Upcoming Tours and Trips

Explore the history, lore and architecture of California. Walks start from locations accessible by public transit and are repeated several times for your convenience. If you have any questions regarding the tours, please contact Kathy Jacobson at kjacobson@calhist.org or 415-357-1848 x229.

Receive free walkabout passes with select Membership Levels.

Walks start from locations accessible by public transit and are repeated several times for your convenience. Tours occur rain or shine, so dress for the weather. See order form for complete schedule and prices.

Walking Tours July through December 2011

Saturday, July 16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
$95 Member, $115 Non-Member (Price includes transportation from CHS, guide, and admissions, lunch is not included).

On this full day bus tour, we will venture south to Los Gatos, and drive and walk around the town, exploring the commercial and residential areas. Lunch will be on your own in the downtown area. From here, we will drive west via the small village of Monte Sereno, and visit Villa Montalvo, the country estate of San Francisco Senator James Duval Phelan. We will tour the great mansion and the Italian Renaissance gardens of the Montalvo Center for the Arts of Santa Clara County. Resuming our bus tour, we head a few miles further west to the charming village of Saratoga, named for the wooded area of Saratoga in upstate New York. Exploring by bus and on foot, we will find a beautiful Julia Morgan edifice, the childhood home of Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland, as well as the grave of Mary Brown, the second wife of abolitionist John Brown. The day is easy, with no hills or steps to climb.

Harbor View Park Walking Tour (San Francisco)

Friday, August 12 at 10 a.m., Saturday, August 13 at 11 a.m., and Sunday, August 14 at 10 a.m.
$25 Member, $40 Non-Member

This once-prominent area of our city has been lost in the mists of time. Founded in the 1850s on historic Strawberry Island, a shellmound, by Rudolph Herman, as a health spa, complete with hot saltwater baths, restaurant, dance pavilion, 200 individual bath houses, bowling alley, and pleasure gardens, Harbor View Park was once a major destination for San Franciscans. All of this came to an end with the 1906 Earthquake and the subsequent development of the area for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. On this historic walk, we will visit the newly-restored Palace of Fine Arts, Bernard Maybeck’s 1915 masterpiece, and walk along the landfill onto Strawberry Island, interpreting the site of Harbor View Park. Then, passing the St. Francis Yacht Club, we will head along the peninsula to the Wave Organ, a work of art incorporating many old pieces of city curbs and sidewalks, and listen for the sounds of the tidal surge as it bubbles and gurgles. Walk is easy.

Mid-Market Street Walking Tour (San Francisco)

Friday, October 21 at 10 a.m., Saturday, October 22 at 11 a.m., and Sunday, October 23 at 10 a.m.
$25 Member, $40 Non-Member

Every day we read in the newspaper about the woes and future of the down-at-the-heels section of our main street known as Mid-Market. This is one of the most historic and most ignored parts of our City, and there are many continuing efforts to revitalize it, socially and economically. On this walk, we will stroll along for many blocks of Market Street, talking about its long history as the City's main street, and revealing the background of the variety of architecture and land uses which have identified various epics of the street, from the Gold Rush days, through the boom of the 1880s, the changes in public transit, the effects of the Earthquake and Firestorm of 1906, and the area's decline with the rebuilding and expansion of the City and the dispersal of commercial establishments, leaving the Mid-Market area with cheap hotels, bars, theatres and porno arcades. We will see all of these, discuss the future plans and prospects, and conclude our walk with one of the best things which has ever happened to the area, a ride on one of the historic Market Street Railway cars, which will return us to our point of commencement. For this, you will need to bring your Clipper card, or 75 cents for seniors, or $2 for adults. Walk is easy and public transit is strongly suggested, as parking can be difficult.

Healdsburg and Cloverdale Bus Trip

Saturday, November 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
$95 Member, $115 Non-Member (Price includes transportation from CHS, guide, and admissions, lunch is not included).

Two of the most historic small cities of our Bay Area are in northern Sonoma County. Both founded in 1857 near the Russian River but for very different reasons, Healdsburg and Cloverdale are our destination on this one-day bustrip. We will commence our day in Healdsburg, one of the few California places laid out around a very pleasant plaza, we drive about the city, and then walk the plaza area and one of the residential areas. Healdsburg is one of the highest quality living environments in our state, and still retains its historic Carnegie Library. We will break for lunch at one of the many cafes and restaurants around the plaza. Following this, we will drive a short distance north to find Cloverdale, a much smaller place, with some very fine architecture. Our route home to San Francisco will be on backroads through the famed Alexander Valley wine region, which should be very beautiful with the Fall vintage foliage. Tour is easy, with very flat venues.

Palo Alto Tour and Tea

Thursday, December 15, Friday, December 16, Saturday, December 17, and Sunday, December 18 at 11:30a.m – 2:30p.m. each day.
$75 Member, $95 Non-Member

Palo Alto was founded by Timothy Hopkins as "University Park" in 1890 to serve as the village for the professors and students of the new Leland Stanford Jr. University. Taking a grain field across the railroad tracks from the new 8,000-acre campus, Hopkins laid out the village naming the streets for Western literary lights such as Emerson and Kipling. The village became the very first in California to have its own water, gas and telephone utilities, and the first little theatre company in the US. Over the years, a number of famous people have been Palo Altans, including William Hewlett and David Packard, Joan Baez and Lee DeForest. Known as the "Tree City of the US," Palo Alto passed the nation's first non-smoking ordinance for public places in 1975. On this walk we will see the very special and compact downtown core of Palo Alto, with many wonderful styles of architecture. Ramona Street is the most architecturally-harmonious street in the Bay Area, and will take you back to the 1920's era with a "street of Spain". And, at the conclusion of our walkabout on Ramona Street, we will have full English afternoon tea at the Tea Time, to help celebrate our Holiday Season. Walk is easy and the venue flat.

About our walking tour guide

Gary L. Holloway worked as a city planner for Novato and enjoyed a 23-year career as a Coastal Planner. Gary began his work as a tour guide with the City Guides program in San Francisco. In 1981 Gary joined the California Academy of Sciences, where he created over 100 new and innovative history and architecture walks and outings throughout San Francisco, the Bay Area, and the West. Gary became affiliated with the California Historical Society in June 1997. Since then he has developed California history walking tours and outings for members and the public throughout Northern and Central California.


Walking Tour General Information

Many walks sell out. Be sure to specify a first (1) and second (2) choice for each walk you select on the attached order form. No children under 8 and no pets, please. Walks last two hours, unless indicated otherwise. Walks start from locations accessible by public transit. Walks occur rain or shine, so dress for the weather. There are no refunds, however we will do our best to accommodate changes in reservations. Meeting place information will be mailed with your order confirmation.

For additional questions regarding walking tours or to make reservations, please call (415) 357-1848, ext. 229 or email kjacobson@calhist.org