Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
San Francisco Timeline
1776
Spain leads the first colonizers to the area and establishes the Presidio
of San F rancisco and M ission Dolor es, f ounding Yerba Buena (San F ran-
cisco).
1821
Mexico declares independence from Spain, and Yerba Buena r emains
under Mexican rule.
1846
Captain John Montgomery plants the U.S. flag into present-day Ports-
mouth S quare t o claim Yerba Buena f or the Unit ed Stat es. Yerba Buena is
renamed San F rancisco.
1848
James M arshall disc overs gold at Sutt er's M ill. New spaperman Sam
Brannan publicizes the disc overy, and the Gold Rush beg ins.
1848
Domingo Ghirardelli sails t o San F rancisco to join his par tner, James
Lick, and beg in what is t o become the cit y's most famous choc olate factory.
1849
Isadore Boudin, an experienc ed French baker, introduces the ordinary
sourdough yeast used b y miners t o a F rench-style loaf of br ead and cr eates
San Francisco sourdough bread.
1868
T he
Daily Morning Chr onicle,
later the
San Francisco Chronicle,
begins
publishing.
1873
Andrew Hallidie , inspir ed b y an ac cident he witnesses when a t eam
of horses slips on a rain y San F rancisco hill, invents the cable car .
1887
George Hearst pur chases a small daily new spaper, the
S an Francisco
Examiner,
to promote his rac e for the U .S. Senate. His son, William Randolph
Hearst, turns it int o a v ery successful tabloid.
1892
The “Ellis Island of the West,” Angel Island , opens, initially, as a quar-
antine station.
1906
On April 18 at 5:12am, a major ear thquake r ocks San F rancisco and
starts more than 50 fir es, which burn unc ontrollably for 3 da ys. Two-thirds of
the cit y is destr oyed, 250,000 people ar e lef t homeless , and mor e than 675
are dead or missing .
1927
Modern-age hockey da wns for the Ba y Area with the cr eation of the
California Hockey L eague.
1
and incense, and grocery stores teeming
with live frogs, crabs, and other wriggly
seafood ar e all a visual and cultural
treat. A stop b y the G olden Gate For-
tune Cookie Company just adds to the
fun. S ee chapter 8 for a self-guided
walking tour of the neighborhood.
•
Hanging O ut at C rissy F ield:
What
better way to spend the day than to
slow down and take in the vie ws of the
Golden Gate Bridge and the city fr om
the B ay Ar ea's ne west national par k?
Kids can run around on the hills, check
out the gift shop, pile up rocks, or play
in the sand. B uy some nice sandwiches
at the Warming Hut and enjoy a picnic
at one of the many bayside picnic
tables. See p. 160.
•
Riding Bikes down the Embarcadero:
The boulevard is wide and the str eet is
