North Beach, San Francisco

North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco, adjacent to Chinatown, the Financial District, and Russian Hill. This neighborhood is San Francisco's "Little Italy" and has historically been home to a large Italian American population, largely from Northern Italy. It still boasts many Italian restaurants and a sizeable Italian community, although several other ethnic groups currently inhabit the area. Additionally, it was the historic center of the beatnik subculture and has evolved into one of San Francisco's main nightlife districts, while also serving as a residential neighborhood populated by a mix of young urban professionals, families, and Chinese immigrants.

The American Planning Association (APA) has named North Beach one of ten "Great Neighborhoods in America."

Location

North Beach is bordered by the former Barbary Coast, now Jackson Square, the Financial District south of Broadway, Chinatown to the southwest of Columbus below Green Street, Russian Hill to the west, Telegraph Hill to the east, and Fisherman's Wharf at Bay Street to the north.

The main intersections are at Union and Columbus, the southwest corner of Washington Square, Grant Avenue, and Vallejo Street.

The neighborhood features modern mid-century apartments, duplexes, Victorian homes, and multiplexes.

History

Originally, the city's northeast shoreline extended only to what is today Taylor and Francisco streets. The area largely known today as North Beach was an actual beach, filled in with landfill around the late 19th century. Warehouses, fishing wharves, and docks were then built on the newly formed shoreline. Due to the proximity of the docks, the southern half of the neighborhood south of Broadway was home to the infamous Barbary Coast.

In 1890, Elizabeth Ashe and Alice Griffith founded what would become the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center to help combat illness, illiteracy, and poor living conditions in North Beach. They lobbied vigorously for better recreational opportunities for neighborhood children. In 1907, the city established its first playground commission with the goal of creating dedicated recreational areas specifically for kids. This commission identified two sites, including the North Beach Playground. The plan featured an outdoor swimming pool, financed by reallocating funds from a fire department cistern originally planned for Powell and Lombard, possibly the first publicly financed municipal pool in the city. By 1910, the North Beach playground and pool had been constructed. The three youngest of the nine DiMaggio children—Vince, Joe, and Dom—grew up playing baseball there in the 1920s and eventually became professional baseball players.

After the 1906 earthquake reconstruction, a large number of Italian immigrants shaped the Italian character of the neighborhood that still exists today. Prominent Italian Americans from the neighborhood include baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, who grew up there and briefly returned to live with his wife, Marilyn Monroe, during the 1950s, as well as former San Francisco mayor and politician Joseph Alioto, along with others from the distinguished Alioto family.

North Beach was home to San Francisco's first lesbian bar, Mona's 440 Club. Mona Sargeant and her husband Jimmie opened Mona's in 1936 in a North Beach basement, creating a small underground bar that celebrated the end of Prohibition. As Mona's gained popularity among the gay community and tourists, the club moved to a larger location at 440 Broadway Street. It remained Mona's 440 until the mid-1950s.

During the 1950s, many cafes and bars in the neighborhood became home to the Beat Generation and gave rise to the San Francisco Renaissance. The term "beatnik" originated from the scene here and was coined in a derogatory fashion by famed San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. Many of that generation's most famous writers and personalities, such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Neal Cassady, lived in the neighborhood. Another poet from this generation, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, founded the City Lights Bookstore, which still exists today on the corner of Broadway and Columbus as an official historic landmark and serves as one of the main focal points of this generation.

During the 1960s, a notable night spot was The Committee, an improvisational theater group founded by alumni of The Second City in Chicago. The Committee opened on April 10, 1963, at 622 Broadway, in a 300-seat cabaret theater.

The Broadway area also pioneered innovations in the strip club industry. The Condor Club, located at the corner of Columbus and Broadway, opened in 1964 as America's first topless bar, a status it maintains today. The Lusty Lady was the first striptease club organized as a worker cooperative, meaning it was managed by the dancers who worked at that peep-show establishment. Broadway strip clubs owe their legacy to the Barbary Coast, situated just one block south on Pacific Street during the late 19th century.[citation needed]

In the 1970s and 1980s, Broadway was home to many live music clubs, such as the Stone and Mabuhay Gardens, a punk rock club.

After World War II, and accelerated during the Korean War, the Italian American population has been moving out of the Little Italy sections of North Beach, Telegraph Hill, and Fisherman's Wharf due to suburbanization. Since the 1980s, and much like Manhattan's Little Italy, a decrease in emigration from Italy and gentrification has contributed to a rapid decline in the native Italian American population. The neighborhood has since witnessed neighboring Chinatown expanding north into the area south of Broadway and along Stockton Street, resulting in a significant demographic shift towards a mix of mainly Chinese and young professionals, with few Italian Americans remaining.

In 2000, after some negotiations, the heirs of Joe DiMaggio's estate—two granddaughters and their four children—welcomed the renaming of North Beach playground to the Joe DiMaggio North Beach Playground. In 2015, the first renovation of the playground in over 50 years was completed.

Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane was living in North Beach in an apartment unit above Al's Attire at the corner of Grant Avenue and Vallejo Street at the time of his death in 2016, and was often a patron of nearby Caffe Trieste.

Events

Fleet Week Airshow

The * San Francisco Fleet Week Air Show * will take place from October 10 to 12, 2025, as part of the traditional Fleet Week celebration of the US Navy and armed forces. This spectacular air show, set against the backdrop of the famous San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators every year.

The highlight of the event is the demonstration by the * Blue Angels *, the U.S. Navy's aerobatic team, who impress with precise maneuvers and tight formation flying aboard F/A-18 Super Hornets. In addition to the Blue Angels, the program includes other military aircraft, historic World War II aircraft, and civilian aerobatic performances.

Fleet Week is also an opportunity for the public to visit naval vessels, meet military personnel, and take part in various festivities organized throughout the week. The air show is a highlight, showcasing the power and precision of the armed forces while offering an unforgettable experience in one of America's most iconic settings.

Parade of Ships

See the ships of the 2025 San Francisco Fleet Week sail under the Golden Gate Bridge and learn about the different types of vessels.

San Francisco Fleet Week hosts the largest Parade of Ships on the West Coast. The procession of ships can be seen from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, with the reviewing stand at the Marina Green.

The San Francisco Fire Department will lead the parade with their fire boat, shooting jets of water into the air to celebrate the Fleet’s arrival.

Ship Tours

Climb aboard the amphibious carriers, cutters, destroyers, and cruisers docked at the Embarcadero and get a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of the sailors serving in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Join us on the San Francisco waterfront to tour our visiting ships docked at the Port of San Francisco and get a glimpse of the day-to-day lives of the sailors serving in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.

• San Francisco Fleet Week website

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The North Beach Festival street fair on Grant Avenue and Columbus Avenue, usually held on Father's Day weekend in June, is one of the city's largest. It is also considered one of the nation's oldest street fairs. The Italian Heritage Parade, formerly known as the Columbus Day Parade, is the United States' longest continuously run Italian heritage celebration. The route goes from Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, along Columbus Avenue to Washington Square, in front of Saints Peter and Paul Church.