City Lights Bookstore

City Lights Bookstore opened in 1953 as the first all-paperback bookstore in the United States. Founders Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter Martin started the shop with a one-thousand dollar investment and a shared vision to provide a dedicated space for poets and intellectuals. They chose the name as a tribute to the Charlie Chaplin film of the same title. While the shop is famous as a global landmark for literature, it began in a small, modest space that quickly transformed into an essential gathering place for the Beat Generation.