San Francisco’s Barbary Coast

The Old San Francisco Mint is a sturdy, two-story structure of sandstone and granite, identified by the heavy Doric columns of its central portico at the corner of Fifth and Mission Streets. Completed in eighteen seventy-four, this…

Market Street runs diagonally through San Francisco, cutting a wide, one hundred and twenty foot path across the city grid. You can identify it on any map by this unconventional angle, which serves as a transition between two different…

Maiden Lane is defined by its two-block stretch of pedestrian-only space, accessible through wrought iron gates that restrict vehicle traffic during the day. Before the nineteen oh six earthquake, this narrow passage was known as Morton…

The Dragon Gate is a ceremonial archway marked by three separate portals topped with vibrant green tiles and curled dragon sculptures. Straddling Grant Avenue at the intersection of Bush Street, it functions as the official southern…

Waverly Place is a narrow, two-block street in San Francisco’s Chinatown, easily identified by the colourful, ornate balconies that line its buildings. Long known locally as Tin Hau Temple Street, it is named for the Tin Hau Temple, which…

The Tin How Temple occupies the top floor of a four-story building on Waverly Place. You can identify this site by the quiet, incense-filled atmosphere hidden above the street, marked by red lanterns and a collection of traditional altars.…

The Museum of San Francisco at six hundred and eight Commercial Street stands on the footprint of the first branch mint in the American West. Its structure incorporates the remains of the site where the federal government processed massive…

The Belli Building at seven twenty-two Montgomery Street stands out for its deep, historic foundation in what was once the mud of Yerba Buena Cove. Originally built around eighteen forty-nine or eighteen fifty as a tobacco warehouse, it…

Vesuvio Cafe is a narrow, two-story building on Columbus Avenue with an exterior wall that features murals and a distinctive wooden sign depicting a figure sitting on a barrel. Established in nineteen forty-eight by Henri Lenoir, the bar…

City Lights Booksellers and Publishers occupies a distinctive, triangular building at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Broadway. Founded in nineteen fifty-three by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, it opened as the nation’s…

Washington Square is a two point eight acre rectangle of open grass in the North Beach district, easily recognized by the twin spires of the Saints Peter and Paul Church rising directly across from its northern edge. Established in…

Hyde Street Pier is defined by the sight of tall masts and wooden hulls rising above the dock, creating an outdoor collection of historic ships. Constructed in nineteen twenty-two, the pier functioned as a primary ferry terminal for…

The Buena Vista Cafe is a corner building that anchors the intersection of Hyde and Beach Streets, recognizable by its Queen Anne architecture and the crowds often gathered near its doors. Opened in nineteen sixteen after the conversion of…