Portal:San Francisco

Introduction

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline as seen from the Marin Headlands

San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center in Northern California. With a population of 808,437 residents as of 2022, San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of California. The city covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second-most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four New York City boroughs. Among the 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income .

Prior to European settlement, the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu, who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone. On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate, and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi. The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into a busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in the city proper. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, it was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers. After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration, liberalizing attitudes, the rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution, the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States. (Full article...)

Selected general articles

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  The following is a timeline of the history of the city of San Francisco, California, United States. (Full article...)
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  Aerial view of Pioneer Park and Coit Tower

  
  Pioneer Park is a 4.89-acre (19,800 m²) park crowning the top of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. It was established in 1876 in celebration of the United States Centennial. Prior to establishment of the park, it was the site of the Marine Telegraph Station. The main feature of the park, Coit Tower, was completed in 1933 using a $118,000 bequest left to the city by Lillie Hitchcock Coit in 1929. A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was placed in the park in 1957, and removed in June, 2020. (Full article...)
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  (2008)

  
  San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is taller than that of the United States Capitol by 42 feet (13 m). The present building replaced an earlier City Hall that was destroyed during the 1906 earthquake, which was two blocks from the present one.
  
  The principal architect was Arthur Brown, Jr., of Bakewell & Brown, whose attention to the finishing details extended to the doorknobs and the typeface to be used in signage. Brown also designed the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, Veterans Building, Temple Emanuel, Coit Tower and the Federal office building at 50 United Nations Plaza. (Full article...)
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  The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) provides firefighting, hazardous materials response services, technical rescue services and emergency medical response services to the City and County of San Francisco, California. (Full article...)
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  The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) is a state chartered sub-regional transportation planning and programming agency for San Francisco County. SFCTA is a separate legal entity from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and other transportation agencies in the San Francisco area, with its own administrative structure, policies, staff, budget, and with separate borrowing capacity. The Authority Board consists of the eleven members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (ex officio).
  
  The Authority was originally created to administer the proceeds of San Francisco's first local sales tax for transportation, which began in 1990 and was passed by voters in 1989 as Proposition B. Since then, the agency has taken additional responsibilities mandated by state law. Beginning in 2004, SFCTA became the administrator of the Proposition K sales tax for transportation approved in November 2003, which substituted the original 1989 tax. The 2003 Proposition K is a half cent local transportation sales tax program. (Full article...)
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  The San Francisco Police Commission is the governing body of the San Francisco Police Department. (Full article...)
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  Mountain Lake at Mountain Lake Park

  
  Mountain Lake Park is a 14-acre (5.7 ha) San Francisco park in the Richmond District neighborhood, located north of the intersection of Lake and Funston. It was designed by engineer William Hammond Hall in the late 19th century, circa 1875. Hall also designed Golden Gate Park and was significantly influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted. (Full article...)
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  The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and federal laws, and determines policy for all the K-12 public schools in the San Francisco Unified School District. (Full article...)
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  Three and four story buildings surround the tree-filled South Park.

  
  South Park is a small urban park and eponymous neighborhood in the larger South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California, consisting of 0.85 acres (0.34 ha) of public ground. The neighborhood centers on the small, oval-shaped park and South Park Street, which encircles the park. South Park is bounded by Second, Third, Bryant, and Brannan streets.
  
  The two halves of the South Park Street re-join at both ends of the park and continue for short, straight stretches before terminating at Second Street on one end and Third Street on the other. This creates a curved line of buildings, which gives the street and park an unusual enclosed, urban character. Local businesses, restaurants and many apartment buildings dot the street. (Full article...)
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  The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA or San Francisco MTA) is an agency created by consolidation of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), the Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT), and the Taxicab Commission. The agency oversees public transport, taxis, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian infrastructure, and paratransit for the City and County of San Francisco. (Full article...)
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  View of the Golden Gate from Lands End

  
  The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting 82,116 acres (33,231 ha) of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the United States Army. GGNRA is managed by the National Park Service and is the second-most visited unit of the National Park system in the United States (ranking only under Blue Ridge Parkway), with more than 15.6 million visitors in 2022. It is also one of the largest urban parks in the world, with a size two-and-a-half times that of the consolidated city and county of San Francisco.
  
