05/18/2026
A wonderful follow-up from Guilder and Ocean Shore Railroad program attendee Ray Wille.
A Family Anecdote about the Ocean Shore Railroad
I have lived in Daly City my entire life. My mother’s maiden name was Mary Markovich. She had 2 brothers, Pete and Pat. Pete Markovich was well known in Daly City. He ran a business on Mission Street that is still there, and was very active in civic affairs. Pat Matkovich was a golf pro and managed golf courses in Richmond, Silverado and Franklin Canyon. He started his golf career as a young lad caddying at the San Francisco Golf Club that borders Westlake at the San Mateo county line. Uncle Pat was born in 1908, so this probably would have been about 1918, when the Ocean Shore was still running trains, but after bankruptcy, when it was in the hands of the receivers. I enjoyed Mr. Van Zuiden’s presentation on the Ocean Shore Railroad. As you could see from his map, the Ocean Shore approached Daly City on a left turn, following what is now Alemany Blvd. The pink colored Alemany Blvd. overpass crossing Junipero Serra Blvd is on the former Ocean Shore right of way. This passes by the southeast corner of the San Francisco Golf Club, and the right of way was visible from parts of the golf course. At the time, John Harvey, who also went by J. Downey Harvey, was a member of the San Francisco Golf Club, and my uncle Pat caddied for him. By this time, post-bankruptcy, Harvey was no longer president of the Ocean Shore Railroad. My uncle told me that when he was caddying for Harvey and they would see an Ocean Shore train pass by, Harvey would pause, point to the train, make a somewhat gross gesture that I will not elaborate on, and remark sarcastically, “That’s where all the money went.”
