San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the country with rolling hills, water views everywhere and a creative, multicultural populace. The greater Bay Area includes Oakland to the east and Silicon Valley to the south. With a fascinating history and lots of quirky locations, San Francisco should never bore or disappoint, especially with the many San Francisco secrets.
Here are some San Francisco secrets along with a few San Francisco facts. Whether you are new to the city or have lived here a while, San Francisco always has more to discover.
33 San Francisco secrets you’ll learn sooner or later when living here
1. Locals do not call San Francisco “San Fran” or worse, “Frisco,” but either the full name or simply “the City.” The City typically refers to the area within the San Francisco city limits. The greater metropolitan area that includes Oakland and San Jose is called the Bay Area. (These days, some locals are starting to call it the Bay, which doesn’t sit well with other locals.)
2. The North Bay encompasses areas such as Marin, Sonoma and Napa, while the South Bay refers to San Jose and its suburbs (although the name can easily be confused with the South Bay in Southern California, which includes Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach). Between San Francisco and Northern California’s South Bay, you’ll find the Peninsula.
3. Here’s why you don’t want to confuse South Bays: San Francisco and Los Angeles could not be any more different. San Francisco has the culture, a walkable city core and the smarter people (supposedly). Los Angeles has better weather, better-looking people (supposedly) and beaches. San Francisco is also three times smaller population-wise with almost 900,000 city residents vs. 3.9 million in Los Angeles.
4. The entire Bay Area was first settled by humans as far back as 3,000 B.C.
5. By the way, there are no “San Franciscoans” — the preferred term is “San Franciscan.”
6. There’s some debate over whether the abbreviation S.F. is proper for a native, but some born and raised there do use S.F. both in text and speech, and it’s definitely OK to use in typing or texting. In short, you should probably just call San Francisco whatever you prefer and to heck with what other people think! Though, there are rumors that the wrong term can get you bad service at certain restaurants. So, be forewarned and try to avoid joking about “Frisco” with your waiter.
7. If you live in San Francisco, even if you have never been to the East Coast before, you typically say you are going “back east” when visiting a place like New York. Why? Who knows.
8. Apartments for rent in San Francisco are pretty expensive. Like 257 percent more expensive than the national average, which means a one-bedroom may cost you $3,137 or even more each month.
9. Because San Francisco is so hilly, you’ll often find many secret stairs if you look hard enough, like the Hidden Steps at 16th Street.
10. Not to be outdone, there are also hundreds of “secret stairs” located in the East Bay in Oakland, Berkeley and Piedmont.
11. San Francisco is actually the location of buried treasure — an author (now deceased) named Byron Preiss wrote a book called “The Secret: A Treasure Hunt” that was published in 1982. A total of 12 ceramic casques were buried in cities across the United States, and if you found one, you would win a jewel worth $1,000. To this day, only three treasure boxes have been found, in Cleveland, Chicago and Boston. The one buried in San Francisco is still at large, so city officials decided to make sure people dug sustainably by assigning treasure rangers to help would-be diggers while requiring permits.
12. You can’t talk about San Francisco’s secrets without mentioning Alcatraz. The former prison, located on an island north of the city, actually has tunnels underneath the prison, remnants from a fort that used to be located there.
13. Alcatraz is thought to be one of the most haunted places in San Francisco, but another building might even be more haunted — the Neptune Society Columbarium, which started housing cremated remains in 1898, when the building was used for the Odd Fellows secret society, the largest fraternal organization of its kind in the world back in the late 1800s.
14. Reported ghostly encounters at the Columbarium include a woman feeling a hand on her back but seeing no one, yet finding a white handprint on her blouse upon returning home.
15. The current Masonic Center in San Francisco contains a humongous mural by artist Emile Norman, which required the artist to read 15 books on Freemasonry prior to painting. The artist was sworn to secrecy regarding what the symbols in the mural actually mean.
16. The Masons formerly used a different building located at 25 Van Ness, which was literally designed to keep curious passersby from seeing the secrets within — every window from the street will simply reveal a hallway and not a room.
17. The most infamous and exclusive secret society in San Francisco is the Bohemian Club, a men’s club founded way back in 1872. The rich elite membership rolls are kept in strict secrecy, of course.
