International Settlement
By the 1930s, the city, the state, the U.S. military, and Prohibition had combined to almost completely snuff out San…
Jackson Square Legacy Business Spotlight: Sai’s Restaurant and Bar
First opened by Sai Vong in 1982 at 491 Ellis Street in the Tenderloin, legacy business Sai’s Restaurant and Bar…
A Remnant of the Barbary Coast on Pacific Avenue
Walking along the one-block stretch of Pacific Avenue between Kearny and Montgomery streets today, a hint of its time as…
So Different: Black Legacies in Jackson Square
Today’s Jackson Square holds some of San Francisco’s most significant legacies of African American entertainment and entrepreneurship. When the Barbary…
Barbary Coast Days
For most of the first century of its existence, Jackson Square’s Pacific Street was San Francisco’s red-light district, a place…
Fun Friday: Hotaling’s Whisky
Jackson Square contains the city’s only surviving early commercial area, with well-built Gold Rush-era buildings that escaped destruction from serious…
Jackson Square Legacy Business Spotlight: Bix Restaurant
In the heart of Jackson Square along historic Gold Street is Bix Restaurant, a modern American supper club with nightly…
Engine Company No. 1
Tucked behind tree canopy at 451 Pacific Avenue is a former firehouse building constructed just after the 1906 earthquake and…
Italian and Chinese Legacies in Jackson Square
Today’s Jackson Square began with Chilean and Australian enclaves at the dawn of the Gold Rush, but as the city…
1906 Earthquake and Rebuilding
In response to the frequent fires of San Francisco’s early years (seven erupted in the Gold Rush town between December…
Fun Friday: Faces on Façades
How often do you stop to consider the details? In the Jackson Square Historic District, amidst the heavily ornamented Italianate…
Jackson Square Legacy Business Spotlight: Old Ship Saloon
Like much of Jackson Square itself, The Old Ship Saloon has its roots in the Gold Rush, when ships sailing…
Sweet Beginnings in Jackson Square
Design by Ally Hernandez. Though few traces remain today on this tony stretch of Jackson Square retail, the buildings at…
Gold Rush Life
The 1848 discovery of gold in the Sierra foothills turned the small pueblo of Yerba Buena into the boomtown of…
Welcome to Jackson Square Month
San Francisco Heritage’s Heritage in the Neighborhoods program returns in June 2025 to spotlight Jackson Square, a significant three-block area…
Out and About: Visitacion Valley
When Woody and I spotlighted the southeastern neighborhood of Visitacion Valley in 2021, the magical Visitacion Valley Greenway was bringing…
Out and About: Tenderloin
Our Out and About newsletter finds some exciting things happening in the Tenderloin neighborhood. There is innovative Malaysian food and…
Community Voices: Bringing to Life to a Historic Riot for Transgender Rights
This piece was originally published in our April-June 2025 edition of SF Heritage News. To view the full issue, click here. BY…