  The park is not one continuous locale but rather a collection of areas that stretch from southern San Mateo County to northern Marin County and includes several areas of San Francisco. The park is as diverse as it is expansive; it contains famous tourist attractions such as Muir Woods National Monument, Alcatraz, and the Presidio of San Francisco. The GGNRA is also home to over 3,000 plant and animal species, encompasses 59 miles (95 km) of bay and ocean shoreline and has military fortifications that span centuries of California history, from the Spanish conquistadors to Cold War-era Nike missile sites. (Full article...)
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  Aerial view of Washington Square in North Beach (with social distancing circles during the COVID-19 pandemic)

  
  Washington Square is an American park in the North Beach district of San Francisco. It was established in 1847 and is one of the city's first parks. The park is bordered by sidewalk cafes and restaurants such as Mama's (restaurant), Park Tavern restaurant and the Liguria Bakery as well as the Sts. Peter and Paul Church. (Full article...)
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  Sutro Tower, the landmark TV and radio antenna tower in San Francisco where some of the major Bay Area stations transmit from

  
  
  The media in the San Francisco Bay Area has historically focused on San Francisco but also includes two other major media centers, Oakland and San Jose. The Federal Communications Commission, Nielsen Media Research, and other similar media organizations treat the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Area as one entire media market. The region hosts to one of the oldest radio stations in the United States still in existence, KCBS (AM) (740 kHz), founded by engineer Charles Herrold in 1909. As the home of Silicon Valley, the Bay Area is also a technologically advanced and innovative region, with many companies involved with Internet media or influential websites. (Full article...)
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  The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy in San Francisco, California. The commission oversees Civic Design Review, Community Investments, Public Art, SFAC Galleries, The Civic Art Collection, and the Art Vendor Program. (Full article...)
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  Grandview Park viewed from Parnassus Heights in 2019

  
  Grandview Park, also referred to as Turtle Hill by local residents, is a small, elevated park in the Sunset District, San Francisco, California. It is surrounded by 14th and 15th Avenues, as well as Noriega Street.
  
  Despite its small size, 3.98 acres (1.61 ha) or about the size of a city block, the park is important geologically and botanically and offers views of downtown San Francisco, Golden Gate Park, to the Pacific Ocean, the Marin headlands, and across to the Sutro Tower. (Full article...)
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  This is a comprehensive list of lists related to San Francisco. San Francisco is a city in California, within the San Francisco Bay Area. (Full article...)
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  Golden Gate Transit 908 in San Francisco

  
  Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited service to Contra Costa County. In 2023, Golden Gate Transit had a ridership of 1,366,600, or about 4,200 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.
  
  Golden Gate Transit is one of three transportation systems owned and operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District; the others are the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Ferry, both of which connect San Francisco and Marin County. Funding for cross-bridge "Transbay" bus service is partially funded by Golden Gate Bridge tolls in addition to traditional federal and state sources. GGT operates some bus service within Marin County under contract with Marin Transit. (Full article...)
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  The Panhandle from Clayton Street

  
  The Panhandle is a public park in San Francisco, California, so named because it forms a panhandle with Golden Gate Park. It is long and narrow, being three-quarters of a mile (eight blocks) long and just one block wide. Fell and Oak Streets border it to the north and south, Baker Street to the east, and to the west Stanyan Street which separates the smaller Panhandle from the much larger Golden Gate Park. The Panhandle is bisected by Masonic Avenue, which runs north to south and cuts through the middle of the park. In its westernmost block, Oak and Fell Streets angle across the Panhandle, converge with one another, and continue west of Stanyan as John F. Kennedy Drive and Kezar Drive.
  
  Two paved walking paths, one allowing bicycles, run the entire length of the Panhandle from east to west, and several shorter ones criss-cross it north to south. In its western section, between Stanyan and Masonic, the Panhandle contains basketball courts, a public restroom, a playground, and an outdoor gym. The William McKinley Memorial is at the eastern end of the Panhandle, just across Baker Street from the DMV; it consists of a statue and seating area, and was dedicated in 1904 by President Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded McKinley after his assassination in 1901. (Full article...)
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  Despite its limited geographical space, San Francisco, California is home to a multitude of colleges and universities.
  
