A Day in San Francisco
The first modern settlement
of this community was made in 1776, when the Spanish officer Juan Bautista de Anza founded
a fort (the "presidio") here to guard the entrance to what came to be known as
"San Francisco Bay".
As a consequence of the frequent
battles and wars fought between Mexico and the United States, the United States took the
area called Yerba Buena from Mexico in 1846, renaming it San Francisco in 1847.
("Yerba Buena" means "good grass" which was the reason for having
horses and cattle graze there). On January 24, 1848 gold was discovered by James Marshall
at Sutter's Mill near Coloma (not far from Sacramento in central California) and the
ensuing gold rush rapidly transformed San Francisco into a booming community. San
Francisco was incorporated as a city in 1850. The city developed as a port and supply
point and became an early governmental and cultural center. Gold and silver flowing into
the city caused numerous assay offices to be opened all being incorporated in the United
Stes Mint which is still operational to this day.
San Francisco was known for its
cosmopolitan population and for the lawlessness of some areas, particularly the so-called
Barbary Coast area.
On April 18, 1906, an earthquake
shook the city and caused a fire that raged for three days, destroying almost all of San
Francisco's downtown and much of the residential area including famous Nobb Hill. The city
was rebuilt quickly and in 1915 it played host to the Panama-Pacific International
Exposition. Once again the gold related history of San Francisco re appeared with the
coinage of some of the most beautiful gold and silver coins in U.S. history.
During World War II (1939-1945),
San Francisco was a major shipbuilding center, and in 1945, when the war finally ended,
the charter of the United Nations was drafted and signed here. In the 1960s and 1970s many
large, modern buildings were constructed in the city, and a number of residential areas
were revitalized. Anti sismic construction techniques were developed here as the risk of
earthquakes has always loomed over this area (the Saint Andreas fault is only a few miles
north of the City on Highway 1). Although the city was again badly damaged by an
earthquake in 1989, none of the more modern buildings suffered grave damage and it has
since recovered.
