Mission District
Mission Dolores
©SFCVB |
The Mission has
a history of welcoming different ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
Originally, the area was inhabited by a tribe called the Ramaytush
who died of smallpox and various other ailments when the Spanish settlers
coaxed them into the rancherias surrounding the Mission Dolores (established
in 1776). Yankee squatters followed the missionaries in the 1840s,
then came a wave of German and Scandinavian immigrants in the 1860s,
and rich local merchants who built the Victorian mansions on South
Van Ness and Liberty Hill in the 1870s.
After the 1906 quake destroyed so much of San Francisco, Irish and
Italians relocated to the quickly expanding Mission. The neighborhood
was far enough from the devastated downtown and populated enough to
support a growing number of stores, restaurants and bars. Since the
turn of the century there's been a steady trickle of Central American
immigrants to the Mission. Beginning in the 1950s, the Latino population
in the Mission has doubled every 10 years, infusing the neighborhood
with much of its current flavor. In addition to the taquerias, pupuserias,
Salvadoran bakeries, and auto repair shops, note the abundance of
cafes, thrift shops and used bookstores. These are the establishments
that cater to the college grads, artists, and subversives that had
been drawn to the Mission for its cheap rents. Until recently that
is, because with the Internet boom, all rents in San Francisco have
shot-up.
It's impossible to be bored in the Mission. There's a lot to see and
do, and you can do most of it on foot. The area is large enough, though,
to have "sub-sections": the Dolores Street and Valencia Corridor is
the "hip" younger section; 24th Street is considered the true
heart of the Mission; and 16th and Valencia Street is the place
for nightlife. |
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Mission Dolores
© RJ Best
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