Grant Avenue is a north-only street in Chinatown, and one of the main streets through Chinatown (the others are Kearny and Stockton). What most people do NOT know was that Grant Ave is the oldest street in San Francisco... Being the first-ever street drawn in today's San Francisco, by its surveyor... an Englishman by the name of William Richardson, in 1835. William Richardson was a pretty unremarkable sailor aboard a British whaling ship. His special skill was the ability to speak Spanish. In 1822, his ship arrived in San Francisco Bay, and he, the Spanish speaker, was "volunteered" to go negotiate with the local Mexican government. This was soon after the Mexican government had won its independence from the Spanish Crown. What happened after that was a bit unclear, but the generally accepted story was he was invited to a local fiesta, met Maria Antonia Martinez, and fell for each other immediately. Richardson eventually made it back to the ship the next day smelling of...
An exploration of San Francisco Chinatown typically NOT covered by tours