REPOST
Rowena Fischer Meeks Abdy (1887 – 1945) was a modernist painter renowned for her landscapes of Northern California. She was the first female artist to have her work displayed at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor[1]. Her house and studio were located on the famous one block section of Lombard Street between Hyde and Leavenworth. She was pestered by uninvited guests so often that she installed a large “KEEP OUT” sign in her garden.
Lombard Street extends across the city, but this steep section is located in Russian Hill[2]. It was originally a dirt road that went straight down at a 27% grade. In 1922, to make the road safer, it was paved in a winding “S” pattern to reduce to the grade to 16%. However, one has to wonder what the engineers were thinking when they created eight tight consecutive S-turns that make the street absurdly difficult to traverse. It is paved with red bricks and decorated with lush hydrangea and rose gardens that were planted in the 1950s. It is advertised as the crookedest street in the world although this, in fact, is not true: San Francisco’s Vermont Street between 20th and 22nd in Potrero Hill has even more tight S-turns. And with its reduced grade, Lombard no longer ranks as one of the City’s top 25 steepest streets (the steepest street is Bradford above Tompkins in Bernal Heights[3] with a 41% grade).
Sometime in the late 1960s, my parents Anne and Chris were with others in a stretch limousine either going to or from a party when they convinced the driver to go down Lombard. As Anne likes to say, “What were we thinking!” Everyone, including the poor driver, grew a bit alarmed as the vehicle hopped on and off curbs navigating the hairpin turns.
In 2000 a local artist, Jon Brumit, passed out flyers advertising a “Bring Your Own BigWheel Race” on Easter Sunday. A BigWheel, for those not alive during the 1970s, is a little plastic tricycle made for small children. Brumit had found one sitting on the sidewalk with a “free” sign. He was the only participant that year, but the idea of careening down the street in something other than a vehicle with an engine caught on, and although in 2008 the race location changed to Vermont Street, it remains a popular event.[4]
[1] The Legion of Honor: story coming September 10th
[2] Russian Hill: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3167 [3] Bernal Heights: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4710 [2] Visit them at https://bringyourownbigwheel.com
Denise Cranney says: enjoyed reading this article about Lombard Street — I have my own fond memories careening down this street in my own vehicle!!
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