It is one of just two bars in San Francisco with such a designation: The Bayview's Sam Jordan's bar, named for its founder - the first African American man to run for city mayor - was also given landmark status last week. Last week, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to give it landmark status. It has now survived for 40 years as one of the Castro district's most memorable and welcoming establishments. The lesbian friends, known to most regulars as 'the girls,' opened the bar to the world at a time when many gays still feared losing their jobs or being socially ostracized if their sexual orientation was revealed.
Twin Peaks Tavern, which first opened in 1935 but was purchased by Cunha and Forster in 1971, is believed to be the first gay bar in the nation to feature full-length, open plate glass windows that let its patrons look out, and more importantly, the public look in.
