Thomas Hayes

Who was Thomas Hayes?

Thomas Hayes was a land owner in the western addition to San Francisco in the 19th century. Hayes Valley in the western addition and Hayes Street are named after him. He was the original franchisee of the Market Street Railway and county clerk between 1853 and 1856. The franchise for what would become the Market Street Railway was granted in 1857. The line was the first horsecar line to open in San Francisco, opened on July 4, 1860, as the Market Street Railroad Company. The goal was to bring the land to market. The method would be a railway. Thomas Hayes, who owned a large tract in the Western Addition, now known as the "Hayes Valley" and the banking house of Pioche and Bayerque, who held Hayes's mortgage, ultimately joined with several large property owners in the Mission, to form a business alliance to build a rail line connecting the main part of San Francisco with the old Mission settlement, a distance of three miles.

Thomas Hayes came from Rosscarbery, County Cork, Ireland, and arrived in San Francisco in 1849. Hayes owned the land where the present day Civic Center buildings are located. In 1861, Tom Hayes constructed the first outdoor recreational park, Hayes Park.