A Peninsula relic of 1915 Expo

The idea also was to publicize to the world the fact that San Francisco had recovered from the devastation of the 1906 earthquake and fire. The exposition had been originally proposed in 1904, but now this secondary purpose became paramount for San Francisco businessmen. To provide enough space for it, tidal marshland was filled in at the present day Marina District and grand temporary exposition buildings were constructed. It was an especially fitting location, considering that the filling of the land began with the disposal of bricks and rubble during the post 1906 reconstruction. PPIE was literally built to cover over the destruction of the earthquake and its aftermath.

After the fair, most of the exposition buildings were razed. Many had been built of materials suitable only for temporary use in anticipation of this. Bernard Maybeck's Palace of Fine Arts building was admired by so many that it was retained. Over the years, the original construction of plaster and burlap deteriorated, but the building was so loved that it was partially rebuilt of more permanent stuff in the 1960s. There is currently another effort to further restore that historic place. The filled land of the Marina has become prime residential and recreational real estate.

Among the many exhibits, a Japanese display had been built on six acres. It included a garden and a sizable teahouse among other buildings. After the exposition, a man named E. D. Swift purchased the Japanese teahouse, put it on a barge and floated it down the bay to Belmont.

It was a sturdy construction, built of wood. Swift turned it into a private home for his two daughters. In 1921, the building was again moved. This time horses and mules hauled it up into the Belmont hills overlooking the Bay.

By 1933, the building is rumored to have been turned into a "speakeasy" called "Elsie's" place. There, Elsie Smock was said to have served bootleg whiskey only to her closest friends. These dear acquaintances also supposedly entertained themselves with slot machines and other games of chance on the first floor. The private entertainment provided in rooms on the third floor was never talked about much. When prohibition was repealed, Elsie's became a legal saloon. The activities on the first and third floors, according to some reports, continued unchanged.

Elsie died in 1945 and the saloon then became a proper Italian restaurant. Partners Gene Soule and Ivan Sawyer took over in 1947. They combined their first names and called the place "Gevan's." After 10 years the partnership dissolved, and the sole owner Sawyer, changed the name to "The Van's"

The Van's restaurant is still open for legitimate business in Belmont and boasts a magnificent view, thanks to the efforts of those horses and mules of 1921. The vestiges of the Teahouse architecture are still evident in exterior touches like the upturned eaves of the roof.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 750 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.<