Named in 1839 by a Swiss sailor and surveyor for the same street in New York, which no longer exists. The name itself stems from the Lombards, a Germanic people who founded their kingdom in northern Italy in 568 AD. [Photo: seanosh]

After General Jose Castro, one time commander of all the Spanish forces in California. After occupation by American forces, he was the most active opponent to the US rule. [Photo: Franco Folini]

John W. Geary came to San Francisco after the Mexican war. In 1849 he was Postmaster, then Alcalde, and in 1850 was selected the first Mayor of the city. [Photo: Franco Folini]

Named for Juan Bautista de Anza’s Indian guide in 1776. Some reports say the name comes from Sigismundo Taraval, a Jesuit missionary in Baja. [Photo: Librarygroover]

Takes the place of what would be 13th Ave, named instead to avoid the evils superstitiously associated with 13. Named in 1923 for Brigadier General Frederick Funston, acting commander of the Army in the days after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. [Photo: Marcin Wichary]

Archbishop Joseph S. Alemany was the first archbishop of San Francisco in 1853, a post which he held for 31 years. [Photo: SF Streets Blog]

For either Jose Manuel Valencia, a soldier in Juan Bautista de Anza’s company, or his son Candelario, a soldier in the military service at the Presidio. [Photo: Payton Chung]

Named for famed Spanish novelist, playwright, and poet Miguel de Cervantes (of Don Quixote fame). [Photo: sfnestcube]

Named for George Innes, the 19th century American landscape painter [Photo: Found SF]

The first African American to serve on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1964 to 1977, Terry Francois was an attorney who helped to win a major case against the San Francisco Housing Authority’s discriminatory policies. Originally known as China Basin Street, it was renamed in 1992. [Photo: Eric Broder Van Dyke]

The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways for cars across the US. Conceived in 1913 the country’s first national memorial to Abraham Lincoln, it starts in NYC at Times Square and terminates in Lincoln Park near Lands End. In SF, it snakes from the Hyde Street Pier to North Point Street, Van Ness to California, all the way down California to 32nd Ave, and follows El Camino del Mar to the terminus in Lincoln Park. [Photo: The Lincoln Highway Association]