February 21, 2007
History is rife with bizarre confrontations and grand feuds, but in San Francisco none were more bizarre than the showdown between Charles Crocker (bellicose railroad robber baron) and Nicholas Yung (unassuming German undertaker).
Call it “a tale of two egos”. It was over a very small piece of land, but this property was located on center stage of 1870’s San Francisco — the very top of Nob Hill.
This podcast pulls several threads from the San Francisco tapestry — the Big Four, the Transcontinental Railroad, rabble rouser Denis Kearney and photographer Eadweard Muybridge — and weaves them together into a 25 year saga of pigheadedness that could only be resolved by the destruction of the entire city.
For further edification:
» 1902 SF Chronicle “Spite Fence” article — SFGenealogy.com
» The Big Four — Central Pacific Railroad Museum
» “Kearneyism” — Virtual Museum of San Francisco
» Grace Cathedral — official site
- #32: Letter from the Gold Rush, 1850
- #56: Lotta Crabtree — the San Francisco Favourite
- #39: The Great Diamond Hoax
- #46: San Francisco Fortune Cookie
- #42: Alexander Leidesdorff — The Black Millionaire
musical support:
Thanks to 2012 for “Fire your Blanks”, Devin Anderson for “Violin Concerto”, and Gringo Motel for “Muertos”. This week’s music courtesy of PodSafeAudio.com.
24 responses to “#58: The Crocker Spite Fence”
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trackbacks & pingbacks:
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trackback from Adventures in Urban Living
March 2, 2007 at 9:23 pmSparkletack is Back!…
It seems like the reason podcasts existed to begin with, a series of stories about San Francisco’s history that aren’t restricted to……
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Pingback from Laughing Squid » Sparkletack Returns
March 7, 2007 at 2:04 pm[…] Sparkletack, the wonderful podcast about all things San Francisco, has returned after a long hiatus, with a new website and a new podcast about Charles Crocker. Here’s more about Sparkeltack. tags: San Francisco (T) , Sparkletack (T) , Charles Crocker (T) […]
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trackback from flashpoint
March 16, 2007 at 6:21 pmSparkletack is Back!…
My favorite podcast , Sparkletack – the San Francisco history podcast, as told by a distant relative of Mark Twain, is back after a longish hiatus. If you, like me, have a long commute and are looking for something……
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Pingback from Sparkletack is Back! — everwas
August 12, 2007 at 11:47 am[…] latest episode, The Crocker Spite Fence, is about the 40-foot tall fence built by the railroad baron Charles Crocker around the one fellow […]
February 23, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Sparkletack is Back! Sparkletack is Back!
We’ve missed you. So glad to see that you’re back.
iTunes is having a problem with your URL, so this latest episode (as of 2/23) cannot be downloaded and an “!” is appearing beside the Sparkletack Podcast name once you’ve subscribed.
Looking forward to a steady stream of new stories.
By the way, the site update looks great.
February 24, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Thanks, and it’s great to be back!
I know about the iTunes problem, and it’s driving me nuts. (Any genius WordPress/FeedBurner/iTunes people feel like volunteering some assistance?)
RSS feed fixed, as of 2.25.07… *whew*!
February 24, 2007 at 6:34 pm
A pleasant surprise for a gloomy day, welcome back. Can’t wait to hear it, I hope some genius helps us iTunes subscribers soon.
February 26, 2007 at 8:34 am
Oh – HE is back. How cool is that! I will listen to this episode right after work. Looking forward to it.
Take care!
February 27, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Welcome back!! I hope you like Sacramento and I look forward to my iPod filling with great stories.
March 2, 2007 at 9:35 am
Hooray! I’m so glad you’re back, I had almost given up hope. I look forward to your well-told stories, to listen on my iPod during my walk to work. (In San Francisco, of course.) Now that you’re living closer to the Sierras, would you consider doing an episode on early Yosemite history?
March 3, 2007 at 12:01 am
I’m so happy that you’re back and just before my favorite time of the year, Spring. I remember my first time in San Francisco which was last year in the last week of March, and it was just beautiful. After that, maintainning my passion and love for SF has always been with your unique and articulate podcasts.
Keep up the great work!
March 3, 2007 at 3:44 am
Yeeeeeessssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o)
I just spent two weeks in San Francisco and without Sparkletack that wouldn’t have happened… Thank you Richard!
March 3, 2007 at 8:50 am
Happy to report that iTunes download feed is working as of Saturday morning (3/3).
Can’t wait to hear the tale.
March 3, 2007 at 11:18 pm
WOW!!! I am *SO HAPPY* That you are back!!!! when I heard that you were at the podcast expo this year I got excited and crossed my fingers, you have made me so happy! Congrats & WELCOME. WELCOME, WELCOME BACK!
March 3, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Richard,
Having you back is like having the return of the Beatles.
You are a masterful story teller and I can’t wait to hear what will spill out of your repertoire.
Michael Roberts
Vancouver, WA
March 4, 2007 at 10:55 am
Welcome back Richard! We missed you! Looking forward to hearing more stories of the City.
March 4, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Welcome Back!!! Ah, how absence makes the heart grow fonder. Didn’t quite realize how much I missed your brilliant story-telling though, until I couldn’t stop smiling while listening to the newest episode!
March 5, 2007 at 9:24 am
Welcome back! I’ve been rationing all the old episodes I had, now I don’t have to. Hooray!
March 6, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Welcome back, I got excited when I saw that little update icon start spinning in iTunes. Thank you.
March 7, 2007 at 11:27 am
Welcome back! I’m enjoying these comments, too. “Return of the Beatles.” Nice!
March 14, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Yay!! Welcome back Richard! I just heard this episode and it’s fascinating as usual. San Francisco is such an awesome city, with its historical dramas and novelties; it makes you look differently at a certain neighborhood when you know its past. Who ever knew there used to be a “spite fence” up on Nob Hill?
Looking forward to future stories.
March 28, 2007 at 9:41 am
Hello folks. I thought you’d be interested in seeing that “spite-fence-esque” history is repeating itself right now in Chongqing City, China! Check it out: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2237937.html
Special thanks to the Flavorpill network for syndicating this story.
Also – great work on this episode Richard! You did an amazing job with the music this time around. I really liked the way you used the multiple tunes to compliment the moods of the story!
March 30, 2007 at 5:05 am
Welcome home! You’ve been missed. Just finished listening to this episode and as usual, you did a wonderful job. =)
Looking forward to future episodes. Take your time if necessary but no more disappearing like that! ;-)
By the way. My family has a spite fence of their own to deal with. My great aunt somehow got into it with the neighbor across the lane (they live in the country) so they built a tall, ugly, black as tar, solid fence running the length of their property and blocking her view of the pretty rolling hills and stone fences across the way. That was 10 years ago! *shakes head* Get over it people!
March 30, 2007 at 11:34 am
So wrong! It’s everywhere…
I ran across another interesting example of “spite fencery” right over on Russian Hill –- this taken from the Russian Hill Neigbors website: