Presidio
—  Neighborhood of San Francisco  —
A map of the Presidio
Presidio Location within California
Presidio Location within San Francisco
Coordinates: 37°47′53″N 122°27′57″W / 37.79806°N 122.46583°W / 37.79806; -122.46583
Government
• Board of Supervisors	Mark Farrell
• State Assembly	Tom Ammiano (D)
• State Senate	Mark Leno (D)
• U.S. House	Nancy Pelosi (D)
Area[1]
• Total	7.66 km2 (2.956 sq mi)
• Land	7.66 km2 (2.956 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• Total	2,233
• Density	292/km2 (755/sq mi)
	[1]
ZIP Code	94129
Area code(s)	415

The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or Royal Presidio of San Francisco) is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It has been a fortified location since September 17th, 1776 when New Spain made it the military center of their colonization of the area. It passed to Mexico, which in turn passed it to the United States in 1848.^[5] As part of a military reduction program, Congress voted in 1989 to end the Presidio's status as an active military installation and on October 1, 1994, it was transferred to the National Park Service, ending 219 years of military use and beginning its next phase of mixed commercial and public use.^[6] In 1996, the United States Congress created the Presidio Trust to oversee and manage the interior 80% of the park's lands, with the National Park Service managing the coastal 20%.^[7] In a first-of-its-kind structure, Congress mandated that the Presidio Trust make the Presidio financially self-sufficient by 2013, which it achieved 8 years early.^[8]

The park is characterized by many wooded areas, hills, and scenic vistas overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1962.^[4]

Presidio Visitor Centers[link]

The visitor centers are operated by the National Park Service:

• Presidio Visitor Center — offers changing exhibits about the Presidio, information about activities and sights in the park and books.
• Battery Chamberlin — seacoast defense museum and artillery display at Baker Beach built in 1904
• Fort Point — 1861 brick and granite fortification located under the Golden Gate Bridge. The visitor center, open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, offers video orientations, guided tours, self-guiding materials, exhibits, and books for sale.
• Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center — This center offers hands-on marine life exhibits, and is located in a historic Coast Guard Station at the west end of Crissy Field. The building was used by the Coast Guard from 1890 to 1990.
• Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion — opened May 2012 in time for the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Pavilion is the first visitor center in the history of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is located just east of the southern end of the bridge and staffed by the National Park Service.^[9]

Crissy Field Center[link]

Crissy Field Center is an urban environmental education center with many programs for schools, public workshops, after school programs, summer camps, and more. The Center overlooks a restored tidal marsh, and the facilities include interactive environmental exhibits, a media lab, resource library, arts workshop, science lab, gathering room, teaching kitchen, café and bookstore is operated by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.^[10]

History[link]

The Presidio in 1817

Battery Chamberlin

The Presidio was originally a Spanish Fort sited by Juan Bautista de Anza on March 28, 1776, built by a party led by José Joaquín Moraga later that year. In 1783, the Presidio's garrison numbered only 33 men.

The Presidio was seized by the U.S. Military in 1846, at the start of the Mexican-American war. It officially opened in 1848, and became home to several Army headquarters and units, the last being the United States 6th Army. Several famous U.S. generals, such as William Sherman, George Henry Thomas, and John Pershing made their homes here.

During its long history, the Presidio was involved in most of America's military engagements in the Pacific. Importantly, it was the assembly point for Army forces that invaded the Philippines in the Spanish-American War, America's first major military engagement in the Asia/Pacific region.

The San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio is the only cemetery remaining within the city of San Francisco.

The Presidio was the center for defense of the Western U.S. during World War II. The infamous order to intern Japanese-Americans, including citizens, during World War II was signed at the Presidio. Until its closure in 1995, the Presidio was the longest continuously operated military base in the United States.

From the 1890s, the Presidio was home to the Letterman Army Medical Center (LAMC), which was named, in 1911, for Jonathan Letterman, the medical director of the Army of the Potomac (Civil War). LAMC featured in every US foreign conflict during the 20th century by treating thousands of war wounded with high quality medical care.

Part of the Presidio contains one of the last two remaining cemeteries in city limits, the The San Francisco National Cemetery. Among the military personnel interred is General Fedreick Funston, hero of the Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and was the commanding officer of the Presidio when the 1906 Earthquake hit San Francisco; General Irvin McDowell who commanded the Union Army in the early days of the American Civil War and was defeated by the Confederates in the first major battle of Bull Run (or Manassas). After he retired, he moved to California and died in 1885 of a heart attack.

The Marine Hospital operated a cemetery for merchant seamen approximately 100-250 yards away from the hospital property. Based on city municipal records, historians estimate that the cemetery was in use from 1885 to 1912.^[11] As part of the “Trails Forever” initiative, the Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust are partnering to build a walking trail along the south side of the site, featuring interpretive signage about its history.^[12]

The Presidio also has four creeks, that are currently being restored by park stewards and volunteers to expand the former extents of their riparian habitats. The creeks are Lobos and Dragonfly creeks, El Polin Spring, and Coyote Gulch.

Chronology[link]

• 1776 — Spanish Captain Juan Bautista de Anza led 193 soldiers, women, and children on a trek from present day Tubac, Arizona, to San Francisco Bay.

• September 17 (1776?) — The Presidio began as a Spanish garrison to defend Spain’s claim to San Francisco Bay and to support Mission Dolores; it was the northernmost outpost of New Spain in the declining Spanish Empire.

• 1794 — Castillo de San Joaquin, an artillery emplacement was built above present-day Fort Point, San Francisco, complete with iron or bronze cannon. Six cannon may be seen in the Presidio today.

• 1776–1821 — The Presidio was a simple fort made of adobe, brush and wood. It often was damaged by earthquakes or heavy rains. In 1783, its company was only 33 men. Presidio soldiers’ duties were to support Mission Dolores by controlling Indian workers in the Mission, and also farming, ranching, and hunting in order to supply themselves and their families. Support from Spanish authorities in Mexico was very limited.

• 1821 — Mexico became independent of Spain. The Presidio received even less support from Mexico. Residents of Alta California, which include the Presidio, debated separating entirely from Mexico.

