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164-437: The Bayshore Cutoff (originally the Southern Pacific Bay Shore Cut-Off ) is the rail line between San Francisco and San Bruno along the eastern shore ( San Francisco Bay side) of the San Francisco Peninsula . It was completed by Southern Pacific (SP) in 1907 at a cost of $ 7 million (equivalent to $ 229 million adjusted for inflation ), and included five tunnels, four of which are still used by Caltrain ,

328-504: A gantry crane would pick up the boiler and put it on a railcar to move it 300 feet (91 m) south to the Tank and Boiler Shop for refurbishment. At the height of operations between 1911 and 1958, more than 3,000 were employed at the railyard and shops. The railyard was handling 42,000 cars per month in 1921, and had 1,196 employees earning a monthly average of US$ 164.31 (equivalent to $ 2,900 in 2023). As SP's most heavily traveled segment,

492-442: A 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934. Dominating this area is Sutro Tower , a large red and white radio and television transmission tower reaching 1,811 ft (552 m) above sea level. 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

656-416: A GDP of $ 729 billion in 2022 . The wider San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area is the nation's fifth-most populous, with around nine million residents, and the third-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $ 1.32 trillion in 2022 . In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $ 252.2 billion, and a GDP per capita of $ 312,000. San Francisco was ranked fifth in the world and second in

820-572: A busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in the city proper. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county . After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II , it

984-611: A common place to live for people employed in Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Google . The early 2020s featured an exodus of tech companies from Downtown San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and struggles with homelessness and public drug use. Although some observers have raised the possibility that office vacancies and declining tax revenues could cause San Francisco to enter an economic doom loop , other sources have refuted this broad-based characterization of

1148-482: A converted freight car boat, the Thoroughfare. The swing span weighs approximately 1,215 to 1,500 short tons (1,102 to 1,361 t). When the swing span is open to accommodate water traffic, it affords a 125-foot (38 m) wide navigation channel to either side. The eastern trestle approach is 1,002 feet (305 m) long, and the western trestle approach was 5,366 feet (1,636 m) long. The steel structure

1312-640: A flood of treasure seekers (known as "forty-niners," as in "1849"). With their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia , raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of wealth 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. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships , saloons , and hotels; many were left to rot, and some were sunk to establish title to

1476-466: A football game. The new line officially opened on December 8, 1907. Average progress on the tunnels was 8 feet per day (2.4 m/d). The aggregate length of the five tunnels is 9,947 feet (3,032 m) as completed (10,180 feet (3,100 m) as designed), which is one-fifth of the entire 9.81-mile (15.79 km) length of the Bayshore Cutoff. Each tunnel shares the same cross-section design, being

1640-452: A fort on Alcatraz Island to secure San Francisco Bay. San Francisco County was one of the state's 18 original counties established at California statehood in 1850. Until 1856, San Francisco's city limits extended west to Divisadero Street and Castro Street, and south to 20th Street. In 1856, the California state government divided the county. A straight line was then drawn across the tip of

1804-477: A gourmet marketplace. San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb , Trewartha : Csll), characteristic of California's coast, with moist winters and dry summers. San Francisco's weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the city, and the water of San Francisco Bay to the north and east. This moderates temperature swings and produces

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1968-554: A large African American population after World War II . The Western Addition is usually divided into smaller neighborhoods including Hayes Valley , the Fillmore , and Japantown , which was once the largest Japantown in North America but suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The Western Addition survived the 1906 earthquake with its Victorians largely intact, including

2132-526: A length of 200 feet (61 m). After the Lucin Cutoff was completed, workers on that job moved to the Bayshore project, and orders were placed for forty iron arches, each spanning 30 ft (9.1 m), to be used in tunnel construction. By May 1905, good progress was being made, as workers excavating the tunnel had found "nothing harder than sand and earth", but they were forced to wear rubber clothes due to

2296-578: A magnet for America's counterculture movement . Beat Generation writers fueled the San Francisco Renaissance and centered on the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s. Hippies flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, reaching a peak with the 1967 Summer of Love . In 1974, the Zebra murders left at least 16 people dead. In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement , with

2460-514: A one-year period, Joseph B. Coryell acted as agent for SP to purchase properties bordering Islais Creek to allow the rerouting of the line. The Bayshore Railway company was founded as a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific to build the Bayshore Cutoff. Construction started in 1904 and was completed in 1907 at a cost of $ 7 million (equivalent to $ 167 million in 2023), one of the most expensive rail lines constructed to date. In comparison,

2624-416: A place where the men feel the need of an overcoat in the evening of the warmest days, and where the ladies scarcely know what it is to dress in light clothing and walk out in the evening." In 1903, the route of the Bayshore Cutoff was adjusted slightly; the original route called for tracks along Islais and Tulare streets, which due to their narrow width, would have closed those streets to any other traffic. Over

2788-440: A port and naval base, post-Conquest San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. Situated at the tip of a windswept peninsula without water or firewood, San Francisco lacked most of the basic facilities for a 19th-century settlement. These natural disadvantages forced the town's residents to bring water, fuel and food to the site. Its 1847 population was said to be 459. The California gold rush brought

