Paul T.
Yelp
Getting to the Tenderloin Museum is going to be something folks will talk about back home---whether they hike up the three blocks from Market, or down from Geary---it's a colorful stroll. Lots of Local Color. And the museum offers tours twice daily, if you actually want to meet some of that color. The museum itself is smallish, and most of what it has on display is on the walls, in chronological and counterclockwise order, beginning with the aftermath of the great 1906 quake and fire that led to the creation of the district as we know it. Photos are in some cases supplemented with video displays, but the floor is mostly empty (check out the ceiling though!) and the place is remarkably light on artifacts. Aren't there any old signs or other vestiges of the area's history? Anywhere?
San Francisco has changed a lot, it's a lot cleaner than it was, when it comes to vice. Just one Herb Caen quote shows how widespread gambling was. And yet, given our liberal image, the leadership comes across as stodgy at best, damn well draconian at worst---like a bunch of New England prudes at times. Men and women are dancing! Together! Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh my!
I'd recommend checking out "Screaming Queens" on YouTube as it will flesh out the transsexual part of the display, and add some very good visuals to Compton's Cafeteria, where they fought back against the police, before Stonewall did it more famously. I'd also recommend the website Up From The Deep, which has a photo history of the district---every building!
What comes across though is how vibrant the area once was. Today so much of the Tenderloin is boarded up, walled off, stuccoed over, with murals standing in for Life on windows no longer open for business. Much of this can be blamed on charities like Oshun, which occupies the former Compton's Space, turning a once vibrant corner into a dead zone. The TL needs these store fronts to be returned to commercial use so the district can have a chance at reviving.
Ultimately, one wonders if $10 admission is going to fly. Kids, seniors, the disabled get in for $6, so a family of four would be $32. the cost of one ticket to the Exploratorium, but the Exploratorium also offers much more punch for the buck. On the other hand, after making that hike, a lot of people will probably fork over the money just to get inside, away from all that lurks on the streets!
I'd recommend it though. While there's plenty of room to grow, what exists now is certainly informative.