• 1827, January — Minor earthquake in San Francisco, some buildings were damaged extensively.^[13]

• 1835 — The Presidio garrison, led by Mariano Vallejo, relocated to Sonoma. A small detachment remained at the Presidio, which was in decline.

• 1846 — American settlers and adventurers in Sonoma revolted against Mexican rule. Mariano Vallejo was imprisoned for a brief time. (Bear Flag Revolt) Lieutenant John C. Fremont, a U.S. Army officer, with a small detachment of soldiers and frontiersmen crossed the Golden Gate in a boat to “capture” the Presidio against no resistance. A cannon that was “spiked” by Fremont remains on the Presidio today.

The presidio around 1850

• 1846–1848 — The U.S. Army occupied the Presidio. The Presidio began a long era directing operations to control and protect Native Americans as headquarters for scattered Army units on the West Coast.

• 1853 — Work was begun on Fort Point, which became a fine example of coastal defenses of its time. Fort Point, located at the foot of the Golden Gate in the Presidio, was the keystone of an elaborate network of fortifications to defend San Francisco Bay. These fortifications now reflect 150 years of military concern for defense of the West Coast.

• 1861–1865 — The American Civil War involved the Presidio. Colonel Albert Sydney Johnston protected Union weapons from being taken by Southern sympathizers in San Francisco. Later, he resigned from the Union Army and became a general in the Confederate Army. He was killed at the Battle of Shiloh. The Presidio organized regiments of volunteers for the Civil War and to control Indians in California and Oregon during the absence of federal troops.

• 1869–1870 — Major General George Henry Thomas, who was an American Civil War hero, led the Division of the Pacific. General Thomas died in 1870 and was buried in Troy, New York.

• 1872–1873 — Modoc Indian Campaign (Lava Beds War) involved some Presidio troops and command in this major battle, the last large scale U.S. Army operation against Native Americans in the Far West.

• 1890–1914 — Presidio soldiers became the nation’s first “park rangers” by patrolling the new Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.

• 1898–1906 — The Presidio became the nation’s center for assembling, training, and shipping out forces to the Spanish-American War in the Philippine Islands and the subsequent Philippine-American War (Philippine Insurrection). Letterman Army Hospital was modernized and expanded to care for the many wounded and seriously ill soldiers from these campaigns. The Philippine campaign was an early major U.S. military intervention in the Asia/Pacific region. The Presidio repeated this role as a launching point for forces or a receiving point for war wounded in later interventions and World War II in Asia as well as the Vietnam War and the Korean War.

• 1903–President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Presidio. His honor guard was from the African American “Buffalo Soldier” 10th Cavalry Regiment, then at the Presidio. This regiment took a role in Roosevelt’s famous charge of San Juan Hill in Cuba.

A refugee camp at the Presidio after the San Francisco earthquake

• 1906 — The San Francisco Earthquake of April, 1906, led to an immediate Army response directed by General Frederick Funston, who had earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Philippines. Army units provided security and fought fires at the direction of the city government. After the fire that resulted from the earthquake, Presidio soldiers gave aid, food, and shelter to refugees. Temporary camps for refugees were set up on the Presidio.

• 1912 — Fort Winfield Scott was established in the western part of the Presidio as a coast artillery post and the headquarters of the Artillery District of San Francisco.

• 1914–1916 — The Presidio Commander, General John J. Pershing commanded the Mexican Punitive Expedition to eliminate the threat of Pancho Villa, a Mexican rebel and bandit, who conducted raids across the U.S. border. General Pershing’s family died in a tragic fire while he was away. As a result of the tragic 1915 fire in General Pershing's quarters, the Presidio Fire Department was established as the first fire station staffed 24 hours per day on a military post.

• 1915 — Part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition was located on the Presidio waterfront, which was expanded by landfill for the purpose. Soldiers supported the Exposition with parades, honor guards, and artillery demonstrations. The Exposition was to celebrate opening of the Panama Canal.

• 1917–1918 — The Presidio rapidly expanded with new cantonments and training areas for World War I. Recruiting, training, and deploying units again become the Presidio’s role. An officers training camp was located here. The waterfront area was covered by quickly assembled buildings and the railroad track into the Presidio was busy with wartime traffic. During the war, the 30th Infantry Regiment, “San Francisco’s Own,” whose motto, "OUR COUNTRY NOT OURSELVES," fought with distinction in World War I as a key fighting element of the 3rd Infantry Division who earned the title “Rock of the Marne.” The 30th Infantry Regiment frequently was based at the Presidio.

• 1918–1920 — The Presidio was the center for forming and training the American Expeditionary Force Siberia. This was a little-remembered force that moved into Siberia during the Russian Civil War. The mission of this force changed often. It encountered hostility from another part of the Expeditionary Force, Japan, while fighting bandits, and protecting Allied civilians.

• 1920–1932 — The Presidio became home to Crissy Field, the major pioneering military aviation field located on the West Coast. Trailbreaking transpacific and transcontinental flights occurred here.. At Crissy, future General “Hap” Arnold developed techniques for the new military aviation.. Arnold later commanded the Army Air Corps in World War II.

• 1941–1946 — World War II saw intense activity at the Presidio. It continued as a coordinating headquarters, deployment center, and training site, as it was for most of its existence. The Western Defense Command was responsible for the defense of the West Coast. For a time this included supervising combat in the Aleutian Islands. The Presidio again was crowded with temporary barracks and training facilities. Letterman Army Hospital was filled with casualties. At one point, entire trains filled with war wounded arrived at the Presidio from the battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima. A Japanese Language School was set up to train Japanese-Americans to be interpreters in the war against Japan. Ironically, some of these soldiers had their families interned in camps for the rest of the war, while they performed bravely in the Pacific.

• 1941–1945 — The Commanding General of the Western Defense Command, General John L. DeWitt, responded to public hysteria directed against all Japanese on the West Coast. He recommended removing all Japanese, including citizens, from the Western Seaboard. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and some Western politicians also expressed alarm, although no incidents of sabotage occurred. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, to direct removal of ethnic Japanese residents to internment camps.

