1940s-1960s
The Fillmore's jazz era (1940s-1960s)
Fillmore Street was the center of San Francisco's Black cultural scene in the mid-20th century. Jazz clubs and venues drew national performers, earning the corridor the nickname 'Harlem of the West.'
Then
Urban renewal in the 1960s displaced much of the neighborhood's population and closed many clubs.
Now
The corridor went through decades of decline before the current revitalization effort.
Why this matters now
The Upper Fillmore's revival is an attempt to restore the corridor as a cultural destination, a role it last held in the mid-1900s.