Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Headstone of Matilda Joslyn Gage.
Matilda Joslyn Gage Grave
Mammoth footprint replica
Ice Age Floods display at Tualatin Public Library
Karpeles Manuscript Library Mini Museum
Shakespeare’s Death Mask
Loading...
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Omni Parker House Hotel
The Omni Parker House: Inside the History of Boston’s Most Iconic Hotel
The cute capybara.
Animal Takeover: Brace Yourself for Adorable Hordes
The Codex Gigas (the Devil’s Bible) open to the portrait of the devil.
Codex Gigas: Who Drew the Devil in This Massive Medieval Bible?
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California San Francisco 34 Trinity Arts & News
AO Edited

34 Trinity Arts & News

The last used bookstore in Downtown San Francisco is one of the smallest bookstores just about anywhere.

San Francisco, California

Added By
EF Kohler
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
To the left   EF Kohler / Atlas Obscura User
To the right   EF Kohler / Atlas Obscura User
$5 or less book sale hosted by 34 Trinity on 11/4/23   EF Kohler / Atlas Obscura User
  EF Kohler / Atlas Obscura User
  EF Kohler / Atlas Obscura User
  EF Kohler / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Like the Peephole Cinema in San Francisco, this small-scale destination for bibliophiles is similarly out of view, tucked up against a building in a tree-lined urban alleyway/POPOS (no, not police officers, but a Privately-Owned Public Open Space) in Downtown San Francisco.

The store inhabits three showcase windows just two feet deep and 14 feet wide. Once a display space for the I. Magnin & Co. department store, it's now a thoughtfully curated selection of books, zines, art, and other paper ephemera, as well as a few book carts on wheels. The space found its second life as a bookstore in 2012, when G.F. “Rick” Wilkinson transformed the former display windows into a small bookstore. It became a fixture in the neighborhood.

When Wilkinson decided to close the store in order to focus on his online bookselling business, a new group took over running the beloved store, which was renamed 34 Trinity Arts and News.

Run by a dedicated cadre of volunteers, this diminutive oasis of reading materials (with a focus on San Francisco-based writers, authors, and subjects) provides a much-needed respite from the glass and steel monoliths that loom over it. 34 Trinity occasionally collaborates with other local businesses to host various events including art exhibitions and poetry readings.

Related Tags

Stores Bookstores Books

Know Before You Go

34 Trinity Plaza runs between Bush and Sutter Streets, with the nearest cross street being Montgomery. Look for a trio of plywood barricades adorned with ROAD CLOSED signs that often stand at either end of Trinity Plaza. It's less than a mile from City Lights Booksellers & Publishers if you walk down Columbus (don't forget to stop into Cafe Zoetrope at Columbus and Kearny to get a tiny tale from the Short Story Vending Machine), and then take a slight right onto Montgomery until you hit Bush Street, just five blocks later.

Community Contributors

Added By

EF Kohler

Published

September 11, 2023

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://48hills.org/2017/10/34-trinity-gf-wilkinson/
  • https://hoodline.com/2021/03/fidi-s-34-trinity-arts-news-gets-long-term-lease/
34 Trinity Arts & News
34 Trinity Place
San Francisco, California, 94104
United States
37.79079, -122.402664
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Banker's Heart

San Francisco, California

miles away

'The Allegory of California'

San Francisco, California

miles away

Admission Day Monument Octopuses

San Francisco, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of San Francisco

San Francisco

California

Places 217
Stories 50

Nearby Places

Banker's Heart

San Francisco, California

miles away

'The Allegory of California'

San Francisco, California

miles away

Admission Day Monument Octopuses

San Francisco, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of San Francisco

San Francisco

California

Places 217
Stories 50

Related Places

  • Dallas, Texas

    Half Price Books Flagship Store

    A Texas-sized secondhand bookstore features 54,000 square feet of books, music, and media.

  • Chamblin Bookmine

    Jacksonville, Florida

    Chamblin Bookmine

    A sprawling maze of used books piled from floor to ceiling.

  • Photo by theorigamibandit@gmail.com

    Kansas City, Missouri

    Prospero's Books

    This unconventional used book store was once in the news for the surprising act of burning books.

  • New York, New York

    Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks

    Spiral-bound community recipes and antiquarian gems mingle at this small East Village shop.

  • Bucharest, Romania

    Cărturești Carusel Bookstore

    This once-derelict building is now one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world.

  • London’s floating bookstore.

    London, England

    Word on the Water

    This 1920s Dutch barge is now a floating bookstore.

  • Brattle Book Shop.

    Boston, Massachusetts

    Brattle Book Shop

    One of the oldest used bookstores in the U.S. has been selling antiquarian treasures since 1825.

  • Atlantis Books.

    Thira, Greece

    Atlantis Books

    A quirky bookstore hidden beneath a sea of whitewashed Greek villas.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.