• 1946 — After World War II, the Presidio command was redesignated the Sixth U.S. Army. It was responsible, again, for Army forces in the Western U.S., training, supplies, and deployment. It also was the federal agency to coordinate disaster relief by the military. During this year, President Harry Truman had offered the Presidio as the site for the future United Nations Headquarters.^[14] A United Nations Committee visited the Presidio for the purpose of examining its suitability for the site, but the UN General Assembly ultimately voted in favor of its current New York City location instead.^[15]

• 1950–1953 — The Korean War again tasked the Presidio’s headquarters and support functions. Again, Letterman Army Hospital was mobilized to care for casualties from the war.

• 1951 — The Presidio hosted ceremonies for signing the ANZUS Treaty, a security pact of Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. The Japan-US security treaty was signed at the Presidio, while the Japanese Peace Treaty was signed in downtown San Francisco. These events again showed the Presidio’s role in America’s growing involvement in Asia and the Pacific.

• 1961–1973 — The Presidio filled a supporting role in the Vietnam War. Antiwar demonstrations took place at the Presidio’s gates. A mutiny occurred at the Presidio stockade prison.

• 1968 — Richard Bunch shot, initiating the Presidio Mutiny.

• 1969–1974 — Letterman Army Hospital (LAMC) was modernized and Letterman Army Institute of Research (LAIR) was built.

• 1991 — The Presidio sent its few remaining units to war for the last time in Desert Storm, the First Gulf War. The role of Sixth Army was management of training and coordinating deployment of National Guard and Reserve units in the Western U.S. for Desert Storm.

• 1994 — Sixth Army was deactivated. The Presidio was transferred to the National Park Service.

• 1996 — Park becomes privatized through congressional action.^[16]

• 2001 — Letterman Army Hospital was demolished. Later, the Letterman Digital Arts Center was constructed on the site.

• 2005 — The Bay School of San Francisco opens in Building 35.

• 2009–2015 — Doyle Drive Replacement Project - Demolition of the Doyle Drive viaduct, to be replaced by an 8-lane boulevard, including 2 pairs of tunnels between Crissy Field and the Main Post and a pair of elevated viaducts, at a total project cost of approximately $1 billion. The original Doyle Drive was demolished from April 27–30, 2012.

Presidio of San Francisco from the air

Preservation[link]

After a hard-fought battle, the Presidio averted being sold at auction and came under the management of the Presidio Trust, a US Government Corporation established by an act of Congress in 1996.^[17][18]

The Presidio Trust now manages most of the park in partnership with the National Park Service. The Trust has jurisdiction over the interior 80 percent of the Presidio, including nearly all of its historic structures. The National Park Service manages coastal areas. Primary law enforcement throughout the Presidio is the jurisdiction of the United States Park Police.

One of main objectives of Presidio Trust’s program was achieving financial self-sufficiency by fiscal year 2013. Thanks to rents from residential and commercial tenants, this happened well ahead of schedule, in 2006. Immediately after its inception, the Trust began preparing rehabilitation plans for the park. Many areas had to be decontaminated before they could be prepared for public use.

The Presidio Trust Act calls for "preservation of the cultural and historic integrity of the Presidio for public use." The Act also requires that the Presidio Trust be financially self-sufficient by 2013. These imperatives have resulted in numerous conflicts between the need to maximize income by leasing historic buildings, and permitting public use despite most structures being rented privately. Further differences have arisen from the divergent needs of preserving the integrity of the National Historic Landmark District in the face of new construction, competing pressures for natural habitat restoration, and requirements for commercial purposes that impede public access. As of 2007, there was only a rudimentary visitors' center to orient visitors to the Presidio's history.

Crissy Field, a former airfield, has undergone extensive restoration and now serves as very popular recreational area. It borders on the San Francisco Marina in the East and on the Golden Gate Bridge in the West.

Elevation data of the historic Presidio Officers' Club, derived from a laser scan project conducted by nonprofit CyArk

The Old Coast Guard Station and Golden Gate Bridge

The park has a large network of buildings (~ 800), many of them historical. By 2004, about 50% of the buildings on park grounds have been restored and (partially) remodeled. The Trust has contracted commercial real estate management companies to help attract and retain residential and commercial tenants. The total capacity is estimated at 5,000 residents when all buildings have been rehabilitated. Among the Presidio's residents is The Bay School of San Francisco, a private coeducational college preparatory school located in the central Main Post area. Others include The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Tides Foundation, Internet Archive, the Arion Press, and a museum in the memory of Walt Disney. Many various commercial enterprises also lease buildings on the Presidio, including, recently, Starbucks Coffee. The San Francisco Art Institute maintained a small student housing program in the Presidio's MacArthur neighborhood from 2002 to 2007.

Sections of the Letterman Army Hospital were preserved by the Thoreau Center for Sustainability.^[19]

The Presidio of San Francisco is the only U.S. national recreation area with an extensive residential leasing program.

Recent developments[link]

An aerial view of the Presidio

The Trust entered a major agreement with Lucasfilm to build a new facility called the Letterman Digital Arts Center (LDAC), which is now the headquarters of Industrial Light and Magic and LucasArts. The site replaced portions of what was the Letterman Hospital. George Lucas won the development rights for 15 acres (61,000 m²) of the Presidio, in June 1999, after beating out a number of rival plans including a leading proposal by the Shorenstein Company. A $300 million development with nearly 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²) of office space and a 150,000 square foot (14,000 m²) underground parking garage with a capacity of 2,500 employees, LDAC replaced the former ILM and LucasArts headquarters in San Rafael. Lucas Learning Ltd., Lucas Online, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation also reside at the site. Lucas's proposal included plans for a high-tech Presidio museum and a seven acre (28,000 m²) "Great Lawn" that is now open to the public.

