
Hidden San Francisco
A Guide to Lost Landscapes, Unsung Heroes, and Radical Histories
Chris Carlsson(Author)
Pluto Press
2nd Edition
Published on 20. April 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-7453-5090-5 (ISBN)
Description
'A dissenter's guidebook' - Peter Booth Wiley, author of The National Trust Guide to San Francisco
'Scores of sparkling vignettes illuminate the city with the torch of social criticism and the sharp lens of a local sage' - Richard Walker, author of Pictures of a Gone City
San Francisco is an iconic city. But beyond the picture postcards of the Golden Gate Bridge, the city's most interesting and radical history is waiting to be uncovered.
Hidden San Francisco is a guidebook like no other. Structured around the four major themes of ecology, labor, transit, and dissent, Chris Carlsson peels back the layers of the city's history to reveal a storied past: behind old walls and gleaming glass facades lurk former industries, secret music and poetry venues, forgotten terrorist bombings, and much more. Carlsson also delves into the Bay Area's long prehistory, examining the lives of its indigenous inhabitants before the 1849 Gold Rush changed everything.
This second edition includes new tours on the wild and natural parts of San Francisco that most tourists never visit, from Glen Canyon to Sutro Forest. There is also a new introduction examining the impact of the pandemic, as well as a mini-history of tech in the city, from the Gold Rush to AI.
'Scores of sparkling vignettes illuminate the city with the torch of social criticism and the sharp lens of a local sage' - Richard Walker, author of Pictures of a Gone City
San Francisco is an iconic city. But beyond the picture postcards of the Golden Gate Bridge, the city's most interesting and radical history is waiting to be uncovered.
Hidden San Francisco is a guidebook like no other. Structured around the four major themes of ecology, labor, transit, and dissent, Chris Carlsson peels back the layers of the city's history to reveal a storied past: behind old walls and gleaming glass facades lurk former industries, secret music and poetry venues, forgotten terrorist bombings, and much more. Carlsson also delves into the Bay Area's long prehistory, examining the lives of its indigenous inhabitants before the 1849 Gold Rush changed everything.
This second edition includes new tours on the wild and natural parts of San Francisco that most tourists never visit, from Glen Canyon to Sutro Forest. There is also a new introduction examining the impact of the pandemic, as well as a mini-history of tech in the city, from the Gold Rush to AI.
Reviews / Votes
'With the city awash these days with more and more newcomers, Hidden San Francisco is more vital than ever for keeping us all connected to the wild, weird, and radical histories that make this place so special' -- Susan Stryker, trans activist and gender academic 'San Francisco is long overdue for a history like this! Smart and accessible, this is a book that everyone who has left a piece of their heart in the city needs to read' -- Barbara Berglund Sokolov, historian at Presidio Trust 'The history of San Francisco I've been waiting for. It not only reorients our conceptions of the past, it gives us walking tour itineraries so we can viscerally experience how we are participants in the region's remaking' -- Sean Burns, writer and filmaker 'Brings erudition, curiosity and passionate progressivism to a remarkably wide range of subjects - from the city's profaned natural glories, to little-known episodes in its labor history' -- Gary Kamiya, writer, historian and tour guide to San Francisco 'Unlike your conventional guidebooks telling you where to shop, eat, and be entertained, this is a dissenter's guidebook that invites you into a holistic view of the city' -- Peter Booth Wiley, publisher and author of <i>The National Trust Guide to San Francisco</i> 'Few people know the streets of San Francisco as well as Chris Carlsson. Sadly, gentrification is fast ripping the heart out of a city that generations of artists, immigrants, and working-class radicals have made into a unique and wondrous place. This book is call to arms to renew the city again' -- Peter Cole, author of <i>Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area</i> 'Every city needs and deserves a Chris Carlsson' -- Jon Christensen, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. 'Scores of sparkling vignettes - from Mission Rock to the Haight, Balmy Alley to Telegraph Hill - illuminate the city with the torch of social criticism and the sharp lens of a local sage' -- Richard Walker, author of <i>Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area</i> 'An original, vivid people's history of the nation's 'Left Coast City'. Photos, maps, and self-guided tours of over one hundred of the most important and iconic historic places and spaces bring to life the authors' beautifully crafted and well-informed San Francisco stories' -- Bill Issel, Professor Emeritus of History, San Francisco State UniversityMore details
Edition
Second Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
22 Maps; 39 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
386 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7453-5090-5 (9780745350905)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2025
2nd Edition
Pluto Press
€17.49
Available for download
Previous edition

Book
02/2020
Pluto Press
€38.59
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Chris Carlsson is a San Francisco historian and award-winning tour guide. He directs 'Shaping San Francisco' - an impressive archive of local history, and co-founded the urban cycling movement Critical Mass in 1992. He is the author of four books, including novels and histories about the city. He has lived in San Francisco since 1978.
Content
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction to the Second Edition
1. Openers
2. Turning Shorelines, Wetlands, Creeks, Sand, and Hills into a City
3. Whatever Happened to the Eight-Hour Day?
4. Trails, Sails, Rails, and Wheels
5. Dissenters and Demonstrations, Radicals and Repression
Appendix
Shaping San Francisco Tour Itineraries [including new tour itineraries]
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Introduction to the Second Edition
1. Openers
2. Turning Shorelines, Wetlands, Creeks, Sand, and Hills into a City
3. Whatever Happened to the Eight-Hour Day?
4. Trails, Sails, Rails, and Wheels
5. Dissenters and Demonstrations, Radicals and Repression
Appendix
Shaping San Francisco Tour Itineraries [including new tour itineraries]
Bibliography
Index