Historic bars and saloons in San Francisco were some of the earliest businesses during the formation of the city. Many of the first businesses to spring up in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush era (1848–1855) supported the influx of new men, including bars and saloons,[1] breweries,[2] horse racing tracks,[3] and others forms of entertainment.
During the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries in San Francisco, the Barbary Coast red-light district was formed in a nine block area of the city, centered on a three block stretch of Pacific Street, now Pacific Avenue, between Montgomery and Stockton Streets.[4] The Barbary Coast was home to dance halls, concert saloons, bars, jazz clubs, variety shows, and brothels.
The Old Shop Saloon, formerly the Old Ship Alehouse, was built in 1851 around the ruins of a California Gold Rush-era ship named the Arkansas.[1] It is located in the Jackson Square neighborhood and is part of the Barbary Coast Trail.
A historic bar located at 3200 16th Street at Guerrero Street in San Francisco's Mission District neighborhood.[5][6] It was opened by Francis Daneal, as a Wild West at a time when the neighborhood sidewalks were made of wooden planks.[5] Over the years it has held many different roles within the neighborhood including as an Irish working-man’s place, a sailor bar, a shot-and-a-beer dive bar, a gay Latino hangout, a dingy dive, and as a beer bar.[5] It is on it's 11th proprietor, H. Joseph Ehrmann.[5] The interior of the bar is of the Victorian-era and tends to have a dark atmosphere, since around 2003 the bar specializes in elaborate cocktails.[5]
The Saloon is located at 1232 Grant Avenue in the North Beach neighborhood.[7]
A historic bar located at 1560 Powell Street in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood.[8][9]
A historic bar located at 3349 20th Street in San Francisco's Mission District neighborhood.[10][11][12] It was founded by two German immigrants as a neighborhood grocery store with a backroom "grog shop".[12]
A historic bar located at 807 Lincoln Way in San Francisco's Inner Sunset neighborhood.[13]
A historic bar located at 1901 Union Street in San Francisco's Cow Hollow neighborhood.[14]
A historic bar located at 2301 Folsom Street in San Francisco's Mission District neighborhood.[15] Built in 1902 by Charles Scharenberg and opened in 1906, originally named "Old Homestead."[16] During prohibition (1920–1933) it served lunch foods, and secretly functioned as a speakeasy and brothel.[17] Fanny Pearl, a well-known madam owned the building during the prohibition.[17]
A historic saloon located at 155 Columbus Ave in San Francisco's North Beach.[18]
A historic mixed-use building known as a saloon bar, live music venue, and residential hotel, located at 500–504 4th Street in the South of Market neighborhood.[19]
A historic bar located at 39 New Montgomery Street in the Financial District of San Francisco.[20]
A historic bar located at 2401-16th Street in San Francisco's Mission District neighborhood.[21]