Dearborn to (Humming)Bird

Two streets so tiny you'd almost miss them if they weren't so near the brilliance of the Women's Building murals. (Map)

Dearborn connects with neither Lapidge nor Linda, although it starts right across 19th from them. You first come to a lovely private garden, fenced, I'm sure, to distinguish it from the lovely community garden right across the street, at the corner of Bird.

Dearborn supports only one-way traffic but Bird, such a tiny snippet of a street it might be renamed Hummingbird, supports next to no traffic at all. Bird doesn't last half a block, as if the delight of its name can hardly keep it grounded.

Linda

And, parallel to, and immediately west of, Lapidge is Linda…

Linda – meaning in Spanish (you know, Mi Cielito Lindo) – didn’t exist in 1898, and (judging by the architecture) probably not until the 2nd or 3rd decade of the 20th century. Instead, what is now the 100 block of Linda was, in 1898, Angelica Street, running 2/3 of a block south from 19th, just past Cumberland Place (which now deadends in the park).

Rumor has it that Tessie Wall--San Francisco's most famous and beloved early 20th century madam--grew up in this neighborhood, and retired here when she got out of "the business" in the 1920s.

(Map)

At #124 lies one house—actually part of a house (marketed as a TIC)—on sale for $489,000. The Edwardian building dates to the post-fire era (1908). For photos and details, check out: B.J. Droubi - 124 Linda.