San francisco gay village
Perfect Day in the Castro
About the Castro
Originally known as Eureka Valley, the Castro was once part of a huge rancho owned by Jose de Jesus Noe, a Mexican land baron. He began selling it off in 1852 after the American conquest of California.
In the 1880s, German, Irish, and Scandinavian immigrants began settling in Eureka Valley and building handsome Victorian row houses for their huge families. The Market Street Cable Railway connected Eureka Valley with the recover of San Francisco in 1887, creating a housing boom and turning the village into a thriving working-class neighborhood.
Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro remains a symbol and source of lesbian, gay, pansexual, and transgender (LGBT) activism and events.
The activism of the '60s and '70s forged a society with sizable political and economic authority, and when the historic Twin Peaks bar at Market and Castro streets removed the blackout paint from its floor-to-ceiling windows, most took it as a sign that Castro residents were secure in their gay identity.
There were, however, tense and sometimes violent clashes with the police, and the assassinati
The History of the Castro
17th Highway, circa 1900
Credit: D. H. Wulzen
Eureka Valley
Eureka Valley, named for one of the Twin Peaks (the other was called Noe), began as sparsely populated ranchos that belonged to Mexican land barons like Jose Castro and Jose de Jesus Noe. In the 1880s when Irish, German and Scandinavian families homesteaded on the slopes of Twin Peaks, a village of dairy farms and Victorian houses flourished. With the opening of the Castro Street segment of the Market Road Cable Railway in 1887, Eureka Valley became a desirable and accessible neighborhood.
It was every working man's dream: buy a inexpensive piece of area and build a stately Victorian, large enough for several generations of the family. And it was not just who lived in one house that was family but everyone who lived around you. It was a total neighborhood by its truest definition. There was economic solidarity; everyone was operational class. They worked in the trades, public-service sectors and on the waterfront. There were bakeries, butcher shops an
Gay San Francisco: Discover the city’s historic roots and modern communities
San Francisco is one of the most popular destinations for male lover travellers from around the world. It’s been the home of many LGBTQ activists and important moments in the fight for gay liberation. San Francisco was also where the first Pride flags were flown.
From a historical perspective alone, there are many reasons for gay travellers to visit this metropolis. But it’s not just the gay San Francisco history people come for. Today, San Francisco’s LGBTQ community is thriving throughout the city, particularly in gay neighbourhoods like Castro and SoMa. You’ll locate plenty of bars, clubs, and community spaces where you’ll feel right at home.
Is San Francisco gay-friendly?
San Francisco is easily one of the most gay-friendly cities in the Merged States. For many people, it is The Homosexual City, with the extreme density of gay residents out of any metropolitan area in the land in 2015. Generally speaking, you should have no problems finding gay-friendly accommodation and being visibly queer in public. If you do find yourself in need of assistance while visiting, the San Francisco LGBT
Vibrant and eclectic, the Castro/Upper Market neighborhood is an internationally established symbol of gay freedom, a top tourist destination full of stylish shops and popular show spots, and a thriving residential area that thousands of San Franciscans call home.
Its streets are filled with lovingly restored Victorian homes, rainbow pride flags, shops offering one-of-a-kind merchandise, heritage streetcars, lively bars and restaurants, and numerous gay-borhood landmarks including Harvey Milk Plaza, the Castro Theatre, Pink Triangle Park and Memorial, and the large SF Woman loving woman Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center.
The Castro District, better known as The Castro, is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, which is also known as Eureka Valley.
San Francisco’s gay village is most concentrated in the business district that is located on Castro Street from Market Avenue to 19th Street. It extends down Market Street toward Church and on both sides of the Castro neighborhood from Church Street to Eureka Street. Although the greater gay community was, and is, concentrated in the Castro many gay people dwell in the surrounding residential areas bordered by the