Why these San Francisco streets changed their names

The streets of San Francisco have a curious history. While many are named to honor leaders, presidents, cities and trees, some gain their names from outlaws and even sex workers. Gough Street is named after a hard-working milkman and Point Lobos at Ocean Beach was so named when Spanish explorers thought the sound of barking of sea lions nearby sounded like wolves.

But over the years, hundreds of the city's street names have been changed. Often these changes are procedural administrative moves — new freeways make old alleys defunct, streets are widened to boulevards to carry more traffic — while some streets are renamed to remember poets, artists and other cultural figures who left an indelible mark on the city.

Other name changes are more controversial, and come after years of political protest against the dubious histories of their namesakes. Before getting "canceled" involved a slew of outrage on Twitter and ripped up movie deals, outed problematic figures of the past would be deplatformed by having street signs in their name removed from the alleys and avenues that had previously honored them.

And some streets in San Francisco never even got a name in the first place, often to the frustration of residents trying to call an Uber or get food delivered. Despite neighbors' attempts to get the dead-end alley between Upper Market Street and Corbett Avenue renamed "John's Way" last year, the residential stretch remains nameless, although residents did put up their own sign.

Here are the stories behind some of the more consequential street name changes in San Francisco.

Justin Herman Plaza becomes Embarcadero Plaza

In 2017, after a fight that lasted decades, M. Justin Herman's name was finally removed from the plaza at the eastern end of Market Street in San Francisco.

In the '60s, Herman was head of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. Under his tenure, large areas of the city were redeveloped, forcing thousands of residents, many of them poor and non-white, to leave their homes and businesses. In redeveloping the Western Addition, 10,000 people were displaced and more than 60 city blocks cleared. Herman's agency also aggressively acquired land in Chinatown and the Tenderloin, forcing poor residents from their neighborhoods.

In 1965, novelist Thomas Fleming described Herman as the "arch-villain in the black depopulation of the city."

Army Street becomes Cesar Chavez Street

The east-west street that stretches from the Bayview neighborhood to Noe Valley was renamed in 1995 in honor of American labor leader and Latino American civil rights activist, Cesar Chavez. The decision at the time to change the street's name created a fight that echoes in today's debate over the naming of statues, military bases and roads. The LA Times reported at the time:

San Francisco prides itself on its tolerance and diversity, but this year's decision by the Board of Supervisors to change the name of Army Street to Cesar Chavez Street has turned surprisingly divisive. Longtime residents of mostly white Noe Valley -- up in arms over the change -- have placed an initiative on the city's Nov. 7 ballot that would erase Chavez's name from street signs along the three-mile roadway.

"People just want to hold on to something,' observed Rick Stewart, a 27-year-old technology writer who moved to Cesar Chavez Street this summer. 'A lot of white people here feel like they don't have much they can hold on to -- even if it's just the name Army Street.'

Adler Alley becomes Jack Kerouac Alley

Jack Kerouac Alley, formerly Adler Alley, is a small street that connects Grant Avenue in Chinatown to Columbus Avenue in North Beach. The alley is named after the famed Beat Generation writer who used to frequent the City Lights bookstore next door, and Vesuvio, the bar adjacent to the alley.

Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who founded City Lights in 1953, successfully suggested the name change in 1988 to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The alley is now known for its engraved Western and Chinese writing by writers and poets such as John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou and Kerouac himself. Ferlinghetti would also later be honored, with the nearby street Price Row becoming "Via Ferlinghetti" in 1994.

Morton Street becomes Maiden Lane

Union Square's high-end shopping street, Maiden Lane, was once a hub of late 19th century prostitution in San Francisco. It was named Morton Street at the time. The renaming to "Maiden Lane" was not, however, in honor of its red-light history, but an effort to mirror the aesthetic of other Maiden Lanes in London and New York.

Dupont Street becomes Grant Avenue

One of the oldest streets in San Francisco's Chinatown district that links Downtown to North Beach was once named Dupont Street after a Navy admiral from the USS Portsmouth. Dupont Street became the location for various opium dens and brothels when the revelry and vice of the city's Barbary Coast was at its height.

When the city was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, Dupont Street was given a new name, Grant Avenue, after President Ulysses S. Grant. The street is still written and said in Chinese as "Dupont Gai."

Monroe Street becomes Dashiell Hammett Place

In 1988, San Francisco supervisors were persuaded to rename 12 short streets after famous local writers and artists. The street they chose to rename in honor of Dashiell Hammett, the celebrated author of hard-boiled detective fiction, was one on which the writer had actually lived, at 20 Monroe St..

The Bush Street end of Monroe is about 100 yards from the end of Burritt Alley. Hammett placed Miles Archer's murder at this location in opening of his iconic 1930 page-turner, "The Maltese Falcon."

The one-block stretch that joins Pine and Bush streets is so steep, it was paved in concrete rather than asphalt, as it was thought that the tar might run before it had a chance to set properly.

Phelan Avenue becomes Frida Kahlo Way

In 2018, this street at San Francisco's City College Balboa Park location was renamed Frida Kahlo Way, honoring the iconic Mexican painter.

The street was formerly named after James Phelan, an Irish immigrant who earned his fortune in the city during the Gold Rush. Phelan's son, James D. Phelan, was mayor of San Francisco from 1897 to 1902. During that time, Phelan supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. After leaving the Senate in 1921, he remained active in anti-immigrant movements and ran a campaign to "Keep California White."

Andrew Chamings is an editor at SFGATE. Email: Andrew.Chamings@sfgate.com | Twitter: @AndrewChamings