10.6.08

F I R S TP R E V784NEXTLAST

Little Odessa, Geary Boulevard
The 1966 film, The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming tells the story of a Soviet submarine accidentally run aground off New England. The film was actually shot here in Bodega Bay, Fort Bragg, and Mendocino and more ironic, the Russians had been here for more than 150 years. Russians first established settlements in the Bay Area long before the Gold Rush. In 1806, 40 Russians and 150 Alaskan natives fur traders settled in Bodega Bay about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Areas in Sonoma such as the Russian River, Moscow, and Sebastopol still speak to early Russian influence.

Today in the Bay Area there are three distinct Russian Communities, the oldest a Russian Orthodox community, the more recent Jewish immigrant community, and a younger more affluent community located in Silicon Valley. Pictured above is a Russian bakery and grocery store, just two of the various stores located in a neighborhood some are calling Little Odessa along Geary Boulevard, between 14th and 26th Avenues.
[ MAP H-6 ]


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