San Francisco Neighborhoods · Fairmount
Fairmount
also Fairmount HeightsFog zoneA hushed hillside of Victorians on the western slope of Bernal Heights, tucked between Glen Park, the Mission, and Bernal — one of San Francisco's oldest homestead tracts, prized for quiet streets, sun, and a short walk to Glen Park BART.
- One of the city's earliest homestead tracts
- Quiet, walkable Victorian streets
- Steps from Glen Park BART and the J Church
- Tucked between Glen Park, the Mission, and Bernal
On the map
Open Fairmount on the map →The story
The Fairmount Tract was platted in 1861, one of San Francisco's earliest suburban subdivisions west of the Mission, when the area was still rural hinterland beyond the Valencia Street horse railroad. The Fairmount School opened to students of the new tract in September 1864, making it one of the oldest schools in the city. Build-out came in waves: a burst in the 1880s, especially after the electric streetcar line reached Chenery Street in 1892, another after the 1906 earthquake, and a third following World War I. The original large lots were subdivided over time, filling the hillside with the modest Victorians and Edwardians that still line its streets. Today the neighborhood is often folded into Glen Park on maps, but its name survives in Fairmount Street and the surrounding tract.
Things most people don’t know
Fairmount School, 1864
The Fairmount School opened to students of the newly platted tract in September 1864, one of the oldest schools in San Francisco.
An early homestead tract
Platted in 1861, the Fairmount Tract predates Glen Park and Sunnyside by roughly 30 years and is among the oldest residential districts on the city's west side.
The streetcar era
An electric streetcar line reached nearby Chenery Street in 1892, spurring a wave of home-building on the hillside.
BART at the bottom of the hill
Glen Park BART, at Diamond and Bosworth, sits just downhill, putting downtown and the airport line within easy reach.
A hillside of Victorians
The neighborhood climbs the southeastern slope above College Hill, its streets lined with Victorian and Edwardian homes.
Eating and drinking near Fairmount
Fairmount is primarily residential — these sit in Glen Park, the Mission, Bernal Heights.
Restaurants
- Manzoni · 2788 Diamond St
- Gialina Pizzeria · 2842 Diamond St
- La Corneta Taqueria · 2834 Diamond St
- La Taqueria · 2889 Mission St
Bars
- Holy Water · 309 Cortland Ave
- Wild Side West · 424 Cortland Ave
Getting around and getting care
Transit. Glen Park BART sits just downhill at Diamond and Bosworth, served by Muni buses 23, 35, 36, 44 and 52. The J Church Muni Metro stops nearby at San Jose/Glen Park in the San Jose Avenue median.
Nearest hospital. CPMC Mission Bernal Campus, 3555 Cesar Chavez St (about 1.5 mi)
Thinking about Fairmount?
Send me an address and I will come back with its sun, wind and fog, what is under it, and what has closed on the block.