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San Francisco Trivia Quiz: A Name In Full appendix
By Dave Schweisguth (email: dave at schweisguth dot org)
Last updated June 7, 2024

This list includes every street in San Francisco which has the full name of the person it commemorates. Namesakes (where known) and locations are given for streets which are neither listed in Louis Lowenstein's Streets of San Francisco, third edition, 1996, nor in the main article. Please note that sources differ on whether some streets are called "street", "alley", "way" etc.; the names given here are those used in map data published by the San Francisco Department of Public Works.

Adolph Sutro Court. Named for the twenty-first mayor of San Francisco. Near the top of Mt. Sutro, off Johnstone Drive. Al Scoma Way. Named in 2001 for the owner of Scoma's Restaurant. On Pier 47, the location of the restaurant, which is numbered 1965 for the year it was founded. Alice B. Toklas Place. Named for the companion of Gertrude Stein. Formerly the 100 block of Myrtle Street. Immediately south of Geary between Van Ness and Larkin. Ambrose Bierce Street1 Annie Larsen Lane2, 3 Arelious Walker Drive. Named for the pastor and community activist. Formerly Fitch Street (and the underwater blocks in India Basin shown on DPW maps are still named Fitch, and Google Maps names the segment between Palou and Thomas Avenues Fitch). At the eastern edge of the Hunters Point and Bayview neighborhoods, in three segments separated by the Hunter's Point Naval Reservation and Yosemite Slough. Bernice Rodgers Way. Named for a Rec & Parks Department employee who greatly expanding event permitting. Connects John F. Kennedy Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive west of Chain of Lakes Drive. Bertie Minor Lane2 Bill Walsh Way. Named in 2004 for the Giants coach. Formerly Giants Drive. (Today's Giants Drive, to the west of Alice Griffith Apartments, was constructed around 2017 as part of that project.) Separates Candlestick Park from Gilman Playground. Bob Kaufman Alley1 Bret Harte Terrace Cesar Chavez Street Charles J. Brenham Place. See main article. Cleo Rand Avenue. Named for the 1970's activist, a founder of the Chocolate City youth program. Just outside the Hunters Point Naval Reservation. Colin P. Kelly Jr. Street. See main article. Corinne Woods Way. Named in 2020 for the Mission Creek houseboat resident and activist in many development and parks projects on the waterfront around Mission Bay. Formerly El Dorado Street. In Mission Bay on the southeast side of Mission Creek. Cyril Magnin Street Daniel Burnham Court. Named for the Chicago architect and author of the famous, although largely unimplemented, Burnham Plan for San Francisco. Between Van Ness, Post, Franklin and Sutter. Dashiell Hammett Street1 Dirk Dirksen Place. Named for the punk rock promoter and Mabuhay Gardens emcee. Formerly Rowland Street. South of Broadway between Kearny and Montgomery. Donaldina Cameron Alley.3 Named in 2013 for the Presbyterian missionary who rescued thousands of young women from prostitution around the turn of the last century. Formerly Old Chinatown Lane. Don Chee Way. Named for the man who oversaw the building of the F Market streetcar line. The southeastern border of Justin Herman Plaza. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. Named for the physician, publisher of the Sun-Reporter, and civil rights activist. The section of Polk Street which adjoins City Hall. Dr. Maya Angelou Lane. Named for the streetcar conductor, dancer and writer. In Mission Bay between 3rd Street and Terry A. Francois Boulevard. Dr. Tom Waddell Place. Named in 2014 for the founder of the Gay Olympics. Formerly Lech Walesa Street (also a fully named street). Renamed after Lech Walesa said that gay people should not hold prominent political positions. Earl Gage Jr. Street. Named in 2020 for San Francisco's first Black firefighter. Formerly the westernmost block of Willow Street, between Laguna and Buchanan. Emma Claudina2, 3 Enid Ng Lim Alley.3 Named in 2013 for an active citizen of Chinatown who worked on behalf of and then lived in the nearby On Lok senior housing. Formerly Bartol Street. Frank Norris Street1. See main article. Frida Kahlo Way. Named in 2018 for the artist. Formerly Phelan Avenue. Phelan Avenue had been named for the successful Irish immigrant James Phelan (1819-1892); it was renamed to erase the memory of his son James D. (1861-1930), 25th mayor of San Francisco, U.S. Senator from California, and white supremacist. Gene Compton's Cafeteria Way.3 The 100 block of Taylor Street. Named not for the individual, but for that block's location of his chain of cafeterias, where transgender customers picketed and rioted in 1966 when staff called the police on them. Gene Friend Way. Named for the prominent San Francisco businessman and philanthropist, not for the biotechnology which is the focus of the UCSF Mission Bay campus where the street is located. Harold 'Bud' Moose Lane.3 Named in 2013 for the builder of the adjacent Hilton hotel. The 600 block of Merchant Street, between Kearny and Montgomery Streets. Helen Macintosh Lane.3 Namesake unknown. A one-lane alley connecting 4th Street (between Folsom and Harrison) to Tandang Sora Street. Henry Adams Street Herb Caen Way...3 Named, of course, for San Francisco's beloved columnist. The Bay-side sidewalk of the Embarcadero. This is the only street in San Francisco whose name, unabbreviated, doesn't end in a letter. Isadora Duncan Lane1 Jack Balestreri Way. Named for the Golden Gate Bridge concrete worker who built the stairway that now bears his name, on Carolina Street