{"id":417916,"date":"2026-07-30T12:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/417916\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T12:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:21:15","slug":"time-travel-to-san-franciscos-past-at-these-local-haunts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/417916\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Time Travel\u2019 to San Francisco\u2019s Past at These Local Haunts"},"content":{"rendered":"

There aren\u2019t many places that make you feel like you\u2019ve stepped into \u201990s San Francisco<\/a>. But, luckily, Dog Eared Books on Valencia Street is one of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf somebody wants a taste of what the Mission District felt like in 1995, they can walk into here, and it feels like that,\u201d bookseller Scott Soriano told this reporter in May<\/a>. \u201cA little bit of the San Francisco that used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not exactly, of course. Many things have evolved since its inception as a used bookstore around 30 years ago. But with the maze of shelves, posters and art covering every inch of the wall and a welcoming attitude that lets you stand around and just read for a while, \u201cDog Eared feels like a long-lost home,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Customers shop at Dog Eared Books on Valencia Street in San Francisco on July 24, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis hasn\u2019t always been a conscious effort,\u201d Soriano said. \u201cAt some point \u2014 probably when every new store seemed to be a white box \u2014 we recognized that our aesthetic is an asset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisaruth Elliot, a historian, agreed. And she would know \u2014 she co-directs Shaping San Francisco<\/a>, a community history project that hosts talks and walking tours throughout the city\u2019s neighborhoods and corridors, including Valencia Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being home to storefronts like Dog Eared was just one of Valencia Street\u2019s many uses over time. Valencia also used to be: the major transportation route for Irish funeral homes moving the deceased to Colma, the center of women\u2019s and lesbian culture in the \u201880s and \u201890s, and the hub for South Asian anti-imperialist activism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really fun to look at the different ways that spaces have been used,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nOff the beaten path\n<\/p>\n

Elliot\u2019s audience is largely curious San Franciscans or Bay Area residents who want to learn more about the city they have lived in or near almost their entire lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kind of feedback we got is, \u2018I\u2019ve lived here my whole life. I didn\u2019t know about that pathway. I didn\u2019t know you could get there from here and you showed me some new ways to get around my neighborhood.\u2019\u201d Elliot said. In her tours, people want to know, \u201cHow do I get off my own beaten path of moving through the city?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Visitors look at Laffing Sal at the Mus\u00e9e M\u00e9canique in Fisherman\u2019s Wharf in San Francisco on July 27, 2026, a museum filled with coin-operated, antique arcade games and mechanically operated musical instruments.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Mus\u00e9e M\u00e9canique in Fisherman\u2019s Wharf in San Francisco on July 27, 2026, a museum filled with coin-operated, antique arcade games and mechanically operated musical instruments.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Mus\u00e9e M\u00e9canique in Fisherman\u2019s Wharf in San Francisco on July 27, 2026, a museum filled with coin-operated, antique arcade games and mechanically operated musical instruments.<\/p>\n

There can be many reasons these residents \u2014 old and new \u2014 want to step into past decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it has a lot to do with the gravitation toward the technology industry, which is something that doesn\u2019t hold tangible concrete things of the past in high estimation,\u201d Elliot said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are yearning for that sense of connection. We talk about it all the time, right? This disconnectedness, the \u2026 dropping out of social interactions,\u201d she said. \u201cThe pandemic did not help.<\/p>\n

\u201cConnection is a really strong motivator,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the spirit of being a tourist in your own home, KQED compiled some key places that make you feel like you have \u201ctime traveled\u201d to San Francisco\u2019s storied past. Or, at least, close to it. This includes historical and preserved landmarks, legacy businesses and local spots that have curated themselves as throwbacks to an earlier time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nHead outdoors\n<\/p>\n

First off, some general tips from a historian:<\/p>\n

San Francisco landscapes have been drastically reengineered over time. Consider one of the biggest examples: Mission Bay, which is no longer a bay, Elliot said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look to our natural areas, our open spaces, as places that have not been preserved in time, necessarily, but where you can experience, even if the skyline has changed, a sort of sense of the city as it may have been,\u201d Elliot said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A tour bus stops to view Crissy Field in the Presidio, a park and former military outpost, and the city skyline of San Francisco on Feb. 25, 2025.<\/p>\n

Places, she said, like the Presidio, Bayview Hill<\/a> and Fort Funston.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still have so many spaces within the Presidio that give you a sense of what the plants were<\/a>, even before the Spanish came,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of work has been done to do that recognition of those plants.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

