Harrison Street

Maybe named after President Harris but considered more likely to commemorate Henry A. Harrison, who was a member of the Ayuntamiento, or Town Council, in 1849-50, and a member of the pioneer mercantile firm of DeWitt & Harrison.

The city directory of 1850 lists:

Harrison, Henry A., of Dewitt & Harrison, com. merchant, San b P and Bdway .

The second street is most probably Broadway, but what's San b p? I'm guessing Sansome, since between the current Broadway tunnel and what was then the shoreline that's the only street name at all close. Also the advertisement mentioned here from the "Alta California" in 1849 lists photographic equipment for sale at the store on Sansome street.

The store is also mentioned as being in operation in 1848 in a nearly deserted city. More mention of Dewitt here than Harrison however, but the scene of a town developing into a city is quite compelling. In 1899 Dewitt's obituary ran in the New York times and listed Harrison as a "business friend".

In this transcript of an oral history interview Harrison is mentioned only is passing as having "died or something" after the store was founded and a Mr. Kittle took over as partner. This link to a New York historical society newsletter lists the store address more exactly at 187 Sansome street which would put it at Pine street. That sounds more like where the city was at that time, I wonder if the numbering system changed along the way? And sure enough, in 1861 the numbers were redone starting everything at Market street and heading north and south from there. Now again, looking at other addresses in the guide, I think the store address can be decoded as Sansome, between Broadway and Pine.

Harrison street is another of those SOMA routes that takes a big bend southward after crossing Tenth street and peters out in Bernal heights. Not much in the way of restaurants or entertainment listed on Harrison, but I can recommend the (relatively) cheap and convenient parking lots between Bryant and Harrison at Second street, under the freeway. Noisy but dry enough to provide a bedroom for the two to four vagrants that I walk by every morning.