Why Here?

Fishermen’s Wharf remains the best place to bring a catch from the rich Pacific Ocean waters just outside the Golden Gate because it offers the closest sheltered harbor as well as the largest concentration of fish processors and other services for the commercial fishing industry. Originally called Italy Harbor, it was shaped by immigrants from Genoa who pioneered San Francisco’s commercial fishing industry in the Gold Rush era, and by growing numbers of Sicilians who joined the fleet in the late 1880s and early 1890s, many fleeing drought and crop failure in their homeland. North Beach became a lively Italian neighborhood and an important contributor to San Francisco’s cultural diversity. The wharf also became a center for recreational fishing, drawing generations of anglers seeking salmon, halibut, striped bass, and other prized game fish on daily trips inside and outside the Golden Gate. The fishing fleet had not always been at the wharf but had been near Green Street in Italy Harbor until, around the turn of the twentieth century, the city built a seawall and new cargo piers and the fleet moved to what is now Fishermen’s Wharf, where lagoons were made to protect the feluccas.

San Francisco, California · United States