See Finding WWI Military Service Despite National Archives Fire.
At that time, I received my first batch of original photographs of Sam Kirk (great-grandpa) during his service at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.
One of the photos depicted Sam with an officer with a very distinctive building in the background. I soon learned it was the Palace of Fine Arts, which was built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition - a world's fair that was held in San Francisco.
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| Samuel Kirk, pictured at right, with unknown serviceman in front of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. |
Fast-forward a couple years and I find myself in San Francisco for work. Making swift use of my limited time, I hoofed it to the Fine Arts building. Although there is now a busy highway where I speculate Sam stood for this photo, I was able to give it my best shot and recreate the scene 100 years later.
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| The author in San Francisco, retracing his great-grandfather Sam Kirk's footsteps. |
The Palace of Fine Arts is a beautiful building in a very lovely neighborhood. Across the highway I could see buildings from the Presidio - presumably where Sam was stationed during his military service.
Curious what the Palace looks like?
Et voilà!
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| Palace of Fine Arts, photo by author. |
