San Francisco's Potrero Hill

By Peter Linenthal, Abigail Johnston and Potrero Hill Archives Project

In the early 1800s, it was called the Potrero Nuevo, or "new pasture." Gold-rush squatterssoon put the squeeze on Mission Dolores's grazing cattle, and when the fog lifted, Potrero Hill became the first industrial zone in San Francisco, with iron-smelting plants, butcheries, and shipbuilding dominating the waterfront during the late 19th century. The Hill has been home to immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, China, Russia, Mexico, and from everywhere in between. These days, many of the factories and warehouses have been converted into housing and offices for techies. And for the record, the crookedest street in San Francisco is not Lombard--it's Vermont, between 20th and 22nd.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439630822

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One

IN THE BEGINNING

Ohlone Indians were the original inhabitants of the San Francisco peninsula, where they lived a stable life for several thousand years before the coming of white men. Agriculture was unnecessary in an environment so rich in plant and animal life, and Native Americans here moved seasonally between villages following game. They crossed the bay in boats made from bundles of the abundant tule reeds. Boats like these have recently been built again by Ohlone descendants, and are wonderful to see—simple, elegant, and surprisingly stable afloat. A person can easily step along a boat’s rounded rim. This early image was drawn by Louis Choris (1795–1828) during an 1815–1816 Russian expedition in quest of a northwest supply route to serve their trading posts in California and Alaska. Notice the geometric pattern on the basket; it was also used in decorations at Mission Dolores painted by the Ohlone. (Courtesy California Historical Society.)

This sketch by Pascal Loomis (1826–1878) shows the banks of Potrero much as they originally looked when the pre-contact Ohlones lived here. (Courtesy Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.)

Potrero Hill is a huge mass of serpentine—or more precisely serpentinite—a metamorphic rock formed more than 70 million years ago by the collision of the sea floor and the California edge of the Continental Plate. Serpentine contains large amounts of magnesium and iron that leach into the soil, making it toxic to many plants. However, more than 200 varieties can tolerate and even thrive (through adaptation and lack of competition) in serpentine soil, including Leather Oak, Dwarf Flax, San Luis Mariposa Lily, and Soaproot. Serpentine is alleged to alleviate paranoia and enhance psychic abilities. In 1965, it was named California’s state rock, the first in the United States to be so honored. Serpentine can be seen in Hill basements, construction sites, and remaining open spaces, such as this one at Twenty-fourth and De Haro Streets. (Photo by Peter