Russian Hill’s Ina Coolbrith Park sits between Taylor and Mason where Vallejo Street halts due to the steepness of the hill before continuing down to North Beach. At the end of 2015, the park underwent a wonderful restoration – just in time to honor its namesake on what would have been her 175th birthday (March 10, 1841). Through extensive and sensitive work by San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department, vistas were opened up, old brush removed, meandering pathways added or replaced, and a program of sustainable new plantings established to attract butterflies and birds. The department staff looks forward to working with neighbors and volunteers to continue park improvements.
Known as the librarian who mentored the young Jack London and named the first California poet laureate in 1915, Ina (nickname for Josephine) lived in several locations on Russian Hill during her lifetime – 1604 Taylor, 15 Lincoln (now Macondray Lane), and 1067 Broadway. Ina was referred to as one of the Golden Gate Trinity along with Bret Harte and Charles Warren Stoddard, and her literary and artistic friends included Joaquin Miller, Isadora Duncan, Gelett Burgess, William Keith, Mark Twain and many others. In addition to her writing, she served as Oakland City librarian for 19 years, and then later as librarian for the Mercantile Institute and Bohemian Club in San Francisco.
The following is an excerpt from one of her poems entitled “Russian Hill”.
Night and the hill to me!
Silence no sound that jars;
Above, of stars a sea;
Below, a sea of stars!
Tranced in slumber’s sway,
The city at its feet.
A tang of salty spray
Blends with the odors sweet
From garden-close and wall,
Where the madrona stood,
And tangled chaparral,
In the old solitude.
Here, from the Long Ago,
Rezanov’s sailors sleep;
There, the Presidio;
Beyond, the plumed steep;
The waters, mile on mile,
Foam-fringed with feathery white;
The beaconed fortress isle,
And Yerba Buena’s light.
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