ABOUT

Hi, my name is Hudson. San Francisco street names led me into digging up lost stories of the city’s past. I’ve been working on a book off-and-on for the past six years titled, Fern Hill: the Lost History of San Francisco’s Nob Hill. I’m the historian of the Nob Hill Association, the oldest neighborhood association in the city. Also, as a member of the new publications committee of the San Francisco Historical Society, I’m currently spearheading a special edition of The Argonaut focused on SF music history. My latest story for The Argonaut, about the Mission Dolores Settlement, comes out in early 2020.

I sometimes guide walking tours of San Francisco. For more info see http://www.fernhilltours.com

From the head of California Street, circa 1854 – Hermann J. Meyer

As for the name “Fern Hill,” within The Annals of San Francisco–the first history book about San Francisco published in 1855–it was the name on the map given to Nob Hill’s original neighborhood. With the population explosion surrounding the California Gold Rush of 1849, not only did the “instant city” of San Francisco expand into and over the water, but also up hill to the west.