In 2007, Donald Fisher, founder of the Gap clothing stores and former Board member of the Presidio Trust, announced a plan to build a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m²) museum tentatively named the Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio, to house his art collection. Fisher's plan encountered widespread skepticism and even outright hostility amongst San Francisco preservationists, local residents, the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, and city officials who saw the Presidio site as 'hallowed ground.'^[20] Due to such criticism, Fisher withdrew his plans to build the museum in the Presidio and instead donated the art to the San Francisco Modern Art Museum before his death in 2009.^[21][22]

As the Doyle Drive viaduct was deemed seismically unsafe and obsolete, in 2008, construction was started on the demolition of Doyle Drive which is to be replaced with a flat, broad-lane highway with a tunnel under a part of Crissy Field, called the Presidio Parkway. The project costs $1Billion USD and is scheduled to be completed by 2013.^[23]

The Trust plans to create a promenade that will link the Lombard gate, the new Lucasfilm campus to the Main Post and ultimately to the Golden Gate Bridge. The promenade is part of a trails expansion plan that will add 24 miles (39 km) of new pathways and eight scenic overlooks throughout the park.

In October 2008 artist Andy Goldsworthy constructed a new sculpture "Spire" in the Presidio. It is 100 feet (30 m) tall and located near the Arguello Gate. It represented the tree replanting effort that has been underway at the Presidio.^[24]

Popular culture[link]

The Presidio has been featured several times in the media of popular culture:

• In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Presidio is the location of Starfleet Academy, while the Fort Baker cantonment (opposite the Presidio) and the Marin Headlands are the grounds of Starfleet Command.
  • In the final episode of Star Trek: Voyager, Admiral Janeway points out to her present-day self that the USS Voyager is preserved and located on the grounds of the Presidio.
  • In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Kirk and Spock have a discussion while walking on the shore adjacent to Fort Point in present-day 1986.
• The Presidio, a 1988 American action movie starring Mark Harmon, Sean Connery, and Meg Ryan is set in and around the military base.
• As seen in the 2004 Metallica movie, Some Kind of Monster, the band members start recording their new album St. Anger at the Presidio in January 2001. In July James Hetfield leaves the band to attend rehab. After this incident they moved into another studio where Hetfield returned in December.
• The Presidio appeared as Paradiso in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
• The 2005 television movie Murder at the Presidio is loosely based on actual events.
• The Presidio was featured in the Sci-fi Channel reality show, Ghost Hunters, on October 3, 2007 in the episode entitled "Spirits of San Francisco."
• The Presidio was featured as a racing track in the 1999-2000 video game San Francisco Rush 2049

See also[link]

San Francisco Bay Area portal

• 49-Mile Scenic Drive
• Military Districts in Spanish California
• The Bay School of San Francisco
• Sinforosa Amador (1788–1841) - Born, baptized and married at the Presidio.
• Rancho San Ramon (Amador)
• Presidio mutiny

References[link]

• Alley, Paul, et al. Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark District. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. National Park Service, San Francisco (1993) [4]

• "Cultural Landsapes Defined," Cultural Landscape Foundation [5]

• Langelier, Joh P., El Presidio de San Francisco: A History under Spain and Mexico. August, 1992 [6] The best study of the Hispanic period.

• Presidio History [7] at presidio.gov. Several categories. Chapters by period.

• Thompson, Erwin N. Defender of the Gate: The Presidio of San Francisco, A History from 1846 to 1995. HIstoric Research Study, vols I and II. Golden Gate National Recreation Area, National Park Service. July 1997. [8] Authoritative with emphasis on locations.

• Presidio Trust Management Plan. [9]

• Thoreau Center for Sustainability. Preserver of the Letterman

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Presidio of San Francisco

• The National Park Service's official site of the Presidio
• The Presidio Trust
• The National Park Service's official site of the Golden Gate Recreation Area
• Crissy Field Center
• An account by the builder of the Presidio
• Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
• official U.S. National Park Service Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail website
• The California State Military Museum, on the Letterman Army Hospital
• El Presidio Digital Media Archive (creative commons-licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas), mainly The Officer's Club and Fort Scott, using data from a UC Berkeley/CyArk research partnership
• Letterman Digital Arts Center website
• Presido Mutiny
• Fort Point and Presidio Historical Association.
• Library of Congress: Americas Memory

San Francisco
—  City and county  —
City and County of San Francisco
San Francisco from the Marin Headlands, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the foreground
Flag Official seal of San Francisco Seal
Nickname(s): The City by the Bay Fog City Frisco (deprecated)[1][2][3] The City that Knows How (antiquated)[4] Baghdad by the Bay (antiquated)[5] The Paris of the West[6]
Motto: Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra (Spanish for "Gold in Peace, Iron in War")
Location of San Francisco
San Francisco Location in the United States
Coordinates: 37°46′45.48″N 122°25′9.12″W / 37.7793°N 122.4192°W / 37.7793; -122.4192Coordinates: 37°46′45.48″N 122°25′9.12″W / 37.7793°N 122.4192°W / 37.7793; -122.4192
Country	United States
State	California
Founded	June 29, 1776
Incorporated	April 15, 1850[7]
Founder	Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga and Francisco Palóu
Named for	Francis of Assisi
Government
• Type	Mayor-council government
• Mayor of San Francisco	Edwin M. Lee
• San Francisco Board of Supervisors	Supervisors Eric Mar Mark Farrell David Chiu Carmen Chu Christina Olague Jane Kim Sean Elsbernd Scott Wiener David Campos Malia Cohen John Avalos
• California State Assembly	Fiona Ma (D) Tom Ammiano (D)
• California State Senate	Mark Leno (D) Leland Yee (D)
• United States House of Representatives	Nancy Pelosi (D) Jackie Speier (D)
Area[8]
• City and county	231.89 sq mi (600.6 km2)
• Land	46.87 sq mi (121.4 km2)
• Water	185.02 sq mi (479.2 km2)  79.79%
• Metro	3,524.4 sq mi (9,128 km2)
Elevation	52 ft (16 m)
Highest elevation	925 ft (282 m)
Lowest elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population (2010)[8][9]	CSA: 7,563,460
• City and county	805,235
• Density	17,179.2/sq mi (6,632.9/km2)
• Urban	3,273,190
• Metro	4,335,391
Demonym	San Franciscan
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
ZIP Code	94101–94112, 94114–94147, 94150–94170, 94172, 94175, 94177
Area code(s)	415
Website	www.sfgov.org

San Francisco (/ˌsæn frənˈsɪskoʊ/), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.6 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland.^[10] The only consolidated city-county in California,^[11] it encompasses a land area of about 46.9 square miles (121 km²)^[12] on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, giving it a density of about 17,179 people per square mile (6,632 people per km²). It is the most densely settled large city (population greater than 200,000) in the state of California and the second-most densely populated large city in the United States after New York City.^[13] San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 13th most populous city in the United States, with a population of 805,235 as of the 2010 Census. The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area has a population of 4,335,391.^[14]

In 1776, colonists from Spain established a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis of Assisi a few miles away.^[15] The California Gold Rush of 1849 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth, increasing the population in one year from 1,000 to 25,000,^[16] and thus transforming it into the largest city on the West Coast at the time. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire,^[17] San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. During World War II, San Francisco was the port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater.^[18] After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, massive immigration, liberalizing attitudes, 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.

