Chemical Engine Company No. 43 1911
724 Brazil Avenue
Engine No. 43 is a two-story frame Mission Revival style firehouse that was built to provide fire protection to the Excelsior Homestead District. It was one of the first to leave behind the horse-drawn days for the newly fashioned motorized apparatus. The firehouse was sold at the City surplus property auction in 1976. Currently it is a private residence.
On April 15, 1869, the Excelsior Homestead was filed at city hall. The record is in books C and D and in the book of city maps on page 129. This map section showing the area we call the Excelsior can be found in Bancroft's Official Guide Map Of City And County Of San Francisco. by Bancroft, A.L. from 1881. This map indicates that the area was previously part of the Rancho Rincon De Las Salinas Y Potrero Viejo.
In a San Francisco City Atlas publication there are three plats dating from 1876, each showing a piece of the Excelsior Homestead but not one complete plat that we could find. We are contacting the archives to see if we can get a complete map to share with you. Check out: 1876 MAPS
The Spanish History of the area is very rich and complicated. For example, here is a link to a short but interesting genealogy of the Anza expedition.
Possibly the oldest known inhabitants, at least seasonally, of this area were the Yelamu Ohlone - a tribal group from around this area and one of the family groups within what is currently referred (although this is a vast over simplification) to the Ohlone and Coast Miwoks Tribes. More information is avalable on the National Park Service web site