2952-473: A proposed fourteen-span bridge over Alameda Creek to separate freight and passenger traffic. The required improvements to infrastructure drove up project costs dramatically. In 2004, the total capital cost had increased to an estimated US$ 277,600,000 (equivalent to $ 447,800,000 in 2023). However, Regional Measure 2 (RM2) was approved by a majority of Bay Area voters in March 2004, raising toll rates by US$ 1 on

3116-424: A regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development. The city constructed an auxiliary water supply system and has repeatedly upgraded its building codes, requiring retrofits for older buildings and higher engineering standards for new construction. However, there are still thousands of smaller buildings that remain vulnerable to quake damage. USGS has released

3280-585: A remarkably mild year-round climate with little seasonal temperature variation. Dumbarton Rail Bridge The Dumbarton Rail Bridge (then known as the Dumbarton Point Bridge or, simply, Dumbarton Bridge ; one of the major structures of the Dumbarton Cut-off rail line) was championed by E. H. Harriman . Prior to the completion of the Dumbarton Cut-off, transcontinental rail freight

3444-718: A remote spur terminal, San Francisco would become "practically the same as a main line station" with the completion of the two new cutoffs, and transcontinental freight could then be loaded directly on trains without having to be ferried across the Bay. The San Jose-based Evening News touted the benefits of the Cutoff, saying the fifteen minute savings in travel time combined with a more temperate climate would naturally lead to increased population in San Jose: "The warmer, drier and more even climatic conditions make [San Jose] far preferable for residence to

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3608-737: A schedule" in an article covering the opening of the Cutoff. Although the Bayshore Cutoff is double-tracked , the right-of-way outside the tunnels is sized to accommodate quad tracks . Quad tracks were added in Brisbane as part of the Caltrain Express project from 2004 to 2006. Initial bids on construction costs ranged between $ 2 and $ 2.5 million (between $ 67.8 million and $ 84.8 million in 2023 adjusted for inflation). Preliminary work began in April 1904, and actual construction started on October 26 of that year. An earthquake in late November 1904

3772-411: A semicircular arch 30 feet (9.1 m) wide to accommodate two tracks spaced 13 feet (4.0 m) apart (centerline to centerline). Overall height in the center of the tunnel is 27 feet (8.2 m), with clearance of 22 feet (6.7 m) above the top of the rail at each track centerline. The tracks are elevated 1 foot 8 inches (0.51 m) above the tunnel floor by ballast and ties. Tunnel 2

3936-583: A significant portion of the Comstock Lode 's gold and silver mines, establishing a virtual monopoly. Using his incredible clout, Ralston was able to generate millions of dollars for San Francisco during its heady boom years. He founded the Bank of California , the first bank in the Western United States, and built the opulent Palace Hotel, a symbol of San Francisco's newfound prosperity and the largest hotel in

4100-492: A single railroad track on six 180-foot (55 m) Pratt through truss spans and a central 310-foot (94 m) swing Petit through truss span, for a total steel bridge length of 1,390 feet (420 m). The steel structure is symmetric, with three truss spans flanking each side of the central swing span. Each 180-foot (55 m) truss span weighs approximately 470 to 480 short tons (430 to 440 t). The six truss spans were constructed on shore and floated into place using

4264-516: 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. By 1890, San Francisco's population approached 300,000, making it the eighth-largest city in the United States at the time. Around 1901, San Francisco

4428-489: A toll. The bridge was the first constructed across San Francisco Bay. Freight service started on September 12, 1910, and the first passenger train crossed the Dumbarton Cut-off on September 25, 1910, although that was a special-event train, as Southern Pacific, the owner of the Cut-off, intended to limit traffic to freight service. At the time, it was the most expensive bridge structure built in California. Newark celebrated

4592-479: A wave of " Manhattanization " that lasted until the late 1980s, a period of extensive high-rise development downtown. 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. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in

4756-476: Is currently closed. The western bore was built because a high concrete retaining wall was needed to support a city street running alongside that second tunnel. Tunnel Top Park, at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, is within the Caltrain-owned right-of-way. These two tunnels were bored through mostly serpentinite rock with clay seams. The Western Pacific Railroad (WP) also built a tunnel through Potrero Hill at nearly

4920-483: Is essentially their original form, but most of the city's natural watercourses, such as Islais Creek and Mission Creek , have been partially or completely culverted and built over. Since the 1990s, however, the Public Utilities Commission has been studying proposals to daylight or restore some creeks. An Historical Center of San Francisco monument, where the 1899–1906 City Hall was once located,

5084-408: Is gone." Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed. Amadeo Giannini 's Bank of Italy , later to become Bank of America , provided loans for many of those whose livelihoods had been devastated. The influential San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association or SPUR was founded in 1910 to address

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5248-566: Is in United Nations Plaza , at 37°46′48″N 122°24′49″W  /  37.7800397°N 122.4135943°W  / 37.7800397; -122.4135943 The earliest center of San Francisco is Portsmouth Square , in the northeast quadrant of the city anchored by Market Street and the waterfront. Here in the northeast quadrant, the Financial District is centered, with Union Square , the principal shopping and hotel district, and

