Originally a small valley of pastures and dairies in the post-Gold Rush years, COW HOLLOW takes its name from the days when cows rather than shoppers grazed the land between Russian Hill and the Presidio, and women would bring their loads to one of the only sources of freshwater in town which came to be known as Washerwoman’s Lagoon. Problems with open sewage, and complaints from neighbors up on prestigious Pacific Heights about the smell of the cows saw the area transformed in the 1950s, when enterprising merchants decided its old clapboard dwellings along Union Street had possibilities.

The area’s gorgeous old Victorian houses have since been refitted, especially around Filbert and Green streets, and the stretch of Union between Van Ness and Divisadero now holds one of the city’s densest concentrations of boutiques and cafés. Shopping is, indeed, what the neighborhood is best for, and numerous upscale types converge here to look for the perfect dress, lingerie or cabinet handle.

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