between 19th & 20th. He was the longest-surviving Golden Gate Bridge worker until he died in 2012 at age 95. Jack Kerouac Alley1 Jack London Alley1 Jack Micheline Alley. Named for the Beat-generation (but not, he said, Beat) poet. Formerly Pardee Alley. West of Grant between Filbert and Greenwich. Jeff Adachi Way. Named in 2020 for the former San Francisco Public Defender. The block of Gilbert Street between Bryant and Brannan Streets, behind the Public Defender's office. Joe Mazzola Place.3 Named in 1996 for the business manager of Plumbers and Pipefitters' Union Local 38. The area in front of 1621 Market Street, the Local 38 offices. John F. Kennedy Drive John F. Shelley Drive. Listed in Lowenstein under "Shelley". John Maher Street. Named for the founder of the Delancey Street halfway house. Formerly Commerce Street. Between Front, Green, Battery and Union. John Muir Drive José Sarria Court. Named for the drag queen and activist. The stretch of 16th Street between Prosper and Pond Streets, near Market Street. Juan Bautista Circle Junipero Serra Boulevard Kenneth Rexroth Place1 Lottie Bennett Lane2 Mark Twain Lane1 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Mathew Turner Square.3 Named for America's greatest builder of sailing ships. In the St. Francis Square cooperative housing project, between Laguna Street and Quickstep, Inca and Galilee Lanes. The only fully-named map feature in St. Francis Square named for a person; others, footnoted 2, are named for ships or boats. Metha Nelson2, 3 Milton I. Ross Street. According to the plaque in the median on Jerrold at Toland, Mr. Ross was the head of the Produce Merchants Negotiating Committee when the new produce terminal was built in 1963. In the north Bayview northeast of the intersection mentioned. Nancy Pelosi Drive. Named in 2012 for the San Francisco congresswoman and Speaker of the House to honor her 25th year in office. Formerly Middle Drive East. South of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Nelson Rising Lane. Named for the then-CEO of Catellus Development Corporation. Spans UCSF Mission Bay between Mission Bay Boulevard and Gene Friend Way. Oceania Vance2, 3 Officer James W. Bloesch Road.3 Named for a San Francisco police officer who was accidentally shot and killed by another officer at the police stables in Golden Gate Park in 1988. The road that connects the stables and fly fishing ponds to John F. Kennedy Drive. Peter Sammon Way.3 Named in 2003 for the 32-year pastor of St. Teresa's Church. The stretch of 19th St. in front of his church, between Connecticut and Missouri. Peter Yorke Way. See main article. Randall Kline Alley. Named in 2023 for the founder of SFJAZZ. The block of Linden Street between Franklin and Gough Streets, adjacent to the SFJAZZ Center. Reverend Cecil Williams Way. Named on August 18, 2013 for the pastor of Glide Memorial Church. The block of Ellis Street next to the church, between Taylor and Jones. Richard Henry Dana Place1 Richard Manuli III Way.3 Named for the 24-year-old resident of Martinez who died in a motorcycle accident in 2017. A private street (actually a driveway) entirely within the Tanko Lighting property at 220 Bayshore Boulevard. Robert Kirk Lane Rosa Parks Lane. Named for the civil rights activist. In the Valencia Gardens public housing development, between Valencia, Guerrero, 14th and 15th Streets. Rose Pak's Way.3 Named in 2016 for the Chinatown political gatekeeper, who always got hers. Formerly James Alley. Off the south side of Jackson between Stone and Stockton. Numbered starting at lucky 888. Rosie Lee Lane Sam Jordan's Way.3 Named in 2018 for the owner of Sam Jordan's Bar and Grill, the oldest Black-owned bar in SF, located on that block. The bar closed in 2019. The block of Galvez Street between Phelps Avenue and Third Street. Sergeant John V. Young Lane Sister Vish-Knew Way. Named for a founder of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Formerly Alert Alley. Between 15th, 16th, Dolores and Landers Streets. Terry A. Francois Boulevard Thomas Mellon Drive and Circle Thomas More Way Timothy Pflueger Place. Named in 2008 for the architect of several downtown skyscrapers and movie palaces throughout SF and elsewhere. Formerly Chelsea Place. Off the south side of Bush between Stockton and Powell, abutting Pflueger's 450 Sutter Street. Tom Ryan Place. Named for the longtime San Francisco Fire Dept. stationary engineer. A private street inside the SFFD's Treasure Island Training Facility. The street sign can be seen through the gate on 10th Street between Avenues M and N. Toni Stone Crossing. Named in 2020 after the Negro League baseball player. In Mission Bay between 3rd Street and Terry A. Francois Boulevard. Tony Bennett Way.3 Named in 2018 for the singer who introduced and continues to be associated with "I Left My Heart In San Francisco". The block of Mason Street between California and Sacramento Streets, site of the Fairmont Hotel, where Tony Bennett first sang that song. Turk Murphy Lane. Named for the trad-jazz trombonist. Between Broadway, Powell, Vallejo and Stockton. Vernon Alley.3 See main article. Vicha Ratanapakdee Way.3 Named for a Thai man who was killed nearby on January 28, 2021. Formerly Sonora Lane. Vicki Mar Lane.3 Named, delightfully, in 2014 for transvestite performer Vicki Marlane. The 100 block of Turk Street. Walter U. Lum Place. See main article. Whitney Young Circle Willie B. Kennedy Drive. Ms. Kennedy was a city supervisor from 1981 to 1996. South of Hudson Avenue on Hunter's Point Ridge. Willie Mays Plaza.3 Named in 2000 for the Giants' superstar player. The stretch of King Street in front of AT&T Park.

