This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2010) |
Russian Hill | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 37°48′06″N122°25′11″W / 37.8018°N 122.4198°W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
City and county | San Francisco |
Government | |
• Supervisor | Catherine Stefani |
• Assemblymember | Matt Haney (D) [1] |
• State Senator | Scott Wiener (D) [1] |
• U. S. Rep. | Nancy Pelosi (D) [2] |
Area | |
• Total | 0.397 sq mi (1.03 km2) |
Population | |
• Total | 13,146 |
• Density | 33,000/sq mi (13,000/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
ZIP codes | 94109, 94133 |
Area codes | 415/628 |
Russian Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is named after one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills".
Russian Hill is directly to the north (and slightly downhill) from Nob Hill, to the south (uphill) from Fisherman's Wharf, and to the west of the North Beach neighborhood. The Hill is bordered on its west side by parts of the neighborhoods of Cow Hollow and the Marina District. [4]
At the northern foot of the hill is Ghirardelli Square, which sits on the waterfront of the San Francisco Bay, Aquatic Park, and Fisherman's Wharf, a popular tourist area. A trip down the winding turns of Lombard Street and across Columbus Avenue to the east leads to the neighborhood of North Beach. Down the hill to the west, past Van Ness Avenue, are Cow Hollow and the Marina districts.
The neighborhood's name goes back to the Gold Rush-era, when settlers discovered a small Russian cemetery at the top of the hill. Russian naval and merchant ships frequently visited San Francisco throughout the 19th century beginning in 1806, and there are several mentions of burials of crew members in the Russian Hill cemetery in the first half of the century. The cemetery was eventually removed, but the name remained. [4]
In 1853 and 1854, a partnership was formed by William H. Ranlett (the architect), Charles Homer (the general contractor), and Joseph H. Atkinson (the mason/brick contractor), in order to build three houses in Russian Hill (at what is now known as the Vallejo Street Crest). [5] The Atkinson House (1853) is one of the oldest houses still standing in San Francisco, and possibly one of the first examples of Italianate-style architecture in the city. [6] [5] [7]
The switchbacks design of Lombard Street was first suggested by property owner Carl Henry [8] and was built in 1922, [9] intended to reduce the hill's natural 27 percent grade, [10] which was too steep for most vehicles to climb. [4] [11]
Because of the steepness of the hill, many streets, portions of Vallejo and Green streets, for example, are staircases. Views from the top of the hill extend in several directions around the Bay Area, including the Bay Bridge, Marin County, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. The Macondray Lane District is notable for its historic architecture in a hilly and woodsy area, which features the pedestrian-only Macondray Lane. [12] [13] The Paris Block Architectural District is a residential area known for its architecture, including the Feusier Octagon House. [14]
The Vallejo Street Crest Historic District is located in the southeast portion of the hill and is known for the cultural history and architecture, the district is surrounded by a retaining wall and natural bluff. [15] A small park at the top of the hill on Vallejo Street (or the Vallejo Street Crest) features a small plaque and memorial placed by the Russian Government, that is dedicated to the original Russian cemetery that once stood there. Another park on the hill on Vallejo Street is named after Ina Coolbrith.
Russian Hill is home to the former San Francisco Art Institute, located on Chestnut Street between Jones and Leavenworth Streets. The Academy of Art University also maintains a presence in this neighborhood with their Chestnut Street building hosting their fine art MFA studios, photo classrooms, and photo studios. [16]
The neighborhood is most famous for Lombard Street, the one-way section on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight sharp turns (or switchbacks) that have earned the street the distinction of being "the crookedest street in the world". [4] As it is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the city, this section of the neighborhood is frequently crowded with tourists. Tourists also frequent the cable car line along Hyde Street, which is lined with many restaurants and shops.
Alice Marble Tennis Courts are four hardcourt tennis courts located at Lombard and Hyde Streets. The courts offer a view of the bay and North Beach and can be unsuitable for tennis on windy days. A basketball court is located adjacent to the tennis courts. The San Francisco Cable Cars serving the Powell-Hyde line stops nearby.[ citation needed ]
San Francisco Police Department Central Station, Metro Division serves Russian Hill. [17]
It is in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and is within the Jean Parker Elementary School attendance area. [18] [19] The school building was first built in 1911 and rebuilt in 1996. [20]
Life in the neighborhood during the 1970s was used as the basis for the fictionalized series Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. [23]
Much of the famous car chase sequence in the 1968 thriller Bullitt , starring Steve McQueen (whose character lived in Nob Hill on Taylor and Clay streets), were filmed on Russian Hill, notably the scenes on Taylor Street. The neighborhood was also featured in the early scenes of the 1982 action-comedy feature film, 48 Hrs .
