Our History

The Potrero Hill Neighborhood House (“The Nabe”) is a non-profit community center founded in 1907. Our organization inhabits a 97 year-old Historical Landmark Building (Historical Landmark #86), designed by the renowned Julia Morgan. The Nabe was originally created to help new immigrants living on the Hill and especially those displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Dr. W.E. Parker, Jr., Pastor of Olivet Presbyterian Church at 19th and Missouri Street, responded to the social need by offering English classes for men in 1908 and for women and children soon after. The Nabe incorporated in 1918 under the California Synodical Society of Home Missions. The following year, the revered Julia Morgan was commissioned to design a permanent neighborhood house. The building was completed in 1922 and has since received several additions, including a second building on Carolina Street and two extensions: Fraser Hall and the gymnasium.