Yet Even More Fun-Filled Facts 'bout San Francisco: The Sunset District

From the SFHotelstories History File: Neighborhoods

The Sunset District

Most of what is theSunset District today was once covered entirely by sand dunes until the 1950s.

The Sunset District is anchored by University of California, San Francisco Parnassus campus one end to the north, and San Francisco State University on the other end to the south.

In the 1890s a group of eccentric bohemians created a little artist colony amongst the sand dunes out of old carriages and trolly cars, and called it "Carville."

The area was referred to as the "Outside Lands" because of all the sand dunes, that's where the world-renowned annual pop music festival gets its name.

Because of the sparse population and sand dunes, there were two different dynamite factories in what would become the Sunset District.

It's where the San Francisco Zoo is located.

The streets running east to west are in alphabetical order, from Irving to Wawona streets.