Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California
Encyclopedia
Barbary Coast was a red-light district
in old San Francisco, California
. Geographically it constituted nine blocks bounded by Montgomery Street, Washington Street, Stockton Street, and Broadway. Particularly notorious was Pacific Avenue, one of the earliest streets to be cut through the hills, which led directly from the wharf to the center of town, near Portsmouth Square
.The neighborhood quickly took on its seedy character during the California Gold Rush
(1848–1858). It was known for gambling
, prostitution
and crime
. It is now overlapped by Chinatown
, North Beach
, Jackson Square, and the Financial District
.
, Algeria
, Tunisia
, Libya
, and Egypt
) where Arab pirates attacked Mediterranean ships. The name Barbary is derived from the Berbers
.
The Barbary Coast rose from the massive infusion of treasure hunters seeking their fortunes in the gold fields. At the end of 1849, out of a population of between 20,000 and 25,000, only about 300 were women and an estimated almost two-thirds of those were prostitutes.
Miners, sailors, and sojourners hungry for female companionship and bawdy entertainment continued to stream into San Francisco in the 1850s and 1860s, becoming the Barbary Coast's primary clientele. As the city exploded with the new arrivals, some with shady pasts, soon a wide variety of land sharks, con artists, pimps, and prostitutes staked out an area designed to pluck the gold and silver from the pockets of men through liquor, lust, laudanum-laced libations, or just a hard knock on the head.
Sailors in particular had cause to dread the area because the art of shanghaiing
was perfected here. Many a sailor woke up after a night's leave to find himself unexpectedly on another ship bound for some faraway port. Crime in the streets and corruption in the government offices plagued San Francisco in the 1850s.
Nearly all drinking and dancing establishments in the area were destroyed in the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake, but within months a dozen or so were rebuilt and back in business. Upon the ousting of Eugene Schmitz
from the mayor's office and following the P. H. McCarthy administration and the election of James Rolph
Jr, efforts to reform the Barbary coast picked up steam.
, the Barbary Coast was effectively diminished and vice activities hidden from view. In 1917 the San Francisco Police Department blockaded the neighborhood and evicted the prostitutes. In 1915, future Hollywood filmmakers Sol Lesser and Hal Mohr
filmed The Last Night of the Barbary Coast
, an early example of an exploitation film
that is now considered to be a lost film
.
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
in old San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Geographically it constituted nine blocks bounded by Montgomery Street, Washington Street, Stockton Street, and Broadway. Particularly notorious was Pacific Avenue, one of the earliest streets to be cut through the hills, which led directly from the wharf to the center of town, near Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square is a one-block park in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, that is bounded by Kearny Street on the east, Washington Street on the north, Clay Street on the south, and Walter Lum Place on the west....
.The neighborhood quickly took on its seedy character during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
(1848–1858). It was known for gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
and crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
. It is now overlapped by Chinatown
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America...
, North Beach
North Beach, San Francisco, California
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
, Jackson Square, and the Financial District
Financial District, San Francisco, California
The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, that serves as its main central business district. The nickname "FiDi" is occasionally employed, analogous to nearby SoMa.-Location:...
.
Development and character
The Barbary Coast was initially known as Sydney-Town, populated by criminal elements from the British penal colonies of Australia, New South Wales and the island of Tasmania. As early as the middle of 1849, this group of immigrants had become so numerous that they dominated their domain. The denizens of this area at the foot of Broadway and Pacific Street became known as the Sydney Ducks.The neighborhood acquired its new name sometime around 1860 from the name of the coast of North Africa (MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
) where Arab pirates attacked Mediterranean ships. The name Barbary is derived from the Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
.
"The Barbary Coast is the haunt of the low and the vile of every kind. The petty thief, the house burglar, the tramp, the whoremonger, lewd women, cutthroats, murderers, all are found here. Dance-halls and concert-saloons, where blear-eyed men and faded women drink vile liquor, smoke offensive tobacco, engage in vulgar conduct, sing obscene songs and say and do everything to heap upon themselves more degradation, are numerous. Low gambling houses, thronged with riot-loving rowdies, in all stages of intoxication, are there. Opium dens, where heathen Chinese and God-forsaken men and women are sprawled in miscellaneous confusion, disgustingly drowsy or completely overcome, are there. Licentiousness, debauchery, pollution, loathsome disease, insanity from dissipation, misery, poverty, wealth, profanity, blasphemy, and death, are there. And Hell, yawning to receive the putrid mass, is there also."
