Across San Francisco’s Mission District, many walls are covered in brightly painted murals – and nowhere more so than Balmy Alley. Here, we meet musician and SF native La Doña, who connects the story of Salvadorans finding refuge in the Mission in the 1980s to the continuing struggle of the Latino community to try and preserve their San Francisco neighborhood in the face of relentless gentrification.
We wind back in time, learning about the deep connections between El Salvador’s coffee oligarchy, San Francisco’s early 20th century coffee businesses, and the brutal exploitation of Salvadoran workers. When Civil War erupts in 1979, thousands of refugees fled north from El Salvador arrive in SF.
Among the refugees arriving from El Salvador to settle in San Francisco was poet Jorge Argueta. He tells us about the pain of his exile – but also how he found a new family in the Mission, where every weekend huge crowds gathered to demand asylum for Central American refugees, finally leading San Francisco to declare itself a Sanctuary City in 1985.
Tour Stops
- GLBT Museum/ Beginnings
- Jane Warner Plaza / Eureka Valley
- Beaux / Drag at the Black Cat
- 587 Castro / Maurice's House of Beauty
- 573 Castro / Harvey's Neighborhood
- The Castro Theater / The March to Yosemite
- Jane Warner Plaza/ Seeds of Change
Tips & Accessibility
This tour is free.
For the best neighborhood experience, fully charge your phone or tablet and bring headphones. The tour requires access to cellular phone data or an internet connection. WiFi may not be available. Alternatively, you can download a version of the tour before heading out, but please note 360 scenes may not load.
Extended Reality
Extended reality scenes appear throughout the tour. When prompted by the narrator, activate the scene by tapping [Activate 360].
Timing & Access
- You can listen to each numbered stop as an individual, self-contained story, or visit all seven in order.
- If listening to all the stories in order, the tour lasts 55 minutes and the distance traveled is approximately 0.8 miles, and is mostly flat (total elevation change 10ft). There are no steps up or down to enter landmarks.
- Consider allowing an additional 30 minutes to an hour to explore stops, shops and landmarks along the way.
- Audio transcripts for this tour are available as a PDF download.
- An interactive 360 video of an earlier version of this tour (February 2023) with closed captions is available on the experiences page
- This tour was created in December 2025. While we make an effort to keep things current, you are walking through a living neighborhood and sometimes things change. Be curious, and embrace the unexpected.
Credits
NARRATORS
Lukas Delios
Mike Gerry
ACTORS
Bartender: Ethan Gabriel
Frank: John Fotos
Newsreader: Peter Borys
Mattachine Review Letter: Aaron Sinn
New Arrival: Matthew Atterman
Local: Beau Thompson
PRODUCTION
Senior Audio Producer: Cathy Edwards
Audio Producers: Katy Long and Gabby Santas
Writers: Gabby Santas and Katy Long
Reseach: Gabby Santas
360 Video and Map Design: Katy Long
In
The Mission
Explore our immersive walking tour anytime, right from your mobile phone.
Not in the Castro? Virtual Experience
Explore an interactive 360 video tour, from wherever you are in the world. Please note this 360 tour is an earlier version of our work in the Castro, recorded in 2023.
360 Video Experience
Click & drag around the video to explore Karla’s story and our immersive tour of Olvera Street.
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