If you need a San Francisco history lesson - at least for the next few months – simply head to Ocean Beach.
A pop-up museum featuring artifacts from the city’s past has opened in what was the gift shop of the now-shuttered Cliff House restaurant.
The space that houses the new Museum at the Cliff may be small but it’s big on chronicling the past.
The new museum is run by the Western Neighborhoods Project, a non-profit dedicated to preserving San Francisco’s history.
Nicole Meldahl, executive director of the organization, told KCBS Radio that the group bought dozens of artifacts from the 157-year-old Cliff House at an auction after the iconic establishment closed last year.
"There was a large cowboy that used to be at Playland at the beach – we acquired that and all sorts of other things from little tiny photographs from the early 1900’s to a wooden stool from the Sutro Baths," Meldahl said.
Some of those artifacts now are on display high above the Pacific, along with pieces from the National Park Service and Global Museum at San Francisco State.
Berkeley resident Scott Theissan visited the museum on Friday because he’s interested in learning more about this part of town.
"I surf at Ocean Beach and so I like the history out here," he told KCBS Radio. "When you get out, pretty far especially when it’s big in the winter time you’re in the wilderness. So I imagine what this would be like when the area was settled by Europeans."
The Museum at the Cliff is staffed mostly by volunteers and will be open Friday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. until April 15 at 1090 Point Lobos Ave.
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