Eureka Valley in San Francisco




The recorded history of Eureka and Noe Valleys began in 1845 when José de Jesús Noe, the last Mexican alcalde (mayor) of San Francisco, was granted Rancho San Miguel, four thousand acres which spread across Twin Peaks and down into the valleys lying to the east. Less than a decade later in 1854, John M. Horner, an ambitious Mormon newly arrived from New Jersey, purchased most of the ranch and platted out Horner's Addition in a grid bounded by Castro Street on the west, Valencia Street on the east, 18th Street on the north and 30th Street on the south. He named the main north-south streets after prominent Mexican ranchers who among themselves had owned much of the land that is now San Francisco: General José Castro, José de Jesús Noe, José Antonio Sánchez, Don Francisco Guerrero and José Manuel Valencia (or his son Candelario).

21st Street		21st Street between Church and Castro follows the ridge separating Eureka and Noe Valleys. Except for the invention of the automobile, little seems to have changed in the past century. The intersections at Noe and Sanchez present outlooks over old San Francisco and across the San Francisco Bay as far as Mount Diablo to the east and Marin County to the north.

Liberty Street		Liberty street, which parallels 21st Street one block to the north, starts at Valencia Street in the Mission District and ends at Castro Street in Eureka Valley. The entire length of Liberty contains residences of historical interest and provides a pleasant, but vertically challenging, stroll.