Heart of the City

Haight-Ashbury

Haight-Ashbury is a vibrant, dynamic neighborhood. It is not, as skeptics might presume, disingenuously frozen in time; a theme park version of the Summer of Love. The Haight is not a museum; but thanks to Jerry and Estelle Cimino, it now has one.

“We started The Beat Museum over 20 years ago,” Jerry says of their first endeavor to capture a crucial era of San Francisco history. “We realized there was a much bigger story that could be told.”

For the couple who have loved and lived in San Francisco through the decades, there was a direct line from the Beat Generation of the 1950s to everything that followed in the 1960s.

“I wanted to create a museum that had a broader number of social movements,” says Estelle. The scale and scope of what unfolded in Haight-Ashbury is sometimes lost behind paisley prints and tinted sunglasses. Civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmentalism were front and center during—and beyond—the Summer of Love. By collecting thousands of objects—posters, records, pamphlets, clothing—and unearthing rare photographs and videos from the time, Jerry and Estelle have built The Counterculture Museum, which now sits proudly at the southeast corner of San Francisco’s most storied intersection.

Visitors to the museum can trace the neighborhood’s indelible past through the exhibits and displays, which include an entire gallery dedicated to the San Francisco Oracle, one of the pioneering alternative publications of the ‘60s that was printed just a few doors down.

“I want people to learn, but I want people to be energized,” Estelle says. “Young people changed the course of history right here in Haight-Ashbury.” She hopes they might do so again.

“Young people came to Haight-Ashbury to find who they really were,” Estelle says of the flower children who arrived in the 1960s. In the decades since, that hasn’t stopped.

“When I hopped off the 43 bus in front of the shop in 1992, I didn’t have any friends,” says Sunshine Powers. “I didn’t fit in. The moment I got off the bus, I knew it was going to be okay.”

The shop she speaks of is Love On Haight, a San Francisco legacy business dedicated, as she says, “to bring[ing] back the color, creativity, and consciousness” that characterized the Haight’s heyday. Sunshine first started working at the shop in 2012; in 2017, the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, she purchased it.

Stocked with accessories, games, and an encyclopedic inventory of tie-dyed garments for all ages, sizes, and seasons, Love On Haight is one of the brightest spots in the neighborhood. It’s true of its decor and it’s true of its staff, who greet every tour bus that turns the corner of Haight and Masonic streets with enthusiasm.

“It’s definitely my duty as the keeper of this magical corner to continue what is the heart and soul of San Francisco,” says Sunshine, “Which is acceptance, love, understanding, and having a good time.”

Sunshine isn’t the only person on the block whose experiences in Haight-Ashbury inspired them. Brandon Phillips is one of the owners of Magnolia Brewing Company, a storied brewery that opened nearly 30 years ago and, by Brandon’s account, “has been a staple of the neighborhood—and the city—since then.”

After years working at bars and breweries in San Francisco and other cities, Brandon and his business partner, Kevin Kynoch, purchased Magnolia in 2024. It was their affinity for the city and the neighborhood that shaped their strategy.

“We didn’t want to get into national distribution,” says Brandon. “We wanted to be a local brewpub. Our main goal is to provide a space for the community.”

It’s impossible to explore Haight-Ashbury without stepping into Magnolia—with its comfy interior, huge windows, and prime corner location—for a craft beer, creative cocktail, or something off their quality menu. “You can just people watch all day long,” says Brandon. And why wouldn’t you? 

“You come across some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”