San Francisco Relocation Guide - Antevia

Fillmore District, San Francisco,
California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fillmore District, also called The Fillmore or The Lower Fillmore, is a
neighborhood in San Francisco, California. Though its boundaries are not well-defined, it
is usually considered to be the subset of the Western Addition neighborhood bordered by
Fillmore Street on the west, Van Ness Avenue on the east, approximately Geary
Boulevard on the north, and approximately Grove Street on the south. Sometimes the
western boundary is extended to Divisadero Street north of Golden Gate Avenue. The
neighborhood is in San Francisco's fifth district, and is served by several Muni bus lines
including the 38, 31, 5, and 22.
The Fillmore was the site of a massive and controversial Urban renewal project begun in
the 1950's, the last vestiges of which are still ongoing. It has an ethnically and
economically diverse population, and is the historical center of African-American culture
in San Francisco. Today, despite the persistence of poverty and violent crime, the
Fillmore is seeing increased residential and commercial development. In particular the
area is reviving as a center of music, with a branch of Oakland-based jazz club Yoshi's
and a jazz history museum expected to open in 2007, joining existing venues such as the
Boom Boom Room, Rassalla's, the Sheba Lounge, and the well-known Fillmore
Auditorium.
History
In the 1800's, the Fillmore was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, with vegetable
farms surrounding the developed area around Fillmore Street. Many Japanese immigrants
also came to the Fillmore around the turn of the century. After the 1906 earthquake
Fillmore Street, which had largely avoided heavy damage, temporarily became a major
commercial center as the city's downtown rebuilt.
In 1942, during World War II, President Roosevelt signed an executive order to relocate
all people of Japanese origin to internment camps. The vacant homes in the Fillmore
attracted African-American industrial workers, musicians, and artists. Soon many
nighclubs were opened, bringing major musical icons to the neighborhood including Ella
Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday. The neighborhood struggled
economically, however, and many of its Victorian homes fell into disrepair.