LIFE in a Great City: San Francisco

2 minute read

For the latest edition of our “Great Cities” series, LIFE.com features classic photographs of that smallish, hilly gem by the Bay: San Francisco. For a town its size—with a population of 800,000, it has just a quarter as many people as, for example, Brooklyn—San Francisco holds a forceful grip on the imagination of people around the country and around the world.

From the legendary, wide-open debauchery of the Gold Rush years to the Beat poets of North Beach in the 1950s; the Haight-Ashbury era and the brief (over-romanticized) Summer of Love of the Sixties; the locavore restaurant revolution, which arguably started in the East Bay with Chez Panisse; the unstoppable flowering of gay rights; the first stirrings of “maker culture” and the dawn of the Digital Age (Wired magazine, etc.), San Francisco and environs have been at the center of countless movements and “isms” for more than a century and a half.

The pictures here document The City (as San Franciscans habitually call it) from the 1930s to the early 1970s—a handful of decades during which SF transformed itself as dramatically as any metropolis in America. Despite all the upheaval it’s endured, however, San Francisco remains a singular place. It’s at-once whimsical and tough, self-absorbed and endearing—a cultured, world-class city that retains some of its Wild West character, while harboring neighborhoods that feel like distinct, companionable hamlets.

So, let’s celebrate a great American city. Whatever you do, though, do not call it “Frisco.” San Franciscans young and old get weirdly worked up about that nickname. You’ve been warned.

At the scene of the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1938.
At the scene of the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1938.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
At the scene of the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939.
At the scene of the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939.Horace Bristol—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Ferry near the the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, 1941.
Ferry near the the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, 1941.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Fong-Fong bakery and ice cream parlor, 1941.
Fong-Fong bakery and ice cream parlor, 1941.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Diego Rivera working on pencil sketches for huge mural depicting Pan-American unity, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1941.
Diego Rivera working on pencil sketches for huge mural depicting Pan-American unity, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1941.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Shipyard ironworkers, San Francisco, 1942.
Shipyard ironworkers, San Francisco, 1942.Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
San Francisco 1942
Streets of San Francisco, 1942.Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
San Francisco, 1942.
San Francisco, 1942.Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A civilian observer and plane-spotter, San Francisco, 1942.
A civilian observer and plane-spotter, San Francisco, 1942.Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Cemetery of Mission Dolores, San Francisco, 1942.
Cemetery of Mission Dolores, San Francisco, 1942.Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Newspapers welcome Madame Chiang Kai-Shek to San Francisco, 1943.
Newspapers welcome Madame Chiang Kai-Shek to San Francisco, 1943.Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
American troops, San Francisco, 1945.
American troops, San Francisco, 1945.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Author Gertrude Atherton and her dog outside of her home in San Francisco, 1946.
Author Gertrude Atherton and her dog outside of her home in San Francisco, 1946.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Cable car turnaround, San Francisco, 1947.
Cable car turnaround, San Francisco, 1947.Charles E. Steinheimer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
View of San Francisco, 1947.
View of San Francisco, 1947.Andreas Feininger—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
San Francisco, 1947.
San Francisco, 1947.Charles E. Steinheimer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Drive-in theater, San Francisco, 1948.
Drive-in theater, San Francisco, 1948.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Golden Gate Bridge at sunset, 1951.
Golden Gate Bridge at sunset, 1951.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
South San Francisco, 1951.
South San Francisco, 1951.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Dancing the mambo at San Francisco's Macumba Club, 1954.
Dancing the mambo at San Francisco's Macumba Club, 1954.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Pacific Heights, 1955.
Pacific Heights, 1955.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The Tin Angel, a waterfront nightclub, San Francisco, 1955.
The Tin Angel, a waterfront nightclub, San Francisco, 1955.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
View of the Golden Gate Bridge toward the hills of Marin County, 1955.
View of the Golden Gate Bridge toward the hills of Marin County, 1955.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
San Francisco bar, 1956.
San Francisco bar, 1956.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Getting one's hair done in San Francisco, 1956.
Getting one's hair done in San Francisco, 1956.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Lawrence Ferlinghetti at City Lights, 1957.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti at City Lights, 1957.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Kenneth Rexroth at a poetry reading, 1957.
Kenneth Rexroth at a poetry reading, 1957.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Housing construction in San Francisco, 1958.
Housing construction in San Francisco, 1958.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Looking at Alcatraz, 1958.
Looking at Alcatraz, 1958.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Willie Mays and young fan, San Francisco, 1958.
Willie Mays and young fan, San Francisco, 1958.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Opening of the boating season on San Francisco Bay, 1958.
Opening of the boating season on San Francisco Bay, 1958.Nat Farbman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Opening Day at Candlestick Park, 1960.
Opening Day at Candlestick Park, 1960.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1962.
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1962.Walker Evans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The Beatles at a press conference, San Francisco, 1964.
The Beatles at a press conference, San Francisco, 1964.Bill Ray—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Brand new BART, 1967.
Brand new BART, 1967.John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Vietnam War protestors, San Francisco, 1967.
Vietnam War protestors, San Francisco, 1967.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
San Francisco, 1969.
San Francisco, 1969.Lee Balterman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Above San Francisco, 1969.
Above San Francisco, 1969.Lee Balterman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Black Panthers protest, San Francisco, 1970.
Black Panthers protest, San Francisco, 1970.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Author Richard Brautigan with his daughter, San Francisco, 1970.
Author Richard Brautigan with his daughter, San Francisco, 1970.Vernon Merritt III—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco mayoral race, 1971.
Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco mayoral race, 1971.Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Anti-war march, San Francisco, 1972.
Anti-war march, San Francisco, 1972.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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