News for San Francisco's Richmond and Sunset Districts
Friday, December 19th, 2025
Recent Posts
ADVERTISERS:
Call 415-706-6428 for information about advertising online and in the printed versions of the Richmond Review and the Sunset Beacon newspapers. Or email us at Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com.
Above: The Chutes, on Fulton Street between 10th and 11th avenues. According to Greg Gaar at FoundSF.org, the Richmond District in 1902-1907 was home to the Chutes, the “largest pleasure resort in America.” First introduced in London as a big toy for the wealthy and called the “Toboggan Slide,” Chutes franchises appeared all over Europe in the late 19th century. The thrill of riding a boat down giant water slide and careening into a lake at “a mile a minute” quickly became a big splash in America. Coney Island was the site of the country’s premier Chutes. On Nov. 2, 1895, San Francisco’s first Chutes opened on Haight Street at Cole Street. Finding the grounds too small to accommodate the large crowds, “new Chutes” opened on Fulton at 10th Avenue in 1902. The admission charge was a dime for adults and a nickel for children. It later moved to Fillmore Street bounded by Webster, Eddy and Turk streets. Photo courtesy of a private collector/Western Neighborhoods Project/OpenSFHistory. Below: Today, houses and apartments fill the block that was once an amusement park. Photo by Michael Durand.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 