5412-421: Is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022. San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States , with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area , the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had a 2023 estimated population of over 9 million. Prior to European settlement ,

5576-553: Is supported on four cylindrical concrete piers 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter. The swing span's center is supported by a 40-foot (12 m) diameter cylindrical concrete pier resting atop more than one hundred piles. The original bridge design for the San Francisco Bay span called for trestle approaches all the way to the swing span. On 21 August 1907, the supports for a 120-foot (37 m) section of eastern approach trestle, which had been built to within 120 feet (37 m) of

5740-480: The San Francisco Call described the existing Southern Pacific passenger rail station at Third and Townsend as "notoriously inadequate," calling for a new or relocated station closer to Market Street . One of the conditions imposed on Southern Pacific in granting the construction permit was the Cut-off would be open to all railroad companies, although as the owner, Southern Pacific would be allowed to charge

5904-517: The 17th most populous in the US . It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula , making it the second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county , behind four of New York City's boroughs . Among the 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco

6068-614: The Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma and the beginning of the U.S. Conquest of California , American forces from the USS Portsmouth under the command of John B. Montgomery captured Yerba Buena on July 9, 1846, with little resistance from the local Californio population, raising the American flag over Yerba Buena plaza (later renamed Portsmouth Square in commemoration of this event). Following

6232-562: The California earthquake forecast which models earthquake occurrence in California. San Francisco's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina , Mission Bay , 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

6396-785: The Golden Gate Bridge , cable cars , and Alcatraz . The city is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco , the University of San Francisco , San Francisco State University , the San Francisco Conservatory of Music , the de Young Museum , the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the San Francisco Symphony , the San Francisco Ballet ,

6560-495: 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 The Embarcadero as its historic downtown waterfront and revitalizing the Hayes Valley neighborhood. The two recent decades have seen booms driven by the internet industry. During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated

6724-802: The San Francisco Opera , the SFJAZZ Center , and the California Academy of Sciences . Two major league sports teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors , play their home games within San Francisco proper. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers flights to over 125 destinations, while a light rail and bus network , in tandem with the BART and Caltrain systems, connects nearly every part of San Francisco with

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6888-495: The Tenderloin 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 , where many restaurants feature Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing industry. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill , a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street ; North Beach ,

7052-524: The United States Army Corps of Engineers held a public hearing in August 1906 inviting public feedback on the plans for the bridge. Henry Rengstorff argued the bridge would impede water traffic, which was needed as an alternate route in case of a railroad strike or natural disaster, such as the recent earthquake . Work on the eastern trestle approaches was nearly complete by the end of 1907, but it

7216-533: The turntable was pneumatically operated with a diameter of 80 feet (24 m). The turntable was enlarged to 110 feet (34 m) in 1941 using steel salvaged from the Pajaro River bridge; with the enlargement, the Roundhouse was capable of handling SP's largest steam locomotives. The fire in 2001 destroyed the roof covering stalls #24 through #32. Today, it is the last standing brick roundhouse in California, and it

7380-461: The 1910s, a wave of Central American immigrants settled in the Mission and, in the 1950s, immigrants from Mexico began to predominate. In recent years, gentrification has changed the demographics of parts of the Mission from Latino, to twenty-something professionals. Noe Valley to the southwest and Bernal Heights to the south are both increasingly popular among young families with children. East of

7544-535: 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. Chinese immigrants made the city a polyglot culture, drawn to "Old Gold Mountain," creating the city's Chinatown quarter. By 1880, Chinese made up 9.3% of the population. 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

7708-507: The Bayshore Cutoff and double-track the line in late 1901. President E. H. Harriman reiterated SP's plans to construct the Cutoff in mid-1902, predicting completion within the calendar year. Double-tracking from Burlingame south to San Jose was announced as well, and completed by 1903. In conjunction with the Dumbarton Cutoff , the Bayshore Cutoff was designed to facilitate transcontinental rail service into San Francisco. Instead of being

7872-532: The Bayshore Cutoff main line (on the east), the Bayshore Highway (on the west, now Bayshore Boulevard), Tunnel 4 (on the north), and the deep cut at Visitacion Point (on the south). It extended 8,400 feet (2,600 m) in length, measured north to south, and 1,800 feet (550 m) wide east to west at the apex of the triangle. An additional 18.2 miles (29.3 km) of track were authorized in January 1917 along with

8036-453: The Bayshore route by passing an ordinance in 1900 directing the Board of Public Works (BPW) to tear up the existing tracks. SP was granted an injunction to prevent that action, but BPW Commissioner Maguire planned to bring witnesses "to testify that the clanging of bells, shrieks of whistles, etc., interferes with the comfort and peace of the surrounding residents." SP announced firm plans to build

8200-472: The Bayshore shops was October 25, 1982; the land was sold to Universal Paragon in 1989. The line included five tunnels, numbered north to south, and a former railyard near Brisbane, the Visitacion or Bayshore Yard. The historic Bayshore Roundhouse, previously used to service SP's steam locomotives, still exists at the yard. The first four tunnels are within the city limits of San Francisco. The maximum grade of

