Cow Hollow Neighborhood, San Francisco CA

About Cow Hollow Neighborhood

Cow Hollow is old-time vernacular for the valley lying west of Van Ness Ave. between Russian Hill and the Presidio.

The name nowadays is applied mainly to the locality around Union Street’s 1600 to 2200 blocks, a patch of ex-cow country where shoppers have replaced the milkmaids and cash registers ring more briskly than the cow bells ever did.

In post-Gold Rush days, this district was a green dale watered by the surrounding hills and small creeks seeking the Bay. The first dairy was established there in 1861, and 30 others followed. Soon hundreds of cows shared the grasslands with wild ducks, quail and rabbits.

Demographics of Cow Hollow Neighborhood