Fascinating stories behind San Francisco neighborhood names

Alamo Square alamo in Spanish) supposedly marked the water source and Mayor James Van Ness created a 12.7-acre park surround it in 1856. This residential enclave with loosely defined boundaries and a park of the same name is centered around a former watering hole where travelers stopped on the horseback trail from Mission Dolores to the Presidio in the 1800s. A lone cottonwood tree (in Spanish) supposedly marked the water source and Mayor James Van Ness created a 12.7-acre park surround it in 1856.

Pictured: A couple at Alamo Square Park look toward the "Painted Ladies," a row of historical Victorian homes, and the San Francisco skyline at rear on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) less Alamo Square This residential enclave with loosely defined boundaries and a park of the same name is centered around a former watering hole where travelers stopped on the horseback trail from Mission Dolores to ... more Photo: Jeff Chiu, Various Photo: Jeff Chiu, Various Image 1 of / 78 Caption Close Fascinating stories behind San Francisco neighborhood names 1 / 78 Back to Gallery

For a city of only 49 square miles, San Francisco is packed with a lot of neighborhoods.

While Wikipedia puts the number at 40, locals would tell you there are at least a dozen more, from Lincoln Park to Balboa Terrace to Bayview Heights.

Many of these enclaves have curious names. Cow Hollow? Did cows live there?

A deep dive into the stories behind their monikers provides interesting insight into some of the city's earliest residents and its wild and woolly past. Indeed, the ribbon of land squeezed between Pacific Heights and the Marina was once home to 38 dairy farms. That's a lot of cows.

ALSO: The most fascinating Bay Area town and city origin stories

Click through the gallery to find out how a cemetery inspired the name for the neighborhood called Russian Hill. And learn about one of San Francisco's greatest landowners of all time; Jose Cornelio Bernal owned a rancho that covered one-quarter of San Francisco's present area.