A look at the time San Francisco's Cliff House was nearly blown into the Pacific

Most of us know that the famous Cliff House has had many incarnations, sometimes due to tragic events. The location has some of the richest history in the city, entertaining U.S. presidents, many of the area's wealthiest citizens, and even a darker, seedier era. When going through the San Francisco Chronicle's digital archives, we discovered that the Schooner Parallel went aground, at a little beach by Point Lobos, in January 1887, carrying 42 tons of black powder.