These coders used 13,000 old photos to make a Google Street View map of San Francisco in the 1800s

Screen Shot 2015 09 17 at 5.36.15 PM
OldSF

If you've ever wondered what it would feel like to travel back in time and walk the streets of San Francisco, this might be the closest you'll get.

Advertisement

Two developers, Dan Vanderkam and Raven Keller, had the brilliant idea to take all the old photographs from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection and put them on an interactive map. This map functions similarly to Google Street View, except for when you zoom in on a particular place it gives you photos from as far back as 1850.

The project, called OldSF, lets you manipulate a slider to change the range of years (it goes from 1850 all the way up to 2000). The pair have geocoded about 13,000 images.

Visit the site here, or look below for some of the best photos we saw from the 1800s, marked with their locations in the city.

Advertisement

Point Lobos Avenue and 43rd, Dick's Saloon, 1890

blah24
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Central Park, 8th and Mission, circa 1887

blah18
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Group of people overlooking the Cliff House from Sutro Heights, 1890

blah23
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Bush Street, west of Kearny, 1877

blah4
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Palm Avenue in Jefferson Square, 1881

blah12
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

View from City Hall, looking South, down 8th at Central Park, 1896

blah19
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Woodward's Gardens, 1864

blah13
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

California Street Looking East From Montgomery, 1865

blah1
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Exterior of the What Cheer House on the south side of Sacramento below Montgomery, 1865

blah2
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Building on northeast corner of Front and California, 1890

blah3
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Baldwin Hotel bar, 1880

blah5
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Steuart Street, 1864

blah6
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

J. C. Flood Mansion, California Street, 1886

blah7
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

St. Luke's Episcopal Church, southeast corner of Sacramento Street and Van Ness, 1895

blah8
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Sacramento and Van Ness, 1887

blah9
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Woodward's Gardens, 1874

blah14
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Miss Lake's School for Young Ladies, corner Sutter and Octavia, 1890

blah11
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Howard Street, looking east from 6th, 1866

blah15
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

1919 California St., 1887

blah10
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Southern Pacific Passenger Depot, 1879

blah16
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Cablecar at South Park, 1865

blah17
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Fire Engine No. 13 at 1458 Valencia, 1884

blah20
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Shotwell Street near 20th. Snowfall, 1887

blah21
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

The Willows, 18th & Valencia, 1864

blah22
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Advertisement

Musicians performing outside the "Haunted Swing" at the Midwinter Fair in Golden Gate Park, 1894

blah25
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

History Google
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.