(The Presidio even has a pet cemetery from the 1950s<\/a>, which is open to the public.)<\/p>\n

\nVisit preserved buildings\n<\/p>\n

There are also historical buildings, like San Francisco\u2019s famous Coit Tower.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go into Coit Tower and you\u2019re looking at the murals, you can feel like you\u2019re there at the same time that the muralists were painting in the 1930s, which is very rare,\u201d Elliot said. \u201cMuseums change. But Coit has this quality of transportation back in time, especially if you get a chance to walk up through the second floor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Visitors look at murals inside of Coit Tower in San Francisco on July 27, 2026. The tower on top of Telegraph Hill was completed in 1933 and is filled with murals depicting life during the Depression in California.<\/p>\n

\"\"Views from the top of Coit Tower in San Francisco on July 27, 2026. The tower on top of Telegraph Hill was completed in 1933 and is filled with murals depicting life during the Depression in California.<\/p>\n

She also suggested The Old Mint downtown, which was built during the Gold Rush and operated from the 1860s to the 1980s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can also find a list of officially designated landmarks in the city<\/a> on the SF Planning website. The state also has its own round-up of historically designated spots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\nExplore neighborhoods\n<\/p>\n

Elliot said that with the mission of visiting San Francisco\u2019s past, the western neighborhoods are a great bet \u2014 especially some of the businesses and restaurants in the beautiful Inner Sunset and Inner Richmond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it has the advantage of being farther in distance from the downtown economic centers, but time does seem to stop in some of those places \u2014 in a good way,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that\u2019s really great that those neighborhoods have retained their character.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another key neighborhood is North Beach, San Francisco\u2019s Italian American neighborhood with beatnik corners \u2014 also right next to bustling Chinatown, which is a treat at night.<\/p>\n

\"\"Eastern Bakery in San Francisco\u2019s Chinatown neighborhood on July 27, 2026, the oldest Chinese bakery in Chinatown.<\/p>\n

\"\"A bartender walks through Specs\u2019 Twelve Adler Museum Cafe in San Francisco\u2019s North Beach neighborhood on July 27, 2026. <\/p>\n

And this reporter would be remiss not to mention the Haight-Ashbury, which preserved, restored or recreated some of San Francisco\u2019s best \u201860s imagery.<\/p>\n

But where in these neighborhoods should you check out, specifically? Conveniently enough, the City of San Francisco has a Legacy Business Program, which keeps track of spots that have operated in the city for 30 years or more and \u201ccontributed to San Francisco\u2019s history or identity.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

You can find a map of over 400 of these businesses on San Francisco\u2019s city website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KQED staffers also have recommendations for favorite places to visit when they are feeling the need to escape 2026. (Keep in mind, if you are interested in heading out to these spots, be sure to check if they are open or require an appointment!)<\/p>\n

1700s<\/p>\n

1800s<\/p>\n

Early 1900s<\/p>\n

1930s<\/p>\n

1940s<\/p>\n

House of Prime Rib<\/a> on Van Ness AvenueGray Area<\/a>, a venue currently dedicated to artistic technology, but its past as a theater is still apparent, in the MissionSwensen\u2019s<\/a> local ice cream shop on Hyde Street<\/p>\n

1950s<\/p>\n

1960s<\/p>\n

1970s<\/p>\n

1980s<\/p>\n

1990s<\/p>\n

2000s<\/p>\n

\nOther resources and ways to explore San Francisco history\n<\/p>\n

Keep in mind: The following is just the tip of the iceberg of all of the ways you can explore the city\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

Walking tours<\/p>\n

Archives and museums<\/p>\n

Also, for real history fans: There will be a complete model scale of the city<\/a> on display for the first time in more than 80 years at Pier 9 this winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCreated between 1938 and 1940 by more than 300 artisans, the San Francisco Scale Model is a hand-carved wooden replica of the entire city,\u201d according to a social media post<\/a> promoting the structure\u2019s new home. \u201cOriginally conceived as a tool for civic planning, it allowed people to see San Francisco as a whole, understand how it worked and imagine what it could become.\u201d<\/p>\n

KQED\u2019s Gabe Meline, Carlos Cabrera-Lomel\u00ed, Sam Shaw, Becca Bright, Rikki Gates and Laura Klivans contributed to this article.<\/p>\n

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