|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
San Francisco’s famous Lombard Street has an average of 2 million visitors every year who come to experience the ziggy-zaggy red brick thoroughfare adorned with beautiful gardens.
However, it was not originally built as you see it today. When first constructed, the hill was so steep that cars simply could not manage it.
Hardly anyone actually knows why those switchbacks are there.
Rewind for a moment to Russian Hill in the early 1920’s.
One block of Lombard used to be a straight shot down the hill, as was the case with surrounding streets. However, the downgrade was 27%, which is steeper than many advanced ski runs, known as “black diamonds.”
Unfortunately, the early automobiles of said era had weak brakes and skinny tires, which made traversing the downgrade nothing short of terrifying. Moreover, heading up the same grade was just about impossible! Homes along the street were so difficult to reach that their value actually dropped.
Thus, in 1922, a property owner on this section of the street named Carl Henry came up with an idea. Instead of fighting the hill head on, why not cut across it? By carving the road into a series of switchbacks, the painful 27% grade would be reduced to a manageable 16%. Did it work? The answer became a resounding yes!
The famous red bricks, the one-way traffic, the lovely flowers and the 5 mph speed limit all came subsequently. Thanks to Carl Henry over a century ago, a practical engineering fix ended up becoming a global postcard experience which remains one of the most beautiful and enduring parts of the San Francisco experience.
Everything else is just history…
Newsom signs law to let these Californians get out of jury duty — for goodSeptember 15, 2026 2:43 pm