View of Powell Street heading north from Nob Hill, toward San Francisco Bay and Marin County

Nob Hill refers to a small district in San Francisco, California adjacent to the intersection of California and Powell streets (and the respective cable car lines).

[edit] Location

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The San Francisco Chronicle defines the Nob Hill and Russian Hill area as within Bay Street, Van Ness Avenue, Taylor Street, and Pine Street.^[1]

The actual peak of Nob Hill lies slightly to the northwest, approximately at the intersection of Jones and Sacramento Streets. South of Nob Hill is the shopping district of Union Square, the seedier area called the Tenderloin, and then Market Street. To the east is San Francisco's Chinatown and a little farther, the city's financial district. Northeast of Nob Hill is North Beach and Telegraph Hill. North of Nob Hill is Russian Hill, and eventually, the tourist-centered areas of the waterfront such as Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf.

[edit] History and significance

Nob Hill

Nob Hill is an affluent district, home to many of the city's upper class families. Sometimes it is sarcastically referred to as Snob Hill (in fact, "nob" is a slang term meaning "wealthy and distinguished person", possibly influenced by the word "nabob", and thus similar in meaning to "snob"). The area was settled in the rapid urbanization happening in the city in the late 19th century. Because of the views and its central position, it became an exclusive enclave of the rich and famous on the west coast who built large mansions in the neighborhood. This included prominent tycoons such as Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University and other members of The Big Four. The neighborhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire, except for the granite wall that had surrounded the Stanford and Hopkins mansions. The mansion of tycoon James Flood, though gutted by fire, was rebuilt and stands to this day as the headquarters of the Pacific-Union Club. While the neighborhood was able to maintain its affluence following the quake, many of the rich rebuilt their mansions further west in Pacific Heights and Cow Hollow. Many of the hotels now in the area were built over the ruins of the former mansions.

The intersection of California and Powell streets is also the location of four well-known hotels: the Fairmont Hotel, the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, the Stanford Court, and the Huntington Hotel. Interestingly, they represent also three names out of the The Big Four (i.e. Stanford, Hopkins & Huntington).

Views from the top of the hill (and especially from the Top of the Mark) extend in all directions around the San Francisco Bay Area. The property that Grace Cathedral encompasses reaches the top of Nob Hill at its North Western point.

As such, Nob Hill is often a San Francisco set-piece scene used in many movies, especially if a high-speed chase is called for.

[edit] In movies and other media

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (video game)
• The Rock
• Bullitt
• Vertigo
• Magnum Force
• The Wedding Planner
• Dirty Harry
• The Woman in Red
• Dying Young
• Under the Tuscan Sun
• Hulk
• Just Like Heaven
• Heart and Souls
• Lady and the Tramp
• Mrs. Doubtfire
• The Princess Diaries
• Full House (television series)
• Saint's Row (video game)
• "Sabotage" (music video)
• So I Married an Axe Murderer (film)

[edit] Images

MUNI bus coming uphill	Looking down Nob Hill	By the Cable Car Museum	Nob Hill
Masonic Memorial Temple	Cable Car and a Lexus RX up Nob Hill	Nob Hill Theatre	An apartment building near Huntington Park

[edit] See also

• InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco
• The Lambourne - Formerly the Nob Hill Lambourne Hotel*
• Russian Hill
• 49-Mile Scenic Drive
• List of San Francisco, California Hills
• "Nob Hill" is also a neighborhood in Northwest Portland, Oregon, also known as the Alphabet Historic District from its street-naming system. It has many historic Victorian and Craftsman homes dating to the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• "Nob Hill" is also a neighborhood in Albuquerque east of the University of New Mexico.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

San Francisco Bay Area portal

• The Nob Hill Association
• The Chronicle's standing article about Nob Hill
• The Cable Car Museum site

Coordinates: 37°47′36″N 122°24′52″W / 37.793230°N 122.414480°W / 37.793230; -122.414480