Important Notice:
The museum will be closed:
Thursday, March 27 through the month of June
(capital improvements and new exhibit installation)
We’ll be open again in early July.
NEW: FREE DOCENT TOURS OF THE SFHS MUSEUM! [Closed During Renovations]
The San Francisco Historical Society begins a new docent tour program for the Museum in conjunction with the opening of our new exhibition, Ferlinghetti: An Exhibition in 6 Vignettes.
Join us for an engaging docent-led tour at the San Francisco Historical Society Museum at 608 Commercial Street in San Francisco. Hear fascinating stories and learn things you didn’t know about San Francisco, and the exhibits on view. Enjoy getting unique insights as our knowledgeable guides bring our exhibits to life. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a history buff, this tour will deepen your appreciation and understanding of San Francisco’s history.
Docent tours are free and are held at 11:30 am, and 1:30 pm on Saturdays.
The San Francisco Historical Society Museum is free and open to the public Thursdays-Saturdays from 10 am – 4 pm
Watch the Re-Broadcast!
History Live! “George Moscone and the Making of Modern San Francisco.”
Tue. May 13 @ 6:30 PM (In-person & Livestream)
Join author and professor, Lincoln Mitchell, as he discusses the fascinating life of politician George Moscone.
History Live! How San Francisco Became America’s “Gay Capital.”
Tue. June 10th @ 6:30 PM (In-person & Livestream)
Join Shawn Sprockett, senior adjunct professor in San Francisco, as he uncovers how San Francisco became the “Gay Capital” of American. A free ticket is required. Donations greatly appreciated!
About the Event:
For more than sixty years, San Francisco has been a beacon for LGBTQ people from all over the world. But how did it achieve this role? The true story begins more than 200 years before the rainbow flag or Harvey Milk. Hear the surprising story of how a parade of saloon owners, drag queens, sex workers, psychologists, hair fairies, Pentagon officials, and armed Evangelical activists together made San Francisco America’s “Gay Capital.”
About Shawn Sprockett:
Shawn is a designer and senior adjunct professor in San Francisco, where he has lived for ten years. He has been studying lesser-known queer history in the city since 2018 and now runs a volunteer queer history walking tour project called Unspeakable Vice, which highlights queer heroes, stories, and places beyond the Castro.
Event Schedule:
Tuesday, June 10th
6 PM, In-person please arrive to accommodate filming
6:30 PM, Livestream and in-person presentation starts
Address, 608 Commerical Street, San Francisco
Watch the Film!
History Live: “Shaping San Francisco’s Urban Design: Anna and Lawrence Halprins’ Artistic Legacy.”
Join Janice Ross, Professor Emerita from Stanford University, as she discusses how Anna and Lawrence Halprin transformed contemporary dance and urban design. Originally aired on April 1st, 2025.
About the Event:
Anna and Lawrence Halprin are the hidden designers of public life in San Francisco. As the Bay Area’s most famous and under-explored artistic couple, this dancer and landscape architect duo transformed the city into a theatrical stage beginning in the rebellious 1960s. Larry designed signature outdoor spaces that help define the city’s identity, including the Ghirardelli Square adaptive-reuse project, Levi’s Plaza, and Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio. Anna made the city streets her stage, presenting offbeat events like Blank Placard Dance, a 1967 protest performed by dancers carrying blank placards along Market Street, and Hangar, a performance staged by dancers trespassing on San Francisco Airport under construction the 1950s. The Halprins were teachers as much as artists. In the 1970s, working from her Divisadero Street studio, Anna built one of the nation’s first racially diverse dance companies. In the early 1980s, she created the first dance groups for HIV-positive men, based at Fort Mason.
Janice Ross is Professor Emerita of the Theatre and Performance Studies Deptartment, Stanford University. She is the author of five books, and focuses on the politics of moving bodies. She has researched and written about the Halprins for years. This talk is drawn from her latest book,
The Choreography of Environments: How the Anna and Lawrence Halprin Home Transformed Contemporary Dance and Urban Design (Oxford, 2025), which explores how the architecture of the Halprins’ mid-century modern home in Marin shaped the art they put into the world.
