Excelsior District, San Francisco, California

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The Excelsior District in San Francisco is the area along Mission Street, south of Interstate 280 and north of Geneva Avenue. The area is characterized by the names of the streets, many of which were named for European countries and cities. Excelsior Street itself was only labeled as such during the Second World War, replacing the name, "Japan" ("Germany" was also a street name that was replaced during this time). In its earlier days the Excelsior was predominantly Italian, Irish, and Swiss. Today it is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco, with many Asians, Latinos, and other groups having also settled there in recent decades.[1]

Noteworthy Excelsior residents include surrealist poet Philip Lamantia, Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia, Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Cronin, DJ Qbert, and San Francisco mayoral and supervisoral assassin Dan White. A movie was once filmed there with Julie Andrews. The neighborhood is represented by Geraldo Sandoval.

Central to the neighborhood for quite some time was the landmark Granada Theater, at the intersection of Mission and Ocean. In 1922 it opened with the name "Excelsior" but, was replaced with the name "Granada" in 1931 after the downtown Granada Theater changed its name to the Paramount,freeing up the name. Both the name and a vertical "Granada" sign were deployed in the Excelsior. However, the theater closed in 1982.

Among the various schools in the district is the "San Francisco Community Alternative School", a private grade school with a unique 'project-based' curriculum.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Excelsior district takes care of its own
  2. ^ San Francisco Community School - Welcome

[edit] External links