The Barbary Coast rose from the massive infusion of treasure hunters seeking their fortunes in the gold fields. At the end of 1849, out of a population of between 20,000 and 25,000, only about 300 were women and an estimated almost two-thirds of those were prostitutes.
Miners, sailors, and sojourners hungry for female companionship and bawdy entertainment continued to stream into San Francisco in the 1850s and 1860s, becoming the Barbary Coast's primary clientele. As the city exploded with the new arrivals, some with shady pasts, soon a wide variety of land sharks, con artists, pimps, and prostitutes staked out an area designed to pluck the gold and silver from the pockets of men through liquor, lust, laudanum-laced libations, or just a hard knock on the head.
Sailors in particular had cause to dread the area because the art of shanghaiing
Shanghaiing
Shanghaiing refers to the practice of conscripting men as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence. Those engaged in this form of kidnapping were known as crimps. Until 1915, unfree labor was widely used aboard American merchant ships...
was perfected here. Many a sailor woke up after a night's leave to find himself unexpectedly on another ship bound for some faraway port. Crime in the streets and corruption in the government offices plagued San Francisco in the 1850s.
Nearly all drinking and dancing establishments in the area were destroyed in the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake, but within months a dozen or so were rebuilt and back in business. Upon the ousting of Eugene Schmitz
Eugene Schmitz
Eugene Edward Schmitz was an American politician and the 26th mayor of San Francisco, who became notorious for his conviction by a jury on charges of corruption.-Life and career:...
from the mayor's office and following the P. H. McCarthy administration and the election of James Rolph
James Rolph
James “Sunny Jim” Rolph, Jr. was an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to a single term as the 27th governor of California from January 6, 1931 until his death on June 2, 1934 at the height of the Great Depression...
Jr, efforts to reform the Barbary coast picked up steam.
Demise
Between the 1913 anti-vice campaigns led by the San Francisco Examiner and the passage of the 1914 Red Light Abatement ActRed Light Abatement Act
The Red Light Abatement Act is a vice law which was intended to curtail or eliminate prostitution. The Act was passed by the California legislature and signed by Governor Hiram Johnson in 1913, and became effective on 3 November 1914...
, the Barbary Coast was effectively diminished and vice activities hidden from view. In 1917 the San Francisco Police Department blockaded the neighborhood and evicted the prostitutes. In 1915, future Hollywood filmmakers Sol Lesser and Hal Mohr
Hal Mohr
Hal Mohr, A.S.C. was a famed movie cinematographer.-Career:In 1915, in an early example of an exploitation film peddled directly to theater owners, Mohr and Sol Lesser produced and directed a film The Last Night of the Barbary Coast...
filmed The Last Night of the Barbary Coast
The Last Night of the Barbary Coast
The Last Night of the Barbary Coast was an early example of the exploitation film, showing what was purported to be the last night of the Barbary Coast red-light section of San Francisco. In reality, the Barbary Coast wasn't shut down until 1917....
, an early example of an exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
that is now considered to be a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
.
See also
- The Infamous Australian BushrangerBushrangerBushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
Frank GardinerFrank GardinerFrank Gardiner was a noted Australian bushranger of the 19th century. He was born in Scotland about 1827 and migrated from to Australia as a child with his parents in 1834,. His real name was Francis Christie, though he often used one of several other aliases including Gardiner, Clarke or Christie...
also lived in this area after his exile from Australia - Port of San FranciscoPort of San FranciscoThe Port of San Francisco lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate. It has been called one of the three great natural harbors in the world, but it took two long centuries for navigators from Spain and England to find the anchorage originally called Yerba Buena...
- Barbary Coast (1935 film)Barbary Coast (film)Barbary Coast is a period film directed by Howard Hawks. Shot in black-and-white and set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush era, the film combines elements of crime, Western, melodrama and adventure genres, features a wide range of actors, from good-guy Joel McCrea to bad-boy Edward G...
- Barbary Coast Bunny (1956 short)Barbary Coast BunnyBarbary Coast Bunny is a 1956 Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon short produced by Edward Selzer. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce....
External links
- 1871 account of a walk through The Barbary Coast
- San Francisco History: The Barbary Coast
- Barbary Coast (1935 movie) at the IMDB
- The Barbary Coast News
- Barbary Coast Trail, historic walking trail
- The Barbary Coast: San Francisco's Bawdy Paradise
- "Barbary Coast", short radio segment at California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
.