Jack Kerouac Alley

Jack Kerouac Alley (formerly Adler Alley or Adler Place) is a one-way alleyway in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, that connects Grant Avenue and Columbus Avenue.^[1]

The alley is named after Jack Kerouac, a Beat Generation writer who used to frequent the pub and bookstore adjacent to the alley.^[2]

The alley was a common place for garbage dumping and a shortcut for trucks. In 1988, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who is the co-founder of City Lights Bookstore, presented his idea to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to transform the alleyway. The project involved repaving the alley, banning motor vehicles from entering, and installing new street lights.^[1] The new look alley was reopened to the public in March 2007. The alley is now known for its engraved Western and Chinese poems, including poets such as John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou, and Kerouac himself. A ceremony was held in April 2007 to celebrate the reopening of the alley.^[2]

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References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jack Kerouac Alley.

• A picture of Jack Kerouac Alley on Flickr

Coordinates: 37°47′51″N 122°24′24″W / 37.7975°N 122.4067°W / 37.7975; -122.4067

Streets in San Francisco
Numbered streets	Third Street 16th Street 19th Avenue 22nd Street 24th Street 49-Mile Scenic Drive
North–south streets	Castro Street Clay Street Fillmore Street Grant Avenue Great Highway Junipero Serra Boulevard Kearny Street Mission Street Montgomery Street Octavia Boulevard Polk Street Skyline Boulevard Stockton Street Stanyan Street Van Ness Avenue Vermont Street
East–west streets	Broadway California Street Filbert Street Geary Boulevard Haight Street Lincoln Way Lombard Street Union Street
Diagonal streets	Alemany Boulevard Don Chee Way The Embarcadero Market Street Columbus Avenue New Montgomery Street
Alleyways	Balmy Alley Belden Place Clarion Alley Jack Kerouac Alley Macondray Lane Maiden Lane
San Francisco place names etymologies