San Francisco Neighborhoods · Silver Terrace
Silver Terrace
Fog zoneA sunny, working-class pocket tucked in the crook where the 280 and 101 freeways meet — hillside homes above, the auto-and-industrial flats below, with quiet streets and big southeast-facing views.
- Some of the city's oldest houses on quiet streets
- Sunny southeast corner with bay views
- Walk to the Portola and the Bayview's Third St
- Minutes from McLaren Park
On the map
Open Silver Terrace on the map →The story
Silver Terrace takes its name from Joseph S. Silver, who in the 1850s claimed and fenced a tract running from the old San Bruno turnpike (now San Bruno Avenue) east toward what is today Third Street; despite the name, there was never any silver ore here. In 1870 the land agents Duncan & Co. launched a homestead association on hundreds of lots from the Haley & O'Neill tract, and Eadweard Muybridge had been hired in 1869 to photograph the still-rural fields and marsh for promotional images. Most homes went up in the 20th century, but hidden in the streets are some of the oldest houses in San Francisco, survivors of that first tract. The hillside filled in with single-family homes while the flats along Bayshore Boulevard became an auto row of dealerships and light industry. The result is the neighborhood's enduring split character: residential slopes above, working blocks below.
Things most people don’t know
Not actually silver
The name honors landowner Joseph S. Silver, not any mine; no silver was ever dug here.
Bayshore auto row
The flat blocks along Bayshore Boulevard grew into a strip of car dealerships and light industry.
Some of SF's oldest homes
A few Haley & O'Neill tract houses tucked in the streets are among the oldest in the city.
McLaren Park next door
John McLaren Park, one of San Francisco's largest at over 300 acres, sits just west.
Sunny southeast corner
Sitting in the elbow of the 280 and 101, the hillside catches sun and wide bay-facing views.
Eating and drinking near Silver Terrace
Silver Terrace is primarily residential — these sit in the Portola, the Bayview.
Restaurants
- Breakfast at Tiffany's · 2499 San Bruno Ave
- Smoke Soul Kitchen · 4618 Third St
Bars
- Old Skool Cafe · 1429 Mendell St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. Muni buses 9-San Bruno, 8-Bayshore, 23-Monterey, 44-O'Shaughnessy and 54-Felton serve the area; the T-Third light rail runs along Third St in the Bayview, a ride east.
Nearest hospital. Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, 1001 Potrero Ave (about 2.5 mi)
Thinking about Silver Terrace?
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.