Today, San Francisco is one of the top tourist destinations in the world,^[19] ranking 35th out of the 100 most visited cities worldwide,^[20] and is renowned for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and its Chinatown. The city is also a principal banking and finance center, and the home to more than 30 international financial institutions,^[21] helping to make San Francisco rank 18th in the world's top producing cities, 8th in the United States, and 12th place in the top twenty global financial centers.^[22]

History[link]

Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)

The earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC.^[23] The Yelamu group of the Ohlone people resided in several small villages when a Spanish exploration party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay.^[24] Seven years later, on March 28, 1776, the Spanish established the Presidio of San Francisco, followed by a mission, Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores).

Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the mission system gradually ended and its lands began to be privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead,^[25] near a boat anchorage around what is today Portsmouth Square. Together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7, 1846, during the Mexican-American War, and Captain John B. Montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year,^[26] and Mexico officially ceded the territory to the United States at the end of the war. Despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography.^[27]

Portsmouth Square in 1851

The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers. With their sourdough bread in tow,^[28] prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia,^[29] raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849.^[16] The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor.^[30] California was quickly granted statehood, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and a fort on Alcatraz Island to secure the San Francisco Bay. Silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in 1859, further drove rapid population growth.^[31] With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, and gambling.^[32]

Entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush. Early winners were the banking industry which saw the founding of Wells Fargo in 1852 and the Bank of California in 1864. Development of the Port of San Francisco and the establishment in 1869 of overland access to the Eastern U.S. rail system via the newly completed Pacific Railroad (the construction of which the city had only reluctantly helped support^[33]) helped make the Bay Area a center for trade. Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, Levi Strauss opened a dry goods business and Domingo Ghirardelli began manufacturing chocolate. Immigrant laborers made the city a polyglot culture, with Chinese railroad workers creating the city's Chinatown quarter. In 1870, Asians made up 8% of the population.^[34] The first cable cars carried San Franciscans up Clay Street in 1873. The city's sea of Victorian houses began to take shape, and civic leaders campaigned for a spacious public park, resulting in plans for Golden Gate Park. San Franciscans built schools, churches, theaters, and all the hallmarks of civic life. The Presidio developed into the most important American military installation on the Pacific coast.^[35] By 1890, San Francisco's population approached 300,000, making it the eighth largest city in the U.S. at the time. At the turn of the century, San Francisco was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill, and a thriving arts scene.^[36]

"Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone." –Jack London after the 1906 earthquake and fire^[37]

At 5:12 am on April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and northern California. As buildings collapsed from the shaking, ruptured gas lines ignited fires that would spread across the city and burned out of control for several days. With water mains out of service, the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks.^[38] More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core.^[17] Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people lost their lives, though modern estimates put the number in the several thousands.^[39] More than half the city's population of 400,000 were left homeless.^[40] Refugees settled temporarily in makeshift tent villages in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, on the beaches, and elsewhere. Many fled permanently to the East Bay.

The Palace of Fine Arts at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition

Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed.^[41] Amadeo Giannini's Bank of Italy, later to become Bank of America, provided loans for many of those whose livelihoods had been devastated. The destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose again in splendorous Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.^[42]

In ensuing years, the city solidified its standing as a financial capital; in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash, not a single San Francisco-based bank failed.^[43] Indeed, it was at the height of the Great Depression that San Francisco undertook two great civil engineering projects, simultaneously constructing the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, completing them in 1936 and 1937 respectively. It was in this period that the island of Alcatraz, a former military stockade, began its service as a federal maximum security prison, housing notorious inmates such as Al Capone, and Robert Franklin Stroud, The Birdman of Alcatraz. San Francisco later celebrated its regained grandeur with a World's Fair, the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939–40, creating Treasure Island in the middle of the bay to house it.

During World War II, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity, and Fort Mason became the primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations.^[18] The explosion of jobs drew many people, especially African Americans from the South, to the area. After the end of the war, many military personnel returning from service abroad and civilians who had originally come to work decided to stay. The UN Charter creating the UN was drafted and signed in San Francisco in 1945 and, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco officially ended the war with Japan.

The USS San Francisco steams under the Golden Gate Bridge in 1942, during World War II.

Urban planning projects in the 1950s and 1960s involved widespread destruction and redevelopment of west-side neighborhoods and the construction of new freeways, of which only a series of short segments were built before being halted by citizen-led opposition.^[44] Port activity moved to Oakland, the city began to lose industrial jobs, and San Francisco began to turn to tourism as the most important segment of its economy. The suburbs experienced rapid growth, and San Francisco underwent significant demographic change, as large segments of the white population left the city, supplanted by an increasing wave of immigration from Asia and Latin America.^[45][46] From 1950 to 1980, the city lost over 10 percent of its population.

Over this period, San Francisco became a magnet for America's counterculture. Beat Generation writers fueled the San Francisco Renaissance and centered on the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s.^[47] Hippies flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, reaching a peak with the 1967 Summer of Love.^[48] In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement, with the emergence of The Castro as an urban gay village, the election of Harvey Milk to the Board of Supervisors, and his assassination, along with that of Mayor George Moscone, in 1978.^[49]

Bank of America completed 555 California Street in 1969 and the Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972,^[50] igniting a wave of Manhattanization that lasted until the late 1980s, a period which saw extensive high-rise development downtown.^[51] The 1980s also saw a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the city, an issue that remains today, despite many attempts to address it.^[52] The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in the Marina and South of Market districts and precipitated the demolition of the damaged Embarcadero Freeway and much of the damaged Central Freeway, allowing the city to reclaim its historic downtown waterfront and revitalizing the Hayes Valley neighborhood.

