Door Knocker / S.F. Cobblestone Walkway Project Update

[talesofthesevenseas]

I thought you guys would like to see how the front door / front walkway project is coming along. It's got a long way to go yet, but it's getting there slowly.

Here's the final result on the Victorian door knocker, after three cleanings with stripping agent to get the paint off. I decided to use an old bronze Chinese coin as the strike plate for the knocker. Gotta stick with the historic theme, ya know?





Here's the basic layout of the cobblestones (these are the ones that are the old cobblestones from San Francisco) and the door is taped off ready for sanding, priming and deep red paint.


Today I started digging out the trench needed for the cobblestones. I had to go down about eight inches, through lots of rocks n' roots. And the only artifact I've found so far was a pull tab darn it!! Once the trench is done, it will be lined with sand, the cobblestones set it even with the ground level and aligned, then gravel filled in between.

[D&b antiques]

That's looking good. the only thing, that scares me.is the sweat equity involved.

[KC]

Remind me where you got the stones from?  I know it was from a fascinating place.

The door knocker is looking exceptional.  I'm keeping an eye out for one now!

[regularjoe2]

Nice work with the stones .

Glad to see you're not just sittin' @ the 'puter eatin' Doritos !

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks guys!

The cobblestones were originally brought over as ship's ballast on the gold rush ships that came to San Francisco. They were then recycled into cobblestones in the streets and were in use from about 1850 until 1910 when they were paved over. Many of the ships that came over during the gold rush were abandoned in the harbor by their crews and left to rot or were burned to the waterline and scuttled, with the ballast going to the bottom of the bay.

I've got a combination of ballast that was dredged up from the bottom of the bay (these are the ones that have barnacles) and cobblestones that came from construction sites. (these ones show wear and grime on them).

The whole history of the gold rush ships is fascinating. There are some still under the streets in San Francisco because the abandoned ships started being used as warehouses, jails and saloons, the wharfs became part of the city and were filled in with landfill.

Here's a good article on the ships:
http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/hgshp1.htm

The article at the link above has a great map showing the known present-day locations of the ships. The dashed line is where the old waterline used to be. Now this is solid ground. Every now and then they uncover another one. That's always really exciting to me.

[KC]

Thanks for the information....fun and fascinating!  Need to record it somewhere for your homes history!

Did you ever see the program "If walls Could Talk" about all the items that people find in homes they purchase?  Great show!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Never saw that show, but I wish I had!

I like that article too, it's well worth the extra clicks! There is one business built over the site of a ship that has been in operation since San Francisco's Barbaray Coast days. The Old Ship Saloon:
http://www.oldshipsaloon.com/History.html

I do plan to record that info and if I don't take the cobblestones with me to the old folks home or wherever I end up next, I would definitely pass it along to the new owners. I'm not cementing them in, so they could potentially be recycled yet again into another walkway. LOL they'll open up my closet in the old folks home after I'm gone expecting to find treasure and they'll find nothing but a pile of rocks!!!

I really like them and it's fun thinking about them sailing around the horn and all the carriages and people who walked over them in SF!

[mellylou]

I'm a Bay Area native transplanted to Los Angeles, but my family history on the Italian side reaches back to the 1880's in San Francisco. Whenever I get more interesting tid-bits about this fair city (i.e.-the fact that the city is built upon cemeteries, etc.), it's like rediscovering a new aspect of my roots. Thank you for sharing, I really miss the Bay Area!

[ayashe]

Those stones are gonna look awesome Tales!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks gang, I'll post some additional photos as the project progresses. Its kind of slow going, just a step at a time.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Here's the latest update on the door knocker, San Francisco cobblestones walkway project. The door is red! The knocker is up and boy is it LOUD!! Woohoo! (The cobblestones are still just sittin' in the ditch, that will be done ASAP)

[ironlord1963]

Nice job and well done, thanks for the adventure of the knocker.

[KC]

NICE!!!!!!!!!

[wendy177]

Oh how beautiful I love the red with the natural metal of the knocker!!! What a wonderful project. And the cobblestones are priceless. I have some old  carved church corner stones from a beautiful old church  here in town (Massachusetts)that my father worked on when he was alive (it has since been torn down) We plan to put them in a wild flower garden near a koi pond. Not nearly as intricate as your knocker but some wonderful old history with the corner stones. My parents married in the church and my father removed the steeples,repaired them & put them back up when I was very young.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Wendy, how cool that you have the cornerstones!!! That will be so neat to have them in the garden. I bet they stay in your family gardens for generations! My family is originally from Medford MA by the way, and lived there from the Rev War up until my grandmother moved to CA to marry my grandfather. The family was in Boston prior to the Revolution. Hmm... makes me think I should look into trying to find some kind of reclaimed building material from Medford! That would be cool.