Lombard Street - Russian Hill's Eight Turns

Lombard Street - Russian Hill's Eight Turns

Photo: Benoit Prieur, CC0 (cropped)

A stop on San Francisco, District by District, a free self-guided tour.

Walk one block to Jackson Street and ride the Powell-Hyde cable car to Lombard Street, or walk about 20 minutes, to reach the top of the famous crooked block. Before 1922 this stretch of Russian Hill ran straight down at a grade of about 27 percent, too steep for most vehicles. A property owner, Carl Henry, proposed switchbacks, and the city built eight tight turns lined with brick and flowers.

Russian Hill's name comes from an old story: early settlers are said to have found graves of Russian sailors or fur traders on the summit, from the days when Russian ships traded along this coast. In 1906 the fire was held back from part of the hilltop, and a few houses from before the fire still stand nearby.

Watch the cars wind down from the top of the block. These are private homes, so stay on the sidewalks and stairs.

More on Wikipedia: Lombard Street · Russian Hill, San Francisco

Stops on this tour

  1. Ferry Building and the Embarcadero - Where the City Met the World
  2. Financial District and Jackson Square - Gold Rush on the Old Shoreline
  3. Chinatown - The Neighborhood That Refused to Move
  4. North Beach and Telegraph Hill - Little Italy and the Beats
  5. Fisherman's Wharf - Italian Boats and Old Ships
  6. Nob Hill and Russian Hill - Cable Cars, Mansions and the Great Fire
  7. The Presidio - Two Centuries Guarding the Golden Gate
  8. Japantown and the Fillmore - Two Communities, One Neighborhood
  9. Haight-Ashbury - From Victorian Suburb to Summer of Love
  10. Golden Gate Park - Sand Dunes Turned Into a Park
  11. The Castro - A Neighborhood That Became a Movement
  12. The Mission - Where San Francisco Began
  13. Civic Center - Domes, Charters and Protest
  14. South of Market - From Rincon Hill to the Tech Boom