ABOUT

Hi, my name is Hudson. While I used to guide a lot of walking tours in San Francisco (and may do it again in the future), this has primarily turned into a research and writing project. I am the historian of the Nob Hill Association–the oldest, still-operating neighborhood association in SF–and I serve on the Publications Committee of the San Francisco Historical Society. While a lot of my papers are published in The Argonaut these days, I still post stuff on here, so if you have an interest in SF history, please consider following this page (you can do so at the bottom-left of this page).

A little bit more about me personally: I am a native of Louisiana, and also grew up in Kentucky. I am a graduate of the University of Mississippi (B. A. Journalism), and moved to California in 1998. I have lived on Nob Hill for over twenty years, and in addition to being the NHA’s historian, I also serve on the board of directors, and Huntington Park Committee.

Over the past ten years, I have been working off-and-on on a history book with the working title, Fern Hill: The Lost History of San Francisco’s Nob Hill. From that project is where this site gets its name (see further below for more on this). I am also a singer/songwriter and have released numerous albums over the years. If you are interested in checking that out, you can do so here.

Again, tours are not currently being offered, but if you have questions/comments please feel free to reach out to me at fernhilltours [at] gmail [dot] com.

See TESTIMONIALS for client input.

“Where is Fern Hill? I don’t see it on my map.”

Within The Annals of San Francisco–the first history book about San Francisco published in 1855–Fern Hill was the name on the map for Nob Hill’s original neighborhood. With the population explosion surrounding the California Gold Rush of 1849, not only did the “instant city” of San Francisco expand into and over the water, but also up hill to the west.