Saturday, May 6, 2017

Tour 2017: Haight-Ashbury

The NorCal Tour obviously requires swing through the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco. First stop was 636 Cole St. where Manson lived with Mary Brunner, Lynette Fromme and other early members of the group.  During this period they moved around between here, Mendocino and other places. They were couch surfers, so you won't find Manson's name on any lease agreements.

The homes and neighborhoods have been gentrified in recent decades so nomadic young people could never afford to rent the house these days (there was an S-Class Mercedes in the garage that you see on the bottom right of the building).




To give perspective, below is the view down to the corner of Haight St. from the front of the house. It's right in the heart of everything.



Just a few blocks away is the apartment building at 955 Clayton St where Sandra Good live circa 1966 with several people including Joel Pugh before she met Manson.



One door off the corner of Haight & Ashbury is the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. Abigail Folger volunteered her time here. It was founded by Dr. David E. Smith who along with researcher Alan Rose had extended contact with The Family. You can read more about that HERE.



The Haight evidently has not forgotten its Manson Family footprint. Very close to the famous corner is a bookstore called Booksmith. Just inside the front window on the left sidewall was this tack board:



The "Russian Embassy" house at Alamo Square where Bobby Beausoleil lived for a time with Kenneth Anger. I was pretty impressed. It's a really pretty building. It still seems to be inhabited by phreaks!



The "420 Clock" at the corner of Haight & Ashbury directly across from the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic:



The "Jimi Hendrix House" - 1524 Ashbury St.:



The "Grateful Dead House" - 710 Ashbury St.:



Haight inhabitant:




3 comments:

Unknown said...

Someone get that poor kid a beer. I know the feeling lol.

This looks like an excellent time. I hope you guys are having a blast!!

grimtraveller said...

Haight Ashbury assumes a status of mythic proportions in the Hippie and Manson episodes. I find it to be like London in the early 60s as the British {read: English} bands were moving from the provinces down to the capital or creating the centre of life in the central region of London. On a daily basis, I go past/down/through all these mythic streets that housed studios, properties, boutiques, clubs and residencies that the movers and shakers {including Sharon and Roman} inhabited. But they're just roads to me. We have many buildings with blue plaques on them declaring that such and such lived there. I've often been surprised how small and poky these legendary places actually are. After a while one doesn't even notice them.
Which is not to say that people shouldn't get excited by such things.

Hippiedoll said...

Did you all get a chance to go by the house susan atkins lived in, where she first met manson at? I'm not positive, but I think she mentioned the address in her book?