04 May 2026 7 min read South of Market

A Site of National Significance in SOMA

A South of Market laundry that changed the course of civil rights in America, and join us in the restored Presidio Theatre for our June gala

Yick Wo laundry at 349 Third Street in the 1880s. (In re Wo Lee, case file 3947 (NAID 348094304); Civil and Appellate Case Files, 1863–1911 (NAID 295935); U.S. Circuit Court, Ninth Circuit, Northern District of California, San Francisco (USCC San Francisco); RG 21, NARA San Francisco.)

In addition to being AAPI and Heritage Month, May is also Preservation Month! From all of us at SF Heritage, thank you for supporting our organization’s preservation work. A shoutout to our new Special City members: 67 of you signed up in April. Each of you joins our growing preservation movement in San Francisco.

National civil rights history made right here

...in the South of Market

The site at 349 3rd Street in today’s South of Market, currently an open-air parking lot flanked by an OpenAI billboard, has no plaque or sign denoting its significance. In 1885, Lee Yick, the owner of a laundry on this site, challenged the discriminatory application of a San Francisco ordinance. In an act of anti-Chinese racism, the city had denied necessary permits to all but one of more than 200 Chinese laundries while granting permits to all but one white-owned laundry.

Detail of a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map showing building outlines with properties in green identified as "BLKSM," CHINESE LAUNDRY, PAINTING, and CABINET SHOP. — Yick Wo Laundry identified as “Chinese laundry” on an 1880s Sanborn Fire Insurance Map at 349 Third Street.

Yick filed suit along with Wo Lee, another laundry operator, and what happened next was of momentous significance to US civil rights history. In a unanimous 1886 ruling on May 10, 1886, the Supreme Court held that a law applied in a racially discriminatory way violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection to “all persons”—citizen or not. The decision in Yick Wo v. Hopkins remains foundational to American civil rights law and has been cited in hundreds of cases.

This interpretation is as important today as it was in 1886, and the ruling continues to be tested under increased immigration enforcement under the current federal administration.

While we at least have one school in SF named for this case, we believe something permanent should mark this SOMA site of national significance. Since highlighting Yick Wo vs. Hopkins in last year's South of Market month, SF Heritage has partnered with the Chinese Historical Society of America and a host of other organizations and officials to campaign for just that. We’re kicking off this campaign with a gathering with our partners and public officials on Monday, May 11, at 4:00 pm at the parking lot site, to mark the 140th anniversary of the ruling.

Join us, won't you? Monday, May 11, 349 Third Street, 4:00-4:30 pm. Free.

Join us at the Theatre

A restored gem in the Presidio

Time has flown by and we are already a month out from our big Post to Park event on June 4, 2026.

We’ll gather inside the beautifully-restored Presidio Theatre to celebrate the remarkable transformation of the Presidio of San Francisco from a military post to a national park. With our President & CEO Woody as host, we’ll join the Presidio Trust, American Indian Cultural District (AICD), and some special guests for a night of history highlighting model stewardship projects on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone land as well as innovative architectural preservation projects that make the Presidio a world-class park.

Individual VIP sponsorships are $250. As an added bonus, those who sponsor at this level or higher will also get a complimentary year as a Special City Local Hero! So bring your friends, your whole team, and show your love for SF Heritage and the Presidio at higher levels, and enjoy delicious bites at the VIP reception from renowned intertribal restaurant (and future AICD tenant) Wahpepah’s Kitchen.

If you can’t sponsor at this level and just want to enjoy our show, tickets are $50 and can be purchased now through the Presidio Theatre’s box office. We’re giving our Local Hero and Landmark Club members $20 off!

We have plenty of space and want to fill the theatre with as many of you as we can for a fun evening of preservation in the Presidio.

~Sponsorships starting at $250 (includes VIP reception and ticket to the show): www.sfheritage.org/post-to-park/

~Show-only tickets at $50: www.presidiotheatre.org/show-details/post-to-park-the-presidios-21st-century-preservation-story

Post to Park is our biggest fundraiser of the year. If you can't make it on June 4, we hope you will consider an additional donation to help us reach our event goal. Every dollar helps!

This week at one of the US’s oldest Italian joints

meet us in North Beach

Last month’s Heritage Happy Hour at Cha Cha Cha (1801 Haight Street) was colorful and lively, bringing many of our guests back to the area around Haight and Stanyan for the first time in a while. Stop by for a sangria the next time you’re on your way out to Golden Gate Park or on Haight exploring the impressive collection of vintage clothes shops that have popped up in the last few years.

A group of ~41 people inside a colorful bar space smiling for the camera. — Funky fish-eye view of a packed Cha Cha Cha bar at last month’s Heritage Happy Hour. Photo by Rick Kurylo.

Our Happy Hour this week is a big one: The annual Legacy Business Mixer at Fior d’Italia (2237 Mason Street) on Thursday, May 7, 2026 from 5-7 pm.

The restaurant claims the title of oldest Italian restaurant in the United States and has been a North Beach institution across its 140-year existence. Like the phoenix on the San Francisco city seal, Fior d’Italia has been reborn from disaster multiple times.

After fire destroyed its original location at 432 Broadway, the restaurant moved a few doors away to 492 Broadway only to be lost in the great conflagration following the 1906 earthquake. A more than 50-year run at 601 Union Street ended with yet another fire, pushing Fior d’Italia to relocate to its current location on the ground floor of the San Remo Hotel, where it is thriving.

Photograph of the inside of a restaurant, featuring tables with white tablecloths and a long horizonal wall mural of a northern italian scene. — Classy sit-down vibes inside Fior d'Italia. Courtesy of the Legacy Business Registry program.

A sit-down meal of Northern Italian cuisine at Fior d’Italia includes a chance to enjoy decor sprinkled with local history (a Broadway light fixture from another era here, a 1945 mural there), while the restaurant’s Godfather, Assisi, Umbria, and Tuscany rooms keep the tradition of large family-style gatherings alive.

Did you miss it?

April with SFH

We saw many familiar and new faces at our whirlwind of April events. From celebrating the 125th birthday of the Geneva Car Barn, to learning about 1906 earthquake shacks, to feeling literal shaking in our “EARTHQUAKE!” event at the Haas-Lilienthal House, to a packed community meeting in the Haight on exciting happenings at the corner of Haight and Ashbury, you showed up and hopefully learned some new things about this great city that we live in.

Thank you to all who joined us and we look forward to seeing you all next time!

Green Shutters

where am I?

In our next email, Special City Local Hero and Landmark Club members will learn more about this mystery site of green shutters. Do you know where we are? (If you are not a donating member, update your account today and get all the deep dives into San Francisco special places.)

That’s all for this week! Thanks to all who continued to donate to our April Archives Project goal (Lynne A., Tess W., Rina W.). In total, we have raised $8,207 towards our stereo-slide digitization project. More milestone updates coming as we move into the summer.

Founded in 1971, San Francisco Heritage is a 501(c)(3) membership organization that preserves and enhances San Francisco’s unique architectural and cultural identity. Our programs and partnerships interpret, share, and celebrate the shared histories, landscapes, and communities of the city to instill optimism, belonging, and purpose.