San Francisco Neighborhoods · Mission Dolores
Mission Dolores
Sun zoneSunny, palm-dotted heart of the city where San Francisco was born — anchored by its 1776 adobe mission and the picnic-blanket sprawl of Dolores Park.
- Sunniest microclimate in SF
- City's oldest standing building
- Dolores Park people-watching
- Victorian flats & bakeries
On the map
Open Mission Dolores on the map →The story
Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded in 1776 and nicknamed Mission Dolores for the nearby Laguna de los Dolores. Its adobe chapel, completed in 1791, is the oldest intact building in San Francisco and survived the 1906 quake; the grand Mission Dolores Basilica beside it dates to 1918. The surrounding neighborhood of Victorian and Edwardian flats grew up around the church, and today Mission Dolores Park draws sun-seekers to its sloping lawns and skyline views.
Things most people don’t know
Oldest building in SF
The Mission Dolores adobe chapel, completed in 1791, is the oldest intact structure in San Francisco and came through the 1906 earthquake undamaged.
Founded 1776
Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded in 1776, the sixth of California's 21 Spanish missions and the namesake of the entire Mission District.
Dolores Park
Mission Dolores Park opened in 1905 on former cemetery land and served as a refugee camp after the 1906 quake; today its lawns are the city's favorite sunny gathering spot.
Sunny microclimate
Sheltered from the coastal fog that blankets the western neighborhoods, Mission Dolores enjoys some of the warmest, sunniest weather in the city.
Victorian flats
The streets around Dolores and Church are lined with ornate Victorian and Edwardian flats, many predating the 1906 earthquake.
Eating and drinking
Restaurants
- Tartine Bakery · 600 Guerrero St
- Delfina · 3621 18th St
- Pizzeria Delfina · 3611 18th St
- Foreign Cinema · 2534 Mission St
- Bi-Rite Creamery · 3692 18th St
Bars
- Zeitgeist · 199 Valencia St
- El Rio · 3158 Mission St
- Blackbird · 2124 Market St
- Beauty Bar · 2299 Mission St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. The J Church Muni Metro runs up Church St past Dolores Park; the 22 Fillmore and 33 cross through, and the 16th St BART/Muni station is a few blocks east.
Nearest hospital. CPMC Davies Campus, 601 Duboce Ave (about 0.7 mi)
Thinking about Mission Dolores?
Send me an address and I will come back with its sun, wind and fog, what is under it, and what has closed on the block.