“San Francisco has a lot of hidden history. I’d never heard of Irish Hill.” Anne picked up her glass and took a sip.
“Sean and Paddy built the original pub with their own two hands. It wasn’t much more than a shack.” He looked down at his own calloused hands. “Like thousands of other fools, they’d come to California in search of gold but quickly realized there was actual money to be made by opening a pub for his Irish countrymen.” He took another sip of his beer. “Back then, Irish Hill was mainly Irish, but a few Scots and Germans, maybe an Italian or two. It was a rough area, mostly men who had also given up the dream of finding gold and now lived in boarding house-hotels and worked at the Ironworks or the steel mills.”
“I didn’t realize there was that kind of industry here back then,” Anne said.
“Sure. Arctic Oil was the largest whale and seal refinery on the west coast. And the Rope Company employed hundreds of men. There were also blasting powder companies that made dynamite for the mines.” He picked up his beer. “There weren’t many women in those early days, though. The men left them behind when they came searching for gold. Without women, there wasn’t much for the men to do after they’d worked twelve-hour days but drink in the saloons and fight. Several of the pubs held matches in the street and took bets. They called it bare-knuckle boxing back then,” he said before taking a swallow of his beer.
“Did Sean and Paddy hold fights in front of their pub?” Anne asked
Liam shook his head. “No, they didn’t want any trouble with the King.”
“The King? There was a king of San Francisco?” Anne’s eyebrows raised.
Liam nodded. “Frank McManus, the King of Potrero. He ruled Irish Hill with an iron fist. He came to America to escape the famine. He and his brother made a fortune selling mining stock. They ruled Irish Hill and owned most of the boarding houses and saloons. They inflicted brutal beat downs to anyone that got in their way.” He lifted the glass to his lips and finished off his beer.
How lovely to read this atmospheric story again! Congratulations Alicia.