1937-38 San Francisco Aerials!!

[Alex Miller]

Any info/aerials that give a better idea of Lake Merced CC's old routing? 8/17, the par 3 you mention leading to what appears to be the old location of the clubhouse looks like an amazing hole.

[Sean_Tully]

Sean -
Some years ago I found 1943 aerials of SFGC, Olympic, and others but nothing from 1938. Most of the Dept of Ag. aerial survey photos were taken between 1937 and 1940 and unfortunately not all of them arrived at NARA. Some key areas - SF, northern NJ, NYC suburbs - are not available and I've assumed if they still existed they either were in private hands or in county or state archives. However, the detail on these is far better than anything I've seen at NARA.

Sean -

Who was Ryker Harrison? Did he take these for commercial purposes?



The following is from the David Rumsey website with data that is included along with the aerials. Pretty interesting story for sure. It looks like he did other aerials and I will be looking for them. As mentioned above I have a 1928 aerial that I need to track down and play around with to get a better idea of the changes that took place between the 1928 aerial and the 1938 one. From my research the courses had a number of changes to them and there is a need for a lot of study.

The aerials are owned by the San Francisco Public Library.


Composite image of a set of 164 spectacular, large format, sharp, black and white vertical aerial photographs partially overlapping images covering San Francisco north of a line approximately between Merced Lake and Candlestick Point. Resolution generally better than one foot and much higher with high contrast features, for example the paint striping on a basketball court. Relative heights frequently discernible based on shadow cast of objects and structures. Handwritten date on index map indicates photographs taken in August, 1938. Owned by the San Francisco Public Library.



(Authorship almost certainly incorrectly spelled in handwriting on index sheet as Harrison-Rikker). He married Charlotte Seward in the mid-1920s; after divorcing, he married Esther Miriam Munson in 1936 Aerial Photographer Harrison Clay (Chesley) Ryker (1898-1981) was born in Oakdale, CA. . He served in the U.S. Army for several years in Germany with the post-World War I occupational forces, and partook of educational opportunities at the University of California, Berkeley.

Expanding on his hobby in photography, Mr. Ryker teamed with various pilots beginning aerial photography services out of the Oakland Airport and throughout the West. Colleagues included Lage Wernstedt of the U.S. Forest Service. He also worked with the Fairchild Aerial Camera Company (including an aerial survey of Puerto Rico) and Clyde Sunderland of Pacific Aerial Surveys. As well, he took photographs of the devastating 1923 Berkeley Fire, archived in The Bancroft Library.

By 1938 Mr. Ryker was listed in business as a map publisher (see Polk’s Oakland 1938 Street and Avenue Guide) based at 1924 Franklin St., Oakland. At that time, he had at least one patent pending for a stereoscope used for aerial photograph interpretation. (Note continued in Pub Note field below).


Reference:
View Map in Google … or View Index in Goog…
County:
San Francisco County (Calif.)
City:
San Francisco (Calif.)
Full Title:
(Composite image of) Views 1-164 San Francisco Aerial Views. 1937-1938.
List No:
5852.167
Series No:
0
Publication Author:
Ryker, Harrison
Pub Date:
1938
Pub Title:
San Francisco Aerial Views. 1937-1938.
Pub Note:
(Continued from Note field above). Shortly after 1938 Ryker established his company address as Harrison C. Ryker, Inc., at 1000 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, California (relocating to east Oakland in the 1950s). He subsequently manufactured pocket and desktop stereoscopes and a vertical Sketchmaster, instruments that were extensively used by educational institutions and the military, especially during World War II. His experience in aerial photography led to further involvement in photo interpretation and cartography. An article in the journal The Timberman (1933) describes means of distinguishing individual species of forest trees on aerial photos; later applications were terrain analysis for petroleum geology and unmasking of ground camouflage during wartime.

His largest product was the Wernstedt Mahan map plotter, patented in 1954, which was a standard cartographic device for its time. His instruments are in use today in libraries, air photo collections, and earth sciences departments throughout America; they are in the instrument collections of the Archives of the History of American Psychology, and the Institute of Geographical Exploration at Harvard University has the Ryker M-11 Reflecting Stereoscope. Among his patents were the (1) the adjustable pocket stereoscope filed with the United States Patent Office: Patented December 1940. Patent No. 2,225,602, and the (2) the stereoscope filed with the United States Patent Office: Filed September 1, 1937, Serial No. 161,973; Patented January 21, 1941, Patent No. 2,229,309.

Harrison Ryker pioneered research in aerial photo interpretation. His work has been noted by A. Everett Wieslander, an early (1930s – 1950s) leader in the mapping of California vegetation and soils, in his Oral History produced by The Bancroft Library, and in a letter by Robert Colwell, Forestry Professor at the University of California, Berkeley


Tully

[David_Tepper]

Sean Tully -

To go off topic a bit, there was a very interesting episode regarding the use of aerial photography in WWII military intelligence on the PBS NOVA series a couple of weeks ago. You can replay it at the PBS website. Well worth watching.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spies-3d.html

DT

[Bradley Anderson]

Bradley A. -

When you say the 8th green on the Lake Course "was not changed," to what time frame are you referring? The hole was completely changed 3-4 years ago. The green was moved 10-20 yards and the tee box was moved 100 yards or more.

Prior to that, I believe the location of the green was unchanged since before WWII, although the shape & contours of the green and the bunkering around the green had likely been changed one or more times.

If you ever get to San Francisco, I would be happy to show you the aerial photos of the course in the clubhouse.

DT

David,

The position and bunkering of the 8th green in the sepia photos are very close to what we see in the 1938 aerial photo. If the photos were taken prior to the remodeling work of 1922-1925 then that would indicate that at least some of Reid’s original work was left intact - until the most recent remodeling that is.

I am interested in Wilfrid Reid’s design style and collecting photos of his work.

[David Stamm]

Sean, once again you come up with the goods. You are the man! Love the aerials and thanks for sharing!

[David_Tepper]

Bradley A. -

I was out at the Olympic Club today. Based on what on saw on the drawings, maps & aerial photos in the clubhouse, this is what I can tell you:

1) The original course on that site was established as the Lakeside GC, was designed by Wilfred Reid and was built in 1917.

2) The Lakeside Club fell into financial difficulties within a year or two after it opened and the property was acquired by the Olympic Club in 1918.

3) The Olympic Club acquired a good deal more property around the border of the original Lakeside property.

4) In 1924, Willie Watson & Sam Whiting designed the Lake & Ocean Courses pretty much from scratch on the enlarged property. To my eye, it appears that none of the holes designed by Wilfred Reid were incorporated into the design/routing of the Lake Course.   

5) While the Ocean Course has been changed many times over the years, it appears the routing of the Lake Course is pretty much in tact since 1924, aside from the new 8th hole just a couple of years ago.

DT

[Bradley Anderson]

David,

Thank you very much for the info.

What threw me off was Reid listed the Olympia Country Club in San Francisco California as one of his own designs on the personal stationary that he would have been using around 1925-1930. Apparently Reid was claiming attribution for the first golf course on that site.