During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated the economy. Large numbers of entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved into the city, followed by marketing, design, and sales professionals, changing the social landscape as once-poorer neighborhoods became increasingly gentrified.^[53] By 2000, the city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001, many of these companies folded and their employees left. However, many new startups soon took their place during the Web 2.0 boom, and high technology and entrepreneurship continue to be mainstays of the San Francisco economy.^[54]

Geography[link]

The San Francisco Peninsula

San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States at the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several islands—Alcatraz, Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island, and a small portion of Alameda Island, Red Rock Island, and Angel Island are part of the city. Also included are the uninhabited Farallon Islands, 27 miles (43 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. The mainland within the city limits roughly forms a "seven-by-seven-mile square," a common local colloquialism referring to the city's shape, though its total area, including water, is nearly 232 square miles (600 km²).

Cars navigate Lombard Street to descend Russian Hill.

San Francisco is famous for its hills. There are more than 50 hills within city limits.^[55] Some neighborhoods are named after the hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, and Russian Hill. Near the geographic center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less densely populated hills. Twin Peaks, a pair of hills resting at one of the city's highest points, forms a popular overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson, is 925 feet (282 m) high and is capped with a 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934.^[56] Dominating this area is Sutro Tower, a large red and white radio and television transmission tower.

The nearby San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake activity, although neither physically passes through the city itself. The San Andreas Fault caused the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989. Minor earthquakes occur on a regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development. The city has repeatedly upgraded its building codes, requiring retrofits for older buildings and higher engineering standards for new construction.^[57] However, there are still thousands of smaller buildings that remain vulnerable to quake damage.^[58]

San Francisco's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina and Hunters Point, as well as large sections of the Embarcadero, sit on areas of landfill. Treasure Island was constructed from material dredged from the bay as well as material resulting from tunneling through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such land tends to be unstable during earthquakes; the resultant liquefaction causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.^[59]

Climate[link]

A popular quote incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain is "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."^[60][61] San Francisco's climate is characteristic of the cool-summer Mediterranean climate^[62] of California’s coast, "generally characterized by moist mild winters and dry summers."^[63] Since it is surrounded on three sides by water, San Francisco's weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean, which moderates temperature swings and produces a remarkably mild year-round climate with little seasonal temperature variation.

Fog is a regular feature of San Francisco summers.

Among major U.S. cities, San Francisco has the coldest daily mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures for June, July and August.^[64] During the summer, rising hot air in California's interior valleys creates a low pressure area that draws winds from the North Pacific High through the Golden Gate, which creates the city's characteristic cool winds and fog.^[65] The fog is less pronounced in eastern neighborhoods and during the late summer and early fall, which is the warmest time of the year.

Because of its sharp topography and maritime influences, San Francisco exhibits a multitude of distinct microclimates. The high hills in the geographic center of the city are responsible for a 20% variance in annual rainfall between different parts of the city. They also protect neighborhoods directly to their east from the foggy and sometimes very cold and windy conditions experienced in the Sunset District; for those who live on the eastern side of the city, San Francisco is sunnier, with an average of 260 clear days, and only 105 cloudy days per year.

Temperatures exceed 75 °F (24 °C) on average only 28 days a year.^[66] The dry period of May to October is mild to warm, with average high temperatures of 64–71 °F (18–22 °C) and lows of 51–56 °F (11–13 °C). The rainy period of November to April is slightly cooler, with high temperatures of 58–64 °F (14–18 °C) and lows of 46–51 °F (8–11 °C). On average, there are 67 rainy days a year, and annual precipitation averages 20.4 inches (518.16 mm).^[66] Snow is extraordinarily rare, with only 10 instances recorded since 1852, most recently in 1976.^[67]

The highest recorded temperature at the official National Weather Service office was 103 °F (39 °C) on July 17, 1988, and June 14, 2000. The lowest recorded temperature was 27 °F (−3 °C) on December 11, 1932.^[68] The U.S. National Weather Service provides a helpful visual aid^[69] graphing the information in the table below to display visually by month the annual typical temperatures, the past year's temperatures, and record temperatures.

Cityscape[link]

San Francisco just before sunset from Twin Peaks.

San Francisco Cityscape from Treasure Island.

Neighborhoods[link]

San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest and one of the largest in North America.

The historic center of San Francisco is the northeast quadrant of the city bordered by Market Street to the south. It is here that the Financial District is centered, with Union Square, the principal shopping and hotel district, nearby. Cable cars carry riders up steep inclines to the summit of Nob Hill, once the home of the city's business tycoons, and down to the waterfront tourist attractions of Fisherman's Wharf, and Pier 39 that feature Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing industry in many of the restaurants there. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill, a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street, North Beach, the city's Little Italy and the former epicenter of the Beat Generation, and Telegraph Hill, which features Coit Tower. Between Russian Hill and North Beach is San Francisco's Chinatown, the oldest Chinatown in North America.^{[72][73][74][75]}

In the south-east quadrant of the city is the Mission District which was populated in the 19th century by Californios and working-class immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy and Scandinavia. In the 1910s, a wave of Central American immigrants settled in the Mission and, in the 1950s, immigrants from Mexico began to predominate.^[76] In recent years, gentrification has changed the demographics of parts of the Mission from Latino, to twenty-something professionals living the hipster lifestyle. Noe Valley to the southwest and Bernal Heights to the south are both increasingly popular among young families with children. West of the Mission, the area historically known as Eureka Valley, now popularly called the Castro, was once a working-class Scandinavian and Irish area. It has become North America's first and best known gay village, and is now the center of gay life in the city.^[77]

