A tour of San Francisco in search of the shadows of Tales of the City, the epic Armistead Maupin series of novels, begun as a regular feature in 1974 in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and following the lives of a group of family, friends and foes, career go-getters and castaways spanning over 40 decades of trials and tribulations, change and controversies:

Where it all beings, with Mary Ann’s arrival at the Buena Vista Cafe

The Stairway to the fictional 23 Barbary Lane, home to Mrs Magrigal and her tenants

Macondray Lane, the real Barbary Lane

The iconic Powell Hyde cable car Michael Tolliver rode in dressed as Pan

Supposedly the inspiration for 23 Barbary lane, Maupin lived close by

Maupin lived in the red rooftop house and took inspiration from his rooftop views 

Where Mary Ann Singleton and Brain Hawkins live in unhappy matrimony

The Transamerica Pyramid which Mrs. Madrigal believed to be a beacon from Atlantis  

The City seen from above with the bay on the distance 

Where Norman Neal Williams meets is fate

The legion of Honor where Mary Ann confronts Norman

Alamo Park where Edger and Anna have lunch and a homemade ‘brownie’

Below the Golden Gate Bridge

The twists of Lombard Street

The Hosts with the Mosts, Susie and Trey, in Delores Park on the door step of the Castro, Michael Tolliver’s playing ground

All Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly