Wild, Wicked, and Weird: A Historical Downtown San Francisco Tour

“The City,“ as San Francisco is known locally, has a long and colorful past, with quirky stories around every corner. On this walking tour, I‘ll show you several lesser-known downtown spots that most tourists pass by without ever discovering their distinct and interesting history.

Starting in front of the historical San Francisco Mint, you‘ll hear how it got the nickname ‘Fort Knox of the West‘. Winding through downtown and Chinatown, you‘ll hear wild, wicked and beloved stories about the city, from the Gold Rush that started the boom, to the great 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed many parts of it. You‘ll see Lotta‘s Fountain, San Francisco‘s oldest surviving monument, and the Hearts of San Francisco art sculpture in Union Square as you make your way to the Wells Fargo Museum, where our tour ends.

On this San Francisco tour, you‘ll:

• Spot the hidden ‘Corporate Goddesses’, the sculptures that watch over the city from the heights of the Bank of America building
• See the site outside Saint Francis Hotel where there was an attempted American Presidential assassination with ties to the Patty Hearst kidnapping
• Strut down the now upscale Maiden Lane which used to be a scandalous red light district
• Take in the overlooked Frank Lloyd Wright building that inspired the Guggenheim Museum
• Hear about the Gold Rush-era actress who became a self-made millionaire and never forgot the city that made her
• Meet Alma de Bretteville, a model who – despite ties to European nobility – had a difficult start before marrying a sugar magnate
• Find out about The Flood Building, named for James Clair Flood, a gold-miner who made his fortune by taking control of a Nevada silver mine

Join me, Bill Elias, and let me share with you the city I love and its fascinating history. My grandmother was born in San Francisco in 1880 and I‘ve lived in the area my entire life. Whether you‘re a first-time visitor or a curious local, this tour is filled with stories of triumph, scandals, and quirky facts that are bound to entertain.

Allow about an hour of this walk – and don‘t worry, most of it is flat. There are a lot of places to stop along the way for coffee, a cocktail, or a meal.