Trifter

San Francisco’s Place in History

Like much of California, European settlement in San Francisco was led by Spanish exploration parties who quickly claimed the city for Spain as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The mission San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores) would give the city it’s name. In 1821, declaring it’s independence from Spain, it became part of Mexico.

Above is a photograph of the Mission Dolores, for which the City of San Francisco was named.

There was some English settlement that occurred outside the immediate vicinity of the mission, and by 1835, the area began to attract American settlers looking to lay homestead. While the British considered purchasing the area from Mexico as their port in the Pacific, such purchase never came to be and the United States claimed San Francisco as their own in 1846 during the Mexican-American War.

Gold is Discovered

California’s gold rush, which begin in 1848, quickly put San Francisco on the map. The prospectors seeking a fortune in gold were called forty-niners and came in droves, not only from America, but Latin America, Europe, Australia and Asia. The cultural diversity of San Francisco today can be greatly attributed to the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush also prompted the admission of California as a state in 1850.

Reproduction of “Sailing to California at the beginning of the Gold Rush” originally published in 1850

Chinatown Emerges

San Francisco boasts the first and largest Chinatown to be established outside Asia. It served as a gateway for Chinese immigrants who came to work in the gold mines. The Chinese workers later worked on the transcontinental railroad. San Francisco’s Chinatown pays tribute to the role that Chinese immigrants played in the settlement of the wild, wild west. By 1910. San Francisco’s Chinatown had largely become a tourist attraction but endures as the United States preeminent Chinese center.

Above, a photograph of San Francisco’s modern day Chinatown.

San Francisco Becomes a Major City

The promise of wealth the Gold Rush offered, lured entrepreneurs to San Francisco. The Transcontinental Railroad was built, the Port of San Francisco was established as a trade center, and in 1852 the banking industry laid root by founding Wells Fargo. Levi Strauss, a German-Jewish immigrant, saw the demand for a dry goods store and relocated his New York City business. Italian born Domenico Ghiradelli, established the famous Ghiradelli Chocolate Company. By the turn of the century, San Francisco was very much a major city.

1906 – San Francisco is Shaken

On April 18. 1906, San Francisco was struck by a major earthquake so powerful it was felt along the Pacific coast from Oregon to Los Angeles and as far inland as central Nevada. Damage from the earthquake ruptured gas lines which resulted in fire throughout the city. Damage to the city from the earthquake was severe, but the fires that continued to burn uncontrollably were even more destructive. Approximately 25,000 buildings in 490 city blocks would be destroyed. Property loss was estimated at more than $400 million. By modern day standards, this would compare to the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

1906 San Francisco earthquake aftermath

San Francisco Rebuilds

By 1915, San Francisco celebrated it’s rebirth in grand style at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. San Francisco become known as a solid financial capital since none of it’s banks had failed during the 1929 stock market crash that claimed so many other financial institutions nationwide. San Francisco was at its peak during this time, investing in the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge projects.

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, above, had the world’s longest suspension bridge span at the time of it’s completion in 1937. It is internationally recognized as the symbol of San Francisco.

By 1936. creation of Treasure Island was underway to host the World’s Fair and the Golden Gate International Exposition. In 1945, the UN Charter creating the United Nations was drafted and signed in San Francisco. In 1951, The Treaty of San Francisco was signed, officially putting an end to the war with Japan. San Francisco was once again recognized as one of the world’s major cities. 

With so much rich history, San Francisco is a fundamental part of what makes America great. Through it’s strength and diversity, the city of San Francisco thrives.

Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons