Welcome to the Castro
Pink Triangle Memorial (2454 Market St)
This park is the first historical landmark remembering Homosexual men persecuted in Fascist Europe between 1933 - 1945. About 100,000 men were arrested during this period and as many as 15,000 were sentenced to work and death camps. Homosexual men, targeted in their assumption of feminine nature, were tagged with Pink Triangles. Lesbians were alternatively considered asocial instead of homosexual and were given black triangles and forced into prostitution. In 2001, the Pink Triangle Memorial was dedicated to 15,000 men by erecting 15 pink and grey granite triangle pylons, together the pylons form a triangle, facing the Rainbow flag.
Most Holy Redeemer Church (100 Diamond St)
After soaking up the view from down there, meander west of Market, make a left on Diamond Street and walk to 18th street. You will see the Most Holy Redeemer Church, it has been lovingly been nicknamed the “Gayest” Catholic parish in the nation. Eighty percent of its parishioners are LGBT people.* After World War II this church accepted and celebrated gay men in their church (while the Catholic Church did not).It didn’t merit its nickname until In the 1950s this church was close to closing with most of its catholic residents moving out of the city. It began inviting in the LGBTQ+ population to join the parish. In the early 80s, people in this neighborhood started suffering from a fatal and dangerous disease. At this time, doctors did not understand the disease but knew it was prevalent within the gay community. It was first named the Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, GRID, and later renamed AIDs. Within 10 years of the onset of AIDs, about 200,000 people in San Francisco would die due to this disease. The Most Holy Redeemer Church was very active in disseminating information and getting health care for their sick. Across the street, you might see a small building called the Coming Home Hospice. During the 1980s and 1990s, many people came through here in their final days of life.
Metropolitan Community Church (150 Eureka St)
The site of the MCC was sold in 2015 and no longer is operating. It is an important stop anyway. Many of the LGBTQ+ community moving to the Castro neighborhood came from religious backgrounds and grew up going to church. Most of them were taught that being gay was wrong, sinful, evil, and would go to hell for being gay. Looking for that religious community, the Metropolitan Community Church was the first church formed by gay people for gay people. But even as late as the 1970s it was dangerous to have a gay church. Across the country, the MCC was the target of gunshots, fire. The worst of these attacks taking place at an MCC chapter in New Orleans burning the building to the ground, killing 32 people who were praying inside. Even in San Francisco, they would meet in libraries, community centers, and changing their location from week to week. By the 1980s the community was able to create this building you are standing in front of now. Due to high rent in the Bay Area, they have moved their location downtown. If you take a look at your feet, you will see many bricks with names or phrases on them. These are memorials for people who died due to the AIDs epidemic during the 1980s and 1990s. Take a moment to look at those bricks and a moment of silence.
Alfred E Clark Mansion & History of the Victorians (250 Douglass Street)
This 4 story mansion was built by an unlucky miner-turned-police officer in 1892 by the name of Alfred E Clark. It cost around $100,000 to build at that time. The architectural style reflects the eclectic fashion of the times but can be commonly described as Baroque-Queen Anne. It survived the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and subsequent fires that took down many of San Francisco’s Victorians. It was only briefly used as a home and by 1904 the building was the “California General Hosptial” - currently is houses 11 apartments. WWII and the Victorians in San FranciscoWorld War II brought between 1-2 million US Military troops through San Francisco. Thousands of these young men were gay, and nearly all of them were extremely hidden about their sexual orientation. Arriving in San Francisco, they found that SF had a gay community in the city. Many returning soldiers left the city to start a family, buy a house, and buying cars. With the new freedom of cars, many moved out of the city. These large and beautiful Victorians ended up vacant. Then the 1960s happened, young people were rebelling against the strict codes of the 1950s and started experimenting with art, drugs, music, and writing. There was a new sense of freedom for the gay population. After the ’60s ended, many of these people went back to where they came from and the now out gay people couldn’t always return home. This neighborhood offered an opportunity
Castro Camera (575 Castro St)
In 1972, Harvey Milk along with his then-Partner, Scott Smith, opened Castro Camera. The couple lived upstairs. They sold cameras, film but it also became the center of the neighborhoods’ growing gay community and headquarters for Milk’s gay rights campaigning. Although politics and activism were not his early passions, he was not open about his sexuality or civically engaged until he was 40 after his experience in the counterculture movement, here in San Francisco. He became an active member of the community, promoting gay-rights and local business he was quickly named the unofficial Mayor of Castro Street. Becoming the first opening gay elected official in the history of California, elected to the SF Board of Supervisors.Milk was assassinated in 1978, after his tragic death, the Camera store became a human rights campaign store. In 2011 it was carefully built to reflect its historic past.His remains were cremated and his ashes were split. His closest friends scattered most of the ashes in San Francisco Bay. Other ashes were encapsulated and buried beneath the sidewalk in front of 575 Castro Street, where Castro Camera had been located If you step outside the store and look up, you’ll see a painting of Harvey Milk and his motto, "You gotta give ‘em hope!"
Harvey’s Bar (500 Castro St)
Harvey Milk was assassinated by Dan White, a police officer himself, Dan eventually turned himself in to the police. He was arrested and put on trial. White’s murder chargers were lowered to voluntary manslaughter, for which he was sentenced for seven years and eight months’ time in prison. With time off for good behavior, he was out in five years. The night of his conviction, starting in the Castro a peaceful protest marched to City Hall. By nightfall the protests turned more violent, breaking windows, setting Police cars on fire. Considered one of the most violent gay-run protests, the night became known as the White Night Riots.Later that same night, the police decided to retaliate. Two dozen officers stormed the glass windows of this bar, then called the Elephant Walk, around 1:00 a.m. They had allegedly covered their badges with black tape, breaking the windows and beating the patrons inside as a rebuttal to the downtown riots. In the end, no one was prosecuted for either the riots or illegal police raid.
Twin Peaks Tavern (401 Castro St)
There were gay bars in the 1940s and 1950s scattered throughout San Francisco. They were extremely secretive, To get to them you usually had to walk down an alleyway, knock on a door, and arrive at a bar without any windows. Many people were terrified to go to these bars, they were often raided by the police with cameras who would subsequently publish your photo in the newspapers. People would lose their jobs and their families. Twin Peaks opened in 1971 as a gay bar. This place has large windows and sits right on the corner of two main streets. For the first time, patrons could see the sunlight and people outside the bar could see in. This was one of the first bars of its kind in the entire world. A place where people could finally come out of hiding and be proud.
Rainbow Flag (Castro St & Market Street)
Lets soak in the wonder of the Rainbow flag-waving in front of the Harvey Milk Plaza. The flag is 30 ft by 40 ft. Look out for the historic F- Line Street Cars and the rainbow light adorning the top of the historic Twin Peaks Bar.History of the Rainbow Flag - It was designed by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist, and activist. He had been commissioned to design a symbol for the LGBTQ community by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. He assigned a meaning to each of the colors: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for harmony, and violet for spirit.(Photo: Shane Downing)
Dolores Park (Dolores St &, 19th St)
The Ohlone Indians were the first to inhabit the land around what was later to become Mission Dolores Park. They had inhabited the area for several centuries before Spanish missionaries arrived in 1776 to establish Mission San Francisco Dolores. Over the course of time, the gold rush added miners, gamblers, and tavern keepers to the mix. In 1861 the land was sold and used as a cemetery.