Bernal Heights History

Bernal had its origin in an 1839 land grant to Don Jose Cornelio Bernal (September 7, 1796 - 1842), who grazed his cattle on what he called Rancho Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo. By 1860, the land belonged to French merchant Francois Pioche (1818 - May 2, 1872), who subdivided it into smaller lots.
Bernal remained undeveloped, though, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Built atop bedrock, the hill's structures survived the temblor, and the sparseness of the development saved much of Bernal from the ravages of the firestorm that followed. The commercial corridor of Cortland Avenue filled in with shops as the pastureland on the hilltop was developed for workers' homes during the rapid rebuilding of the city. Some of the tiny earthquake cottages -- that the city built to house quake refugees -- survive to this day, including three which were moved up to Bernal Heights. During World War II, the area saw another population surge including many African American families thanks to its proximity to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point. During the Vietnam War, the neighborhood was known as "Red Hill" for the anti-war activists in shared households and collectives who moved in among the working class families.
By the 1990s, Bernal's pleasant microclimate, small houses (some with traditional Victorian or Edwardian architecture) and freeway access to the peninsula and Silicon Valley led to a third wave of migration. Bernal has not gentrified to the extent of its neighbor Noe Valley, but gentrification and property values are increasing as urban professionals replace working-class home owners and renters. Bernal is a haven for young families (especially famous for the concentration of lesbian families) and is teeming with their children. For this reason Bernal Heights sometimes goes by the nickname "Maternal Heights."