Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood and waterfront destination on the northern shore of San Francisco, stretching roughly from Ghirardelli Square in the west to Pier 39 in the east. Located in the northern part of the city's waterfront, the area traces its identity to the generations of commercial fishermen — predominantly Italian immigrants — who worked the waters of San Francisco Bay beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. Historically a working fishing port which also had seafood restaurants that were a draw to outsiders, the fishing docks declined during the 1960s and 1970s while tourist development became dominant. Today, the Wharf functions simultaneously as a living fishing port and one of the most-visited tourist districts in the American West, drawing millions of visitors annually with its seafood, maritime museums, historic ships, and resident sea lions.

Geography and Boundaries

Most narrowly, the name Fisherman's Wharf describes the commercial waterfront area along Jefferson Street and adjacent streets, as well as Pier 39. More broadly, it refers to the larger neighborhood north of Bay Street, spanning from Pier 35 and the intersection of The Embarcadero and Bay Street westward to Hyde Street and Aquatic Park, or further west to Van Ness Avenue, which runs parallel to the high wall separating the area from Fort Mason.

The Fisherman's Wharf Community Benefit District, a local business association, defines the area as spanning from the intersections of The Embarcadero and North Point Street and Powell and Bay Streets west- and northward to Columbus Avenue and Aquatic Park, with an extension along a strip of Beach Street that includes Ghirardelli Square, as far west as Van Ness Avenue. The Aquatic Park Historic District is often considered to be part of Fisherman's Wharf, though some neighborhood descriptions treat it as a separate area. Although the area is best known primarily for tourist attractions and tourist-oriented businesses, the southern and eastern portions of the neighborhood contain residential areas and neighborhood businesses, including the NorthPoint development — a shopping center and several blocks of apartment buildings — located along North Point and Bay Streets from Mason to Stockton Street.

History

Origins and the Italian Fishing Community

The waterfront that would eventually be called Fisherman's Wharf has roots that predate the California Gold Rush. Commercial fishing along the waterfront grew with the burgeoning city of San Francisco; from the days of the Gold Rush, the city's markets and restaurants were supplied with fresh seafood by a growing collection of boats and newly arrived fishermen from around the world. As early as 1856, a small village of Chinese immigrants along the southern waterfront provided for themselves and Chinatown's fish markets using sampans and small junks built at the water's edge.

By the late 1860s, successive waves of Italian immigration brought hundreds of fishermen from the coastal villages near the city of Genoa into San Francisco. They built fishing boats in the tradition of their native land, called "silenas" by the fishermen but later more widely known as "San Francisco feluccas" — small, lateen-rigged vessels well matched for the rugged waters of the Bay. The felucca quickly became the principal vessel in the fishing fleets moored along the San Francisco waterfront.

The story of Fisherman's Wharf in its present location began formally in 1900, when the state set aside the waterfront between the foot of Taylor and Leavenworth streets for commercial fishing boats. Previous docks for commercial boats had been at the foot of Vallejo and the foot of Union, but as San Francisco Bay shipping expanded, the fishermen were moved out of the busiest area to the present location. The physical land on which the Wharf of today rests was created from the rubble of buildings destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906.

In 1884, the first state-owned Fisherman's Wharf was built at the foot of Union Street, jutting out from the shore on a north by northeast angle, comprising a long narrow rectangle about 450 feet long and 150 feet wide, with an entrance along the leeward eastern side.

From Fishing Stalls to Restaurants

The transition from a working fishing dock to a dining destination was driven largely by the entrepreneurial spirit of the fishermen themselves. From the beginning, fishermen sold parts of their catch to housewives directly from their sailing craft, and some set up stalls on the piers. Then one enterprising fisherman had the idea of selling clam chowder across his counter to hungry patrons. Fisherman Tom Castagnola expanded the practice, putting in benches and tables and developing the crab cocktail — a small portion of crab meat with a special sauce. Shrimp cocktail also proved a popular dish, especially during Prohibition, when other kinds of cocktails were slightly more difficult to come by.

Castagnola also tried mixing crab with Thousand Island dressing and developed the "Crab Louie," which in time became the Wharf's most popular dish. He eventually found it more profitable to sell his boat, buy his fish from other fishermen, and devote his full time to the store. The late Mike Geraldi, for example, abandoned a twenty-six-year fishing career, built a restaurant — Fisherman's Grotto — took his sons into the business, and served the first complete seafood meals on the Wharf. Several other Wharf families also opened restaurants: the Aliotos, the Sabellas, the DiMaggios.

World War II and Its Aftermath

Because Italy was at war with the United States during World War II, all non-citizen Italians were banned from working and living near the coast and were not permitted within 14 blocks of Fisherman's Wharf. This disruption had a profound impact on the tight-knit Italian fishing community that had built the Wharf's identity over two generations.

