Irish Hill

A craggy, fenced-off nub of blue serpentinite rock rising from the ground near Illinois Street is all that remains of Irish Hill. This small, once-thriving neighborhood emerged in the eighteen-sixties as a home for immigrant laborers who worked at the nearby Union Iron Works and Pacific Rolling Mills. At its peak, the community consisted of dozens of shacks, boarding houses, and hotels where hundreds of single men lived. Residents often reached their hillside homes by climbing a wooden stairway near twentieth and Illinois streets.