37.7598, −122.4345 A locator map appears here once a Mapbox token is configured.
Know This Place

District 8 · Block 3583, Lot 061 · ZIP 94114

Harvey Milk Residence and Castro Camera

573–575 Castro Street · Eureka Valley

  • 2 stories
  • 2,750 ft2
  • 3,123 ft2 lot area
  • 7 rooms
  • 2 bathrooms
  • Wood frame
  • Zoned CASTRO
  • Historic resource
  • City landmark #227
  • Sold November 13, 2014
Land$1,261,938
Improvements$480,737
Total assessed$1,742,675
37.7598, −122.4345 Street View appears here once a Google Maps embed key is configured.
  1. 1893–1894

    Built by Fernando Nelson, one of the most prolific Victorian builders of Eureka and Noe Valleys, as a shop with a flat above, early in Eureka Valley's growth; until 1943 the storefront held hardware stores and tradesmen — a plumber, a carpenter, a tinsmith and sheet-metal workers.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  2. 1900

    Built by Fernando Nelson.

  3. 1947–1948

    The ground-floor storefront was remodelled in materials evoking the International Style — the front it still had in Harvey Milk's years.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  4. 1973

    Harvey Milk opened a small camera shop at 573 Castro Street and lived above it at 575. He ran for the Board of Supervisors that year, lost, and was elected in 1977 as the first openly gay person to win public office in California.

    Eureka Valley Historic Context Statement, adopted 2017
  5. March 3, 1973

    Harvey Milk and his partner Scott Smith, living next door at 577 Castro, opened Castro Camera with savings from Milk's work as a stockbroker and in the theatre. The shop was the headquarters of all four of his campaigns for office and the scene of his victory party on the night he was elected supervisor in November 1977.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  6. April 1, 1978

    Facing a near threefold rent increase at the end of his five-year lease, Milk moved Castro Camera to 2362 Market Street.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  7. May 1996

    A bronze plaque to Harvey Milk was set in the sidewalk in front of the building.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  8. May 1999
    Permit 9909432 $$$ $1,500

    Remodel 9e) kitchen and bath new fixtures & flooring.

  9. May 1999
    Permit 9910013 $$$ $7,500

    Pay fine two times penalty on complt-9909432 attached sht.

  10. 2000

    Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 227, Castro Camera and Harvey Milk Residence.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
  11. February 24, 2000

    The City Planning Commission approved landmark designation of the Castro Camera Building, 6-0.

    San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)
  12. February 24, 2000

    A two-story mixed-use retail/residential building stood on the site.

    San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)
  13. Apr 2005
    Permit 200504271055 $$$ $13,350

    Reroofing.

  14. Nov 2018
    Issued Permit 201811014812 $$$ $975

    Decals for window signage not exceeding 1/3 window area. approved per article 10. meets transparency guidelines. no other work. apply decal to interior of windows - harvey milk.

  15. Apr 2019
    Reinstated Permit 201904188414 $$$ $5,000

    To comply with enf# 2018-017359 enf. to reconstruct historic storefront projecting element was removed without permit. reconstructed storefront element to match original in dimension, profile, material & finish include installation of metal fascia consistent with internation style historic storefront.

1 nominal $1 street-space permit and 6 expired or cancelled permits are omitted. Two of the city's context statements date the opening of Castro Camera differently — one to 1971, the other to 1973. The building is dated 1893–1894 in its landmark designation; the assessor's roll gives 1900.

Nearby