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The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933)

by Herbert Asbury

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294688,673 (3.86)8
The history of the Barbary Coast properly begins with the gold rush to California in 1849. If the precious yellow metal hadn't been discovered ... the development of San Francisco's underworld in all likelihood would have been indistinguishable from that of any other large American city. Instead, owing almost entirely to the influx of gold-seekers and the horde of gamblers, thieves, harlots, politicians, and other felonious parasites who battened upon them, there arose a unique criminal district that for almost seventy years was the scene of more viciousness and depravity, but which at the same time possessed more glamour, than any other area of vice and iniquity on the American continent. The Barbary Coast is Herbert Asbury's classic chronicle of the birth of San Francisco--a violent explosion from which the infant city emerged full-grown and raging wild. From all over the world practitioners of every vice stampeded for the blood and money of the gold fields. Gambling dens ran all day including Sundays. From noon to noon houses of prostitution offered girls of every age and race. (In the 1850s, San Francisco was home to only one woman for every thirty men. It was not until 1910 that the sexes achieved anything close to parity in their populations.) This is the story of the banditry, opium bouts, tong wars, and corruption, from the eureka at Sutter's Mill until the last bagnio closed its doors seventy years later.… (more)
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Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
I'm not sure how accurate this history of early San Francisco is but it was an interesting read. As much a product of it's own time (written in the 1930s) as a history, there is plenty of language that not what we would say today and some attitudes that are jarring but you do get a sense of what the Barbary Coast must have been like and perhaps a bit of why San Francisco is the city it is today. I particularly like the preacher who said that roller-rinks were the "road to perdition." If only my skating today was that interesting,
  amyem58 | Nov 13, 2021 |
Asbury, in episodic fashion, makes the case that from the time of the Gold Rush (1849) to 1917, San Francisco was the wickedest city on earth. And he backs it up with tales of crime, gambling, gangs, and prostitution that will make you wonder how honest citizens could be brave enough to leave their homes! Sometimes when they did leave their homes, it was to join large groups of vigilantes who, for a short time at least, were able to take the law into their own hands and mete out their harsh form of justice, although from Asbury's account, it probably was justice in most cases. In any case, Asbury has covered wickedness up one side and down the other--which would have cost you about 50 cents in one of San Francisco's numerous bagnios. ( )
  datrappert | Jul 23, 2021 |
This book, which originally came out in 1933, is a companion to Asbury's famous books on New York City, as well as his surveys of the underworlds of New Orleans and Chicago. This one, as the title indicates, is on San Francisco's legendary den of vice and ill-repute, the Barbary Coast (the origin of the name being one of the things discussed in the book). As with Asbury's other books, while the sourcing can be a bit thin (other than the cited newspapers), the writing is top-notch, and is the fun of the book. It would be better with some good maps, though. ( )
  EricCostello | Oct 11, 2019 |
Originally written in the 1930s, this book is interesting for someone who wants to know about the origins of San Francisco and the seedier side of the city. There is a lot of language and description that would be considered outmoded now and overall Asbury presents a relatively judgement-free account of some pretty bad behavior. You can read between the lines and what he describes in a fairly light tone will come across as more horrifying. the discovery of gold launched the city and created a world of crime and corruption. It was interesting to me to learn that San Francisco has always been what it is now- a city of fortune-seekers and those who would take advantage of the less fortunate. ( )
1 vote bostonbibliophile | Oct 22, 2016 |
This is a history of the worst elements in the beginnings of the city of San Francisco. The author had access to people who had lived through these events, as well as many articles and other resources. He covers the political underpinnings of the vice, along with the culture and moment in time which enabled the Barbary Coast to have its beginning, triumph and fall.

The author writes in a very readable manner, using a bit of humor to lighten the load of history. Published in 1933, he seemed to think that the worst of the crime and vice were over for San Francisco. I wonder what he would think now? ( )
1 vote MrsLee | Aug 29, 2015 |
Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
I knew San Francisco had a vice-filled past, but in Asbury's telling, that vice acquired an almost metaphysical status. Asbury provided San Francisco with a history so lurid and romantic it seemed to come from a different epoch -- a ruthless time, a time without prudence, when pleasure and fate were the only stars men steered by. Casting a strange, sulphurous light on streets and buildings, Asbury's history gave the whole town an uncanny second life.
added by Shortride | editSalon, Gary Kamiya (Dec 20, 2002)
 
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The history of the Barbary Coast properly begins with the gold rush to California in 1849.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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The history of the Barbary Coast properly begins with the gold rush to California in 1849. If the precious yellow metal hadn't been discovered ... the development of San Francisco's underworld in all likelihood would have been indistinguishable from that of any other large American city. Instead, owing almost entirely to the influx of gold-seekers and the horde of gamblers, thieves, harlots, politicians, and other felonious parasites who battened upon them, there arose a unique criminal district that for almost seventy years was the scene of more viciousness and depravity, but which at the same time possessed more glamour, than any other area of vice and iniquity on the American continent. The Barbary Coast is Herbert Asbury's classic chronicle of the birth of San Francisco--a violent explosion from which the infant city emerged full-grown and raging wild. From all over the world practitioners of every vice stampeded for the blood and money of the gold fields. Gambling dens ran all day including Sundays. From noon to noon houses of prostitution offered girls of every age and race. (In the 1850s, San Francisco was home to only one woman for every thirty men. It was not until 1910 that the sexes achieved anything close to parity in their populations.) This is the story of the banditry, opium bouts, tong wars, and corruption, from the eureka at Sutter's Mill until the last bagnio closed its doors seventy years later.

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