San Francisco

History

Prior to European settlement in the area, the peninsula that now contains San Francisco was home to the Yelamu tribe, who were part of the larger Ohlone language group which stretched south from the Bay Area to the Big Sur of California. Due to San Francisco's characteristic foggy weather, the earliest European explorers completely bypassed the Golden Gate and the San Francisco Bay.

The first European settlement in the area was founded by the Spanish in 1776 as a mission community surrounding the Mission San Francisco de Asís, in what is today called the Mission Dolores in the Mission District. In addition to the mission, a military fort was built near the Golden Gate: El Presidio.

Upon gaining independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the mission system gradually came to an end and private ownership of land became a possibility. In 1835, an Englishman named William Richardson founded the town of Yerba Buena, the first significant settlement on the peninsula outside of the Mission Dolores area. As the new settlement gradually grew, Yerba Buena developed a street plan and became attractive to settlers.

In 1846, the United States claimed California, and in July of that year, the U.S. Navy arrived to raise the American flag above Yerba Buena. Over the next couple of years, California officially became part of the United States following the Mexican-American War, and the name of the town was changed from Yerba Buena to San Francisco.

With the California Gold Rush of 1848, San Francisco began to explode in population. Waves of immigrants came to the city to seek their fortunes, including large numbers of Chinese immigrants, forming one of the largest Chinese populations outside of Asia. During this time, many major businesses were created and flourished in San Francisco, and famous and infamous personalities settled in the city. Of course, with all this success came problems: the rapid growth of the city outstripped any efforts at city planning, meaning proper sanitation and infrastructure were largely undeveloped, which led to a cholera outbreak in 1855. Violence and corruption were evident, and anti-immigrant violence resulted in many race riots.

In the 1890's, there was a large campaign to modernize and beautify the city, the success of which led some officials to proudly call San Francisco the "Paris of the West." But in 1906, a devastating earthquake shook the city and a resulting fire leveled much of the city in fact, almost 90% of the total damage was from the fire, and not the quake itself. Nevertheless, officials at the time immediately set out on a plan to rebuild the city, with new parks, boulevards, the current civic center complex, and landmarks such as the Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill. In 1915, San Francisco hosted the Panama-Pacific Exposition where the Palace of Fine Arts complex is currently located to showcase the completely rebuilt city.

In the wake of the Great Depression of the 1930's, San Francisco remained largely unscathed. In fact, it was during this time that the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge were conceived and built. It was also during this time that the Federal Government established a prison on Alcatraz Island, which would hold some of the most notorious criminals of the era.

After World War II, San Francisco continued to grow in population. Urban planning projects at the time led to more highrises downtown including the Transamerica Pyramid and the destruction of many neighborhoods to build freeways many of which were later torn down after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. In the same period, San Francisco became a center of counterculture and the hippie movement, contributing to San Francisco's liberal outlook. San Francisco also became a center for homosexuals during this time, leading to the development of gay neighborhoods like the Castro.

More recently, San Francisco has experienced a boom in business. Despite falling victim to the dot-com bubble burst in the 1990s, the city's economy largely recovered and gentrification of neighborhoods like SoMa continues.

Today San Francisco is known for its liberal outlook and remains one of America's top tourist destinations. Tourism is the city's largest industry.

Literature

San Francisco literature finds its roots in the city's long and often tumultuous history, its diversity, and its attraction to eclectic characters; the city was a major center for the Beat poetry movement and seems to also hold an uncanny attraction for science fiction writers. Among the most famous works set in San Francisco:

Jack Kerouac spent a lot of time in San Francisco, and portions of two of his most influential works are set here: On the Road and The Dharma Bums. Both are accounts of Kerouac examining his place in the universe; the first a tale of a man traveling the country, the second a story of someone looking for the simple life.

The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett. A gripping detective novel set in San Francisco that would come to define the private detective genre. The novel follows private eye Sam Spade as he tries to retrieve a valuable bird figurine, and has been adapted into film twice, including one where Spade was played by none other than Humphrey Bogart.

Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin. A famous series which offers an excellent look into 1970's San Francisco, particularly the city's counter culture and alternative lifestyles.

Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson lived in San Francisco in the mid-60s and the city appears in many of his books and articles.

Philip K. Dick spent much of his life in the San Francisco area, and among his novels set here are Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, set in a post-apocalyptic near future where androids serve humankind and bounty hunters are called in to "retire" androids that become too independent, and The Man in the High Castle, an alternate universe novel where Japan and Germany won World War II.

The Bridge trilogy Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson. Set in a futuristic San Francisco following a massive earthquake, in which the city has been rebuilt using nanotechnology and a race is on to control the new cyberspace technology.

Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan. Also set in a futuristic San Francisco, where human personalities can be stored digitally and downloaded into new bodies.

The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon. A renowned novel which follows a woman who sinks into paranoia as she attempts to unravel a worldwide conspiracy.

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan. A story of four Chinese American immigrant families who start a club and spend their time playing the Chinese game of Mahjong and tell of their struggles in traveling to America.

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe. A nonfictional account which perfectly captures the Hippie movement, following a band of psychedelic drug users across the country in their painted school bus.

Barbary Coast, Herbert Asbury. For a nonfictional work on the tumultuous early history of San Francisco, this is an excellent choice.

Visitor Center run by the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau.

One of several California Welcome Centers across the state.