Tandang Sora Street, between 3rd, 4th, Folsom and Harrison, is named for the Filipina revolutionary Melchora Aquino, but does not bear her full name; "Tandang Sora" is an epithet referring to her advanced age (84) at the time of the Phillipine Revolution.

1Following a proposal by poet and founder of City Lights Books Lawrence Ferlinghetti, on January 25, 1988, twelve San Francisco streets or parts of streets were renamed for thirteen artists and writers. Ten are listed above. Saroyan and Via Bufano were renamed for William Saroyan (oddly omitting his given name, though Lowenstein and many other sources incorrectly name the street in full) and Beniamino Bufano. Nobles Alley in North Beach was to be renamed for Richard Brautigan, but the residents of Nobles Alley objected. Ferlinghetti got his own street, Via Ferlinghetti, in 1994, but, like Saroyan and Bufano, didn't get a place on this list.

2All of these streets in the St. Francis Square cooperative housing project, which was founded by the ILWU, are named not after people, but ships or boats which were themselves named after people. Two of these streets are official city streets, present on DPW maps; the others, also footnoted 3, are not on DPW maps, only on the co-op's own map, and are not signed. Other streets and squares in St. Francis Square have people's surnames (including General Banning Lane) or the names of ships not named after people. The namesakes of Dickie Square and Samar Lane are uncertain.

3These streets are signed (whether by the DPW or not) and appear on some maps, but do not appear in DPW mapping data so may not have the same official status as the other streets listed. Most of these names are honorary, meaning that they did not replace the previous names but augmented them, and are not registered with the U.S. Post Office.


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