Hidden San Francisco

“The history of San Francisco I’ve been waiting for”—Sean Burns, writer and filmmaker

“A dissenter’s guidebook”—Peter Booth Wiley, publisher and author of The National Trust Guide to San Francisco

“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 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.

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. He is the author of four books. He has lived in San Francisco since 1978.