8364-673: 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 city-owned Sharp Park in Pacifica was used as an internment camp to detain Japanese Americans . Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity, and Fort Mason became

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8528-499: The Cutoff, touted to be "one of the fastest pieces of railroad in the United States" once it was completed. The steel girders were delayed in transit and the completion date of the Cutoff was delayed from October to November 1907. A final carload of steel was rushed from Ogden to complete the Fifth Avenue crossing, and the first planned passenger trains to use the Cutoff would be for fans from San Francisco traveling to Stanford to watch

8692-800: The Locomotive Paint Shop; the Planing Mill and Car Repair building, another large shop with a footprint of 185 by 335.5 feet (56.4 m × 102.3 m); and the Freight Car Repair Shed, 117 by 441 feet (36 m × 134 m). The Visitacion Ice Manufacturing Plant, at the southern end of the Bayshore Yard, was completed in 1924. It was capable of freezing 90 short tons (82 t) of ice per day, and could store 2,300 short tons (2,100 t). It made ice between 1924 and 1955 for Pacific Fruit Express refrigerated cars. The building

8856-622: The Lucin Cutoff, which included a trestle across the northern end of the Great Salt Lake and saved 44 miles (71 km) of distance, cost $ 9 million. The Bayshore Cutoff, along with the Lucin and Montalvo Cutoffs, alleviated three key bottlenecks for Southern Pacific. Rail traffic to San Francisco shifted over to the new Bayshore Cutoff immediately and has remained on that route ever since. Caltrain now runs daily commuter trains through four of

9020-512: The Mission is the Potrero Hill neighborhood, a mostly residential neighborhood that features sweeping views of downtown San Francisco. 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 gay village , and is now the center of gay life in the city. Located near

9184-533: The Newark Slough swing span are built all the way to the swing span rest piers, and so the as-built Newark Slough span is presumably similar to the original design of the Dumbarton Rail Bridge, prior to the 1907 redesign incorporating flanking trusses. When the Dumbarton Rail Bridge was in use, boaters would signal the operator, who would start a diesel engine and rotate the bridge to the open position on

9348-701: 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. Many piers remained derelict for years until the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway reopened the downtown waterfront, allowing for redevelopment. The centerpiece of the port, the Ferry Building , while still receiving commuter ferry traffic, has been restored and redeveloped as

9512-571: The Presidio garrison, commanded by Mariano Vallejo , relocated to the Presidio of Sonoma , which was regarded as needing a greater military presence due the proximity of the Russian settlement at Fort Ross . Only a small detachment remained at the Presidio of San Francisco. Mission Dolores sold most of its property in 1836, retaining only the church and related structures. In 1833, Juana Briones de Miranda

9676-445: The Roundhouse, provided steam for locomotive use, burning coal from a bunker 600 feet (180 m) long. Seventeen of the stalls (numbered #24 to #40, clockwise) were inside the building and covered. Stalls #1 to #23 were outside whisker tracks, although construction plans, contemporary articles, and the presence of foundation pilings suggest the roundhouse was originally designed to enclose these as well. The wall adjacent to stall #40, on

9840-497: The SFO BART extension. Other potential routes proposed for the BART extension included an aerial structure along El Camino Real and a rail line parallel to I-280 / 380 . SP also completed a rail yard at Visitacion near the city of Brisbane. SP had previously purchased Visitacion Cove and partially filled it using earth excavated from the tunnels as well as mud dredged from the Bay. The yard

10004-688: The San Francisco Peninsula just north of San Bruno Mountain . Everything south of the line became the new San Mateo County while everything north of the line became the new consolidated City and County of San Francisco. The California Gold Rush triggered a wave of entrepreneurial activity as individuals sought to capitalize on the newfound wealth. The discovery of silver deposits, notably the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further fueled rapid population growth and economic expansion. San Francisco, as

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10168-405: The San Francisco 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 . Demand for new housing and office space ignited a second wave of high-rise development, this time in the South of Market district. By 2000,

10332-400: The Spanish ship San Carlos , commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala , became the first ship to anchor in the bay. Soon after, on March 28, 1776, Anza established the Presidio of San Francisco . On October 9, Mission San Francisco de Asís , also known as Mission Dolores, was founded by Padre Francisco Palóu . In 1794, the Presidio established the Castillo de San Joaquín , a fortification on

10496-467: The Tank and Boiler Shop (built c.1920, leased to Lazzari Fuel in 1963 and used as a charcoal warehouse), and the Visitacion Ice Manufacturing Plant (built 1924 for Pacific Fruit Express , currently leased to Machinery and Equipment, Inc.). The Southern Pacific Railroad Bayshore Roundhouse , at the junction of Industrial Way and Bayshore Ave. in Brisbane, California , was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The Bayshore Roundhouse

10660-417: The United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of September 2023 . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from the downtown area of San Francisco, the city is still home to numerous companies inside and outside of technology, including Salesforce , Uber , Airbnb , X , Levi's , Gap , Dropbox , and Lyft . In 2022, San Francisco had more than 1.7 million international visitors –

