Nob Hill

San Francisco’s Nob Hill traces its name to the fabled courts of Kubla Khan. It is derived from the language of the ancient Mogul “Empire of India. Before the fire of 1906, the wealthiest of San Francisco’s aristocrats built magnificent homes on the steep hill overlooking the bay. So posh was the area that it soon became known as Nabob Hill. And a nabob (from the Hindustani navah) was originally a district ruler under the old Mogul regime. Later the word was applied to non-natives (English and Americans, chiefly) who went to India and became fabulously rich. So Nabob Hill it became, in the lingo of San Franciscans, only to be shorted to Nob Hill even before the terrible fire which wiped out the sumptuous homes that gave it is name.