The SF Eagle is the oldest gay leather bar South of Market (SoMa).

Leather culture refuted the stereotype that all gay men are effeminate. The Tool Box, which opened in 1962, was the first leather bar in SoMa. Subsequent gay leather bars opened along a strip of Folsom Street known as The Miracle Mile. This first wave included Febe’s, the Stud, and the Ramrod.

By 1970, there were nearly twenty gay bars and bathhouses, predominantly leather, in the neighborhood. By 1980, the introduction of discos and bathhouses brought the number close to forty.

Redevelopment and demolition caused many of the establishments to relocate or close. The onset of AIDS in the 1980s led to further closure of bathhouses and sex clubs.

Source: Adapted from San Francisco Landmark Designation Application for San Francisco Eagle Bar, 19 October 2021.

Nights in black leather in Folsom Gulch.

Some evocative names: Cow Palace Saloon, No Name Bar, The Bolt, The Brig, Powerhouse, Bootcamp, Ambush, Barracks, Lone Star Saloon, Black and Blue, Arena, Trench, Cave, Headquarters, The Stables, The Slot, Dreamland, and Chaps.

Only the Lone Star Saloon, a bear bar, survives.