The city's Japantown district, once the largest Japantown in North America, suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The nearby Western Addition became established with a large African American population at the same time. Haight-Ashbury, famously associated with 1960s hippie culture, later became home to expensive boutiques^[78] and a few controversial chain stores,^[79] although it still retains some bohemian character. Nearby, are the "Painted Ladies", a row of well-restored Victorian homes, stand alongside Alamo Square. To the north of the Haight Ashbury, is Pacific Heights, a wealthy neighborhood that features the mansions built by the San Francisco business elite in the wake of the 1906 earthquake. Directly north of Pacific Heights facing the waterfront, is the Marina, a neighborhood popular with young professionals that was largely built on reclaimed land from the Bay.^[80] The far western quadrant of the city is the Richmond, is a vast, mostly middle class neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park that extends to the Pacific Ocean, is home to immigrants from other parts of Asia as well as many Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. South of Golden Gate Park lies the Sunset, also a large middle class area with a predominantly Asian population.^[81] Together, these areas are known as The Avenues. These two districts are each sometimes further divided into two regions: the Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset can refer to the more Western portions of their respective district and the Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset can refer to the more Eastern portions. The predominately African American, Bayview-Hunters Point in the southeast section of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods and suffers from a high rate of crime, though the area has been the focus of controversial plans for urban renewal.

The South of Market, which was once San Francisco's industrial core, has seen significant redevelopment. Due to gentrification stemming from the dot-com boom during the late 1990s, and again during the Web 2.0 boom of the late 2000s, South of Market began to see skyscrapers, Live-Work lofts, and condominiums dot the area (see Manhattanization). Following the success of nearby South Beach, another neighborhood, Mission Bay, underwent redevelopment, anchored by a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco. Just southwest of Mission Bay is the Potrero Hill neighborhood, a mostly residential neighborhood that features sweeping views of downtown San Francisco.

Beaches and parks[link]

The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park

Several of San Francisco's parks and nearly all of its beaches form part of the regional Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States with over 13 million visitors a year. Among the GGNRA's attractions within the city are Ocean Beach, which runs along the Pacific Ocean shoreline and is frequented by a vibrant surfing community, and Baker Beach, which is located in a cove west of the Golden Gate and part of the Presidio, a former military base. Also within the Presidio is Crissy Field, a former airfield that was restored to its natural salt marsh ecosystem. The GGNRA also administers Fort Funston, Lands End, Fort Mason, and Alcatraz. The National Park Service separately administers the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park – a fleet of historic ships and waterfront property around Aquatic Park.

There are more than 200 parks maintained by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.^[82] The largest and best-known city park is Golden Gate Park,^[83] which stretches from the center of the city west to the Pacific Ocean. Once covered in native grasses and sand dunes, the park was conceived in the 1860s and was created by the extensive planting of thousands of non-native trees and plants. The large park is rich with cultural and natural attractions such as the Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden and San Francisco Botanical Garden. Lake Merced is a fresh-water lake surrounded by parkland and near the San Francisco Zoo, a city-owned park that houses more than 250 animal species, many of which are designated as endangered.^[84] The only park managed by the California State Park system located principally in San Francisco, Candlestick Point was the state's first urban recreation area.^[85]

Culture and contemporary life[link]

Boutiques along Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights

Although the Financial District, Union Square, and Fisherman's Wharf are well-known around the world, San Francisco is also characterized by its numerous culturally rich streetscapes featuring mixed-use neighborhoods anchored around central commercial corridors to which residents and visitors alike can walk. Because of these characteristics, San Francisco was rated "most walkable" city by the website Walkscore.com.^[86][87] Many neighborhoods feature a mix of businesses, restaurants and venues that cater to both the daily needs of local residents while also serving many visitors and tourists. Some neighborhoods are dotted with boutiques, cafes and nightlife such as Union Street in Cow Hollow, 24th Street in Noe Valley, Valencia Street in the Mission, and Irving Street in the Inner Sunset. This approach especially has influenced the continuing South of Market neighborhood redevelopment with businesses and neighborhood services rising alongside high-rise residences.^[88]

High-rises surround Yerba Buena Gardens, South of Market

Since the 1990s, the demand for skilled information technology workers from local startups and nearby Silicon Valley has attracted white-collar workers from all over the world and created a high standard of living in San Francisco.^[89] Many neighborhoods that were once blue-collar, middle, and lower class have been gentrifying, as many of the city's traditional business and industrial districts have experienced a renaissance driven by the redevelopment of the Embarcadero, including the neighborhoods South Beach and Mission Bay. The city's property values and household income have risen to among the highest in the nation,^[90][91][92] creating a large and upscale restaurant, retail, and entertainment scene. According to a 2008 quality of life survey of global cities, San Francisco has the second highest quality of living of any U.S. city.^[93] However, due to the exceptionally high cost of living, many of the city's middle and lower class families have been leaving the city for the outer suburbs of the Bay Area, or for California's Central Valley.^[94]

The international character that San Francisco has enjoyed since its founding is continued today by large numbers of immigrants from Asia and Latin America. With 39% of its residents born overseas,^[95] San Francisco has numerous neighborhoods filled with businesses and civic institutions catering to new arrivals. In particular, the arrival of many ethnic Chinese, which accelerated beginning in the 1970s, has complemented the long-established community historically based in Chinatown throughout the city and has transformed the annual Chinese New Year Parade into the largest event of its kind outside China.^[96]

The rainbow flag, symbol of LGBT pride, originated in San Francisco; banners like this one decorate streets in The Castro.

With the arrival of the "beat" writers and artists of the 1950s and societal changes culminating in the Summer of Love in the Haight-Ashbury district during the 1960s, San Francisco became an epicenter of liberal activism, with Democrats and Greens dominating city politics. San Francisco has not voted more than 20% for a Republican presidential or senatorial candidate since 1988.^[97] In 2007, the city expanded its Medicaid and other indigent medical programs into the "Healthy San Francisco" program,^[98] which subsidizes certain medical services for eligible residents.^{[99][100][101]}

San Francisco has long had an LGBT-friendly history. It was home to the first lesbian-rights organization in the United States, Daughters of Bilitis; the first openly gay person to run for public office in the U.S., José Sarria; the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the U.S., Harvey Milk; the first openly lesbian judge appointed in the U.S., Mary C. Morgan; and the first transgender police commissioner, Theresa Sparks. The city's large gay population has created and sustained a politically and culturally active community over many decades, developing a powerful presence in San Francisco's civic life. One of the most popular destinations for gay tourists internationally, the city hosts San Francisco Pride, one of the largest and oldest pride parades.

