Cynic Direct Action Blog

GM NABOBS OF OPULENCE BUILD ON BLIND THRUST HILLS

Perhaps more than any other major American city, San Francisco is a
collection of neighborhoods. Each of these enclaves is geographically
distinct, defined by an aspect of the city’s physical contours. Most
often these neighborhoods have been shaped by a particularly colorful
history, and they often are associated with a particular ethnic or
social group.

In the late 19th century, many wealthy families built their mansions
near the summit of Nob hill. Among them were railroad magnates Leland
Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Collis Huntington, each recalled today by a
hotel bearing his name that stands where his mansion once stood. A rare
surviving example of the opulence of this age is the Pacific Union Club,
a chocolate-brown sandstone mansion built as the residence of mining
pioneer and banker James Flood. A distinguished neighbor and colleague
of these men was Charles Crocker, whose family donated the land on which
his mansion stood to the Episcopal church as the site of Grace
Cathedral, a majestic Gothic structure whose stained glass rose window
looks out over Huntington Park. Other notable religious buildings in the
city are St. Mary’s Cathedral, a stark modern structure designed by
Pietro Belluschi and Pier Luigi Nervi; Temple Emanu-El, a domed
synagogue showing Moorish architectural influence; and the Cathedral of
the Holy Virgin, whose design reflects the congregation’s Russian
Orthodox heritage.

Nob Hill’s development was made possible by the introduction in 1873 of
the cable car