Are S.F. Streets Really Named For Gold-Rush Era Sex Workers?

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2021

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bay Curious listener Ron Hewlett heard a rumor that several alleys in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood are named for Gold Rush era sex workers. He wondered if it was true. Plus, why does San Francisco stamp the names of streets into the sidewalks? There's a lot in a name, folks! Additional Reading: Were S.F. Streets Really Named After Gold Rush Era Sex Workers? Why Are Street Names Stamped Into S.F Sidewalks? Come play trivia with the Bay Curious team on Dec 8th, 2021! Reported by Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Sebastian Miño-Bucheli and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Jessica Placzek, Kyana Moghadam, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Carly Severn, Lina Blanco, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Jenny Pritchett.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From K-QED.
0:02.0	Hello everyone, you're listening to Bay Curious.
0:06.0	I'm Olivia Allen Price.
0:08.0	San Francisco is a young city by most standards, but it's still got a sense of its own history.
0:13.7	Taurus and locals alike love to wax nostalgic about the city's wild early years.
0:18.9	There's something about the city's place in the Gold Rush narrative that captifates our imaginations and sometimes
0:25.3	has us sharing stories that may or may not be true. I just heard a rumor once that
0:31.4	streets in South of Market like the Toma, Clementina, Dehaima,
0:38.4	were named after prostitutes from the Gold Rush era and I wondered if it was true. My name is Ron Hewlett and I live in
0:45.6	Selma in San Francisco.
0:48.0	Today on the show we're answering two of your questions about San Francisco streets.
0:57.0	First we'll explore whether there's truth to the rumor that Ron heard about sex workers
1:02.0	and then we'll turn our eyes down to the sidewalks themselves.
1:05.9	There's a lot in a name.
1:07.2	Stay with us.
1:10.2	Support for Bay Curious is brought to you by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, still family owned, operated and argued over.
1:20.0	Explore their brews wherever fine beverages are sold and taste how trailblazing runs in the family.
1:27.0	Visit Sierra Nevada.com to find your new favorite beer today.
1:32.0	We're kicking off today's show by looking into why some of the alleys in San Francisco's
1:37.4	south of market neighborhood have women's first names.
1:41.0	Bak curious producer Katrina Schwartz went to find out.
1:45.0	I meet up with local historian Lisa Ruth Elliot to see these streets for myself.
	...

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