Walking Tours
Our walking tours provide a first-hand experience of San Francisco’s history. Tours include historical themes that embrace San Francisco’s rich history with subject experts who led the tours. We know you’ll in joy learning about the City’s iconic history with tours that include the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, Fisherman’s Wharf, the gold rush, the Barbary Coast to name a few.
**** Additional Tour Information ***
General public admission, $20 per person (non-members) -Additional donations at checkout are always appreciated and keep the ticket price low.
Free for members with 100% off discount code. Check your SF History E-newsletter, which goes out the first week of every month, for the membership code. Apply at check-out.
Please note that Unspeakable Vice tour general admission tickets at $30 each and $10 for members. Attendees must be age 21.
Tour length: Approximately 90 minutes
Maximum attendees: 20 people on a first-come,first serve basis
In case of rain, tour will be rescheduled
*** SIGN UP FOR WALKING TOURS BELOW ***
If you need any assistance, please email Chris Griffith at [email protected]
NEW WALKING TOUR! The “Valley of the Queens”
Explore the vibrant and revolutionary queer history of San Francisco’s Tenderloin and Polk Street neighborhoods with local resident and professor Shawn Sprockett. This tour offers a deep dive into the emergence of LGBTQIA+ icons and movements that shaped the area from the 1960s to the 1990s. The “Valley of the Queens” tour highlights key events such as the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, a landmark trans resistance that predates the Stonewall Riots, and the site of San Francisco’s first Pride parade.
Tours start at The Tenderloin Museum located at 398 Eddy St., San Francisco.
Tours led by expert, Shawn Sprockett
Tour Dates & Times:
Saturday, May 24th @ 2 PM
Saturday, June 28th @ 2 PM
Saturday, August 16th @ 2 PM
General public admission, $35 per person (non-members); Members, $10 with discount code. Check your SF History E-newsletter, which goes out the first week of every month, for the membership code. Apply at check-out.
Purchase Tickets Here: www.SFHistory.org/ValleyoftheQueens
NEW WALKING TOUR! “The History of North Beach”
North Beach is one of the oldest areas of San Francisco and has seen many changes over its long history. What began as a beachfront community and maritime port soon attracted immigrants from many countries, who over time, transformed the area into today’s vibrant mercantile and tourist area. Sailors, bankers, poets, performers, and others all made their imprint here, and their stories will be part of this walk through the neighborhood. Along the way we will sample some of the neighborhood’s delicacies (included). And for those who wish to stay after the tour, you can enjoy a pizza on your own at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, where the tour ends.
Tips to the guide are not required but are welcomed.
Tours start at 608 Commercial Street (SF Historical Society Museum) at 10AM and end at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana around 11:30AM.
Tours led by Stephen Johnson, a board member of the San Francisco Tour Guide Guild.
Tour Dates & Times:
Saturday, June 21st @ 10:00 AM
Saturday, July 12th @ 10:00 AM
Saturday, August 2nd @ 10:00 AM
**** Additional Tour Information ***
General public admission, $30 per person (non-members); Members, $10 with discount code. Check your SF History E-newsletter, which goes out the first week of every month, for the membership code. Apply at check-out.
Purchase Tickets Here: www.SFHistory.org/HistoryofNorthBeach
Join us for an exploration of Fisherman’s Wharf, the most popular free attraction in San Francisco, to discover how commercial fishing coexists with the modern tourist Mecca. Learn how Native Americans, Chinese, Italians, whaling sea captains, and sport fishermen all have harvested seafood from the waters of San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
Starting at the Musée Mécanique at Pier 45, we will walk to the Maritime Museum at Aquatic Park, a flat, under-two-hour stroll. Along the way, you’ll hear stories about World War II ships, a San Francisco theatrical production called The Cable Car Nymphomaniac, and the crisis that “broke the mold” for Irish coffee glasses.
Tour Dates:
Saturday, June 28th @ 10AM
Saturday, July 26th @ 10AM
Saturday, August 23rd @ 10AM
1906 Earthquake and Fire: Chinatown’s Devastation and Renewal
Before dawn on April 18, 1906, the San Andreas Fault ruptured, sending shock waves racing across San Francisco. The city was abruptly wakened to witness a firestorm that would last three days and destroy almost everything within sight. Vibrant and densely populated Chinatown was swiftly engulfed by a raging fire on Day One, its inhabitants dispersed like embers in the wind. With Chinatown destroyed, city politicians and power brokers decided that this was an opportune time to relocate the Chinese community. Powered by an irrepressible resilience, the Chinese community re-imagined Chinatown and built it back better.