The Aquatic Park Bathhouse building, built in 1939, became the focal point of the Aquatic Park Historic Landmark District. After occupation by troops from 1941 through 1948, the building became home to the San Francisco Maritime Museum and the country's first Senior Center. The museum was operated by the San Francisco Maritime Association until it was transferred to the National Park Service in 1978.

Tourist Development and Modernization

Great efforts were made in the 1960s and 1970s to save the working part of Fisherman's Wharf from being completely overrun by tourist shops and hotels, even while the Port of San Francisco sought to facilitate the development of tourism as a way to offset the loss of shipping after the 1960s. Today's Pier 45 state-of-the-art fish processing facilities are partly thanks to funding that followed damages during the 1989 earthquake, and also thanks to the diligence of Port and City officials who remained committed to saving the historic working fish industry on the northern waterfront.

In 2010, a $15 million development plan was proposed by city officials hoping to revitalize the area's appearance for tourists and to reverse a downward trend in popularity among San Francisco residents.

Attractions and Landmarks

Fisherman's Wharf is best known for being the location of Pier 39, the Cannery Shopping Center, Ghirardelli Square, a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, the Musée Mécanique, Madame Tussauds, and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Other attractions in the area include the Hyde Street Pier (part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park), the USS Pampanito, a decommissioned World War II submarine, and the Balclutha, a 19th-century full-rigged cargo ship. The USS Pampanito (SS-383) and the Liberty ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien are National Historic Landmarks, preserved as memorial and museum ships as part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park located near the Wharf.

Nearby Pier 45 has a chapel in memory of the "Lost Fishermen" of San Francisco and Northern California.

The iconic Fisherman's Wharf sign, located at the corner of Jefferson and Taylor streets, was first installed in 1968 and features a giant crab emblazoned on a ship's helm.

On November 13, 2023, the SkyStar Wheel began operations in Fisherman's Wharf after spending three years in the nearby Music Concourse within Golden Gate Park. Its opening coincided with the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Standing over 150 feet tall along the Barbary Coast Trail, the observation wheel offers panoramic views of the city and bay.

The area also included the Northpoint Theatre, which operated from 1967 to 1997. It had one of the largest screens in the city at the time and was selected by George Lucas for early screenings of American Graffiti, Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back.

Seafood and Culinary Culture

One of the most visited neighborhoods in San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf has earned much of its popularity thanks to a wide array of restaurants, right on the water, serving up fresh-from-the-ocean seafood. The Wharf's signature dishes reflect its Italian-American fishing heritage and the bounty of the surrounding Pacific Ocean and Bay.

Cioppino — an Italian American catch-of-the-day "fisherman's stew" — can include Dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels, and fish, all in a tomato-based broth. Classic establishments such as Cioppino's, Scoma's, Pier Market Seafood Restaurant, and Fog Harbor Fish House have been serving it up for decades.

Some of the restaurants, including Fishermen's Grotto, Pompei's Grotto, and Alioto's, go back three generations of the same family ownership. In 1965, brothers Al and Joe Scoma purchased a tiny coffee shop with only six stools on Pier 47 and over time transformed it into Scoma's, one of the country's most popular independent restaurants, serving more than 300,000 locals and visitors annually.

Dungeness crab remains the Wharf's most celebrated ingredient. During Dungeness crab season — November to April — fishermen set up street-side crab pots to sell whole crabs and paper cups full of crab meat. Sourdough bread bowls filled with clam chowder, a tradition associated with the Boudin Bakery, are another staple of the Wharf dining experience.

Sea Lions and Wildlife

A sea lion colony occupies docks next to Pier 39. They took up residence in the months before the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 and have remained ever since, lying on wooden docks that were originally used for mooring boats. The colony has grown to number in the hundreds and has become one of the most photographed free wildlife spectacles in San Francisco, drawing visitors year-round. These charismatic marine mammals, both adorable and vocal, have become Pier 39's most beloved attraction.

Transportation

The area is served by several lines of historic cable cars and streetcars run by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). The Powell/Hyde cable car line has its northern terminus at Aquatic Park, while that of the Powell/Mason cable car line is at Bay and Mason Streets. The cable cars journey over Russian Hill and Nob Hill and have their southern terminus at Powell and Market Streets in downtown San Francisco.

The cable cars have served the area for many decades, with the Powell/Mason line dating to 1888, while the Powell/Hyde line was added in 1957 after the decline of several older cable car routes elsewhere in the city.

In 2000, Muni added several lines of heritage streetcars as part of a larger redevelopment of The Embarcadero, including the E Embarcadero and F Market lines, which route from Fisherman's Wharf through the northern Embarcadero and from the southern Embarcadero and Market Street, respectively.

Events

Fisherman's Wharf plays host to many San Francisco events, including a fireworks display on the Fourth of July and some of the best views of the Fleet Week air shows featuring The Blue Angels. The annual Blessing of the Fleet, a tradition rooted in the Italian Catholic heritage of the fishing community, continues to be observed each year, with boats departing from Saints Peter and Paul's Church to the Wharf to receive a blessing.