San Francisco neighborhoods are diverse and ever-changing—some of our old boroughs have even gone without a trace. Remember Carville-by-the-Sea? Of course you don't.

Once upon a time, in fin de siecle SF, there stood a bohemian community on the edge of town made entirely of abandoned rail cars. In what is present day Ocean Beach/Outer Sunset, Carville gave concrete meaning to the word outlandish, and felt as San Francisco as tiny house or #vanlife moment does today. As home to some of the city's earliest adventurists, artists, anarchists and entrepreneurs, Carville is an old school reminder of why we love this town.

Life on the Fringes

  

via SFPL History Annex

An early connoisseur of the tiny living trend, Anna Marie Adams shows off her railcar home. As development of the Sunset District closed in on Carville/Ocean Beach in the late 1920's and 30's, it became difficult to preserve the original outlandish reputation of the enclave.