Public nudity is legal so long as the individual is not sexually aroused and places a towel on their seat.^[102]

Entertainment and performing arts[link]

The lobby of the War Memorial Opera House, one of the last buildings erected in Beaux Arts style in the United States

San Francisco's War Memorial and Performing Arts Center hosts some of the most enduring performing-arts companies in the U.S. The War Memorial Opera House houses the San Francisco Opera, the second-largest opera company in North America^[103] as well as the San Francisco Ballet, while the San Francisco Symphony plays in Davies Symphony Hall. The Herbst Theatre stages an eclectic mix of music performances, as well as public radio's City Arts & Lectures.

The Fillmore is a music venue located in the Western Addition. It is the second incarnation of the historic venue that gained fame in the 1960s under concert promoter Bill Graham, housing the stage where now-famous musicians such as the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and Jefferson Airplane first performed, fostering the San Francisco Sound. Beach Blanket Babylon is a zany musical revue and a civic institution that has performed to sold-out crowds in North Beach since 1974.

The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has been a force in Bay Area performing arts since its arrival in San Francisco in 1967, regularly staging productions. San Francisco frequently hosts national touring productions of Broadway theatre shows in a number of vintage 1920s-era venues in the Theater District including the Curran, Orpheum, and Golden Gate Theatres.

The red brick and central circular structure of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as seen from Yerba Buena Gardens. The Art Deco-style PacBell Building (1925) rises behind the museum.

Museums[link]

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) houses 20th century and contemporary works of art. It moved to its current building in the South of Market neighborhood in 1995 and now attracts more than 600,000 visitors annually.^[104] The Palace of the Legion of Honor holds primarily European antiquities and works of art at its Lincoln Park building modeled after its Parisian namesake. It is administered by Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which also operates the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. The de Young's collection features American decorative pieces and anthropological holdings from Africa, Oceania and the Americas. Prior to construction of its current copper-clad structure, completed in 2005, the de Young also housed the Asian Art Museum, which, with artifacts from over 6,000 years of history across Asia, moved into the former public library next to Civic Center in 2003.

Opposite the Music Concourse from the de Young stands the California Academy of Sciences, a natural history museum that also hosts the Morrison Planetarium and Steinhart Aquarium. Its current structure, featuring a living roof, is an example of sustainable architecture and opened in 2008. The Palace of Fine Arts, built originally for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, has since 1969 housed the Exploratorium, an interactive science museum.

Media[link]

The major daily newspaper in San Francisco is the San Francisco Chronicle, which is currently Northern California's most widely circulated newspaper.^[105] The Chronicle is most famous for a former columnist, the late Herb Caen, whose daily musings attracted critical acclaim and represented the "voice of San Francisco". The San Francisco Examiner, once the cornerstone of William Randolph Hearst's media empire and the home of Ambrose Bierce, declined in circulation over the years and now takes the form of a free daily tabloid.^[106][107] Sing Tao Daily claims to be the largest of several Chinese language dailies that serve the Bay Area.^[108] Alternative weekly newspapers include the San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly. San Francisco Magazine and 7x7 are major glossy magazines about San Francisco. The national newsmagazine Mother Jones is also based in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Bay Area is the sixth-largest TV market^[109] and the fourth-largest radio market^[110] in the U.S. The city's oldest radio station, KCBS (AM), began as an experimental station in San Jose in 1909. KALW was the city's first FM radio station when it signed on the air in 1941. All major U.S. television networks have affiliates serving the region, with most of them based in the city. There also are several unaffiliated stations, and BBC, CNN and ESPN have regional news bureaus in San Francisco. The city's first television station was KPIX, which began broadcasting in 1948.

Public broadcasting outlets include both a television station and a radio station, both broadcasting under the call letters KQED from a facility near the Potrero Hill neighborhood. KQED-FM is the most-listened-to National Public Radio affiliate in the country.^[111] San Francisco–based CNET and Salon.com pioneered the use of the Internet as a media outlet.

Sports and recreation[link]

The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) are the longest-tenured major professional sports franchise in the city. The team began play in 1946 as an All-America Football Conference (AAFC) league charter member, moved to the NFL in 1950 and into Candlestick Park in 1971. In 2006, the team's owners announced plans to move the team to nearby Santa Clara, California by 2015, although the team will still be named the "San Francisco 49ers".^[112][113] The 49ers have won five Super Bowl titles in the 1980s and 1990s behind coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert, and stars such as Joe Montana, Steve Young, Ronnie Lott, and Jerry Rice.

AT&T Park.

Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants left New York for California prior to the 1958 season. Though boasting such stars as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Barry Bonds, the club went 52 years until its first World Series title in 2010. The Giants play at AT&T Park, which opened in 2000, a cornerstone project of the South Beach and Mission Bay redevelopment.^[114]

At the collegiate level, the Dons of the University of San Francisco compete in NCAA Division I, where Bill Russell guided the program to basketball championships in 1955 and 1956. The San Francisco State Gators and the Academy of Art University Urban Knights compete in Division II. AT&T Park has since 2002 hosted an annual post-season college football bowl game, currently named the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. In 2011, San Francisco hosted the California Golden Bears football team at Candlestick Park and AT&T Park while their home stadium was being renovated in Berkeley.

The Bay to Breakers footrace, held annually since 1912, is best known for colorful costumes and a celebratory community spirit.^[115] The San Francisco Marathon attracts more than 21,000 participants.^[116] The Escape from Alcatraz triathlon has, since 1980, attracted 2,000 top professional and amateur triathletes for its annual race.^[117] The Olympic Club, founded in 1860, is the oldest athletic club in the United States. Its private golf course, situated on the border with Daly City, has hosted the U.S. Open on four occasions, and will host it a fifth time in 2012. The public Harding Park Golf Course is an occasional stop on the PGA Tour. San Francisco will host the 2013 America's Cup yacht racing competition.^[118]