10824-405: The area. Further development is taking place just to the south in Mission Bay area, a former railroad yard, which now has a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco and Chase Center , which opened in 2019 as the new home of the Golden State Warriors . West of downtown, across Van Ness Avenue , lies the large Western Addition neighborhood, which became established with

10988-457: The arts and sciences, spurred by leading universities , high-tech , healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional services sectors. As of 2020 , the metropolitan area, with 4.5 million residents, ranked 5th by GDP ($ 874 billion) and 2nd by GDP per capita ($ 131,082) across the OECD countries, ahead of global cities like Paris , London , and Singapore . It is the fourth-largest by aggregate income and economic output, with

11152-429: The beginning of the assimilation of the Ramaytush people, and the decline of their language and culture. The Spanish Empire claimed San Francisco as part of Las Californias , a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain . The Spanish first arrived in what is now San Francisco on November 2, 1769, when the Portolá expedition led by Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Crespí arrived at San Francisco Bay . Having noted

11316-426: The capture, U.S. forces appointed both José de Jesús Noé and Washington Allon Bartlett to serve as co- alcaldes (mayors), while the conquest continued on in the rest of California. On January 30, 1847, Mayor Bartlett ordained that the city should officially change its name from "Yerba Buena" to "San Francisco", as the former name was only locally recognized and the latter name was in use on international maps. There

11480-400: 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. More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core. Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people died, though modern estimates put the number in

11644-465: The city as a whole, asserting that the issues of concern are restricted primarily to the urban core of San Francisco. As of March 2024, Union Square was in "sorry shape" and had lost its traditional position as the Bay Area's regional shopping hub to Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose. The Ferry Station Post Office Building , Armour & Co. Building , Atherton House , and YMCA Hotel are historic buildings among dozens of historical landmarks in

11808-541: The city's Little Italy and the former center of the Beat Generation ; and Telegraph Hill , which features Coit Tower . Abutting Russian Hill and North Beach is San Francisco's Chinatown , the oldest Chinatown in North America. The South of Market , which was once San Francisco's industrial core, has seen significant redevelopment following the construction of Oracle Park and an infusion of startup companies . New skyscrapers, live-work lofts, and condominiums dot

11972-479: The city's alcalde , renamed it from Yerba Buena (Spanish for "Good Herb"), which had been the name of the first civilian pueblo in San Francisco, as well as the name of Yerba Buena Cove , which the pueblo was on the shore of. Earlier in San Francisco's history, the uninhabited area on the northeastern side of San Francisco was called El Paraje de Yerba Buena , after the herb that was growing abundantly there. The name Yerba Buena continues to be used in locations in

12136-417: The city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001 and again in 2023, many of these companies folded and their employees were laid off. Yet high technology and entrepreneurship remain mainstays of the San Francisco economy. By the mid-2000s (decade), the social media boom had begun, with San Francisco becoming a popular location for tech offices and

12300-560: The city's southern border, the Excelsior District is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco. The Bayview-Hunters Point in the far southeast corner of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods, though the area has been the focus of several revitalizing and urban renewal projects. The construction of the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 connected southwest neighborhoods to downtown via streetcar, hastening

12464-563: The city, according to the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco . San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States , at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several picturesque islands — Alcatraz , Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island , and small portions of Alameda Island , Red Rock Island , and Angel Island —are part of

12628-839: The city, such as on Yerba Buena Island and in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens . While people residing outside the San Francisco Bay Area use nicknames including "Frisco" and "San Fran", local residents in the Bay Area sometimes refer to San Francisco as "the City" or "SF". The choice of nickname a person uses is a common way for locals to distinguish long-time residents from tourists and recent arrivals. "San Fran" and "Frisco" are sometimes considered controversial as nicknames among San Francisco residents. The earliest archeological evidence of human habitation of

12792-432: 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 km ). There are more than 50 hills within the city limits. Some neighborhoods are named after

12956-416: The completed Bayshore Cutoff is 15.8 feet per mile (2.99 m/km) (0.3% grade) compared to the 3% maximum grade of the older route. The maximum elevation of the Bayshore Cutoff is 20.3 feet (6.2 m), while the prior route rose to 292 feet (89 m) above sea level. The total distance between San Francisco and San Bruno along the Cutoff is 11.04 miles (17.77 km), saving 2.65 miles (4.26 km) over

13120-507: The country at the time. His financial empire, however, collapsed in 1875 as a result of the Panic of 1873 , triggering a major economic crisis in San Francisco. 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 only reluctantly helped support ) helped make

13284-455: The damp conditions. Two shifts of work were started in June, and the stone blocks to be used in the portals had arrived at Tunnel 5. By July, work on the final tunnel (later designated Tunnel No. 3) had started, and SP General Manager E.E. Calvin confidently predicted all tunnels would be completed in 1906. Heavy rain during February 1906 damaged the roadbed between South San Francisco and San Bruno when

