401 Castro Street
San Francisco, California 94114
(415) 864-9470
TwinPeaksTavern.com
Status: LGBT Bar
In Their Own Words: Gateway to the Castro… a legend in its own time……and the best view of the Castro, any day, any time. Windows to watch the world go by with the unquestionably the neighborhoods best cocktails, beers on tap, and wines by the glass… all fashioned in this long established “icon” of the Castro, a changing minute by minute collage of life all seen through the panoramic windows. Often referred to as the gay Cheers located on the historic corner of Market and Castro under the oscillating rainbow arrow, offers regulars the comforts of home, and visitors a warm welcome to the neighborhood and one of San Francisco’s greatest assets….
History
Summary
| Name | Dates of Operation |
| Twin Peaks Tavern | 1973 – present |
Details
401 Castro Street was first built in 1883 as a saloon and cigar shop, with a second story added in 1915. In 1923, building owner Samuel Levin updated the façade from a Victorian style to the Mediterranean revival style that still exists today. It served as a storefront until becoming a bar in 1935. The Twin Peaks Tavern was initially operated by Osborne Bye and William Mullane, and then by Gus Fagerlind and Knut Carlson by at least the mid-1940s, and then by Robert Clancy and Curtis R. Robinson in the 1950s and 60s.
But it didn’t turn into a gay bar until new lesbian owners Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster (who soon became known as “the girls”) bought it in 1971, getting their liquor license on October 11, 1972. Cunha had been working for Forster at a liquor store on Valencia and 16th, and one of the store’s liquor vendors mentioned that the bar was for sale. They bought it and turned it into a fern bar, uncovering the picture windows (that previous owners covered so that wives couldn’t see their husbands drinking) and making it the first gay bar in the City and possibly the country where patrons could be seen inside. It was a sign of the changing times; previously, too many patrons were too closeted to risk being easily seen in a gay bar. But even with the changing times, it was a bold move; people could and often were still fired if they were spotted in a gay bar.
1971 was a pivotal year in the entrenchment of the Castro as a gay neighborhood. The Missouri Mule became the first gay bar in the neighborhood in 1963. It could have stayed that way as a one-off bar for locals, with the Polk remaining as the center of gay life in the City. But then it was followed in 1967 by I-Do-Know on 18th Street (which later became the Pendulum and is now Toad Hall) and, significantly farther down Market Street, by Libra at 1884 Market Street. Then in 1971, Twin Peaks was just one of four new gay bars to join them, and was the most visible due to its two-lot size, its location at the gateway to Castro Street, and its prominent plate glass windows.
Peggy was already involved in the bar industry with their friend, Charlotte Coleman. In a 2012 interview for the establishment of Twin Peak’s official landmark status, Cunha related, “There were a couple gay bars on Castro and Market. Charlotte and Peggy owned a group of bars— The Mint, The Trap, The Blue and Gold, Gilmore’s up at the cable car turnaround, Sharp’s Bar and Restaurant and a bar down in San Carlos. They also owned the Golden Cask on Haight Street. I only had the Twin Peaks Tavern. That was enough for me.”
The Twin Peaks Tavern sign had existed since the ’30s or ’40s, but the girls added a cocktail glass to it and hand painted the lights in rainbow colors because colored lights were not yet readily available.
In its first year, the bar became one of the major stops on the route of the Great Tricycle Race, a fundraising event created by Charlotte Coleman, in which participants would dress in drag and race on tricycles from bar to bar. The race always ended at The Mint, owned by Coleman and Forster. The event lasted for 21 years, ending in the 1990s.
Cunha and Forster were in their 30s when they opened the bar, and their patrons tended to be middle aged and older. Like Forster and Coleman’s other bars, Twin Peaks established a “no touch” policy. Patrons could hug and kiss hello and goodbye, but patrons who were making out were asked to leave. The policy was intended at least in part to help avoid problems with the police and the Bureau of Alcohol Beverage Control, who could see what was going on more easily through the glass windows – the laws prohibiting same-sex sexual activity in California wouldn’t be repealed until 1975. As a result, younger guys looking for a quick hook-up tended to go to other bars. Twin Peaks was more suited for a conversation than a grope.
When Supervisor Dan White was acquitted of First Degree Murder charges for the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Twin Peaks managed to escape the destruction that the Elephant Walk faced by keeping a low profile. As soon as they saw the police starting to assemble at Market and Castro in riot gear, the staff at the bar lowered the lights, locked the doors, and asked patrons to move to the floor or hide under the tables. Police bypassed Twin Peaks, focusing their attention at the Elephant Walk.
Longtime bartenders Jeffrey Green and George Roehm took over the establishment in 2003, maintaining the bar’s many traditions, including treating employees well to promote retention and continuity. Throughout its history, it wasn’t uncommon for bartenders to stay a decade or longer. The owners deliberately keep the music volume low to facilitate conversation.
The upstairs mezzanine’s toilet has been called the nicest-smelling bathroom in the Castro, as it’s located above the vents from Hot Cookie’s ovens below.
Peggy Forster died in 2008 at the age of 72. Mary Ellen Cunha died at her home in Palm Springs in January of 2015, just a month before her 80th birthday.
In October of 2012, the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to confirm the nomination of Twin Peaks as a historic landmark, which the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved unanimously on January 15, 2013. Some of the benefits and restrictions of having landmark status include alternative regulations permitting repairs, alterations, and additions necessary for the preservation, rehabilitation, relocation, related construction, or continued use of a qualified historical building.
Related
Sources
Amster, Joseph, “San Francisco’s Legendary LGBT History Is Hidden In Plain Sight Around Every Corner,” Queerty, June 23, 2014.
Article 10 Landmark Historic Preservation Commission Case Report, Initiation of Designation: Twin Peaks Tavern, San Francisco Planning Department, September 12, 2012.
Copperman, Amy, “The 18 Oldest Bars in SF,” Thrillist, February 27, 2015.
Flanagan, Michael, “Old is New: Twin Peaks celebrates historic status,” Bay Area Reporter, January 2, 2014.
Hemmelgarn, Seth, “Panel proposes landmark status for gay bar,” Bay Area Reporter, October 25, 2012.
Laird, Cynthia, “Supes OK landmark status for gay bar,” Bay Area Reporter, January 15, 2013.
Lipsky, Dr. William, Gay and Lesbian San Francisco, Aracadia Publishing, 2006.
“Obituaries: Margaret Ann Forster,” Bay Area Reporter, August 7, 2008.
“Obituary: Mary Ellen Cunha,” Merced Sun-Star, February 20, 2015.
Location
401 Castro Street, San Francisco
I went in Twin Peaks Many times.Mary Ellen is my sister,and I miss her very much.
Oh, wow! I’d love to hear your stories about the bar and your sister some time.
Did George and Grace Silvera own it from 1960 to 1971 ?
I first went to the Twin Peaks in 1976, and my first impression was that it was a place for talking to one another without shouting, which was so often the case with other gay bars at the time that would blare disco music making conversation all but impossible.