Twin Peaks Tavern is an American historic

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...

. It first opened in 1935 and is located at 401 Castro Street in the

Castro District The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood throug ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California. It is one of the most famous bar in the Castro and features prominent oversized windows that were unveiled in 1972, something uncommonly seen in older gay bars. It is located across the street from the

Castro Station Castro station is a Muni Metro station at the intersection of Market Street, Castro Street, and 17th Street in The Castro district of San Francisco, California. Station layout and history The station consists of two side platforms next to the ...

for

Muni Metro Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni Metro served an average of 157 ...

, and near the F Market heritage streetcar line. The tavern received San Francisco Designated Landmark status in February 6, 2013.

History

The building was first constructed in 1883 (formerly at the address 3999-17th Street). It displays a 1923

Mediterranean revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

-style façade. It sits on a lot that contains two buildings, located at the intersection of Castro Street and Market Street. In 1890s the building was occupied by a saloon and cigar shop. The Twin Peaks Tavern had opened in 1935 as a regular Irish pub. In 1972, the business was taken over by two lesbian friends Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster, who removed the window coverings a year later, making it believed to be the first gay bar which revealed its customers to the outside. Until then, most American gay bars and clubs had shuttered windows so outsiders couldn't see who was inside and thus apparently queer, something that could have lead to job loss or social exclusion. The interior has a partial

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

; a u-shaped wooden bar; and a pre-

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

mirrored backbar. Twin Peaks Tavern bar San Francisco

In 2003, Cunha and Forster sold the Twin Peaks Tavern to Jeffrey Green and George Roehm who had previously worked as bartenders at the establishment. "Through The Windows" (2019; 56 minutes) is a documentary

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

about the tavern, directed by Petey Barma and Bret Parker. In 2020, the tavern was in danger of closing due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

; they launched a

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...

and the community was able to raise enough money for the tavern to survive. On September 6, 2022,

Queen Máxima of the Netherlands Máxima (born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti; 17 May 1971) is Queen of the Netherlands as the wife of King Willem-Alexander. Argentine by birth, she worked in marketing when she met Willem-Alexander, eldest son and heir apparent of Queen Beatrix, ...

was received in the Twin Peaks Tavern, where she listened to the concerns of members of the LGBT community. Additionally she visited the

Castro Theatre The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in San Francisco that became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street in the Castro District, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque façad ...

and the

GLBT Historical Society The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control San Francisco Designated Landmarks 1935 establishments in California LGBT culture in the San Francisco Bay Area Castro District, San Francisco LGBT drinking establishments in California Drinking establishments in the San Francisco Bay Area

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links