• Lombard Street Switchbacks
• Macondray Lane Historic District
• Ina Coolbrith Park
• Vallejo Street Crest Russian Cemetery Memorial

Russian Hill takes its name from a discovery made during San Francisco's Gold Rush expansion, when settlers found a small cemetery atop the hill containing graves inscribed in Russian. The burials are attributed to sailors and crew members of the Russian-American Company, whose vessels made frequent visits to San Francisco Bay beginning in 1806 as part of fur trading expeditions from Alaska. The name, informal at first, became fixed as the city grew around it, and the Russian Government later placed a commemorative plaque in a small park at the Vallejo Street summit acknowledging the original cemetery. Residential development accelerated with the introduction of cable car lines in the late 19th century, which made the steep slopes navigable and drew Victorian-era construction to what had previously been a difficult-to-reach hilltop.

The neighborhood is most widely recognized for Lombard Street, the one-way section between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets featuring eight sharp switchbacks designed in 1922 by property owner Carl Henry to reduce the hill's natural 27 percent grade. The Macondray Lane Historic District, a pedestrian-only lane lined with cottages and gardens, and Ina Coolbrith Park on Vallejo Street anchor the neighborhood's identity as one of San Francisco's most characterful and scenic residential enclaves.

Russian Hill's layered story — from Russian maritime presence to Victorian development to literary landmark — is exactly the kind of neighborhood history MY-NHD was built to wear.