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Rincon Hill, San Francisco — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Rincon Hill is a compact residential district in San Francisco, rising just south of Market Street in the SoMa area. The western anchorage of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge sits on its eastern slope, and a cluster of high-rise apartment towers now caps the hill. It covers only a few blocks. Most visitors know it as the dense high-rise pocket between the Embarcadero waterfront and South Beach.
About Rincon Hill
Where to stay in Rincon Hill
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Staying on Rincon Hill puts you in a quiet, mostly residential tower district rather than a nightlife strip. The high-rise apartments and a few hotels here draw business travelers and anyone who wants the Embarcadero waterfront within an easy walk. Rooms are limited.
Those chasing bars and restaurants usually base themselves next door in South Beach or across Market in the wider SoMa, then walk back to the calm of the hill. For sightseeing, the museums of Yerba Buena, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, sit a short stroll to the northwest.
About Rincon Hill
What are the main landmarks in Rincon Hill?
Rincon Hill keeps few marquee sights of its own. Its pull is proximity to the museum blocks just north and west, a short walk into the Yerba Buena arts district. There you find the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the Museum of the African Diaspora within a couple of blocks.
The cluster is tight. Down along the Embarcadero, the San Francisco Railway Museum tells the story of the city's streetcars beside the waterfront.
What is the history of Rincon Hill?
In the 1850s and 1860s, Rincon Hill ranked among San Francisco's first fashionable addresses, its crest lined with the mansions of wealthy merchant families. The Second Street Cut of 1869 sliced a deep trench through the hill to ease the grade down to the waterfront, and the prestige drained away with it. Well-off families decamped for Nob Hill.
After the 1906 earthquake and fire, the slopes filled with warehouses and industry serving the nearby port, and the western approach of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge later cut across the ground. In the 2000s, city planners rezoned the district for high-density housing, and residential towers rose over the old industrial blocks.
Where is Rincon Hill?
Rincon Hill occupies the wedge of ground between Folsom Street to the north and Bryant Street to the south, with the Embarcadero along its eastern foot. Essex Street and the bridge approach ramps mark its western edge, where the land drops toward the rest of SoMa. Just south lies South Beach, and the arts blocks of Yerba Buena sit a short walk to the northwest.
Second Street climbs over the crest.
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Updated July 2026