13448-678: The development of West Portal , and nearby affluent Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood . Further west, stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean and north to Golden Gate Park lies the vast Sunset District , a large middle-class area with a predominantly Asian population. The northwestern quadrant of the city contains the Richmond , a mostly middle-class neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park, home to immigrants from other parts of Asia as well as many Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. Together, these areas are known as The Avenues . These two districts are each sometimes further divided into two regions:

13612-445: The east of the Dumbarton Rail Bridge, spanning Newark Slough. The Newark Slough bridge was complete by May 1908. The bridge was initially anticipated to be completed in mid-1907, then March 1909, but it was not completed and opened until June 1910, providing San Francisco with a more direct transcontinental rail link for freight and passenger service, avoiding detours through Santa Clara and San Jose . Just prior to its opening,

13776-449: The eastern side of the building, contains four sets of windows, and the outer circumference of the building has two sets of windows for each stall. There is one fire wall (between stalls #32 and #33) without windows (which stopped the 2001 fire from destroying the roof of stalls 33–40), and the wall adjacent to stall #24 does not have windows, since it was originally intended to serve as a second interior fire wall. As originally constructed,

13940-453: 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. Bank of America , now based in Charlotte , North Carolina , was founded in San Francisco; the bank completed 555 California Street in 1969. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972, igniting

14104-540: The entire Dumbarton Cut-off rail line from Niles to Redwood City to the Central Pacific (itself another subsidiary of Southern Pacific) in March 1912. Some sections of the timber trestles were replaced with precast concrete structures in the 1960s and 1970s. The last freight train passed over the Dumbarton Cut-off in May 1982. Just before 7 pm on the night of 3 January 1998, the western trestle approach caught on fire, and

14268-748: The excavation of the Yerba Buena Tunnel through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such land tends to be unstable during earthquakes. The resulting soil liquefaction causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . A few natural lakes and creeks ( Lake Merced , Mountain Lake , Pine Lake , Lobos Creek , El Polin Spring ) are within parks and remain protected in what

14432-515: The existing Caltrain stations. From Union City, trains would stop at stations in Fremont ( Fremont Centerville Station ), Newark and Menlo Park/East Palo Alto before joining the main Caltrain line at Redwood City (northbound) or Menlo Park (southbound). In the afternoon, the six trains would return from San Francisco and San Jose to Union City. No reverse commute, mid-day, or night-time trains would be part of

14596-532: The existing infrastructure. The 2003 Project Study Report proposed replacing the Dumbarton Rail Bridge swing span with a new bascule span, with the option for remote control from the Caltrain operations center or local control; the report also proposed replacing the Newark Slough Bridge swing span with a simpler steel girder swing span under local control, normally left closed to prioritize rail traffic over marine traffic. Other proposed improvements included

14760-520: The fact that there were no churches to be found, prompted missionaries like William Taylor to come to San Francisco where he began preaching in the streets, using an upright barrel as his pulpit. Taylor was able to garner enough generous donations from successful gold miners with which he used to build a church. One of the most influential figures of this era was William Chapman Ralston . A shrewd banker and investor, Ralston amassed considerable wealth and influence in San Francisco. He gained control over

14924-489: The famous " Painted Ladies ," standing alongside Alamo Square . To the south, near the geographic center of the city is Haight-Ashbury , famously associated with 1960s hippie culture. The Haight is now home to some expensive boutiques and a few controversial chain stores, although it still retains some bohemian character. North of the Western Addition is Pacific Heights , an affluent neighborhood that features

15088-407: The fifth-most visited city from abroad in the United States after New York City, Miami , Orlando , and Los Angeles – and approximately 20 million domestic visitors for a total of 21.9 million visitors. It is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods , its Chinatown and Mission districts, its cooling summers, fog , and landmarks including

15252-544: The film Harold and Maude was filmed at the Bayshore Yard; the Backshops building was used as the studio of Glaucus, the artist who is carving a nude of Maude in ice. That building was demolished in the mid-1980s. The Tank and Boiler Shops ceased operation with the end of steam locomotives in the 1950s, and was leased to the Lazzari Fuel Company in 1963, who use it today to store charcoal. Other shops in 1921 included

15416-475: The final stages of construction were about to commence. Work was being performed in two shifts when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck in April. Workers in Tunnel 3 (below the orphanage) were terrified by the shaking, which extinguished the lamps they were using, but no one was injured and the tunnel was not damaged. After the earthquake, construction continued. Earthquake survivors were unnerved by blasting for

15580-593: The first land grant in Yerba Buena: to William Richardson , a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth. Richardson had arrived in San Francisco aboard a whaling ship in 1822. In 1825, he married Maria Antonia Martinez, eldest daughter of the Californio Ygnacio Martínez . Yerba Buena began to attract American and European settlers; an 1842 census listed 21 residents (11%) born in the United States or Europe, as well as one Filipino merchant. Following

15744-511: The gateway to the goldfields, experienced a surge in population and commercial activity. However, the influx of fortune seekers also brought challenges. Lawlessness was rampant, and the Barbary Coast district became synonymous with vice, attracting criminals, prostitutes, and illicit activities, including but not limited to prostitution, bootlegging , and gambling. The rapidly growing population, with its lawlessness, gambling and other vices, and