The cast of The Real World: San Francisco , which aired in 1994, lived in the house at 949 Lombard Street on Russian Hill from February 12 to June 19, 1994. [24]
In Anne Rice's book The Wolf Gift , the main character, Reuben Golding, grew up in Russian Hill.
John "Scottie" Ferguson, a character played by James Stewart lives at 900 Lombard Street in Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo (1958).
Based on the view from the window, Admiral James T. Kirk's apartment seen in the films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was located in the Russian Hill area of San Francisco.
In the racing video game Blur , one of the courses is named after and closely resembles Russian Hill.
A parody of Russian Hill appears as a district in the 1997 video game Grand Theft Auto , named 'Soviet Hill'.
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, the Financial District, and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's "Little Italy" and has historically been home to a large Italian American population, largely from Northern Italy. It still has many Italian restaurants, though many other ethnic groups currently live in the neighborhood. It was also the historic center of the beatnik subculture and has become one of San Francisco's main nightlife districts as well as a residential neighborhood populated by a mix of young urban professionals, families, and Chinese immigrants.
Lombard Street is an east–west street in San Francisco, California, that is famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns. The street stretches from The Presidio east to The Embarcadero. Most of Lombard Street's western segment is a major thoroughfare designated as part of U.S. Route 101. The famous one-block section, claimed to be "the crookedest street in the world", is located along the eastern segment in the Russian Hill neighborhood. It is a major tourist attraction, receiving around two million visitors per year and up to 17,000 per day on busy summer weekends, as of 2015.
Bernard Ralph Maybeck was an American architect in the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 20th century. He worked primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, designing public buildings, including the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and also private houses, especially in Berkeley, where he lived and taught at the University of California. A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Alamo Square is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California with a park of the same name. Located in the Western Addition, its boundaries are Buchanan Street on the east, Turk Street on the north, Baker Street on the west, and Page Street Street on the south.
The Western Addition is a district in San Francisco, California, United States.
Pacific Heights is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States. It has panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz, and the Presidio.
Potrero Hill is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California. A working-class neighborhood until gentrification in the late 1990s, it is now home to mostly upper-income residents.
Telegraph Hill is a hill and surrounding neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills".
Albert Lincoln Farr was an American residential architect, who designed homes in the Craftsman and Georgian styles.
William H. RanlettSr. was an American architect and author. He moved from the East Coast to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush and is thought to have brought Italianate-style architecture with him to the city. He was a partner in the architecture firm, "Homer, Ranlett and Morrison".
The Russian Hill–Macondray Lane District is a 1.6-acre (0.65 ha) historic district in Russian Hill, San Francisco, California, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 1988, for the architecture.
Oliver Marion Rousseau (1891–1977) was an American architect, home builder/contractor, and real estate developer. He worked in the San Francisco Bay Area, in particular the Sunset District of San Francisco, as well as Hayward, California. He came from a family of noted architects and co-founded the architecture firm Rousseau and Rousseau, and later the Marian Realty Co..
Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the highest-income neighborhoods in the United States, as well as one of the most desirable and expensive real estate markets in the country. Prior to Covid-19, it was the most expensive real estate market per metre squared, narrowly beating Monte Carlo, although it has since fallen heavily. It was the only place in the United States so far where market price per square metre exceeded the average yearly salary in the country.
Francisco Park is a public park in the Russian Hill neighborhood in San Francisco, California, on the site of a former reservoir. The accessible park has a large lawn, a community garden, a playground, and a dog run. It opened in 2022.
Burr Mansion, or Burr House, is a historic house built in 1875, and is located at 1772 Vallejo Street in the Cow Hollow neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It was commissioned by Ephraim Willard Burr, the 8th mayor of San Francisco, for his son upon his marriage engagement.
The Atkinson House is a historic house built in 1853, and located in the Russian Hill area of San Francisco, California. It is one of the oldest residences in the city still standing, and possibly one of the first Italianate-style homes in the city. It is also known as the Katherine Atkinson House, and Atkinson-Escher House.
Russian Hill-Vallejo Street Crest District is a 4-acre (1.6 ha) historic district in Russian Hill, San Francisco, California, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 22, 1988, for the people, events and architecture. The area is a residential enclave defined by retaining walls and natural bluff.
The Russian Hill-Paris Block Architectural District is a 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) historic district located in the Russian Hill area of San Francisco, California, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 1988, for architecture. The area is a residential enclave.
Casebolt House is a historic residence in the Cow Hollow district of San Francisco, California, U.S.. It is the oldest house in the neighborhood, built in c. 1865. It is a San Francisco designated landmark since 1973.