Fisherman's Wharf - Italian Boats and Old Ships

Fisherman's Wharf - Italian Boats and Old Ships

Photo: Patrick Nouhailler's..., CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)

A stop on San Francisco, District by District, a free self-guided tour.

Fisherman's Wharf began as a working harbor. From the late 1800s, Italian immigrants, many from around Genoa and later Sicily, fished the bay and the ocean in small lateen-sailed boats called feluccas, then in motorized crab and salmon boats, and sold their catch from stalls along this wharf. Joe DiMaggio's father was one of those fishermen. Canneries, ironworks and a chocolate factory lined the northern waterfront, and car ferries crossed to Marin and the East Bay from the foot of Hyde Street until the bridges opened.

As commercial fishing declined after World War II, the wharf turned to visitors, and today a small fleet still works out of the lagoon behind the restaurants. This stop keeps to the history.

Ride the Powell-Mason cable car or the F-line streetcar, or walk about 15 minutes from Washington Square down Columbus Avenue. The mini tour heads west to Aquatic Park and takes about 45 minutes.

Getting here: From the Filbert Steps, walk north along the Embarcadero or take the F-line streetcar to Jefferson and Taylor Streets, about 20 minutes.

Did you know?: The Liberty ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien, now docked at Pier 35, made 11 round trips across the English Channel supporting the D-Day invasion, and in 1994 it sailed back to Normandy for the 50th anniversary.

Photo op: Stand on Jefferson Street at Taylor to frame the round Fisherman's Wharf sign with fishing boats in the lagoon behind it.

More on Wikipedia: Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco · Felucca · San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Stops on this tour

  1. Ferry Building and the Embarcadero - Where the City Met the World
  2. Financial District and Jackson Square - Gold Rush on the Old Shoreline
  3. Chinatown - The Neighborhood That Refused to Move
  4. North Beach and Telegraph Hill - Little Italy and the Beats
  5. Fisherman's Wharf - Italian Boats and Old Ships
  6. Nob Hill and Russian Hill - Cable Cars, Mansions and the Great Fire
  7. The Presidio - Two Centuries Guarding the Golden Gate
  8. Japantown and the Fillmore - Two Communities, One Neighborhood
  9. Haight-Ashbury - From Victorian Suburb to Summer of Love
  10. Golden Gate Park - Sand Dunes Turned Into a Park
  11. The Castro - A Neighborhood That Became a Movement
  12. The Mission - Where San Francisco Began
  13. Civic Center - Domes, Charters and Protest
  14. South of Market - From Rincon Hill to the Tech Boom