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January 28, 2014
Marcus Books / Jimbo’s Bop City
Building Receives Historic Landmark Approval
The 1712-1716 Fillmore Street building that houses Marcus Books on track
to be City’s 266th Historic Landmark
SAN
FRANCISCO – Today, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors joined the Historic
Preservation Commission in unanimously approving the designation of 1712-1716
Fillmore Street as a local historic landmark, citing its cultural and
historical significance to the City’s Fillmore District neighborhood.
“The
1712-1716 Fillmore Street building holds many extraordinary stories associated
with the City’s African American history,” said San Francisco Planning Director
John Rahaim. “It is clearly an important historical and cultural resource for
residents and visitors of San Francisco, and I am thrilled that we can
recognize the importance of the events, people, and activities that took place
in the building. We’d like to thank Supervisor London Breed for her support on
making this landmark designation a priority for the City.”
1712-1716
Fillmore Street was added to Historic Preservation Commission Landmark
Designation Work Program at the request of the property owners in June 2011.
From June 2011 until the first HPC hearing in 2013, the Planning Department
worked with the owners and pro-bono consultants to document the property’s
history.
“Our Commission’s Work Program not only
identifies and designates landmark structures in The City for their
architectural value, but it also includes structures of significant cultural and
social importance,” said Karl Hasz,
president of the Historic Preservation Commission. “Marcus Books and Jimbo’s Bop City have been a hub for African American literature,
culture and political life in San Francisco, and is a prime example of the diversity
and scope of the landmark designation work program. I am pleased that
our Board of Supervisors voted to approve the designation of the Marcus
Books/Jimbo’s Bop City building.”
The
1712-1716 Fillmore Street building is significant for its association with San
Francisco’s famous jazz venue, Jimbo’s Bop City, and Marcus Books, the nation’s
oldest continuously operating and independent Black-owned and Black-themed
bookstore. From 1950 to 1965, Jimbo’s was among the most vibrant music venues
in San Francisco known for the new bebop sound that attracted famous performers
including, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughn, Ella
Fitzgerald, and many others. Jimbo’s music venue was a site specifically known
as a place where established talents and young newcomers could mingle as equals
on stage.
Marcus
Books was founded by Julian and Raye Richardson in 1960 as a retail bookstore,
as an outgrowth of the family’s printing business, the Success Printing Co. The
business was conceived of and continues to operate as a space where the City’s
African American population could gather to contribute to and receive knowledge
and was the hub of Black intellectualism in San Francisco. It was originally located
on the 1800 block of Fillmore Street and was forced to move several times in
avoidance of the demolition brought on by San Francisco Redevelopment Agency
projects in the Western Addition. The bookstore moved into its current home at
1712 Fillmore Street in 1980 and continues to be owned and operated by members
of the Richardson family.
“Marcus
Books is where I bought my first book. It is how I recognized, perhaps for the
first time, that I was part of a community and a culture bigger than just the
housing project where I lived, or even San Francisco,” said Supervisor London
Breed. “The store helped me understand what it means to be African American,
and this building helped define what it means to be the Fillmore
District. I am grateful my colleagues have supported my request to make
it an official San Francisco landmark.”
“There are too few historic landmarks that
reflect the important contributions of African Americans in shaping San
Francisco,” said Greg Johnson, owner of Marcus Books. “We are pleased that our
community members and the City recognize the influential role of Marcus Bookstore
in the history of the Fillmore District.”
The legislation still requires a
second approval by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, February 4th and then
approval by the Mayor to officially recognize the building as an official San
Francisco historic landmark.
About Historic Preservation
The Historic Preservation
program honors and preserves the City of San Francisco’s architecturally,
historically and culturally significant buildings, landscapes, objects, and
sites. Since 1967, the City of San Francisco has bestowed landmark status to
266 landmarks and thirteen landmark districts. For more information about San
Francisco’s landmarks, visit www.sfplanning.org.
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Media Contact: Candace SooHoo
(415) 575-9157 | candace.soohoo@sfgov.org
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