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San Francisco

  • First inhabited by Yelamu tribe
  • Only spotted by Spanish scouts in 1769 and settled in 1808
  • Renamed from Yerba Beuna to San Francisco after California was claimed for US (July 7, 1846)
  • Then the gold rush of 1849, population exploded with the arrival of the forty-niners
  • Then the city was destroyed when the San Andreas Fault slipped and caused an earthquake in April 18, 1906
  • The city stood through the 1929 stock market crash as it continued to undertake the Golden Gate and SF Bay Bridges
  • The weather pattern for SF is unique due to the bay and ocean
    • Wet fog will roll in off the ocean
    • Generates cold wind in the summer months
    • Winter is warm and sunny
  • Oldest building is Mission Delores Church
    • Mission district
  • US acquired the land after winning the Mexican-American War
  • Business that catered to the gold rush miners were the ones that became rich and successful
    • Levi, Wells Fargo, Ghiradeli
  • The first planner in charge of designing the city neglected SF's topography and used a cardinal system (Columbus Street was the only street that made sense)
  • The second planner designed SoMa and Market Street
    • Market Street was wide as possible because the streets doesn't match up between these two areas
  • The topography is hilly and sandy
    • The invention of cable car (invented here) allowed further development of SF
    • Esp the Westward such as Western Addition
    • Turned Sand Dunes (which was called Outsideland) into Golden Gate Park
  • 1906 Earthquake significantly changed the city
    • Ferry building survived
    • Rebuilding of downtown
    • Richmond District was built quickly to house the refuge
      • Expensive due to the zoning constraints
    • Along with Sunset, they are referred to as the Avenues because the avenue numbering of N-S streets and Spanish explorer names' in alphabetical order of E-W streets
    • The streets of Potrero Hill is also numerical
  • The Bay Bridge that connects SF to Oakland
    • Completed in 1936
  • The Golden Gate Bridge connects SF to the north
    • Completed in 1937
  • During WWII, the port was used to discharge gay soldiers