There has been a Basque community in San Francisco since the early days of the gold rush. By the 20th century, this community's activities were centered in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood where many Basque boarding houses operated around Broadway and Columbus. Basques would come together to watch pilota games at Helen Willis Playground, followed by shared lunchtime meals, playing music, and enjoying conversation at local Basque restaurants.

In 1979, the building that served to support the outdoor pilota court was demolished which left the Basque community without a place to play pilota. This motivated certain members of the Basque community to form a committee to find a new location in which to build a private indoor court for pilota.

This led to the creation of the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco. The grand opening took place in 1982 and it was received with excitement, pride, and hope by the Basque community. There were 378 founding members and today the Basque Cultural Center has just over 600 members—a demonstration of our community's strength, determination, and influence.

To view the complete list of the 378 founding members with an etymology of their last names, please click here.

We are proud of our history in the Bay Area and the leadership that previous generations of Basques exhibited to get us to where we are today.

To learn more about our history please check the below first-hand accounts, our 25th anniversary book and the documentary film on the center’s history.