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The camera
Adolph Sutro was a millionaire. During the 1880s and 90s, he used a bit of his fortune to gobble up property in the Headlands region west of San Francisco. The real estate was prime, to say the least. Facing the Pacific Ocean and exposed to violent downpours and gorgeous sunsets alike, the one-time mayor of San Francisco developed the land as a pleasure ground for its citizenry. From the year-round Playland carnival on the beach to the world-famous Sutro Baths and Museum tucked away in a cozy inlet facing the waters of the Golden Gate, the edge of the continent was an attractive alternative to the hustle and bustle of the city. The baths complex was opened in 1896 and, along with the luxurious Cliff House, saw a seventy year run as the prime recreational escape in Northern California. Today, Sutro's fortune is long gone and so is the wonderland he constructed a century ago. The galleries below compose a document of the processes of ruin underway at the Sutro Baths.
