Tenderloin Legends: A Historic Walking Tour

There’s no better way to get to know the Tenderloin than by walking its streets! Traverse the neighborhood with our passionate, knowledgeable resident tour guides, visit key sites from the Tenderloin’s history, and connect these notable places to what’s going on in the neighborhood today.

On this walking tour, you’ll learn about the Tenderloin’s characteristic residential hotels, its colorful cultural history, and the many social movements that fomented here. With 400 buildings in the National Register of Historic places, the Tenderloin comprises a complex and sometimes contradictory tapestry of labor history, LGBTQ history, tenant activism, social services, immigration stories, urban resilience, as well as the vice that earned the neighborhood its suggestive name. Stops include:

- The site of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, the 1966 trans-led uprising against police brutality that has become known as a seminal act of queer resistance.

-The Cadillac Hotel, the first single room occupancy (SRO) to practice supportive housing that once was home to a legendary boxing gym where Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Sugar Ray Robinson sparred.

- GLIDE Memorial, the radical church that since the 1960s has been active in the Civil Rights & LGBTQ movements and the fight against poverty and today is one of the largest providers of social services in the Tenderloin.

- The site of the Blackhawk, the Tenderloin’s iconic jazz club where Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Mongo Santamaria, Cal Tjader recorded live albums.

- Boeddeker Park, today a beloved community green space that was once the grand Arcadia Dancing Pavilion, emblematic of the TL’s “roaring” nightlife of the early 1900s.

And many more! Tours are regularly scheduled for Saturdays at 1pm, however space is limited and we encourage you to purchase a ticket at least 24 hours in advance to secure a spot! Ticket prices are as follows:

$15 - Tour + Museum Admission

$10 - Tour Admission Only

$5 - Tour Admission Only for patrons who visited TLM in the past 7 days

Walk-ups are welcome to purchase tickets day-of, so long as other advance tickets have been sold and there is space available in the tour.