San Francisco County
enjoys a large number of historical sites and markers as its
place in history is recognized as the largest, fastest growing
city during the Gold Rush that occurred east of the San
Francisco bay in Sacramento and Sierra Nevada foothills..
Goods, people and foods all came to San Francisco via the ocean
until a transcontinental railroad system was built in the late
1800s and early 1900s. Around the same time The Great San
Francisco Earthquake of 1906 destroyed a significant portion of
San Francisco's buildings. The historical landmarks are
signified through markers and information supplied below.
NO. 1002 SITE OF THE FIRST
DYNAMITE FACTORY IN UNITED STATES - The first commercial manufacturing of
dynamite in the U.S. occurred in what is now Glen Canyon Park. On March 19,
1868, the Giant Powder Company began production at its first manufacturing
plant, under exclusive license from Alfred Nobel to produce his new explosive in
America. The factory did not last long. On November 26, 1869, an explosion
completely destroyed the entire facility, turning every one of the buildings on
the place, and the surrounding fencing, into 'hundreds of pieces,' according to
a newpaper account. The company moved its operations elsewhere, an action that
was to be repeated again in the future under similar circumstances, until it
moved to its permanent and final home at Point Pinole on San Pablo Bay.
Location: Glen Canyon Park, San Francisco
NO. 1010 ORIGINAL SITE OF THE
THIRD BAPTIST CHURCH (FORMERLY THE FIRST COLORED BAPTIST CHURCH) - In August
1852, Abraham Brown, Thomas Bundy, Thomas Davenport, Willie Denton, Harry
Fields, George Lewis, Fielding Spotts, and Eliza and William Davis organized the
church in the Davis home. The congregation purchased the old First Baptist
Church and moved it to this location in 1854. The church is now located at 1399
McAllister Street.
Location: Corner Grant Ave and Greenwich, San Francisco
NO. 119 PORTSMOUTH PLAZA - Named
for U.S.S. Portsmouth, commanded by Captain John B. Montgomery, after whom
Montgomery Street was named. It was here on the plaza that Captain Montgomery
first raised the American flag near the Mexican adobe custom house on July 9,
1846. Center of many early-day activities, this plaza was the site of: the first
public school building, erected in 1847 on the southwest corner of plaza, where
religious services and many public meetings were held, the dramatic announcement
of gold discovery made on May 11, 1848, when Sam Brannan displayed glittering
samples to crowds, mass meeting to urge election of delegates to Monterey
Constitutional Convention on June 12, 1849, refuge for citizens following
conflagrations of 1849, 1850, 1851, and
1906, citizens' assembly on July 16, 1849 to organize against depredations
of a lawless body called 'The Hounds,' memorial services held August 29, 1850,
following death of President Zachary Taylor, first Admission Day celebration
held October 29, 1850, when the steamship Oregon brought the news that
California
had become 31st state on September 9, an indignation meeting, organized June
1, 1852, to protest against the city council's purchase of the Jenny Lind
Theatre to be used as a city hall, commemorative services held for Henry Daly,
August 10, 1852, and an oration delivered by Colonel E. D. Baker on September
18, 1859, over the body of U. S. Senator David C. Broderick, killed in duel with
Chief Justice David S. Terry. Robert Louis Stevenson spent many hours here
during his visit to the city in 1879-1880.
Location: Portsmouth Square Park, on Kearny between Clay and
Washington, San Francisco
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SAN FRANCISCO NORTH
NO. 192 EL DORADO, PARKER HOUSE,
AND DENNISON'S EXCHANGE - The 'El Dorado,' the 'Parker House,' and 'Dennison's
Exchange' were among the most famous hotel and gambling resorts around San
Francisco in the early 1850s. The Jenny Lind Theatre replaced the Parker House
in 1850. The third Jenny Lind Theatre, opened by Tom Maguire on October 4, 1851
on the same site as the two preceding it, whichwere destroyed in the fires of
1851, was purchased by the City of San Francisco in 1852 for use as the city
hall.
Location: 750 Kearny St at Merchant, San Francisco
NO. 236 ENTRANCE OF THE SAN CARLOS
INTO SAN FRANCISCO BAY - On August 5, 1775, the Spanish packet San Carlos, under
the command of Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala, became the first ship to enter
San Francisco Bay. His crew spent a month and a half surveying the bay from its
southernmost reaches to the northern end of present-day Suisun Bay. The San
Carlos departed September 18, 1775.
