. The photos provide a window into the era when the city had 23 cable car lines — only three of those remain. The exhibition will be up through the end of September.
And for the first time, the carpentry shop in the Dogpatch where artisans build and repair cable cars will open for public tours. The tours, which are already sold out, will run from Friday through early November.
