page_title: Castro District, San Francisco
section_title: Attractions
hierarchical_section_title: Castro District, San Francisco / Attractions
context_page_description: The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro remains one of the most prominent symbols of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activism and events in the world.
context_section_description: One of the more notable features of the neighborhood is Castro Theatre, a movie palace built in 1922 and one of San Francisco's premier movie houses.
  18th and Castro is a major intersection in the Castro, where many historic events, marches, and protests have taken and continue to take place.
  A major cultural destination in the neighborhood is the GLBT History Museum, which opened for previews on Dec. 10, 2010, at 4127 18th St. The grand opening of the museum took place on the evening of Jan. 13, 2011. The first full-scale, stand-alone museum of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history in the United States (and only the second in the world after the Schwules Museum in Berlin), the GLBT History Museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society.
  The F Market heritage streetcar line turnaround at Market and 17th-streets where the Jane Warner city parklet sits. Across Castro street is the Harvey Milk Plaza in honor of its most famous resident with its iconic giant flag pole with an oversized rainbow flag, symbol of the LGBT community. Below street level is the main entrance to the Castro Street Station, a Muni Metro subway station and a multitiered park. Milk's camera store and campaign headquarters which were at 575 Castro has a memorial plaque and mural on the inside of the store, now housing the Human Rights Campaign Action Center and Store. There is a smaller mural above the sidewalk on the building showing Milk looking down on the street fondly.
  Across Market Street from Harvey Milk Plaza, and slightly up the hill, is the Pink Triangle Park – 17th Street at Market, a city park and monument named after the pink triangles forcibly worn by gay prisoners persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.
  Harvey's was formerly the Elephant Walk, raided by police after the White Night Riots.
  Twin Peaks is the first gay bar in the city, and possibly the United States, with plate glass windows to fully visibly expose patrons to the public is located at the intersection of Market and Castro.
  The Hartford Street Zen Center is also located in the Castro, as well as the
  Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 100 Diamond Street.
  Special events, parade and street fairs that are held in the Castro include the Castro Street Fair, the Dyke March, the famed Halloween in the Castro which was discontinued in 2007 due to street violence, Pink Saturday discontinued in the Castro in 2016, and the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.
  A LGBTQ Walk of Fame, the Rainbow Honor Walk, was installed in August 2014 with an inaugural twenty sidewalk bronze plaques representing past LGBTQ icons in their field, who continue to serve as inspirations. The walk is originally planned to coincide with the business district of the Castro and eventually include 500 bronze plaques.
  The main business section of Castro St from Market to 19th street were under reconstruction and repaving in 2014 to address a number of neighborhood concerns. The area has heavy vehicular traffic as well as many visitors. As part of the work the sidewalks were widened and new trees were planted. Additionally 20 historical cement etchings covering from the inception to the area being settled to the 2010s sweeping gay marriage movement victories were installed in September 2014.
caption: Stores on Castro near the intersection with 18th Street. Rainbow flags, which are commonly associated with gay pride, are hung as banners on streetlights along the road.[39][40][41]
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