San Francisco Cable Car Museum

San Francisco's cable car system began in 1873 when Andrew Smith Hallidie tested the Clay Street Hill Railroad, a design that became the model for cable systems in other cities, though San Francisco is now the only one still running in the traditional manually operated way. The museum's building at 1201 Mason Street dates to 1887 as the Ferries and Cliff House Railway Co. building, survived damage in the 1906 earthquake, and has served as the system's working powerhouse ever since.

Since opening in 1974 under the nonprofit Friends of the Cable Car Museum, the museum has let visitors watch the actual sheave room where cables are routed out to the streets, alongside historic vehicles such as the 1870s Sutter Street Railway grip car and trailer and the sole surviving Clay Street Hill Railroad car. Because admission is free and much of the appeal is watching real machinery in motion, it works well as a short, low-cost stop for families exploring Nob Hill.