The Castro

The Castro is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, which is also known as Eureka Valley. Castro street, which runs through the neighborhood, is best known for being the heart of San Francisco's gay community. The Castro is also a commonly used abbreviation for the Castro Theatre, a landmark movie theater located in the Castro community.

History of The Castro

The Castro came of age as a gay center following the controversial Summer of Love in the neighboring Haight Ashbury district in 1967. The gathering brought tens of thousands of middle-class youth from all over the United States. Dreams of love, peace, drugs, and sex were dashed as conditions quickly deteriorated and violent crime became rampant.

Related Topics:
Summer of Love - Haight Ashbury

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During the 1950s and 1960s, when families left the big cities for the suburbs, the Eureka Valley also suffered this fate. By the early 1970s, rents were low and people who had been pushed out of homes by the gentrification of the district nearby began to settle in the Eureka Valley. Local real estate agents played a key role in the process of gentrification.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1960s - Suburbs - 1970s - Gentrification

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By 1975, Harvey Milk had opened a camera store there, and began active political involvement as a gay activist, further contributing to the notion of the Castro as a gay destination. Some of the culture of the late 1970s included what was termed the "Castro Street Clone", which was a mode of dress in vogue with the gay population at the time, and which gave rise to the nickname "Clone Canyon" for the stretch of Castro Street between 18th Street and Market Street. There were numerous famous waterholes in the area, contributing to the nightlife, including the Corner Grocery Bar, the Norse Cove, the Pendulum, and the Elephant Walk. A typical street scene of the period is perhaps best illustrated by mentioning the male belly dancers who could be found holding forth in good weather at the corner of 18th and Castro, on "Hibernia Beach", in front of the financial institution from which it drew its name.

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Sadly, the area was hit hard by the AIDS/HIV crisis of the 1980s.

Related Topics:
AIDS - HIV

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