Where Little Cable Cars

Settlement – Chapter 3

The City, as locals will call it (and they despise "San Fran" or "Cisco") was established in 1776, the same birth date as the United States, recently freed from British rule. San Francisco was a part of Spanish Territory.

San Francisco was home to a large population of indigenous people at the time of Spanish settlement. A Catholic Mission was set up (Mission Dolores) in the area in an attempt to proselytize the Natives. This building still exist today.

In 1821 San Francisco became part of Mexico and then a part of the United States in 1849.

The California Gold Rush of the mid-1850s brought a population boom for the city. In one year they rose from about 1,000 residence to 25,000 (The Gold Rusher's were also the originators of sourdough bread, for which San Francisco is famous for). Because of the Gold Rush, San Francisco became a banker's city and highly urbanized (Bank of America was born here).

In 1906 the City experience their worse earthquake to date that leveled it to the ground and set the city on fire for days. The population at that time was 400,000 and over half lost their homes. However, within less than 15 years the City rebuilt and was stronger than ever. So strong in fact, that when the stock market crashed in 1929, not one bank fell victim.

As small as San Francisco is, it represents many different races and cultures. Its Chinatown settlement is the oldest of its kind in the nation, with the first Chinese immigrants to arrive in 1849. The City also contains a Little Italy, Japantown, Russians near Golden Gate Park, and Latinos in the Mission district just to name a few. Many of these areas have had economic ups and downs. Some thrive more than others, and then others get revived for a time. Only the very affluent areas such as the Financial District or Nob Hill remain constant.

State Flag information: http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/site/visitor_index.asp?id=8081