San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Historic Resource Evaluations

San Francisco’s Municipal Railway (Muni) is America’s first publicly owned and operated street railway system. Founded in 1912, Muni was intended to provide low-cost and reliable transit service to all San Franciscans. When the system first opened, it operated only one streetcar line. A quarter century later, it operated over a dozen streetcar lines and many more bus lines. Early on, Muni built two maintenance facilities – the Presidio and Potrero car barns.

After World War II, falling ridership convinced leaders to cut back on rail service, replacing most streetcar lines with cheaper diesel buses and “trackless” trolley coaches. As part of this, the Presidio and Potrero car barns were converted into trolley coach facilities. At the same time, the agency built several new bus yards for its growing fleet of gasoline and diesel-powered buses.

In 2017, Kittelson & Associates, which had a term contract with the SFMTA, hired VerPlanck Historic Preservation Consulting to prepare historic resource evaluations (HREs) for three Muni-owned facilities, including the former Presidio and Potrero car barns and the Kirkland bus yard near Fisherman’s Wharf. The SFMTA is anticipating redeveloping these three facilities with mixed-use, high-density development and the agency wanted to understand their potential historical significance.