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Mission District, San Francisco: Mission Dolores, the Mission Street theatres and Calle 24

Mission District, California

The Mission District grew up around Mission San Francisco de Asis, the sixth of the twenty-one Alta California missions, whose adobe chapel was completed in 1791 and stands on 16th Street against the flank of the basilica finished in 1918. Around it the city has designated buildings under Article 10 of the Planning Code along most of its main streets: theatre buildings on and off Mission Street, a Carnegie library, a National Guard armory, a pipe organ factory, a labour temple, a synagogue, schools, fire houses and a run of houses on Guerrero Street and South Van Ness Avenue. Two alleys, Balmy and Clarion, are painted end to end. Twenty-fourth Street carries the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, established by the Board of Supervisors in 2014. Seventeen city parks sit inside the neighbourhood, from a 15.99-acre slope to a corner of 0.13 acres.

  1. The sixth of the twenty-one Alta California missions, San Francisco Landmark No. 1, designated in 1968; its adobe chapel of 1791 adjoins the basilica of 1918.

  2. A 15.99-acre slope at 646 Dolores Street, recorded by the city as a neighborhood park or playground.

  3. One block of painted alley beside Garfield Square, worked since 1972 and given twenty-seven murals in the summer of 1985 by Ray Patlan's PLACA project.

  4. A block 560 ft long and 15 ft. wide between 17th and 18th and between Mission and Valencia streets, repainted often, so what is up changes.

  5. The muralists' organisation at 2981 24th Street runs public and private mural walks, which is the way to have the alleys explained rather than just looked at.

  6. Established by the Board of Supervisors in 2014 and given a Special Use District in the Planning Code in 2017, running along 24th Street as far as Bartlett Street.

  7. The old Mission Turn Hall at 3543 18th Street, San Francisco Landmark No. 178, designated in 1985, with the MaestraPeace mural across its facade.

  8. At 2868 Mission Street, San Francisco Landmark No. 303, designated in 2022, and on the National Register of Historic Places, reference number 100005987.

  9. San Francisco Landmark No. 245, designated in 2004, at 2550 Mission Street, running as a cinema under Alamo Drafthouse.

  10. A working cinema at 3125 16th Street, with the smaller Little Roxie next door at 3117.

  11. The brick armory filling the block at 1800 Mission Street, San Francisco Landmark No. 108, designated in 1980.

  12. The Carnegie building at 300 Bartlett Street is closed for renovation; library service runs from 1234 Valencia Street, Sunday 1 to 5 and Monday to Saturday from 10 or 1.

  13. Ice cream at 3692 18th Street, open 12pm to 9pm daily, on the same block as the Bi-Rite market at 3639.

  14. A beer garden at 199 Valencia Street, 21 and up, opening at 2 PM Monday through Thursday, 12PM on Saturday and 11AM on Sunday.

Twenty-fourth Street, Calle 24 and the painted alleys

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors established the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District by Resolution No. 168-14 on 28 May 2014, and corrected its boundaries by Resolution No. 201-14 on 19 June 2014. Ordinance No. 085-17, adopted on 31 March 2017, amended the Planning Code to create the Calle 24 Special Use District, generally bounded by 22nd Street, Potrero Avenue, Cesar Chavez Street and Capp Street, together with 24th Street as far as Bartlett Street. The district organisation publishes a narrower western edge for the area than the ordinance does.

Two murals inside that area carry Article 10 numbers of their own. The Chata Gutierrez Mural at 3175 24th Street is San Francisco Landmark No. 312, designated in 2024, and the Carnaval Mural at 1311 South Van Ness Avenue is San Francisco Landmark No. 313, also designated in 2024. Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitors Center, at 2981 24th Street, is a muralists' organisation that runs public and private mural walks.

Two alleys in the neighbourhood are painted along both sides. Balmy Alley runs between 24th Street and 25th Street at Garfield Square; the first paintings there date from 1972, when Mia Galivez worked with children from a local childcare centre, and in 1973 Patricia Rodriguez and Graciela Carrillo painted a jungle-and-underwater scene that began Las Mujeres Muralistas. Clarion Alley runs between 17th and 18th Streets and between Mission and Valencia Streets, and its own project describes it as 560 ft long and 15 ft. wide.

Getting there

The 16th Street Mission and 24th Street Mission BART plazas stand on Mission Street. The grid here is regular and the numbered streets run east and west, from 14th Street in the north to Cesar Chavez Street in the south.

Mission Street runs the length of the neighbourhood, and buildings designated under Article 10 of the Planning Code stand along it: the San Francisco National Guard Armory and Arsenal at 1800, the El Capitan Theater and Hotel at 2353, the New Mission Theater at 2550, the Grand Theater at 2665 and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts at 2868. Valencia Street runs one block west of it and carries Zeitgeist at 199, 826 Valencia at 826, The Marsh at 1062 and Engine Company No. 13 at 1458. Guerrero Street is the next street west, with designated houses at 102, 827, 845 and 1366 and the Sheet Metal Workers' Union Hall at 224; the Timothy L. Pflueger House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is at 1015. Dolores Street is west again, and Mission San Francisco de Asis stands where it meets 16th Street, with Mission Dolores Park on the same street at 646.

