Castro District

The Castro District, commonly known as the Castro, is a neighborhood situated within the broader Eureka Valley area of San Francisco, California. One of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States, the Castro transformed from a working-class enclave through the 1960s and 1970s into one that came to represent some of the highest geographical and communal concentrations of same-sex coupling, and it remains one of the most prominent symbols of lesbian, gay, and bisexual activism and events in the world. It was a birthplace of the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the U.S. and was where Harvey Milk, the gay-rights activist and politician, began his political career. The Castro itself is quite a small district, occupying less than a square mile, but it draws visitors and residents in significant numbers and is widely considered one of San Francisco's most storied neighborhoods.

Name and Geography

Castro Street was named after José Castro (1808–1860), a Californian leader of Mexican opposition to U.S. rule in California in the 19th century, and alcalde of Alta California from 1835 to 1836. The neighborhood known as the Castro, in the district of Eureka Valley, was created in 1887 when the Market Street Railway Company built a line linking Eureka Valley to downtown.

San Francisco's gay village is mostly concentrated in the business district located on Castro Street from Market Street to 19th Street. It extends down Market Street toward Church Street and on both sides of the Castro neighborhood from Church Street to Eureka Street. The Castro District is bordered by the Mission District to the east, Noe Valley to the south, and Twin Peaks to the west. Approximately 22,271 people live in the Castro District, where the median age is 43 and the average individual income is $139,132.

Early History

For generations, the only humans to live in the present-day Castro neighborhood were the Ohlone Tribe. Then in 1776, the Spanish de Anza expedition established a military outpost at the present-day Presidio and a Mission at Mission Dolores. In its first 200 years of recorded history, the sheltered little valley now called the Castro has been variously known as Rancho San Miguel, Horner's Addition, Eureka Valley, Little Scandinavia, and Most Holy Redeemer Parish. The valley's first name — the one given to it by the Ohlone — is unknown.

By the 1880s, Eureka Valley, as it was then called, was a bustling working-class neighborhood, populated largely by Irish, German, and Scandinavian immigrants. During the California Gold Rush and in its aftermath, a substantial Finnish population settled in San Francisco. Finnish Club No. 1 was established in the Castro District of San Francisco in 1882. Soon after, two "Finnish Halls" were erected nearby. From 1910 to 1920, the Castro was known as "Little Scandinavia" because of the number of people of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish ancestry who lived there. A Finnish bathhouse (Finilla's) dating from this period was located behind the Café Flore on Market Street until 1986. Scandinavian-style "half-timber" construction can still be seen in some buildings along Market Street between Castro and Church Streets.

From the 1930s through the 1960s, Eureka Valley was also known as a working-class, Irish-American enclave. The Irish were a powerful presence in the city, involved in all levels of politics from precinct worker up, and the neighborhood was home to many laborers, firemen, policemen, and other city workers. The district produced a number of the city's Irish-American police chiefs.

Transformation into an LGBTQ+ Neighborhood

San Francisco's homosexual population grew steadily beginning with World War II, when a number of military personnel from the Pacific area were dishonorably discharged in the Bay Area for their sexual orientation. Many other homosexual veterans remembered San Francisco as a tolerant, open-minded city and returned after the war. Thousands were discharged by the military for homosexuality and were released in San Francisco. Rather than returning to the hinterlands in which they would be stigmatized, many stayed on, and after the war they were joined by thousands more who had discovered new identities in the crucible of war.

The 1960s saw large numbers of families moving out of the Castro to the suburbs in what became known as "White flight," leaving open large pockets of real estate and creating appealing locations for gay purchasers. Propelled by the great migration to the suburbs during the 1950s, a new group of migrants were attracted by the Victorian houses of Eureka Valley: white-collar gay men and gay couples with money. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, this gay influx gave the blue-collar Eureka Valley neighborhood, in the vicinity of Castro and 18th Streets, a new social identity.

The Castro's age as a gay mecca began during the late 1960s with the Summer of Love in the neighboring Haight-Ashbury district in 1967. Gays and lesbians formed political groups, churches, and synagogues. They started newspapers, film festivals, theatre groups, marching bands, and softball leagues. They registered to vote and elected Harvey Milk their city supervisor as soon as at-large elections changed to election by district.

