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The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld

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"And Hell, yawning to receive the putrid mass, is there also".

Such is the description of San Francisco's Barbary Coast cited from another publication by author Herbert Asbury.

THE BARBARY COAST, first published in 1933, is a history of that vicious and squalid section in the heart of the City by the Bay devoted to all forms of crime, vice, lewd conduct and wickedness for the period 1849 to 1917. Asbury's fascinating narrative includes the dance halls, music saloons, dives, brothels, and gambling dens that infested the area, as well as the criminal gangs, hoodlums and cutthroats that preyed on the men lured there. The book's scope also encompasses the rising population of Chinese residents that coalesced into Chinatown, as well as the yellow slavery, tong wars and virulent anti-Chinese sentiments that evolved concurrently. And, since San Francisco is one of the world's greatest natural ports, the author describes the perils to both arriving and departing sailors, who were drawn to the Barbary Coast as insects to Venus Flytraps.

The twin pillars of the Barbary Coast were robbery and prostitution. Despite the early successes of vigilantism in ridding the burgeoning metropolis of undesirables, the fact that both thrived for so long can be attributed to the toleration and blatant corruption of the city's law enforcement officials and governing politicos. Of the two, prostitution was the foundation of the area's iniquity since, as the author is careful to point out, the Barbary Coast didn't finally die until the California Legislature passed the Red-light Abatement Act of 1914. Therefore, it's no surprise that much of the volume is dedicated to the Oldest Profession: the cribs, cow-yards, parlor houses, pimps, madames, and debasing working conditions.

THE BARBARY COAST comes near to being a book in the "couldn't put down" category. However, it sorely lacks the illustrations and period photographs that enhanced the Asbury's "prequel" volume, THE GANGS OF NEW YORK. Nevertheless, once read, you'll not see the modern streets of San Francisco in the same way again.

San Francisco is an amazing city. Each time I visit I discover something new along its narrow alleys, panoramic vistas and historical landmarks. North Beach has always been my favorite SF neighborhood. It is amazing to me that such wickedness prevailed on these streets in the not so distant past. When I picked up the Barbary Coast, I was surprised that it was an older novel (first published in the 1930's). Don't let that persuade you from reading it. Asbury's frank and colorful descriptions of the old Barbary Coast will capture your imagination from the first page. Starting with the gold rush, Asbury describes the incredible influx of people onto the peninsula within a few short years and the lawlessness that followed. The stories of the prostitutes, gamblers, thieves, gangs, saloon keepers, brawlers, and corrupt politicians are all richly told in Asbury's colorful language that keeps the reader's attention all the way through. This book is a must for anyone interested in the history of the gold rush and San Francisco's past.

I'd seen this book on the shelves at the library, but I had always passed over it because it was too non-linear for my research. Boy, was that a mistake. This is THE best book about San Francisco's Barbary Coast in existance. It came to my attention again because of 'Gangs of New York', and I went ahead and bought it this time. Read this book and find out how tame everyone from San Francisco is these days in comparison.

The miners came in Forty-nine,
The whores in fifty-one;
And when they got together
They produced the native son.

This irreverend verse in the early part of THE BARBARY COAST sets the tempo of what is to follow: Joaquin Murieta, the Vigilantes, the Tong Wars in Chinatown, Shanghaiing sailors, the red-light district. I read it forty years ago originally and still recommend it, as do I the same author's THE FRENCH QUARTER.

This book is an informal history: as such it is sparse with the references, but it's a great read.

San Franciscans should be proud of it.

I first read this intense book about ten years ago when I was helping to research a San Francisco walking tour for a colleague. I've revisited the title several times doing further research, and just for the plain old pleasure of reliving the wild glory days of the old-west again.

Like his tell-all histories of New York, New Orleans, and Chicago he goes for the rough-and-tumble sensational aspects of the past, and has a good old time of trying to separate the fact and the fiction. The style is a bit on the journalistic dry side of the era it was written, but the eccentric characters and situations more than make up for his style with pure drama.

This was one of the books which proved influential in delving even deeper into the legend and lore of old San Francisco, which has resulted after six years of planning, in opening a Victorian Parlor performance venue right on Union Square where so much of the history took place. The San Francisco Magic Parlor has now opened with our very "Herbert Asbury" sytle show: Eccentrics of San Francisco's Barbary Coast ...a magical escapade!

If you love to go deep into the roots of a city, and love the high and low trivia to be found in one of the most fascinating places in the world, you'll really enjoy all his titles, but this one for sure.

When one considers what went on in the San Francisco Bay Area during the Gold Rush and later - modern times can't compete! Absolutely wild and a great read!

Fabulous book about San Francisco from 1849-1900's! Well written easy to follow, and interesting and funny history of the Barbary Coast. I lived there for a good part of my life and can tell you it was fascinating to read how it began...I had no idea!

The history of the city of San Francisco has always intrigued me, and this book gave me insight and glimpses that I might never have been exposed to otherwise. Given the fact that this book was written in the early 1900s, Asbury was able to speak with and interview people that actually lived in SF in the late 1800s, and these first hand accounts are invaluable. Anyone interested in SF history should definitely pick up this book!

This book was written in the 1930s. If you're a serious historian, I'd recommend finding some newer scholarship. Very sensationalized. You can down load it for nothing from Project Gutenberg.