The San Francisco Cliff House has had five major incarnations since its beginnings in 1858. That year, Samuel Brannan, a prosperous ex-Mormon elder from Maine, bought for $1,500 the lumber salvaged from a ship that foundered on the basalt cliffs below. With this material he built the first Cliff House. The second Cliff house was built for Captain Junius G. Foster, but it was a long trek from the city and hosted mostly horseback riders, small game hunters or picnickers on day outings. With the opening of the Point Lobos toll road a year later, the Cliff House became successful with the Carriage trade for Sunday travel. The builders of the toll road constructed a two mile speedway beside it where well-to-do San Franciscans raced their horses along the way. On weekends, there was little room at the Cliff House hitching racks for tethering the horses for the thousands of rigs. Soon, omnibus railways and streetcar lines made it to near Lone Mountain where passengers transferred to stagecoach lines to the beach. The growth of Golden Gate Park attracted beach travelers in search of meals and a look at the Sea Lions sunning themselves on Seal Rock, just off the cliffs to visit the area. In 1877, the toll road, now Geary Boulevard, was purchased by the City for around $25,000. In 1883, after a few years of downturn, the Cliff House was bought by Adolph Sutro who had solved the problems of ventilating and draining the mines of the Comstock Lode and become a multimillionaire. After a few years of quiet management by J.M. Wilkens, the Cliff House was severely damaged by an explosion of the schooner, Parallel, that went aground under the reasons of dynamite. The blast was heard a hundred miles away and demolished the entire north wing of the tavern. The building was repaired, but was later completely destroyed on Christmas night 1894 due to a defective flue.[1] Wilkens was unable to save the guest register, which included the signatures of three Presidents and dozens of illustrious world-famous visitors. In 1896, Adolph Sutro built a new Cliff House, a seven story Victorian Chateau, called by some "the Gingerbread Palace", below his estate on the bluffs of Sutro Heights. This was the same year work began on the famous Sutro Baths, which included six of the largest indoor swimming pools north of the Restaurant that included a museum, skating rink and other pleasure grounds. Great throngs of San Franciscans arrived on steam trains, bicycles, carts and horse wagons on Sunday excursions. The Cliff House and Sutro Baths survived the 1906 earthquake with little damage but burned to the ground on the evening of September 7, 1907. Rebuilding of the restaurant was completed within two years and, with additions and modern restorations, is the one seen today.

Charles Dormon Robinson was born in East Monmouth, Maine on July 17, 1847. The Robinson family moved to Newport, Vermont shortly after the birth of Charles Dormon. In 1848 his father migrated to California followed by mother and child two years later. His father, Dr. David G. Robinson, was a theatrical producer and playwright who was responsible for constructing San Francisco's first theaters and the plays for their stages. The senior Robinson was a member of the Vigilance Committee and was forced to leave San Francisco in 1857 due to reprisal from the criminal element. Wife and child were left without a means of support and had to shift for themselves. The younger Robinson loved the ships passing through the Golden Gate and began sketching them at an early age. His first art training was at age seven in the studio of Charles Christian Nahl. At age thirteen he was presented with a diploma from the Mechanics' Institute for best marine drawing in the juvenile department. In 1861 he and his mother returned to the East where he studied with artists William Bradford and George Inness. He also studied briefly with F. R. Gignoux, Jasper Cropsey, and received criticism from Bierstadt and James Hamilton. Yearning for California, he started west but stopped in Clinton, Ohio where he married Kathryn Evelyn Wright in 1874. Settling in San Francisco, he worked re-touching photographs and for awhile had his own business in Alameda. Both he and his wife wrote and illustrated for Century and Overland Monthly publications. By 1875 Robinson was devoting full time to painting. He had his first showing at the San Francisco Art Ass'n in 1876, and recognition as a first-rate marine painter came in 1878 at the Sacramento State Fair where he won all prizes and sold one of his paintings to Governor Booth. In 1880 he visited Yosemite for the first time and subsequently spent 24 summers there. One painting, sold there to a British noble, was presented to Queen Victoria and hung in Buckingham Palace, and the King of Siam bought one of his oils while visiting San Francisco. During 1899-1901 he further studied with Boudin and Sagantini in Paris. At the time of the 1906 disaster he and his family were living in San Francisco at 1633 Laguna. He had moved most of his paintings to a warehouse for safe keeping; however, the building burned destroying a great portion of his earlier works. Once again fire destroyed their home in 1921 taking with it 20 years of his Yosemite works. A prolific plein air painter, Robinson followed in the tradition of the Hudson River School. He died on May 8, 1933 in San Rafael, California.