Bars

Two Bars, One African-American and One Gay, Get Landmark Status [Updated]

Twin Peaks Tavern
Twin Peaks Tavern Photo: Stephen Kelly/Flickr

We heard back in September that Twin Peaks Tavern (17th and Castro) was being proposed for landmark status by the Historic Preservation Commission because of its role in 20th century LGBT civil rights. The bar in its current incarnation dates to the early 1970s (though it opened as a straight, neighborhood watering hole in 1935), and it holds the distinction of being one of the first gay bars in the country, if not the first, to have open, plate-glass windows onto the street allowing passersby to see the out and proud patrons inside. We were not aware, however, that the Historic Preservation Commission was also giving similar landmark status for the slightly older Sam Jordan’s Bar (4004 Third Street) in the Bayview, opened by African American Navy vet Sam Jordan in 1959. As Curbed reports, the Board of Supervisors is expected to take their first vote to approve these landmark statuses today, and both have the support of the respective bar owners. [Curbed, Earlier] Update: Both got their approvals.

Two Bars, One African-American and One Gay, Get Landmark Status [Updated]