The Beat Museum, Museum of Beat Generation in North Beach, San Francisco, United States.

The Beat Museum occupies the former Swiss American Hotel at 540 Broadway, across from City Lights Bookstore in North Beach, San Francisco. Its rooms hold thousands of Beat-era items: hundreds of photographs, an extensive book selection, Allen Ginsberg's typewriter, Jack Kerouac's tweed jacket, and Neal Cassady's referee shirt from Ken Kesey's Acid Test.

The Beat Museum began in 2003 in Monterey, where Jerry and Estelle Cimino displayed Jerry's personal collection in surplus office space at Estelle's Career Action Center. After a two-year roadshow in an Airstream motorhome, it moved to San Francisco's North Beach in 2006, first to the Live Worms Gallery on Grant Avenue, then to 540 Broadway, the former Swiss American Hotel, across from City Lights Bookstore.

The museum honors Beat writers and their connection to the counterculture movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Visitors can see how these authors challenged society and introduced new forms of writing that continue to influence artists today.

The museum sits at 540 Broadway, at the corner of Columbus Avenue, directly across from City Lights Bookstore in North Beach. The entrance is at street level, and the collection is arranged over the museum's rooms with a documentary screening room among the exhibits. Allow time to read the labels and watch the film.

The museum displays personal items such as Neal Cassady's referee shirt from the Acid Test movement. Another highlight is the 1949 Hudson car that later appeared in the On The Road film, showing how literature and cinema were intertwined in this era.