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When whole areas of the Fillmore were razed and families were invited to return to their former neighborhood, it was often to take up residence in one of the new mega-housing projects instead of the smaller multi-family homes they had been forced to leave. For many residents, this change meant an end to their sense of familiar community and the loss of a way of life.
Photo credit:
David Johnson
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No neighborhood in San Francisco was as profoundly impacted by World War II as the Fillmore. The area's Japanese-American residents were forcibly relocated within weeks of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Overall, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans in the western United States were sent to internment camps. After they were released at the end of the war, some families chose to repatriate to Japan rather than face continued discrimination which had classified them as "enemy aliens."
Photo credit:
San Francisco Public Library History Center
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In spite of the local redevelopment agency's promises of a better neighborhood for all, many residents were not in favor of the destruction of large parts of their community. Despite the pleas of many area residents to look for alternatives, the city continued to raze whole sections of the Fillmore as a part of its urban renewal project.
Photo credit:
San Francisco Examiner
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This quaint view of San Francisco represents the few remaining Victorian row houses of the Fillmore which survived both the earthquake and fires of 1906 and the wrecking balls and bulldozers of urban renewal half a century later.
Photo credit:
KQED
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A third-grade class photo from 1935 reflects the diversity of the Fillmore's residents. Less than 10 years later nearly half of the children shown would be relocated with their families to internment camps far from the city many had called home for generations.
Photo credit:
San Francisco Public Library
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Through the use of "eminent domain," the city was able to proceed with its plans of major development projects in areas which some families had called home for generations. This bulldozed site was cleared to make way for the new Japan Center.
Photo credit:
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency
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Billie Holiday and Thelonius Monk were among the many top-name performers who graced the stages of the more popular jazz clubs and music halls of the Fillmore. Many former Fillmore residents fondly recall as children sneaking to listen to the music drifting out of the clubs which dotted the neighborhood.
Photo credit:
Public Domain
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Billie Holiday and Thelonius Monk were among the many top-name performers who graced the stages of the more popular jazz clubs and music halls of the Fillmore. Many former Fillmore residents fondly recall as children sneaking to listen to the music drifting out of the clubs which dotted the neighborhood.
Photo credit:
Public Domain
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The corner of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard served as the heart of the Fillmore district. After the devastating earthquake and resulting fires of 1906, many businesses relocated to Fillmore Street from their former locations on Market Street and the financial district. After the urban renewal projects of the 1960s, this is now the site of an overpass above a four-lane road.
Photo credit:
David Johnson
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The Fillmore was renowned for its music scene, and many of its former residents recall evenings spent hopping from one jazz club to the next. As the area was razed for redevelopment many businesses were forced to close their doors such as this record shop on Fillmore Street.
Photo credit:
David Johnson
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Peter L. Stein, producer, writer, and director of The Fillmore, is a third-generation native San Franciscan.
Photo credit:
Howard Gelman
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