Check your assumptions of the Tenderloin at the door. The Tenderloin Museum uncovers a historic “underworld.” It offers the untold story of a neighborhood born out of the ashes of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire that became a thriving hub of jazz, pornography, and gambling. Shaped by successive waves of reforms and housing policies, the Tenderloin became an early refuge for gays, lesbians, and others living outside of traditional social norms of the time.

The museum is a community center for a neighborhood at a crossroads. As one of the last holdouts in a rapidly gentrifying city, the Tenderloin will no doubt change markedly in the coming years. The museum intends for change to start with an understanding and respect for the people and history of the place. So come for a visit, and get to know this neighborhood that’s named for a cut of meat.