Sights and Culture
Take a self-guided walking tour of Cole Valley, written by 20-year old resident, Mike Sullivan. Let's Walk!
601 Belvedere Street
The former church, St. Aiden's Episcopal, was built in 1907. During the early 1960s it was temporarily used by The Grateful Dead as a practice space until it was eventually converted into a home. You can still see the old sign for the church inside the front window.
1401 Shrader Street
At the corner of Shrader and Rivoli streets -- at 1401 Shrader St., to be exact -- sits a house designed by renowned architect Ira Kurlander. The first floor of the house was built in 1908 and was the home of Bernice Lane Brown, mother of former California Gov. and current Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and Kathleen Brown.
Angel of Hope
Though most visitors never make it past the commercial block in Cole Valley, there is one site worth visiting farther afield. In front of 1591 Shrader St. stands a carving in the trunk of an old Monterey cypress titled Angel of Hope. The tree had to be taken down after another tree on the other side of the driveway toppled during a windstorm in the mid-'90s, damaging nearby houses. The former owner of the house, philanthropist Pat Montandon, commissioned the carving of an angel.
Belvedere Street
On Halloween, the strip of Belvedere between Parnassus and 17th Streets is blocked off as packs of kids gather to show off their costumes and celebrate the holiday.
Cole Valley Street Fair
This free annual celebration, usually held in early Fall, featured booths of arts and crafts (most by local artists), food from local eateries, activities for kids and live music. This year's fair is held on Sunday, September 29th from 10am-5pm. Check our Twitter for updates.
Finnegan's Wake
This old school dive bar used to be called Maude's, which was one of the first lesbian bars in the country and a place of legend for the lesbian community. It closed in 1989 after 25 years. Another note, Kezar used to be a gay bar (Charlie's) until it closed in the mid 1980s.
The Other Cafe
The building where Crepes on Cole is now used to be a locally famous comedy club, the sign is still there on the Carl Street side corner). The likes of Dana Carvey and Robin Williams regularly performed their stand-up acts there.
Sutro Forest
There is a really great hiking trail. Here's the directions to get the to trailhead: go up Willard (off Stanyan/Parnassus), right on Belmont, left on Edgewood, follow street to the end and you have found it! This follows into Sutro Forest and you will eventually come to Claredon Road in Twin Peaks in which case you can make your lovely hike into a loop.
Tank Hill
This spot is a 650-foot-high minipark that offers what many consider to be the most spectacular view of San Francisco of any hilltop park. So small that many maps of San Francisco leave Tank Hill out entirely, this spot provides a panorama that sweeps from the Golden Gate Bridge to Bayview Hill. Access is from the east end of Belgrave Avenue off Stanyan Street or via a small staircase on Twin Peaks Boulevard near Crown Terrace. Rich in history, Tank Hill is named for the Clarendon Heights water tank built in 1894 to store drinking water pumped from Laguna Honda. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, eucalyptus trees were planted around the tank to hide it from feared Japanese airplane attacks. When a larger, covered reservoir was built nearby, the tank became unnecessary, and in 1957 the city removed it. In 1977, a concerned community persuaded the city to buy the hill from private developers for $650,000 as part of the city's new Open Space Program.
Wild Parrots
For more than a decade Cole Valley has been a destination of choice for a flock of birds known as the "wild parrots of Telegraph Hill." Anywhere from late June to late August, usually just between 7 am and 8 am, a cluster of up to 20 birds makes its way from their nighttime nesting place around Jackson and Davis streets to one section of Cole Valley, around Willard, Belmont, Woodland and Edgewood streets. These parrots, most of which are cherry-headed conures native to South America, sport green bodies and red heads and tend to make a lot of noise, so they're hard to miss. First, they head for the pine trees, and then the hawthorne, apple and plum trees.
Neighborhood Present and Past "Celebrities":
Armistead Maupin - San Francisco writer of Tale of the City
Craig Newmark - founder of Craigslist
Benjamin Bratt - actor, former beau of Julia Roberts
Mark Bingham - died on Flight 93 on 9/11
Sue Bierman - former SF Supervisor
Eldrige Cleaver - leader of Black Panther Party
The Grateful Dead - rock band from the 1970s
Terence Hallinan - former SF DA
Pat and Bernice Brown - father and mother of former CA Governor Jerry Brown
Marshall McLuhan - Canadian philosopher and scholar
William Saroyan - Dramatist and author
Harry Bridges - union leader
Adapted from Marlene Goldman, Special to SF Gate (12/01) and Gail Todd (10/07), Mike Sullivan
Take a self-guided walking tour of Cole Valley, written by 20-year old resident, Mike Sullivan. Let's Walk!
