The colorful plantings tucked into the curves of Lombard Street in San Francisco, Calif., make the trip down even more of an eyeful.
photoquest7/Getty Images/iStockphotoIn San Francisco, there’s probably only one place that made horror actor Vincent Price dizzy while riding in a sidecar. The famous, crooked Lombard Street stretches for three miles, but just a short section attracts the most attention from the thousands of tourists who flock here. Famous for its eight sharp curves squeezed into one block, this crowd-pleasing section of Lombard has given it the moniker "the crookedest street in the world." Its place in film and pop culture has heightened that reputation — but is this claim to fame deserved? Read on to find out.
Where is the winding section — and why is it like that?
Roughly 2 million people visit Lombard's crooked stretch each year, making the single block in Russian Hill one of the most popular tourist destinations in San Francisco. The famous Lombard climb, from Leavenworth to Hyde, is steep, but its signature hairpin-curve design, bushy hydrangeas and panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower from the top still draw massive crowds. When I visited on a warm weekday afternoon, scores of families, couples and friends flocked to the street to take selfies, trot up and down the walkway of stairs along the road, and drive their cars down the slope.
When early automobiles were unable to make the trip up steep Lombard Street, the roadway was redesigned with curves to break up the climb. In 1923, the street was altered to suit car travel.
OpenSFHistory / wnp36.03137Lombard didn't always look like this: just about a century ago, it was just another straight, steep cobblestone road in Russian Hill. Residents who began buying cars in the 1920s realized they couldn’t make it up the 27% grade, so one property owner proposed curving the street. According to a 2009 San Francisco City Guides newsletter, city engineer Clyde Healy designed this portion of the street as we know it today. The curves lessened the grade to 16%, but with one huge difference: It was then a two-way street. That changed in 1939, when it again became a one-way street.
But, is Lombard Street really the most crooked street in the world?
Google "the crookedest street in the world" and you're likely to find videos and tourist information for Lombard Street — it still regularly gets the "crookedest" designation, even though it's arguably not even the most crooked street in San Francisco. In a 2011 episode of the show "California's Gold," representatives from San Francisco's Department of Public Works confirmed that a section of Potrero Hill’s Vermont Street, between 20th and 22nd, is actually more crooked than Lombard. To demonstrate this, Public Works compared old construction drawings of the two streets. While Vermont Street has only seven curves to Lombard's eight, there are tighter curves, or more curves per hundred feet, on Vermont.
Tourists take pictures while driving down Lombard Street in San Francisco, Calif.
Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesStill, only Lombard Street draws a steady stream of cars willing to wait before descending the brick road — at a maximum of five miles per hour. In 2019, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority reported that cars waited up to 45 minutes to go down on busy days. That same year, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have levied a fee for non-residents to use the road. He said everyone should have access to the experience with no cost barrier.
Commenting on the drive down, "California's Gold" host Huell Howser called it "almost anticlimactic, because the truth of the matter is the whole thing is over very quickly." I agree: When I took the drive on a weekday, the traffic was thin and driving down from the top took just a minute or two. But Howser also said it’s worth it to try once: "It’s an experience. It’s windy. It’s crooked. And we did it." I'm glad I did, too.
Even when seen from above, the layout of Lombard Street makes no sense to modern eyes.
Ingus Kruklitis/Getty Images/iStockphotoLombard Street in the movies
Perhaps my favorite Lombard Street Hollywood moment is when Vincent Price and his sidekick are spit out at the top of the crooked bit, on Lombard and Leavenworth, in the middle of an epic San Francisco chase scene in the underrated, campy 1965 comedy, "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine."
"What street was that?" Dr. Goldfoot, played by Price, nauseously asks his laboratory assistant after the jolty ride.
Lombard Street stars in other chase scenes, including the 1972 comedy, "What’s Up, Doc?" starring Barbra Streisand, and "Foul Play," a 1978 comedy starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. Lombard’s major cinematic claim to fame is arguably Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, "Vertigo," which features 900 Lombard Street as the home of obsessive protagonist, Scottie, played by Jimmy Stewart. After the film came out, the famous address attracted crowds to the home for decades. But the owners, displeased with the constant attention, put up a wall and new entryway, rendering the site completely unrecognizable from the movie.
Cars zig-zag down Lombard Street in San Francisco past perfectly landscaped bushes and shrubbery on June 20, 2013.
Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesLombard Street has another macabre claim to fame — one that wasn’t invented for the big screen. An allegedly hexed house sits at the very bottom of the curvy section, set back from the tourists' stairway with a "beware of dog" sign on the gate. This was once the home of self-made socialite, columnist and TV host Pat Montandon, who chronicled the horrors she experienced there after she unwittingly upset a tarot reader she had hired for a house party. A barrage of unexplained break-ins and tragedies followed, including the mysterious 1969 death of Montandon's best friend and assistant, Mary Louise Ward, and suicide of her cousin and another assistant in following years. She chronicled the events in her book, "The Intruders;" the death of her friend remains a mystery.
Whether you’re a true crime fanatic, a mystery buff or just another visitor who loves the stunning views of the bay from Russian Hill, Lombard Street is an experience worth having. While it may not actually be the crookedest street in the city, let alone the world, its history in film and pop culture make it a good candidate for a bucket-list experience.
This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Managing Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at kristina.moy@hearst.com.