Location: Aquatic Park, NW corner of Beach and Larkin Sts, San
Francisco
NO. 327-1 SITE OF ORIGINAL MISSION
DOLORES CHAPEL AND DOLORES LAGOON - On June 29, 1776, Father Fancisco Palou, a
member of the Anza Expedition, had a brushwood shelter built here on the edge of
a now vanished lake, Lago de los Dolores (Lake of the Sorrows), and offered the
first mass. The first mission was a log and thatch structure dedicated on
October 9, 1776 when the necessary church documents arrived. The present Mission
Dolores
was dedicated in 1791.
Location: Site: Camp and Albion Sts, San Francisco (plaque in storage)
NO. 328 LONG WHARF - In the spring
of 1848, the old Central or Long Wharf was built 'from the bank in the middle of
the block between Sacramento and Clay Streets, where Leidesdorff Street now is,
800 feet into the Bay.' After 1850 it was extended 2,000 feet and the Pacific
mail steamers and other large vessels anchored there. Central or Long Wharf is
now Commercial Street.
Location: Intersection of Leidesdorff and Commercial Sts, San
Francisco
NO. 408 SITE OF THE FIRST MEETING
OF FREEMASONS HELD IN CALIFORNIA - On November 9, 1849, a charter was granted by
the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia for the organization of California
Lodge No. 13, now California Lodge No. 1 of the Free and Accepted Masons. On
November 23, 1848, Levi Stowell was appointed master of the new lodge, and on
November 15, 1849, the lodge was formally organized under the charter.
Location: 728 Montgomery St, San Francisco
NO. 454 WOODWARD'S GARDENS - R. B.
Woodward opened his gardens to the public in 1866 as an amusement park catering
to all tastes, and it remained San Francisco's most popular resort until it
closed in 1892. The Gardens once occupied the block bounded by Mission, Duboce,
Valencia, and 14th Streets, the main entrance was on Mission.
Location: SW corner of Mission and Duboce Sts, San Francisco
NO. 459 SITE OF BRICK BUILDING OF
THE FIRM OF MELLUS AND HOWARD - In the Mellus and Howard Warehouse, erected on
this site in 1848, the Society of California Pioneers, oldest historical society
in the state, was organized August 31, 1850 to collect and preserve the history
of California. W. D. M. Howard was its first president.
Location: 555 Montgomery at Clay, San Francisco
NO. 462 SITE OF FIRST JEWISH
RELIGIOUS SERVICES IN SAN FRANCISCO - In a second-floor room in a store that
once stood here, forty pioneers of the Jewish faith gathered on September 26,
1849, Yom Kippur (5610), and participated in the first Jewish religious services
in San Francisco.
Location: 735 Montgomery between Washington and Jackson, San Francisco
NO. 500 EASTERN TERMINUS OF CLAY
STREET HILL RAILROAD - The Clay Street Hill Railroad Company, the first cable
railroad system in the world, was invented and installed by Andrew S. Hallidie.
It started operation on August 1, 1873 and ceased on February 15, 1942.
Location: Portsmouth Plaza, Clay and Kearny, San Francisco
NO. 587 FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL - This
is the site of the first public school in California. It was opened on April 3,
1848 on the southwest corner of Portsmouth Square.
Location: Portsmouth Plaza, Clay and Brenham Sts, San Francisco
NO. 623 UNION SQUARE - This was
the center of San Francisco in pioneer days, deeded for public use January 3,
1850 during the administration of John White Geary, first mayor and postmaster,
and later Governor of Kansas and Pennsylvania. The name originated in 1860 when
public meetings were held here in support of the Union.
Location: NE corner of Geary and Powell, San Francisco
NO. 650 SITE OF THE WHAT CHEER
HOUSE - This is the site of the famous What Cheer House, a unique hotel opened
in 1852 by R. B. Woodward and destroyed by the fire of 1906. The What Cheer
House catered to men only, permitted no liquor on the premises, and housed San
Francisco's first free library and first museum.
Location: SW corner of Sacramento and Leidesdorff Sts, San Francisco
NO. 691 SARCOPHAGUS OF THOMAS
STARR KING - Apostle of liberty, humanitarian, Unitarian minister, who in the
Civil War bound California to the Union and led her to excel all other states in
support of the United States Sanitary Commission that preceded the American Red
Cross. His statue, together with that of Father Junípero Serra, represents
California in the National Capitol, and his name is borne by a Yosemite peak-'A
man to match our mountains.'
