Excelsior District, San Francisco, California

The Excelsior District in San Francisco is the area along Mission Street, south of Interstate 280 and north of Geneva Avenue. Many of the area's streets were named for European countries and cities. Excelsior Street itself was originally named "Japan". It was renamed during the Second World War, as was "Germany" Street. In its earlier days the Excelsior was predominantly Italian, Irish, and Swiss. Today it is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco, with many Asians, Latinos, and other groups having also settled there in recent decades. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/10/01/DD182831.DTL&hw=EXCELSIOR+CROCKER+AMAZON+JERRY+GARCIA&sn=001&sc=1000 Excelsior district takes care of its own ] ]

Noteworthy Excelsior residents include surrealist poet Philip Lamantia, Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia, Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Cronin, DJ Qbert, and San Francisco mayoral and supervisoral assassin Dan White. A movie was once filmed there with Julie Andrews. The neighborhood is represented by Gerardo Sandoval.

There are several events associated with the Excelsior District. Jerry Day celebrates the district's most famous native son - Jerry Garcia and typically draws thousands of dead heads and other revelers to John McClaren Park, bordered by the Excelsior, Visitacion Valley and the Portola districts. This annual event typically occurs in August.

The Excelsior Festival draws thousands to Mission Street to celebrate the neighborhood's assets such as its cultural diversity, food and to draw people together in a family-friendly environment for music, shopping and fun. The Excelsior Festival typically occurs on the first Sunday in October.

Central to the neighborhood for quite some time was the landmark Granada Theater, at the intersection of Mission and Ocean. In 1922 it opened with the name "Excelsior" but, was replaced with the name "Granada" in 1931 after the downtown Granada Theater changed its name to the Paramount,freeing up the name. Both the name and a vertical "Granada" sign were deployed in the Excelsior. However, the theater closed in 1982.

Among the various schools in the district is the "San Francisco Community Alternative School", a public grade school with a unique 'project-based' curriculum. [ [http://www.my-sfcs.org/ San Francisco Community School - Welcome ] ]

References

http://portal.sfusd.edu/template/?page=es.sfc

External links

* [http://www.san-francisco-home.com/maps/10-Excelsior.html Excelsior District Map]
*http://www.jerryday.org
* [http://www.excelsiorsf.org Excelsior District Improvement Association]
* [http://www.eagsf.org Excelsior Action Group]
*http://www.excelsiorfestival.org
* [http://www.excelsiordistrict.org The inactive EDIA website]