What Is The 'Kink Castle?' How The San Francisco Armory Became A Meme

In San Francisco, one can find a very special castle well-known by those whose tastes are very singular. Standing at the corner of Mission and 14th Streets, the San Francisco Armory building has been seen by millions of people, although it's likely that many of them will not admit that they ever saw it.

What is the so-called "Kink Castle" and how did it become an internet meme? Read all about it in our explainer here to find the answers you seek.

What Is the "Kink Castle?"

Kink Castle is the nickname given to San Francisco Armory, a historic building constructed as an armory and arsenal for the United States National Guard in 1912-1914. Not technically a castle, the armory was given a castle-like appearance and served as an armory until 1976. From the 1920s through the 1940s, the armory also served as San Francisco's primary sports venue, and was nicknamed "the Madison Square Garden of the West."

In 2006, things took a turn for the kinky when in late 2006, a San-Francisco-based internet pornography producer Kink.com specializing in BDSM pornography purchased the castle, using the facility for the production of its content since 2007. Since then, a short clip of the lit castle in the night started appearing in Kink.com's videos, etching itself into the memory of those who watched their content.

The appearance of the castle in Kink.com's BDSM videos eventually led to it becoming so recognized that people made memes with its photographs for those in the know.

The "Kink Castle" In Memes

In memes, a night frame of the lit castle is often paired with captions implying that the author of the meme knows what the viewer has been up to while browsing the incognito mode.

Other memes specifically represent the castle as something innocent and far away from the worlds of BDSM and online pornography, so knowing what the castle actually used to house is an essential part of the joke.

Whichever meme format you want to use, make sure your audience will have an idea of what the castle is. And probably don't send it to your mom.

Did the Kink Castle Shut Down?

Empires rise and fall, and so did the Kink Castle. In February 2017, Kink.com ceased film production at the castle, and in 2018, the San Francisco Armory was sold to an affiliate of investment company AJ Capital Partners, which partly the castle to offices space, leasing ground floors to manufacturing companies.

Where Is San Francisco Armory Located?

You can find the San Francisco Armory at the corner of Mission and 14th Streets in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.

For the full history of the Kink Castle, be sure to check out our entry for more information.