September Newsletter
- What's Going On? Events and Activities
- SWNA News: Our Birthday & Petition for Tree Equity
- Street View: St Michael's Ukranian Orthodox Church on 7th
- SOMA Name Dropping: Jesse Street
On the Docket for September
9.10 – 6-8 PM
🎂 🥳 Our Birthday Party!!!!
📍 375 7th St
Come celebrate our first year of existence with cake, friends, and a good time!
RSVP
9.18 – 6-8PM
🥂Free Neighborhood Happy Hour
📍ARC Studio 1246 Folsom St
See some art and enjoy a neighborhood hang with the SOMA West CBD
9.25 – 5-9 PM
🎉 SOMA Nights: Farewell Party
📍 Folsom btwn Hallam & Langton
Don't miss our last street festival of the season
SOMA News
We're a Year Old 🎉
Since last September we have been hosting, volunteering, advocating, decorating, laughing and generally doing all the things together that neighbors should be doing together. Our 150+ members (including you!) are why and how we exist; genuinely without you this would not be possible. Have suggestions or want to get more involved? Let us know; we'd love to hear from you either at info@somawestneighbors.org or our birthday party on the 10th!
Save Our Trees!
Around 764 trees located on SOMA West's smaller alleys are scheduled to be removed! Sign & Share our petition to create smarter policies when it comes to greenery and accessibility and get SOMA its fair share of resources. Learn more here.
SOMA Name Dropping: Jesse St
By Cindy Casey
Continuing with the theme of disproving that the female-named alleyways in SOMA were named after Barbary Coast courtesans, we come to Jessie Street. It is possible that Jessie is not a woman’s name, but the prevailing notion is that the street was named after the very important political activist Jessie Benton Frémont.
Jessie Ann Benton Fremont (May 31, 1824 – December 27, 1902) was married to explorer, politician, and soldier John Charles Frémont. Jessie was a writer and political activist who wrote numerous stories that appeared in popular magazines of the time, as well as several historically significant books. She was the first presidential candidate's wife to actively participate in a political campaign.
Jessie’s anti-slavery stance is celebrated in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Black Point, the farthest bluff from what we now call Fort Mason, overlooking Alcatraz, was the home of Jessie Benton Fremont, where she hosted an abolitionist salon.
After befriending the Reverend Thomas Starr King, she invited him to her home at Black Point to write his fiery anti-slavery speeches. The house was razed when the military took over Black Point during the Civil War.
If you would like to learn more about Jessie Ann Benton Fremont, check out Found SF.
Street View:
St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Walking on 7th near Folsom, it’s impossible to miss the shiny domes and beautifully kept seasonal garden of what is now St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The only church of its kind within 100 miles, its golden domes originally rose above SoMa’s “Greek Town,” which at its height was home to nearly 2,000 mostly male Greek immigrants in the early to mid-1900s.
The church’s first incarnation was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, but it was rebuilt within two years for about $20,000, thanks to the thriving Greek community and the leadership of its founding priest, Father Constantine Tsapralis (who, along with his wife, somewhat controversially also owned a candy store and saloon in SoMa).
By the 1950s, the construction of the Bay Bridge prompted most second-generation Greek families to disperse, and in 1964 the Ukrainian Orthodox community purchased the building. Since then, it has remained a vibrant community landmark; serving as an event hall, a place of worship, and one of SoMa’s architectural gems.