18. The Bohemian Club headquarters can be found at 624 Taylor and displays the club mascot, an owl, which is also considered a symbol of the Illuminati that represents wisdom. The club motto is a Shakespeare quote: “Weaving spiders come not here.”
19. Another secretive build is the Medico-Dental Office found at 450 Sutter Street. Designed by Timothy Pflueger, the 16-story high-rise features Art Deco architecture with elaborate Mayan engravings and symbols. Even when the building was first opened in 1929, people speculated as to the meaning of the symbols, but the answer was never provided. A mystery that perhaps may ever remain unsolved.
20. Another mysterious location in San Francisco is the Westerfeld House, a mansion originally constructed in 1889 as a private residence for German confectioner William Westerfeld. Just prior to the Great Depression, Russian investors bought the mansion in 1928, converting the ballroom into a nightclub officially called Dark Eyes, but nicknamed the “Russian Embassy.” The house became really infamous when occult filmmaker Kenneth Anger (originally born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer) lived there and shot the film “Invocation of My Demon Brother.” Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey also lived in the house and allegedly performed Satanic rituals in the ballroom.
21. When local real estate developer Jim Siegel bought the Westerfeld House in 1986, he had the property blessed by Buddhist monks to get rid of any bad mojo. Still, some residents report sensing negative energies or hearing spooky noises in the house late at night.
22. In Hunter’s Point, you’ll find Albion Castle, which is situated over a series of secret underground caverns and caves.
23. The Latitude was a modern-day secret society created as a $2 million dollar startup in San Francisco that involved a real-life social network puzzle. The 2015 startup didn’t last long, but it sure made an impact on the people who participated.
24. Perhaps not so much of a secret anymore now that it’s been featured on Netflix, the Gregangelo Museum is an unassuming house on the outside and a magical wonderland on the inside. The artist who owns the house, Gregangelo, has taken decades to turn this once-average home into a whimsical, magical interior circus. Tours are provided but you need to reserve in advance.
25. The Unofficial LSD Museum or “Institute of Illegal Images” is a collection of LSD blotters (printed pages that have LSD infused in them) that are illegal in the United States. Due to legal concerns, the owner Mark McCloud doesn’t offer regular public visiting hours for the museum, and the website BlotterBarn.com (last updated in 2016 as of this writing) doesn’t offer any clues either on how to see the collection other than virtually.
26. You probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear that San Francisco has its own Antique Vibrator Museum on Polk Street, brought to you by Good Vibrations. San Francisco secrets, indeed.
27. One of the oddest San Francisco facts is that there are wild South American parrots that live in Telegraph Hill’s trees. While it’s a secret as to exactly how they got there, it’s most likely due to parrots that had escaped or were released way back in 1900.
28. There was a cute little Fairy Post Office you would come across while hiking the Curran Trail in Tilden Park. Complete with a miniature desk and mailbox, this nook in a tree was also a place where hikers would leave messages for one another. Atlas Obscura reports, sadly, that the fairy post office is now permanently closed. But who knows, fairies are temperamental and perhaps the miniature post office will magically reappear someday.
29. Hidden in the Presidio National Park is a life-size Yoda statue at LucasFilm headquarters.
30. Check out the concrete Seward Street Slides, tucked away in the Seward mini-park in Castro. For optimal enjoyment, bring a large piece of cardboard to slide on.
31. Just off the Land’s End Trail on the northwest corner of San Francisco, you’ll find a large walking labyrinth by the sea, considered one of the best “hidden” things to do in San Francisco.
32. Tucked away in the Presidio is a small pet cemetery with many sad headstones and graves for the furry friends that have been loved and lost. Bring a tissue.
33. If you had visited San Francisco back in 1849, you would have a whole bunch of ships sitting listlessly in the harbor, abandoned by adventurers who were joining the California Gold Rush. All told, there may be more than 100 ships sunk in the watery graveyard around the city, and that’s just counting the shipwrecks and not abandoned vessels. The treasures these ships may contain will perhaps be kept secret forever.
Experience San Francisco secrets for yourself
The best San Francisco secrets are the memories you develop while living and playing there. If you’re ready to take the big leap and move to the Bay Area, then take a look at apartments for rent in San Francisco. You’re sure to find something you like!