Location: First Unitarian Church, Franklin between Starr King and
Geary, San Francisco
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SAN FRANCISCO NORTH
NO. 696 WESTERN BUSINESS
HEADQUARTERS OF RUSSELL, MAJORS, AND WADDELL- FOUNDERS, OWNERS, AND
OPERATORS OF THE PONY EXPRESS - This was the site of the western business
headquarters of Russell, Majors, and Waddell-founders, owners, and operators of
the Pony Express, 1860-1861. The firm's main office was in Leavenworth, Kansas,
W. W. Finney was the western representative in San Francisco.
Location: 601 Montgomery St at Clay, San Francisco
NO. 754 SITE OF THE MARK HOPKINS
INSTITUTE OF ART - In February 1893, Mr. Edward F. Searles donated the Hopkins
Mansion to the University of California in trust for the San Francisco Art
Institute for 'instruction in and illustration of the fine arts, music, and
literature,' and as San Francisco's first cultural center.
Location: SE corner of California at Mason, San Francisco
NO. 760 SITE OF LAUREL HILL
CEMETERY - The builders of the West, civic and military leaders, jurists,
inventors, artists, and eleven United States Senators are buried here, on the
most revered of San Francisco's hills.
Location: 3333 California St at Walnut, San Francisco
NO. 772 ORIGINAL SITE OF ST.
MARY'S COLLEGE - In August 1863, Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, OP, opened St.
Mary's College here with a faculty of two diocesan priests, four laymen, and two
student teachers. In August 1868, at the invitation of the archbishop, Brother
Justin McMahon and seven Christian Brothers took charge of St. Mary's.
Location: Intersection of Mission and College Sts, San Francisco
NO. 784 EL CAMINO REAL (AS FATHER
SERRA KNEW IT AND HELPED BLAZE IT) - This plaque was placed on the 250th
anniversary of the birth of California's apostle, Padre Junípero Serra, OFM, to
mark El Camino Real as he knew it and helped blaze it.
Location: Mission San Diego de Alcala, San Diego to Mission San
Francisco de Asis, Dolores St, between 16th and 17th Sts, San Francisco
NO. 791 ORIGINAL SITE OF THE
BANCROFT LIBRARY - In 1860 Hubert Howe Bancroft began to collect the wealth of
material which was to result in the writing of his monumental history of western
North America. His library was located here in 1881, in 1905 it was purchased by
the University of California and moved the following year to Berkeley.
Location: 1538 Valencia St, San Francisco
NO. 80 MONTGOMERY BLOCK - This is
the site of San Francisco's first fireproof building, erected in 1853 by Henry
Wager Halleck. It was the headquarters for many outstanding lawyers, financiers,
writers, actors, and artists. James King of William, editor of the Bulletin,
died here on May 14, 1856 after being shot by James Casey. This building escaped
destruction in the fire of 1906.
Location: 600 Montgomery St, San Francisco
NO. 81 LANDING PLACE OF CAPTAIN J.
B. MONTGOMERY - In the early morning of July 9, 1846, 'when the water came up to
Montgomery Street,' Commander John B. Montgomery landed near this spot from the
U.S. Sloop-of-War Portsmouth to raise the Stars and Stripes on the Plaza, now
Portsmouth Square.
Location: 552 Montgomery St, SE corner of Montgomery and Clay, San
Francisco
NO. 810 SITE OF OLD ST. MARY'S
CHURCH - The first building erected as a cathedral in California, Old St. Mary's
served the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 1854 to 1891. Once the city's most
prominent building, it is built of brick brought 'around the Horn' in sailing
ships, and much of its stonework was quarried and cut in China.
Location: NE corner of California and Grant Ave, plaque on Grant Ave
entrance, San Francisco
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SAN FRANCISCO NORTH
NO. 819 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY
HEADQUARTERS - On this block, then on Yerba Buena's waterfront, stood the
California headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company. Their chief trader, William
G. Tae, purchased the property and started operations in 1841. This venture
caused wide speculation about British intentions. Inadequate profits, a
declining fur catch, and pressure of U.S. expansion caused Hudson's Bay Company
to end its California operations.
