In 1967, the undisputed center of the hippie subculture was the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco.

With its ornate Victorian terraces, Haight-Ashbury was one of few areas in the city that had emerged unscathed from the devastating fires that followed the 1906 earthquake. But after WWII, the middle classes moved out of the city into the suburbs, and the neighborhood went into decline.

In the 1950s, a proposed freeway through the area caused property values to fall off a cliff. Although vocal and organized local opposition eventually canceled the freeway, the low rents drew beatniks, and their successors, hippies.

Hippies explored alternative lifestyles, Eastern culture, mind-expanding drugs and free love, and Haight-Ashbury's culture catered to all these needs. Exotic stores abounded, including The Drogstore Cafe (sic); the Wild Colors gift shop; Rae's In B Tween Tavern;, The House of Style Barber Shop; and Trader Cliff.

The Psychedelic Shop sold marijuana and LSD, alongside records. Psychedelic rockers, such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin, relocated to the area.

The continuous press coverage of the movement made the area a magnet for the youth of America. Thousands arrived, and Haight-Ashbury found itself unable to cope with the vast influx — up to 100,000 people. Homelessness, cramped conditions and drug-associated health problems took their toll on the fabric of the area and the people therein.

By October, the remaining residents held a mock funeral for 'The Death of the Hippie."