The Castro
About The Castro
The Castro was farmland known as Eureka Valley through the 19th century. Castro Street is named after José Castro, a Mexican-era governor of Alta California. The Market Street Cable Railway reached the valley in 1887 and set off a housing boom that filled the blocks with the Victorians still standing today. For decades it was a working-class neighborhood, largely Scandinavian and Irish. The Castro Theatre, designed by Timothy Pflueger, opened on Castro Street in 1922.
The area became a gay neighborhood in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Servicemen discharged through San Francisco during and after World War II had stayed in the city, rents were low, and the Victorian housing was plentiful. Gay residents bought and restored the houses and opened businesses along Castro Street.
Harvey Milk opened Castro Camera at 575 Castro Street in 1973 and ran his campaigns from the shop. In 1977 he was elected to the Board of Supervisors, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the country. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated at City Hall on November 27, 1978.
Filmed in The Castro
25 recorded shoots across 14 places here.
- Dolores ParkWomen is Losers 2020/Tales of the City 2019/Murder in the First, Season 1 2014/Looking 2014/A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities 2018
- The CastroThe Times of Harvey Milk 1984/Sausalito 2000/Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt 1989
- Mission Dolores ParkSweet November 2001/Mission (aka City of Bars) 2001/Dirty Harry 1971
- Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St.When We Rise 2017/A Taiwanese Tale of Two Cities 2018
- Mission DoloresVertigo 1958/Class Action 1991
- The Castro Theater, 429 Castro St.Sense8 – Season 2 2016/GirlBoss 2017
- Eureka Arts Center, 4400 20th St.When We Rise 2017
- 440 Castro St.When We Rise 2017
- Twin Peaks Bar, 401 CastroWhen We Rise 2017
- Castro St. between 17th and 18th St.When We Rise 2017
- 520 Castro St.When We Rise 2017
- Harvey Milk Plaza, 17th and CastroWhen We Rise 2017
- 426 Castro St.When We Rise 2017
- Park Hill SanatoriumVertigo 1958
From the San Francisco Film Commission permit record. Every film shot in San Francisco.
Upcoming Events
Where to Eat
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Where to Drink
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Things to Do
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GLBT Historical Society Museum
America's first standalone LGBTQ history museum, in the Castro, about 1,600 square feet. Exhibits draw on more than 1,000 items from the GLBT Historical Society's collection; past displays included Harvey Milk's camera and artifacts from the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria riot. $10, free the first Wednesday of each month. An expansion on Market Street was approved by the Board of Supervisors in late 2024.
Seward Street Slides
Two concrete slides on a hillside since 1973, designed by 14 year old Kim Clark, winner of a design contest organized by sculptor Ruth Asawa. The park followed a decade of neighborhood resistance to development, including a 1966 occupation. Bring cardboard to ride on. Free, Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
Twin Peaks
Park at Christmas Tree Point, then take the short trail between the summits for the views without the crowd.