15908-453: The hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill , Potrero Hill , 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 forming one of the city's highest points, forms an overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson , is 928 feet (283 m) high and is capped with

16072-505: The homes built by wealthy San Franciscans 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. In the southeast quadrant of the city is the Mission District —populated in the 19th century by Californios and working-class immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Scandinavia. In

16236-524: The initial service. Two more stations could be added in Redwood City (2nd Avenue) and Hayward (Hayward BART) if rider participation would justify the cost. SamTrans purchased the entire Dumbarton Cut-off from Redwood Junction to Newark Junction for US$ 6,900,000 (equivalent to $ 14,200,000 in 2023) in early 1994, with the help of a loan from Caltrans . Although the Dumbarton Rail Corridor

16400-533: The larger Port of Oakland . The city began to lose industrial jobs and turned 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. From 1950 to 1980, the city lost over 10 percent of its population. Over this period, San Francisco became

16564-527: The line was rerouted through the leveled section as well. The rail yard was in operation until the 1970s, and the site is currently being considered for redevelopment for light industrial/retail use as part of the Brisbane Baylands development project. The original route between San Francisco and San Bruno was laid by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (SF&SJ), one of the companies that later

16728-486: The low tides and wetlands precluded access via fireboat. Arson was suspected as the cause of the fire, but never proven. No active electrical equipment was near the bridge, and no lightning was present. After continuing to receive complaints about smoke for three days, upon further investigation crews discovered the fire was continuing to burn wooden structures 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) underground. There are plans for new rail bridges, new stations, and rehabilitation of

16892-399: The main shop buildings. By 1921, the Bayshore Yard was substantially complete. The design of the Bayshore Yard had thirty-eight tracks in the main freight space; seven tracks on both the north and south ends each had a capacity of fifty cars. The north end of the yard also had fourteen storage tracks (total capacity of 472 cars) and eighteen classification tracks. In all, the total capacity of

17056-419: The missions were made to divest themselves of their extensive landholdings and emancipate the indigenous people under their control. As part of the process of secularization, Governor José Figueroa opened up San Francisco to civilian settlement. Prior to secularization, the only settlements in San Francisco had been the military settlement at the Presidio and the religious settlement at Mission Dolores. In 1835,

17220-579: The modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu , who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone . On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate , and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi . The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into

17384-410: The mud was 2 to 4 feet (0.61 to 1.22 m) deep in the middle of the channel and 16 to 18 feet (4.9 to 5.5 m) deep at the shoreline, atop a layer of sand and gravel ranging from 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) deep. Each truss span rests on two cylindrical concrete piers 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter at either end, except where the truss spans meet the swing span. The truss-swing span interface

17548-489: The nearly US$ 300,000,000 (equivalent to $ 483,900,000 in 2023) in available funding that had been committed with the passage of RM2 in 2004, reducing the feasibility of Dumbarton Rail Corridor. The $ 91 million loan would become a grant in 2014 when the Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted to forgive the terms of the loan. With RM2 funds deprogrammed from Dumbarton Rail Corridor, the project

17712-461: The original route needed helper engines for grades and curves along a route nearly 13 miles (21 km) long. The Bayshore Cutoff reduced the distance to 10.5 miles (16.9 km) with a maximum grade of 0.3 percent. Once the Bayshore Cutoff was completed, and main line traffic was shifted to it, the former route was renamed the Ocean View Branch line. It was used to carry coffins to Colma; it

17876-440: The original route west of San Bruno Mountain. The original 1900 design called for an aggregate length of the two tunnels under Potrero Hill and Sierra Point of 1,800 feet (550 m). After completion, travel time from San Jose to San Francisco was cut from two hours to ninety minutes (for local trains) and seventy minutes (for limited-stop trains). The Evening News breathlessly advertised "the annihilation of seventeen minutes in

18040-473: The period of Mexican rule , although it was not until 1833 that the missions would be secularized. Agricultural land became largely privatized as ranchos , as was occurring in other parts of California. Coastal trade increased, including a half-dozen barques from various Atlantic ports which regularly sailed in California waters. With the enactment of the Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 ,

18204-567: The primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations . 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 United Nations Charter creating the United Nations

18368-599: The quality of housing after the earthquake. The earthquake hastened development of western neighborhoods that survived the fire, including Pacific Heights , where many of the city's wealthy rebuilt their homes. In turn, the destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose again in the Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915. During this period, San Francisco built some of its most important infrastructure. Civil Engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy

18532-496: The rail line east, eliminating the need for the tunnel. Some of the fill was taken by razing Sierra Point to the level of the railroad. The southern portal would have emerged between Bayshore Boulevard and the Bayshore Freeway, but it has since been filled in. The northern portal still exists, but access is restricted by a padlocked fence next to a parking lot just off Bayshore Boulevard. Fill taken from tunnel excavation and cuts