Location: 505 Montgomery between Sacramento and Commercial Sts, San
Francisco
NO. 82 CASTILLO DE SAN JOAQUÍN -
The first ship to enter San Francisco Bay, the San Carlos (Captain Ayala),
dropped anchor off this point August 5, 1775. Lieutenant-Colonel Don Juan
Bautista de Anza planted the cross on Cantil Blanco (White Cliff) March 28,
1776. The first fortification, Castillo de San Joaquín, was completed December
8, 1794 by José Joaquín de Arrillaga, sixth Governor of California. In 1853
United States Army engineers cut down the cliff and built Fort Point, renamed
Fort Winfield Scott in 1882. This fort, a partial replica of Fort Sumter, is the
only brick fort west of the Mississippi, its seawall has stood
undamaged for over a hundred years.
Location: SE corner of Fort Wall, Fort Point, San Francisco (below
Golden Gate Bridge)
NO. 83 SHORELINE MARKERS - 'This
tablet marks the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the time of the discovery of
gold in California, January 24, 1848. Map reproduced above delineates old
shoreline.'
Location: Plaque in sidewalk, NE corner of Bush and Market Sts, San
Francisco
NO. 84 RINCON HILL - A fashionable
neighborhood in the 1860s, Rincon Hill was the home of William Tecumseh Sherman,
William C. Ralston, William Gwin, H. H. Bancroft, and others. By the 1880s the
hill, already partially leveled, became a working class district. Today it is
nearly invisible beneath the Bay Bridge. This plaque is mounted on the retaining
wall of St. Mary's Hospital, built 1861 but destroyed in the fire of 1906.
Location: NE corner of Rincon and Bryant Sts, San Francisco
NO. 85 OFFICE OF THE STAR
NEWSPAPER - On this site January 9, 1847, the first newspaper in San
Francisco-the California Star later known as The Alta Californian-was published
by Samuel Brannan with Elbert P. Jones as editor.
Location: SW corner of Washington St and Brenham Place, San Francisco
NO. 86 CALIFORNIA THEATRE - On
this site on January 18, 1869, the California Theatre, built by William C.
Ralston, opened with the following stock company: John McCullough, Lawrence
Barrett, Harry Edwards, Willie Edouin, E. B. Holmes, William Mastayer, John T.
Raymond, W. F. Burroughs, W. H. Sadley Smith, John Wilson, Edward J. Buckley,
Mrs. Judah Emelie Melville, Elizabeth Saunders, Annette Ince, Marie E. Gordon,
Sophie Edwin, Minnie Walton, and Julia Buckley. Among artists who played here
were Charles W. Couldock, Edwin Adams, John Broughan, Edwin Booth, Barton Hill,
Walter Montgomery, Mrs. D. P. Bowers, Adelaide Neilson, and Lotta Crabtree. This
theater remained a brilliant center of drama until August 11, 1888.
Location: 430 Bush St between Kearny and Grant, San Francisco
NO. 861 SITE OF FIRST CALIFORNIA
STATE FAIR - California's first state fair was held on this site on October 4,
1854. Sponsored by the California State Agricultural Society, the exhibition of
'horses, cattle, mules, and other stock, and agricultural, mechanical, and
domestic manufacture and productions' promoted the new state's growing
agricultural industry. A different city held the fair each year, until
Sacramento became the permanent location in 1861.
Location: 269 Bush at Montgomery St, San Francisco
NO. 87 SITE OF FIRST U.S. BRANCH
MINT IN CALIFORNIA - The first United States branch mint in San Francisco was
authorized by Congress July 3, 1852 and opened for operation April 3, 1854. Dr.
L. A. Birdsall was the first superintendent, J. Huston, first minter, and A.
Haraszthy, first assayer.
Location: 608-610 Commercial St near Montgomery, San Francisco
NO. 876 CITY OF PARIS BUILDING -
It was 1850 when the Verdier brothers, immigrants from France, opened a store
aboard the ship La Ville de Paris to serve the Argonauts passing through San
Francisco's harbor. In 1896 the business, which stayed in the family for over a
century and a quarter, moved into a new building designed by architect Clinton
Day, damaged by the 1906 earthquake, its interior was reconstructed by
architects John Bakewell and Arthur J. Brown. The old City of Paris building was
one of the finest examples of the beaux-arts style of commercial building in
California.
