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October 17, 2010. Hotel Essex, at the corner of Ellis St. and Larkin St., in The Tenderloin, San Francisco.

7am on Sunday morning, I was up and out of my hostel, which was directly across the street from this hotel. There are some pretty sketchy areas around here, but all the old hotel and bar signs around here made it very visually appealing.

October 16, 2010. Another old theatre in the Mission District of San Francisco, at the corner of 16th Street and Capp Street. In fact, it's the oldest one still in business, dating back to 1908.

The Victoria Theatre was known for a short period of time as the 16th Street Theatre, and this is still evident in the partially obscured mosaic in the ticket lobby. This place has seen it all over its 100+ years: Vaudeville, burlesque, plays, films, Spanish films, porn, punk rock... Nowadays, it seems to mostly host local events, film festivals, locally-produced plays, musicals, etc.

It's interesting to note that this place still uses the correct "theatre" spelling. :-)

History, photos, and much more about the Victoria Theatre can be found at the Victoria Theatre website, Cinema Treasures, and Wikipedia.

October 16, 2010 on Osage St., a small but very colourful laneway just west of Mission and 24th in San Francisco. Someone must really like Lou Reed.

October 16, 2010. Cine Latino on Mission St. in San Francisco.

Another oldie that has seen better days. "One of the oldest in the city, it had previously been known as the Wigwam Theatre (when it opened in 1913), New Rialto Theatre, and Crown Theatre. The theater closed in 1987. " More info and old photos at Cinema Treasures.

October 16, 2010. Lucky Pork Market on Mission St., San Francisco.

I love the storefront, but I didn't go inside. Maybe next time. The online reviews of this place rate it highly. Pork of all shapes and sizes, plus other Mexican stuff. Sounds fun. I don't think the pork is actually all that "lucky" though.

October 16, 2010. Tower Theater on Mission St. in San Francisco.

Another old and vacant theatre in The Mission. Built in 1911, grand opening 1912, and originally named The Majestic, it was updated and renamed to Tower Theater around 1937. Apparently the walls were covered in western-themed murals. The theatre closed in 1996, and had a short stint as a church/cult, and has been closed and for sale since about 2006.

Some history and photos are available online at Cinema Treasures and eHow.

October 16, 2010. El Capitan Theater on Mission St. in San Francisco.

Well, it's not actually a theatre anymore. This beauty built in 1928 was torn down, except for the facade and foyer, in 1964. Behind the facade lies a parking lot.

Some history and old photos of this theatre are available online at Cinema Treasures.

This section of Mission St. was actually packed full of old theatres in various states of decay. Most of them have been put to other uses now. If I ever go back to San Francisco, I'd probably spend alot more time in The Mission, checking out the old theatres, the shops, and of course some Mexican food (I missed out this time). This was probably my favourite neighbourhood that I visited, however briefly.

October 16, 2010, at the corner of 16th and Mission in San Francisco.

October 16, 2010, at the corner of 16th St. and Capp St. in San Francisco, just outside of the Victoria Theatre. A useful reminder to pedestrians who are about to cross the street. Missing are signs reminding motorists to put down their phones and pay attention when turning through crosswalks too.

October 16, 2010. Somewhere along 16th St. near Folsom St. in San Francisco, on a fence with a bunch of other signs that appeared to be hand-painted by kids. I can agree with this. Riding a bike makes me happy too.