601 Belvedere Street
The former church, St. Aiden's Episcopal, was built in 1907. During the early 1960s it was temporarily used by The Grateful Dead as a practice space until it was eventually converted into a home. You can still see the old sign for the church inside the front window.
1401 Shrader Street
At the corner of Shrader and Rivoli streets -- at 1401 Shrader St., to be exact -- sits a house designed by renowned architect Ira Kurlander. The first floor of the house was built in 1908 and was the home of Bernice Lane Brown, mother of former California Gov. and current Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and Kathleen Brown.
Angel of Hope
Though most visitors never make it past the commercial block in Cole Valley, there is one site worth visiting farther afield. In front of 1591 Shrader St. stands a carving in the trunk of an old Monterey cypress titled Angel of Hope. The tree had to be taken down after another tree on the other side of the driveway toppled during a windstorm in the mid-'90s, damaging nearby houses. The former owner of the house, philanthropist Pat Montandon, commissioned the carving of an angel.
Belvedere Street
On Halloween, the strip of Belvedere between Parnassus and 17th Streets is blocked off as packs of kids gather to show off their costumes and celebrate the holiday.
Cole Valley Street Fair
This free annual celebration, usually held in early Fall, featured booths of arts and crafts (most by local artists), food from local eateries, activities for kids and live music. This year's fair is held on Sunday, September 29th from 10am-5pm. Check our Twitter for updates.
Finnegan's Wake
This old school dive bar used to be called Maude's, which was one of the first lesbian bars in the country and a place of legend for the lesbian community. It closed in 1989 after 25 years. Another note, Kezar used to be a gay bar (Charlie's) until it closed in the mid 1980s.
The Other Cafe
The building where Crepes on Cole is now used to be a locally famous comedy club, the sign is still there on the Carl Street side corner). The likes of Dana Carvey and Robin Williams regularly performed their stand-up acts there.
Sutro Forest
There is a really great hiking trail. Here's the directions to get the to trailhead: go up Willard (off Stanyan/Parnassus), right on Belmont, left on Edgewood, follow street to the end and you have found it! This follows into Sutro Forest and you will eventually come to Claredon Road in Twin Peaks in which case you can make your lovely hike into a loop.
Tank Hill
This spot is a 650-foot-high minipark that offers what many consider to be the most spectacular view of San Francisco of any hilltop park. So small that many maps of San Francisco leave Tank Hill out entirely, this spot provides a panorama that sweeps from the Golden Gate Bridge to Bayview Hill. Access is from the east end of Belgrave Avenue off Stanyan Street or via a small staircase on Twin Peaks Boulevard near Crown Terrace. Rich in history, Tank Hill is named for the Clarendon Heights water tank built in 1894 to store drinking water pumped from Laguna Honda. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, eucalyptus trees were planted around the tank to hide it from feared Japanese airplane attacks. When a larger, covered reservoir was built nearby, the tank became unnecessary, and in 1957 the city removed it. In 1977, a concerned community persuaded the city to buy the hill from private developers for $650,000 as part of the city's new Open Space Program.
Wild Parrots
For more than a decade Cole Valley has been a destination of choice for a flock of birds known as the "wild parrots of Telegraph Hill." Anywhere from late June to late August, usually just between 7 am and 8 am, a cluster of up to 20 birds makes its way from their nighttime nesting place around Jackson and Davis streets to one section of Cole Valley, around Willard, Belmont, Woodland and Edgewood streets. These parrots, most of which are cherry-headed conures native to South America, sport green bodies and red heads and tend to make a lot of noise, so they're hard to miss. First, they head for the pine trees, and then the hawthorne, apple and plum trees.
Neighborhood Present and Past "Celebrities":
Armistead Maupin - San Francisco writer of Tale of the City
Craig Newmark - founder of Craigslist
Benjamin Bratt - actor, former beau of Julia Roberts
Mark Bingham - died on Flight 93 on 9/11
Sue Bierman - former SF Supervisor
Eldrige Cleaver - leader of Black Panther Party
The Grateful Dead - rock band from the 1970s
Terence Hallinan - former SF DA
Pat and Bernice Brown - father and mother of former CA Governor Jerry Brown
Marshall McLuhan - Canadian philosopher and scholar
William Saroyan - Dramatist and author
Harry Bridges - union leader
Adapted from Marlene Goldman, Special to SF Gate (12/01) and Gail Todd (10/07), Mike Sullivan
