If you wander through the South of Market neighborhood, you collide with the past and present.

A historic church stands among tall modern apartment buildings, with large trees and a grassy area in the foreground.
A woman enjoys a walk in Yerba Buena Gardens, on June 10, 2026. The gardens was part of the Yerba Buena Center redevelopment of north-central SoMa that started in the 1970s through the 1990s. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A man with a long white beard, wearing a headscarf, sunglasses on his head, and a vest, sits at a table. Tattoos cover his arms and he looks directly at the camera with a serious expression.
Kiwi, in his 40s and a Bay Area resident, enjoys lunch in the Metreon, on June 10, 2026. He is a gardener at Yerba Buena Gardens. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A man and a child sit at a concrete table playing a game on a checkered board. The man points at the board while the child leans forward, both focused on the game.
Two chess players enjoy the game close to the bridge linking the Metreon and Moscone Convention Center, on June 18,2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A busy city street features cars waiting at a crosswalk, people walking, and tall modern buildings in the background under a clear sky.
A pedestrian overpass spans Yerba Buena Gardens and the Moscone Convention Center, looking east on Howard Street, on June 17. 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Three people cross a city street in front of the San Francisco Chronicle building under bright daylight; cars and pedestrians are visible in the background.
The recently vacated San Francisco Chronicle building anchors Fifth Street and Mission, on June 18, 2026. The Chronicle began operations at this building in November 1924 but moved to Sansome Street in June, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A tall, modern building with a grid of windows stands behind abstract metal sculptures and a few small trees in an urban setting.
In central SoMa, stands The George building, 434 Minna St., a contemporary mixed-use building and is part of the Parks 5M redevelopment, opening in June, 2022, photographed on July 8, 2026. The park south of the George is purportedly San Francisco’s largest ground-level privately owned public open space.” Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A building with a mural and a sign reading "United Playaz" at the corner of Howard and a cross street. Two people stand on the sidewalk near the entrance.
SoMa West Safety Ambassadors station themselves outside of United Playaz, a non-profit youth development organization, on Howard Street at Russ, on June 30, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A person walks past a large abstract wall sculpture on the side of a tall building in an urban setting.
A pedestrian passes under a bas-relief culture, “Power and Light” (1948) by Bay Area sculptor, Robert B. Howard, at a PG&E substation on Eighth Street at Mission, on June 18, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A person with sagging pants walks on a city sidewalk holding a box. Orange traffic cones and a laundromat are visible in the background. The image is black and white.
A man carries his packages across the street from the Eighth St. Laundry on Eighth Street and Natoma, on June 18, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Three men stand on a sidewalk beside a brick building under a sign that reads "Fr. Alfred Center.
Julian (left), Fernando, and Felix stand proud as successful participants in the residential recovery program at St. Anthony’s Father Alfred Center on Tenth Street at Folsom, on June 30, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A city street corner with a large, old industrial building and several people riding bicycles and walking in the crosswalk.
This building at 1201 Folsom St. endures after its 1928 construction during the post-earthquake industrial development of SoMa. It went from laundry machinery manufacturing to envelope production to leather apparel-making at the epicenter of SoMa’s emerging Leather and LGBTQ+ leather culture of the mid-1980s, on June 11, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A person stands in front of a large, detailed mural depicting abstract animal shapes and nature elements on a building wall.
A man smokes his cigarette in front of a mural on Langton Street south of Folsom, on June 30, 2026. The mural, “Frisco’s Wild Side,” was painted by artist Precita Eyes and other participants in 1995 as a statement of the ongoing redevelopment of SoMa. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A man leans against a concrete ledge reading a newspaper. A person with a cart and a cyclist are visible on the sidewalk, with trees and a building in the background.
A man stands outside the Hall of Justice reading some paperwork on Bryant St. at Seventh, on June 25, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
People stand in line outside between two buildings, some with carts or strollers, near a white van, with trees and a billboard structure in the background.
At least a dozen people line up behind the Salvation Army Clothing Room in what looks like a food or meal distribution, on Clara Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets in Central SoMA, on June 25, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A spacious, modern atrium with tall white columns, an escalator in the background, two seated people, and one person walking across the reflective floor.
A woman walks through the Grand Hall of the Salesforce Transit Center on Mission Street at the northern border of SoMa, on June 10, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
People cross a city street in a crosswalk. One person stands with an electric scooter. Tall buildings, trees, and cars line both sides of the street. The scene appears to be in daylight.
People coming and going at the corner of Mission and Fourth Street, a busy gateway to SoMa, on July 9, 2026. Many residential hotels were located around this site, which provided housing to low-wage workers before the 1960s. Photo by Jay A. Martin.

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  3. Very nice! Also recommend Janet Delaney’s “South of Market” work, including book (available at SFPL)

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