524 Union Street

1. May 14, 1847

   Peter Cadel, a German-born pioneer who had started Sacramento's first commercial brewery, asked the town to sell him this land so he could build on it and live here.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
2. 1878

   Part of the property, then occupied by an earlier building, was leased to the Golden Gate Kindergarten Association for its second site, one of the free kindergartens serving the Barbary Coast.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
3. 1904

   The San Carlo Inn, a saloon and restaurant with a bocce court and lodging, opened here under the liquor and wine merchant Lorenzo Bacigalupi, whose family kept the two lots until the 1950s.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
4. 1906

   The building was rebuilt after the earthquake and fire.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
5. 1908

   Built.

6. 1913

   The 1913 and 1949 Sanborn maps show a bocce ball alley in a long one-story wood building behind this address, on the south side of Cadell Alley.

   North Beach Historic Context Statement, adopted 2022
7. 1935

   The San Carlo Inn closed, eight years after the death of its founder Lorenzo Bacigalupi in 1927, having traded through Prohibition.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
8. 1936

   The Adua Cafe opened here, an Italian restaurant and bar with what was called the only indoor bocce court in North Beach; its proprietor Elise Perrone made it a meeting place for her neighborhood betterment association.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. 1944

   Tom Arbulich opened the Paper Doll here: a long bar with about 30 stools on the left, tables and booths on the right, and two banquet rooms at the back seating over 100.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
10. 1947

    Mona Sargent, already known for Mona's 440 Club on Broadway, became the Paper Doll's hostess and turned it into a gay bar, mostly frequented by women; its redecoration included murals by Emmy Lou Packard and mirror murals by Robert McChesney.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
11. 1949

    The Paper Doll operated here between 1949 and 1961, one of the North Beach bars and restaurants the city's survey identifies as significant in San Francisco's LGBTQ history.

    North Beach Historic Context Statement, adopted 2022
12. 1949

    The Paper Doll, among the first restaurants in the city to serve an openly queer clientele, took the ground floor of this two-storey wood-frame building beside Cadell Place in 1949; murals inside were reportedly painted by North Beach artists including Emmy Lou Packard.

    Donna J. Graves and Shayne E. Watson, Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco, San Francisco Planning Department, adopted by the Historic Preservation Commission November 18, 2015
13. 1952

    The Paper Doll's exterior and a likeness of its interior appeared in Stanley Kramer's film noir The Sniper.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
14. 1954

    Dante Benedetti, the North Beach restaurateur of the New Pisa and later USF's baseball coach, bought the Paper Doll business from Tom Arbulich.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
15. August 20, 1956

    The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control filed charges against the Paper Doll and its owner, accusing them of keeping a disorderly house and 'a resort for sexual perverts'.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
16. May 16, 1957

    The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control revoked the Paper Doll's liquor licence as contrary to public welfare and morals; the owner's appeals ran to 1960.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
17. 1961

    The Paper Doll's licence was sold and, as a condition the state set, the bar was renamed Cadell Place, keeping the same staff.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
18. 1964

    The bar reopened as The 524 (the 524 Club) under gay ownership, run by chef-operator Bob Ross, later founder of the Bay Area Reporter, with events seven nights a week and popular Sunday brunches.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
19. 1966

    The 524, a Tavern Guild member bar, hosted meetings of the Guild, an early association of San Francisco's gay bar owners, and its charity auctions.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
20. 1968

    The US military listed The 524 Club among 23 San Francisco places off limits to service members.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
21. 1968

    The Paper Doll name returned when the bar reopened as Arlene Arbuckle's Paper Doll Tavern.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
22. 1972

    Manhattan Towers opened here, serving Italian food and New York-style pizza with live entertainment and leaning towards a lesbian crowd; it ran until 1975.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
23. 1975

    Renovation for Russo's restaurant, designed by Moulton & Clark, moved the corner entrance to Cadell Place, added basement shops and a new foundation, sprinklers and reclaimed carriage-house panelling; the work ran to 1978.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
24. 1980

    The restaurant became Cadell Place again, a lesbian-owned supper club and music venue where Bobby McFerrin held a weekly residency.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
25. 1981

    Silhouettes opened here, a 1950s-themed restaurant and sock-hop dance club.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
26. 1982

    Recorded in the city's 1982 survey of North Beach, adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 1999, as a contributor to the Upper Dupont Street / Grant Avenue District.

    North Beach Historic Context Statement, adopted 2022
27. Sep 1984

    Permit 8410227 $$$ $2,000

    Sign - erect.

28. Apr 1989

    Permit 8905758 $$$ $7,585

    Reroofing.

29. Jul 1994

    Permit 9411780 $$$ $10,000

    Installation of air conditioner.

30. 1999

    The Field, an Irish restaurant and bar, opened here.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
31. Feb 1999

    Permit 9902987 $$$ $4,000

    Install grease flue, new fresh air return existing hood.

32. Jun 1999

    Permit 9912160 $$$ $1,100

    Install fire suppressed system to 9e) kitchen hood.

33. Jul 1999

    Permit 9914449 $$$ $1

    To correct app #9900923 occupancy clasification.

34. Apr 2003

    Permit 200304152314 $$$ $2,120

    Manufacture & install one awning on front of business-dimensions are 17'-4" across x 4'-4"high x 3'0.

35. 2011

    Le Bordeaux, a French bistro, opened here, for a time hanging paintings from the Washington Square Bar & Grill and Moose's collections.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
36. Nov 2017

    Permit 201711274819 $$$ $24,000

    Reroofing ---- remove existing roofing material (tar & gravel) to the roof deck & reroofing using self adhering roofing membrane throughout the roof area. flat roof.

37. 2019

    Listed as San Francisco City Landmark No. 287 — Paper Doll.

    SF Planning, Article 10 landmarks SF Planning, Article 10 landmarks North Beach Historic Context Statement, adopted 2022
38. Nov 2019

    Issued Permit 201911056464 $$$ $6,600

    Monitoring system of new fire alarm in fully sprinkler, building. install of new ifp-75, aes 7707, smoke detectors, pull station and modules. existing bells.

39. Jan 2020

    Issued Permit M1180807

    Streetspace.

1 nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permit is omitted from the timeline. 2 expired permits are not shown. The Paper Doll's opening here is dated both 1944 and 1949.