Location: SE corner of Geary and Stockton Sts, San Francisco
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SAN FRANCISCO NORTH
NO. 88 NIANTIC HOTEL (BUILDING) -
The emigrant ship Niantic stood on this spot in the early days 'when the water
came up to Montgomery Street.' Converted to other uses, it was covered with a
shingle roof with offices and stores on the deck, at the level of which was
constructed a wide balcony surmounted by a veranda. The hull was divided into
warehouses entered by doorways on the sides. The fire of May 3, 1851 destroyed
all but the submerged hulk, which later was utilized as the foundation for the
Niantic Hotel, a famous hostelry that stood until 1872.
Location: In lower level of Two Transamerica Center 505 Sansome at
Clay, San Francisco
NO. 89 SITE OF PARROTT GRANITE
BLOCK - The Parrott Block was erected in 1852 by John Parrott, an importer and
banker. The three-story building, built by Chinese labor, was of granite blocks
brought from China. The 1906 earthquake and fire did little damage to the
building, which soon thereafter reopened for business. In 1926 it was demolished
to make way for the Financial Center Building.
Location: NW corner of California and Montgomery, San Francisco
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SAN FRANCISCO NORTH
NO. 90 FORT GUNNYBAGS - This is
the site of the headquarters of the Vigilance Committee of 1856. On June 21,
1856, Judge David S. Terry was arrested and confined in a cell. The committee,
fearing that his friends might attempt to rescue him, decided to fortify the
building with gunnysacks filled with sand.
Location: S side of Sacramento between Davis and Front, San Francisco
NO. 91 TELEGRAPH HILL - A signal
station was erected on Telegraph Hill in 1849 from which to observe the incoming
vessels, a tall pole with movable arms was used to signal to the people in the
town below whether sailing vessels or the sidewheel vessels of the Pacific mail
were passing through the Golden Gate. In September 1853, the first telegraph in
California, which extended eight miles to Point Lobos, was stationed here,
giving the hill its name.
Location: Lobby of Coit Tower, Telegraph Hill, San Francisco
NO. 937 SITE OF INVENTION OF THE
THREE-REEL BELL SLOT MACHINE - Charles August Fey invented the first
coin-operated, three-reel slot machine in San Francisco in 1895. Fey continued
to manufacture the popular 'Liberty Bell' gaming devices in a workshop located
at 406 Market Street from 1897 to 1906, until the workshop was destroyed by the
1906 earthquake and fire. The international popularity of the bell slot machines
attested to Fey's ingenuity as an enterprising inventor whose basic design
continues to be used in mechanical gaming devices today.
Location: Traffic island on N side of Market St between Bush and
Battery Sts, San Francisco
NO. 941 FARNSWORTH'S GREEN STREET
LAB - In a simple laboratory on this site, 202 Green Street, Philo Taylor
Farnsworth, U.S. pioneer in electronics, invented and patented the first
operational all-electronic 'television system.' On September 7,1927 the
21-year-old inventor and several dedicated assistants successfully transmitted
the first all-electronic television image, the major breakthrough that brought
the practical form of this invention to mankind. Further patents formulated here
covered the basic concepts essential to modern television. The genius of Green
Street, as he was known, died in 1971.
Location: NW corner of Sansome and Green Sts, San Francisco
NO. 974 GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE -
Construction of the bridge started in 1933. Engineer Joseph Strauss and
architect Irving Morrow created an extraordinarily beautiful bridge in an
extraordinarily beautiful setting. The designs for the Golden Gate Bridge showed
the greatest attention to artistic detail, especially on the two streamlined
moderne towers. The bridge's 4,200 feet of clear span (from tower to tower) was
the longest in the world until 1959. On April 19, 1937, the bridge was completed
and the official dedication took place on May 27.
Location: Observation area, N end of bridge
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SAN FRANCISCO NORTH
NO. 987 TREASURE ISLAND-GOLDEN
GATE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION, 1939-40 - This artificial island was constructed
of bay sand in 1936-7. It was the site of the Golden Gate International
Exposition, February 18, 1939-September 29, 1940. Tall towers, gigantic
goddesses and dazzling lighting effects turned the Island into a 'Magic City.'
The exposition celebrated the ascendancy of California and San Francisco as
economic, political and cultural forces in the increasingly important Pacific
Region. From 1939 to 1944 the Island was the landing site for flights of the
China Clipper. Treasure Island has been a U.S. Naval
Station since 1941.
Location: Naval Station, Treasure Island, San Francisco
