Another Fun Filled Fact ‘bout San Francisco: The Castro District

From the SFHotelstories History File: Neighborhoods.

Before it was known as “The Castro,” the neighborhood was called Eureka Valley.

Before the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, the Castro was mostly dairy farms and dirt roads.

Though not as well known as other ethnic enclaves, Scandinavians settled the area they called Little Scandinavia. In fact, I remember a Swedish Diner in the heart of the neighborhood that had been there for years by the time I moved to the city in 1988.

For a hundred years, Castro Theater was (and still is) the center of the neighborhood.

Once the destination for Halloween, the area had 350,000 revelers in 2006, which was too much for the small neighbohood. That was the last year for that much-missed tradition.