Named after Dr. John Townsend, pioneer physician. There's a couple of plaques in the sidewalk at the east end of the street where it intersects the Embarcadero. One mentions the Doctor as being in the first wagon train to travel over the Sierra Nevada mountains and they arrived with 52 persons after leaving Council Bluffs, Iowa with only 50, two were born along the way. (same route was made famous two years later by the ill fated Donner party).
One of the plaques references a Gold Rush era sign that was discovered at that spot reading something like: "There will be cholera here". In 1848 Townsend was appointed Alcalde (mayor) with the task of civilizing a town described with "
bloody street fights were of a daily occurrence". Townsend only served a few months before running off to the gold fields with most of the rest of the city. Upon his return he resumed doctoring until he and his wife both died in 1850 from cholera while treating victims in San Jose. His grave marker in San Jose is pictured above.
The street is lined with historic brick warehouse buildings and reproductions too. For example, 178 Townsend, just about across the street from my office is a notable example of reusing/
preserving one of the local historic brick buildings. It seems pretty far to go to build an entire new building inside the brick shell just to keep the facade. But keep in mind this is the city that spent $34 million to rebuild a draw
bridge to look exactly as before while strengthening it to carry streetcars. This included a fiberglass fake counterweight produced with help from those masters of fakery, the Disney company. Two blocks south of Townsend on Fourth street.
More recently, Townsend street is filled with sorrow. A couple weeks ago my company's payroll manager, which everyone loved, including me, was crushed to death by a concrete pumping truck turning left and catching her in the crosswalk. One of the trucks that was working on the 178 Townsend project. It's certainly a shock and I avoid that intersection or at least that crosswalk. The dear
old lady was a widow living with her daughter just a couple blocks away on Brannon street. At 8:45 am she was crossing Second Street at Townsend on the way to work where she had never missed a day in how many years and the truck turned and she was gone. Not immediately since the fire department headquarters is on that corner so she did get immediate attention. But a 71 year old women versus a concrete pumping truck? No contest. Makes me shudder.
Since I brought up the fire department
headquarters, it's at the corner of Second Street, on the right of the photo (which is looking west) and Townsend, on the left. The building was
authorized for construction by the city supervisors in 1907 after the earthquake as a pumping plant to supply bay water for fire fighting in the next disaster. There was another plant built on the north side of the city that completed the system. There are steel roller shutters that can slide down over the windows to protect the machinery, or at least they once could. Now it's the offices of the fire department.
The fatal crosswalk runs from right to left in the shot the same way Lourdes would have been walking. Rest in peace, Lourdes.