  Public colleges and universities include:

  • City College of San Francisco, one of the largest community colleges in the country; in Ingleside, with several extension campuses
  • San Francisco State University, in the southwest corner of the city near Lake Merced
  • University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, located downtown at its Civic Center
  • University of California, San Francisco, primarily a graduate level health-sciences school, located in the Parnassus Heights/Inner Sunset neighborhood and in Mission Bay, San Francisco, California.

  (Full article...)
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  Pine Lake Park is a park in the southwest corner of San Francisco, California which encompasses Pine Lake. (Full article...)
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  This is a list of foreign diplomatic missions located in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States. , the area hosts 42 consulates-general from 41 different countries (Mexico has two). 38 are located in the city of San Francisco; there is one each in Palo Alto, Burlingame, and San Jose. (Full article...)
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  Historic ships docked at Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park

  
  The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. Formerly referred to as the San Francisco Maritime Museum, the collections were acquired by the National Park Service in 1978. The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park was authorized in 1988; the maritime museum is among the park's many cultural resources. The park also incorporates the Aquatic Park Historic District, bounded by Van Ness Avenue, Polk Street, and Hyde Street. (Full article...)
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  The San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) is a charter commission of the City and County of San Francisco that works to increase equality, eradicate discrimination, and to protect human rights for all people. The HRC enforces City Ordinances and policies on nondiscrimination and promotes social and economic progress for all. (Full article...)
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  Aerial views of San Francisco from the southeast (2011)
  Top: McLaren Park is the forested area in the left-middle. Other landmarks include Bayview Park and Candlestick Park in the center foreground, Sutro Tower in the center background, and the Golden Gate Bridge in the right background.
  Bottom: Cropped to focus on McLaren Park

  
  John McLaren Park is a park in southeastern San Francisco. At 312.54 acres (126.48 ha), McLaren Park is the third largest park in San Francisco by area, after Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. The park is surrounded mostly by the Excelsior, Crocker-Amazon, Visitacion Valley, Portola and University Mound neighborhoods. (Full article...)

Did you know...

• ... that San Francisco Police officer and future barnstormer Ivan R. Gates was the first to transport a prisoner by air, on November 1, 1919?
• ... that confectioner William Westerfeld hired architect Henry Geilfuss to design his home in San Francisco, and then died in it?
• ... that Twitter's headquarters building in San Francisco was built as a trade center for furniture wholesalers in 1937?
• ... that according to Modern Times, a San Francisco–based bookstore collective, if there was only one book that you read in 1975 it had to be Canadian author and activist Helen Potrebenko's Taxi!?
• ... that Andrea Carla Michaels, who has written more than 80 crosswords for The New York Times, is known as the "Pizza Lady" in San Francisco?
• ... that Joan Boada was named a principal dancer at the Cuban National Ballet at age 16, but later defected and ended up at the San Francisco Ballet?

