A beach on Castro street?

June 3, 2024 11:18 AM

Well, not exactly. For nearly five decades, the corner of Castro and 18th Streets has been an important site for San Francisco’s LGBTQ community: Hibernia Beach. While Hibernia Bank no longer occupies the property at the plaza, the current owners, Bank of America, have learned the significance of the space to the community.
posted by majick (8 comments total)

Hibernia Beach was a fixture of my childhood since I grew up in the Castro in the 70s and 80s; it's obvious why it's called a "beach" when the sun's out. All through the day there were people—primarily men—enjoying the sun, often shirtless and often working out, in the little plaza. My father banked with Hibernia and we'd go to this branch or the one out on 24th. This one was the first time I saw an ATM in my life.

The history and character of the neighborhood has always been important to me, and it's surprising how little has been written about this fairly significant site. Since the AIDS epidemic, it's become more of a spot for memorials than for cruising.
posted by majick at 11:24 AM on June 3 [9 favorites]

Sous les pavés, la plage!
posted by chavenet at 11:46 AM on June 3 [8 favorites]

While I'm happy for folks to learn the importance of Hibernia Beach, all of these articles are several years old and the issue with BofA was pretty much resolved. There are currently several memorials posted on the grate there, or there were this weekend. I don't want to think about how many hours I've spent tabling at that location!
posted by gingerbeer at 11:49 AM on June 3 [12 favorites]

Hey hey! Happy Pride!
posted by hippybear at 12:32 PM on June 3 [1 favorite]

That corner display has been a constant in my gay life for three decades now. As gingerbeer says, those articles are from 2021 and the problem has been resolved. It's more or less the same community display as it's always been. I find it particularly interesting who or what rates for a display and for how long. It's very informal and seems to work out well.

The new thing just a block up at 17th and Castro is Jane Warner Plaza, an awkward triangle of roads on the SE corner converted into a pedestrian area / small sitting space. It's a great spot to sit and watch people for 10 or 20 minutes and integrates nicely with the neighborhood.

The SW corner of that intersection is Harvey Milk Plaza which as it stands now is a total failure, a sunken concrete expanse that only succeeds at being stairs down to Muni. There's a plan to build it entirely to make it a better public space, not sure how that's going. No doubt it will take The City That Knows How 10+ years to get it done.

While I'm filling out neighborhood news, the gay bar / restaurant Harvey's that was at 18th & Castro is no more. Formerly the Elephant Walk, it was a great place for lunch or a casual drink before hitting the more serious party / sexy bars. Sadly they never really recovered under Covid, it's sitting empty at the moment.

Finally a shout-out to our rainbow crosswalks at 18th & Castro. And the giant pride flag flying over 17th & Castro. And the giant pink triangle that's put up for Pride on Twin Peaks, at least one year beautifully illuminated. All these symbols of LGBT acceptance make me feel so proud.
posted by Nelson at 5:26 PM on June 3 [9 favorites]

> Formerly the Elephant Walk -- notorious as the bar violently raided by the SFPD as retaliation for White Night.
posted by gingerbeer at 5:30 PM on June 3 [3 favorites]

As gingerbeer says, those articles are from 2021 and the problem has been resolved. It's more or less the same community display as it's always been.

I apologize if the wording of my post implied otherwise — I'd meant to include the BofA article, long since updated to reflect resolution, as a historical event attesting to the significance of the plaza. If there were at any one time confusion about the meaningfulness of Hibernia Beach to the community and the neighborhood, it should be resoundingly clear now.

up at 17th and Castro is Jane Warner Plaza

They finally did something with the F turnaround! Finally! Trust me when I say that was actually even worse before the F was there; when it was just the 8 that ran down Market—the turnaround for that was in front of the playground next to Cala—you didn't even have as much as was there recently.

Harvey Milk Plaza

As a public space with a use of any kind whatsoever, it's utterly failed. I spent the first half of my long life coming through to the metro station from the Collingwood side with some frequency, and I've always liked looking at it from that angle. The actual plaza by the stairs, though, is hot garbage useless. At most it was a place to sit on the ground with a Marcello's slice.

I sure miss the old neighborhood. It's hard, being priced out of your own home, but it's beautiful seeing it thrive in spite of that.
posted by majick at 7:00 PM on June 3 [2 favorites]

This one was the first time I saw an ATM in my life.

Really hope this means Automated Teller Machine.
posted by davey_darling at 7:46 PM on June 3 [6 favorites]