East of Mission Street the cross streets run in order: Capp, Shotwell, South Van Ness Avenue, Folsom, Harrison, Treat, Bryant, Florida, Alabama, Hampshire, York, Utah and Potrero Avenue. Sixteenth Street and 24th Street, and the blocks they cross, hold most of the addresses above.

What is open, and what is not

The parish publishes one set of hours for the whole Mission Dolores complex, heading them Old Mission, Giftshop, Museum, Cemetery and Basilica: Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Treat it as one visit rather than four.

The Mission Branch Carnegie Library at 300 Bartlett Street is closed for renovation, and the library service runs from a temporary location at 1234 Valencia Street, open Sunday 1 to 5, Monday 10 to 6, Tuesday to Thursday 10 to 8, Friday 1 to 6 and Saturday 10 to 6, telephone 415-355-2800.

Bi-Rite Market at 3639 18th Street gives its hours as 8am to 9pm daily, and Bi-Rite Creamery at 3692 18th Street as 12pm to 9pm daily. Zeitgeist at 199 Valencia Street is 21 and up and states opening times of 2 PM Monday through Thursday, 12PM on Saturday and 11AM on Sunday; no closing time is stated on its site, so none is given here. No source states opening hours for Foreign Cinema at 2534 Mission Street, so none are given here either, No source states a construction date for the Roxie Theater at 3125 16th Street, so none is given here.

Several buildings on these streets are private houses, working schools or offices, and no public access is published for them. The El Capitan at 2353 Mission Street and the Grand at 2665 are theatre buildings that no longer run as cinemas.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly is Mission Dolores, and can you go in?
It is one visitor complex on one parcel: the adobe chapel of 1791, the basilica of 1918 that adjoins it, the museum and gift shop, and the cemetery. The parish publishes a single set of hours for all of it, Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is San Francisco Landmark No. 1, designated in 1968, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, reference number 72000251. California State Parks records the site of the original chapel and the Laguna de los Dolores as California Historical Landmark No. 327-1.
What is the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District?
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors established the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District by Resolution No. 168-14 on 28 May 2014, and corrected its boundaries by Resolution No. 201-14 on 19 June 2014. Ordinance No. 085-17, adopted on 31 March 2017, amended the Planning Code to create the Calle 24 Special Use District, generally bounded by 22nd Street, Potrero Avenue, Cesar Chavez Street and Capp Street, together with 24th Street as far as Bartlett Street.
Where are the murals?
Balmy Alley runs between 24th Street and 25th Street at Garfield Square and has been painted since 1972; Ray Patlan led the PLACA project, which produced twenty-seven murals in the summer of 1985 with a 2,500 dollar grant from the Zellerbach Foundation, and the alley was restored in 2014. Clarion Alley, 560 ft long and 15 ft. wide, runs between 17th and 18th Streets and between Mission and Valencia Streets. MaestraPeace covers the Women's Building at 3543 18th Street. Two further murals carry Article 10 numbers: the Chata Gutierrez Mural at 3175 24th Street is San Francisco Landmark No. 312, designated in 2024, and the Carnaval Mural at 1311 South Van Ness Avenue is San Francisco Landmark No. 313, designated in 2024.
Is the Mission Branch Library open?
The Mission Branch Carnegie Library at 300 Bartlett Street is San Francisco Landmark No. 234, designated in 2004. The branch is closed for renovation, and the library service runs from a temporary location at 1234 Valencia Street, open Sunday 1 to 5, Monday 10 to 6, Tuesday to Thursday 10 to 8, Friday 1 to 6 and Saturday 10 to 6.
Which of the theatres can you actually go into?
The New Mission Theater at 2550 Mission Street runs as a cinema under Alamo Drafthouse; no source states its screening times, so none are given here. The Roxie Theater at 3125 16th Street operates, as do Brava Theater Center at 2781 24th Street and The Marsh at 1062 Valencia Street. The Victoria Theatre at 2961 16th Street is San Francisco Landmark No. 215, designated in 1996. The El Capitan Theater and Hotel at 2353 Mission Street and the Grand Theater at 2665 Mission Street no longer run as cinemas.
How many parks are there, and how big are they?
Seventeen Recreation and Parks properties sit in the neighbourhood, and the city publishes an acreage for each. Mission Dolores Park at 646 Dolores Street is 15.99 acres; Franklin Square at 2500 17th Street is 5.60; Potrero del Sol is 4.68; Garfield Square at 3100 26th Street is 3.46; and James Rolph Jr Playground at 1451 Hampshire Street is 2.93. Five are mini parks of a third of an acre or less: Juri Commons and Fallen Bridge Mini Park at 0.32 each, Kid Power Park at 0.26, Alioto Mini Park at 0.21 and the 24th and York Mini Park at 0.13.

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