Milk became politically active, founding the Castro Village Association, one of the first predominantly LGBTQ-owned business groups in the country. In 1977, Milk was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, making him the first openly gay male politician in the country. Not long after the election, a disgruntled conservative ex-cop who had recently resigned his seat on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, Dan White, entered City Hall through a side door and murdered Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk. When Dan White was given a verdict of voluntary manslaughter on May 21, 1979, one of the biggest riots in San Francisco history exploded in the Civic Center Plaza, known as the White Night Riot.

Compassion and solidarity emerged in the Castro from the frustration and devastating losses to AIDS. Earlier factions evolved into a supportive community. New social services were formed: hospices for the dying, education about HIV and AIDS, centers for elderly homosexuals and gay youth, and the Names Project, a communal memorial quilt to celebrate loved ones who died from AIDS.

In 2019, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Rafael Mandelman authored an ordinance to create the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District; the ordinance was passed unanimously.

Landmarks and Cultural Institutions

One of the more notable features of the neighborhood is the Castro Theatre, a movie palace built in 1922 and one of San Francisco's premier movie houses. It was the first movie palace designed by prominent architect Timothy Pflueger. An early usherette at the theatre, Janet Gaynor, went on to win Best Actress at the Academy Awards in 1929. A distinctive neon blade above the entrance to the lavish Castro Theatre illuminates a much-loved historic local landmark, where the mighty Wurlitzer organ fills the hall with show tunes before every night's screening. Sing-alongs from The Wizard of Oz to Frozen are audience favorites, as well as the movie greats and celebrity lectures that fill the art deco 1922 chandeliered interiors.

A major cultural destination in the neighborhood is the GLBT Historical Society Museum (originally called the GLBT History Museum), which opened for previews on December 10, 2010, at 4127 18th St. The grand opening of the museum took place on the evening of January 13, 2011. It is the first museum of its kind in the nation.

An LGBTQ Walk of Fame, the Rainbow Honor Walk, was installed in August 2014 with an inaugural twenty sidewalk bronze plaques representing past LGBTQ icons in their field who continue to serve as inspirations. The walk was originally planned to coincide with the business district of the Castro and eventually include 500 bronze plaques.

18th and Castro is a major intersection in the Castro, where many historic events, marches, and protests have taken and continue to take place. Harvey Milk Plaza, named after the first openly gay elected official in California, is a significant landmark in the Castro District and a gathering place for the community.

When the historic Twin Peaks Tavern at Market and Castro Streets was built with floor-to-ceiling windows, most took it as a sign that Castro residents were secure in their gay identity. The tavern is notable as one of the first gay bars in the country to have full-plate-glass windows visible from the street — a gesture of openness at a time when many gay establishments deliberately obscured their interiors.

Events and Community Life

Special events, parades, and street fairs held in the Castro include the Castro Street Fair, the Dyke March, the famed Halloween in the Castro (which was discontinued in 2007 due to street violence), Pink Saturday (discontinued in the Castro in 2016), and the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.

The neighborhood appears in the film Milk (2008), starring Sean Penn, which tells the story of Harvey Milk's life and activism — with many scenes filmed right in the Castro. The district is also highlighted in Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin, a beloved book series centered on San Francisco's colorful characters.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a queer activist and charity group founded in 1979, organized one of the world's first AIDS-related fundraisers — a dog show on Castro Street. Local resident and disco star Sylvester was one of the judges.

The Gay Pride Parade, now on Market Street, grew bigger and louder every year, led by the roaring motorcycles of hundreds of Dykes on Bikes. Each year, the Castro Street Fair in October and San Francisco Pride in June bring thousands to the neighborhood for lively celebrations.

Along the streets, brightly colored rainbow banners flutter from lamp posts and flagpoles, welcoming visitors to San Francisco's Castro District. The historic center of the LGBTQ community reflects a vibrant neighborhood popular with young families, tech workers, and an artist community, filled with popular boutiques, bars, and restaurants attracting a wide circle of patrons.