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Selected images

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  Lake Merced, located in southwestern San Francisco (from San Francisco)
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  Satellite view of San Francisco (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco Federal Building (from San Francisco)
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  The Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors (from San Francisco)
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  The Bank of California, established in 1863, was the first commercial bank in Western United States. (from San Francisco)
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  Port of San Francisco in 1851 (from San Francisco)
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  The Cliff House over Ocean Beach (from San Francisco)
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  Sea Cliff is one of the city's most expensive neighborhoods. (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco Chinatown, the oldest in North America and one of the world's largest. (from San Francisco)
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  The Fisherman's Wharf is a popular tourist attraction. (from San Francisco)
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  The Panama–Pacific Exposition, a major world's fair held in 1915, was seen as a chance to showcase the city's recovery from the earthquake. (from San Francisco)
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  A San Francisco cable car with Alcatraz seen behind (from San Francisco)
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  The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was the deadliest earthquake in U.S. history. (from San Francisco)
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  Bay to Breakers is an annual foot race known for colorful costumes. (from San Francisco)
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  Union Square, despite its declining profile, is still a major retail hub for San Francisco and the Bay Area. (from San Francisco)
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  Painted Ladies on Alamo Square. (from San Francisco)
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  Golden Gate Theatre is located in the historic Theatre District (from San Francisco)
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  Juana Briones de Miranda, known as the "Founding Mother of San Francisco" (from San Francisco)
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  The San Francisco Unified School District operates 114 schools and is the oldest school district in California. (from San Francisco)
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  The reconstruction of San Francisco City Hall on Civic Center Plaza, c. 1913–16 (from San Francisco)
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  Aerial view of the Presidio of San Francisco and the Golden Gate (from San Francisco)
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  The Mission District is the historic center of the city's Chicano/Mexican-American population and greater Hispanic and Latino community. (from San Francisco)
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  The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco in 1849, during the beginning of the California gold rush (from San Francisco)
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  War Memorial Opera House, part of the S.F. War Memorial & Performing Arts Center, one of the largest performing arts centers in the U.S. (from San Francisco)
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  The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, also known as SF MOMA (from San Francisco)
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  SFPD parking enforcement officers (from San Francisco)
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  The 1846 Battle of Yerba Buena was an early U.S. victory in the American conquest of California. (from San Francisco)
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  The Supreme Court of California is based in the Earl Warren Building. (from San Francisco)
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  The Julia Morgan-designed Hearst Building, the western headquarters of the Hearst Corporation (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco's Financial District, despite its declining importance, is still considered the Wall Street of the West. (from San Francisco)
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  University of California College of the Law (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world (from San Francisco)
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  Map of racial distribution in San Francisco, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: ⬤ White ⬤ Black ⬤ Asian ⬤ Hispanic ⬤ Other (from San Francisco)
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  Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded by Padre Francisco Palóu on October 9, 1776. (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco Art Institute is the oldest art school in the Western U.S. (from San Francisco)
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  Twitter headquarters on Market St. (from San Francisco)
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  The Farallon Islands are located in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the Pacific coast of San Francisco. (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco City Hall, built 1913–16 and designed by Arthur Brown Jr. (from San Francisco)
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  Golden Gate Park is the 3rd most-visited city park in the U.S., after Central Park and the National Mall. (from San Francisco)
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  The United Nations was created in San Francisco in 1945, when the United Nations Charter was signed at the San Francisco Conference. (from San Francisco)
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  Skyline of South of Market (SoMa), including Salesforce Tower, the tallest building in San Francisco (from San Francisco)
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  Juan Bautista de Anza established the Presidio of San Francisco for the Spanish Empire in 1776. (from San Francisco)
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  University of San Francisco (from San Francisco)
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  Golden Gate Ferries connect the city to North Bay communities, while San Francisco Bay Ferry connects the city to both the North and East Bay. (from San Francisco)
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  The Bay Bridge connects the city to Oakland and the East Bay. (from San Francisco)
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  The Castro is famous as one of the first gay villages in the country. (from San Francisco)
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  Bay Wheels station on Market St. (from San Francisco)
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  Muni Metro, run by SF Muni (from San Francisco)
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  View of the city in 1878 (from San Francisco)
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  Lombard Street in Russian Hill is famed as "the most crooked street in the world." (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco fog is a regular phenomenon in the summer. (from San Francisco)
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  The historic Browning Courthouse (from San Francisco)
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  The Summer of Love in 1967 was an influential counterculture phenomenon with as many as 100,000 people converging in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. (from San Francisco)
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  Ethnic origins in San Francisco (from San Francisco)
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  The Ferry Building, located in the Embarcadero, the city's eastern waterfront along San Francisco Bay (from San Francisco)
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  Oracle Park, home of the SF Giants (from San Francisco)
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  Sutro Tower is a broadcast tower and local landmark. (from San Francisco)
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  Ferry Building in the Embarcadero. (from San Francisco)
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  Transamerica Pyramid, built in 1972, characterized the Manhattanization of the city's skyline in the 1970–80's. (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco cycling event (from San Francisco)
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  The gay pride flag was originally developed in San Francisco. (from San Francisco)
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  Homeless encampment under a freeway in San Francisco (from San Francisco)
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  SFPD mounted police officers (from San Francisco)
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  View of the city's central districts along its northeastern coastline (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco Chronicle building (from San Francisco)
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  The Bay Bridge under construction on Yerba Buena Island in 1935 (from San Francisco)
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  The Palace of Fine Arts, originally built for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition (from San Francisco)
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  San Francisco Pride is one of the oldest and largest LGBT pride events in the world. (from San Francisco)

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