Tours led by Jack Grippi
Tour Dates & Times:
Saturday, May 17th @ 11AM
Saturday, June 21st @ 11AM
Saturday, July 26th @ 11AM
Saturday, August 23rd @ 11AM
Register at www.SFHistory.org/1906Tour
Experience how San Francisco went from a trading village to a metropolis. You’ll learn about the hidden remains of sunken ships and artifacts from the Gold Rush.
Tours led by expert, Lori Bower or Kelci Bengier
Tour Dates & Times:
Saturday, April 19th @ 11 AM (Lori)
Saturday, May 3rd @ 11 AM (Kelci)
Register at www.SFHistory.org/GoldRushSunkenShips
Secrets and Stories of San Francisco’s “Wall Street of the West”
Travel back in time to discover the stories and significance of the companies and people whose names adorn Financial District buildings. In addition to Silver Kings, the Big Four, and renowned bankers, this tour will introduce you to many others who “mined the miners” to create wealth beyond any normal imagination.
Tours led by Thom Jackson
Tour Dates & Times:
No tours scheduled at this time.
Register at www.SFHistory.org/WallStreetOfTheWest
Barbary Coast and Jackson Square: Pleasure Seekers and Merry Makers
Explore the beginnings of the “anything goes” city through its culture, food, and vice. Is it so different today? Discover how the City by the Bay reflects its glorious past and continues as a trend-setting urban playground.
Tours led by historian experts, Corrie Conklin and Carolyn Moniz.
Tour Dates & Times:
No tours scheduled at this time.
Register at www.SFHistory.org/BarbaryCoast
Unspeakable Vice: Queer North Beach Before the Castro
Starting at the San Francisco Historical Society, we’ll zig zag our way by more than a dozen lost queer bars, concluding with a round of drinks at the site an infamous lesbian hook-up spot on Grant. Hear how the “unspeakable vice” of the Victorians found its place and, through the process, gained a voice. Starts at 608 Commercial St. and ends at Maggy McGary’s pub at 1353 Grant Ave in North Beach. This exciting new tour includes a free drink at Maggy McGary’s, included in the tour price.
Notes: 21+, Limit 1 free drink per guest, Maggy McGary’s end 1353 Grant Ave
Limit 1 free drink per guest.
Tours led by expert, Shawn Sprockett
Tour Dates & Times:
Saturday, May 24th @ 11 AM
Saturday, June 28th @ 11 AM
Saturday, August 16th @ 11 AM
Register at www.SFHistory.org/UnspeakableVice
Gold Rush Walks for Kids
Our trained guides offer free walking tours for elementary school focused on the Gold Rush. This walk directly addresses grade 4 social studies standards, but students in grades 3–6 are welcome to attend. Please call 415-537-1105, Ext. 6, for more details.
Self-Guided Walking Tours
Tours of ‘Old Town’ SF
Not up for an in-person event yet? Give our self-guided walking tours a try. These walks also begin at 608 Commercial Street. You can download them for free on the App Store or Google Play. Search for “City Explorer San Francisco” and look for the walks with the SFHS logo. Or, scan the QR code with your smartphone or tablet (this will take you directly to the App store to download the City Explorer San Francisco app).
Self-Guided Tours Led by SF High School Students
Walking Tours of Golden Gate Park!
Walking tours of Golden Gate Park led by San Francisco high school students, the winners of the 2020 Fracchia Prize, are now available as mobile apps. Download the walks for free and start exploring “Everyone’s Park,” with freshly minted historians as your guide. Choose from:
- “Botany and Horticulture: Symbols of Flourishing Against the Odds” by Winnie Quock, George Washington High School (1st Place Winner)
- “Horticultural History: Learning About San Francisco’s Past Through the Garden Gems of the City’s Favorite Park” by Indigo Mudbhary, Lick-Wilmerding High School (2nd Place Winner)
* COMING SOON * “It’s a Ringer! One Perfect Day in Golden Gate Park” by 3rd Place Winner Luke Zeponni, Abraham Lincoln High School
* Special thanks to SFHS Volunteer Gloria Lenhart for creating our mobile history apps. *