Before 1776 – The native Yelamu people live nearby in the village of Chutchui, relocating each winter to the bayside village of Sitlintac. A creek flows past grassland and chaparral toward the bay along the path of today’s 18th street.

With the Castro Street Improvement Project nearing completion (the official ribbon-cutting ceremony was last week), the twenty plaques commemorating moments in the Castro neighborhood’s history have finished being installed.

The markers begin on the west side of the 400 block of Castro Street, near 440 Castro, and head south to 19th and Castro, where they pick up again on the other side of the street continuing north back to 17th and Castro.

The first ten plaques, all on the west side of Castro Street, cover the neighborhood’s history before it became a gay neighborhood, dating back to the 1700s. The second half, all on the east side, cover the neighborhood’s gay history, beginning with:

1953 – Lesbian couple Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon move into their first home together in San Francisco on Castro Street. They help establish the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national lesbian rights organization, in 1955.

This morning we were finally able to take photos of all of them. Here’s a gallery with your virtual tour of the Castro’s history.