Path · 7 stops · 1.0 km
The Beats in North Beach
A self-guided walking tour by Here Before Us
In the 1950s North Beach was home base for the Beat Generation. City Lights, the bookstore and publisher founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, published Allen Ginsberg's Howl and fought the obscenity trial that followed. A short walk through the bookshop, bars, cafés and clubs of the scene.
Stops
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected titles related to San Francisco culture. It was founded in 1953 by poet…
Jack Kerouac Alley, formerly Adler Alley or Adler Place, is a one-way alleyway in San Francisco, California, that connects Grant Avenue in Chinatown, and Columbus Avenue in North Beach. The alley is named after Jack Kerouac, a Beat Generation writer who used to frequent the pub and bookstore adjacent to the alley.…
Vesuvio Cafe is a historic bar in San Francisco, California, United States. Located at 255 Columbus Avenue, across an alley from City Lights Bookstore, the building was designed and built in 1913 by Italian architect Italo Zanolini, and remodeled in 1918.
The Hungry I (stylized as hungry i) was a nightclub in San Francisco, California, originally located in the North Beach neighborhood. It played a major role in the history of stand-up comedy in the United States. It was launched by Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, who sold it to Enrico Banducci in 1951.
The Beat Museum is located in San Francisco, California and is dedicated to preserving the memory and works of the Beat Generation. The Beat Generation was a group of post-WWII artists who challenged the social norms of the 1950s, encouraged experimentation with drugs and sexuality, practiced various types of Eastern…
Caffè Trieste is an internationally known coffeehouse, retail store, and former franchise in San Francisco. The original cafe, opened in 1956, was the first espresso-based coffeehouse on the West Coast of the United States. Caffe Trieste is considered a San Francisco institution and a local hub for poets, writers,…
Washington Square is an 2.8-acre (1.1 ha) park in the North Beach district of San Francisco. It was established in 1847 and is one of the city's first parks. The park is bordered by sidewalk cafes and restaurants such as Mama's (restaurant), Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, and Park Tavern restaurants and the Liguria Bakery,…
Here Before Us