18696-454: The rail line to serve a commuter rail service to connect Union City, Fremont , and Newark to San Francisco and San Jose . The proposed Dumbarton Rail Corridor service would provide six westbound trains originating from a rebuilt Union City intermodal station ; after crossing the rebuilt Dumbarton Cut-off bridges, three trains would proceed north to San Francisco and three trains would proceed south to San Jose , making limited stop service at

18860-417: The railyard handled 22 million gross tons per mile of freight in the 1920s and 46.5 million gross tons per mile during World War II. The Bayshore Yard site was acquired by Tuntex (now Universal Paragon) in 1989. Universal Paragon has proposed redeveloping the area as the Brisbane Baylands development . As of 2013, the only buildings left from the railyard are the Roundhouse (built c.1910, abandoned),

19024-413: The railyard was 1,068 cars on 24 inbound tracks, and 1,078 cars on 19 outbound tracks. 7 of the outbound tracks had a maximum capacity of 74 cars each. Most of the tracks were spaced at 13 feet (4.0 m) between centerlines. SP consolidated its freight and maintenance operations at the Bayshore Yard; maintenance had previously been performed at two locations: 16th and Harrison, and Mariposa. The yard hump

19188-484: The railyard, including 1,895,000 cubic yards (1,449,000 m) of mud dredged from San Francisco Bay. Because the Bayshore Yard was built on reclaimed land, building foundations were built on piles set, on average, 55 feet (17 m) deep, and the fill under the rails required constant replenishment for ten years until it was sufficiently compacted. The Bayshore Yard contained approximately 50–65 miles (80–105 km) of track, in an approximately triangular area bounded by

19352-626: The region's toll bridges. US$ 135,000,000 (equivalent to $ 217,800,000 in 2023) was allotted to the Dumbarton Rail Corridor project from the increased tolls as one of the headline projects cited by supporters of RM2. In 2008, US$ 91,000,000 (equivalent to $ 128,800,000 in 2023) in RM2 funds were loaned from Dumbarton Rail Corridor to BART for work on the Warm Springs Extension. The 2008 estimate for DRC capital costs had risen to US$ 596,000,000 (equivalent to $ 843,400,000 in 2023), compared to

19516-415: The remainder of the tunnel was cleared by blasting, with the blasted rock being sorted for incorporation in the concrete. Tunnels 1 and 2 bracket the present-day 22nd Street station. Tunnel 1 is just north of the station, and Tunnel 2 is south. Both tunnels are cut through Potrero Hill . Tunnel 2 is the only one of the five tunnels built with twin bores to accommodate four tracks, although the western bore

19680-541: The rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution , the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and

19844-420: The rock at the top of the tunnel and a steel arch form was installed. After covering the arch form with planks, five to six layers of brick were laid to form the semicircular arch, resting on concrete side walls. The space between the top of the arch and the excavated tunnel was backfilled with loose rock, or concrete if the pressure was especially large. The temporary timber supports and arch form were removed, and

20008-773: The same time; support timbers within the Western Pacific tunnel caught fire in 1962, leading to its collapse and subsequent fill. The area on top of the WP tunnel remained undeveloped until the 1990s. Tunnel 3 traverses the Hunters Point neighborhood. It was built under the St. Joseph's orphan asylum. The tracks are 175 feet (53 m) below the ground's surface. Tunnel 3 is bored through wet sand and hard silicated formations. Tunnel 4 crosses Candlestick Point . The former Schlage factory and headquarters, constructed in 1926, are located just west of

20172-408: The semicircular brick arch meets the concrete side walls. With the side drift excavation complete, the concrete side walls are poured. A fifth drift was then bored at the apex of the tunnel, followed by excavation of the remaining space between the apex and side drifts. Once these initial excavations were complete, leaving a "core" of rock in the center of the tunnel, timber bracing was placed to support

20336-529: The several thousands. More than half of the city's population of 400,000 was left homeless. 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 . Jack London is remembered for having famously eulogized the earthquake: "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco

20500-467: The six 180-foot (55 m) steel truss spans, three on either side of the swing span. The swing span across Newark Slough is similar to the Dumbarton Rail Bridge swing span; both are through truss swing spans, both are sized for double-track service, and both have the mechanical/Operator's house atop the center of the truss. The Newark Slough bridge is 182 feet (55 m) long and is a Baltimore truss design. The single-track timber trestle approaches to

20664-456: The smoke from the creosote -treated timbers forced the shutdown of the Dumbarton (road) Bridge in both directions. The fire was not extinguished until noon on 4 January 1998, despite a rainstorm. Access to the bridge was difficult, and firefighters were forced to use a rail maintenance vehicle along with a pump truck with a large reservoir, laying out over 4,000 feet (1,200 m) of fire hoses as

20828-407: The southern portal of Tunnel 4. In 1907, it was noted that Tunnel 4 had been bored through very wet ground and partly through shale. The earthquake of April 1906 caused a spring to start leaking into Tunnel 4, which went unnoticed until several months after the seismic event, when the reinforced concrete of the completed tunnel began to bulge, eventually causing water to leak into the tunnel. The spring

20992-530: The southern side of the Golden Gate , which later came to be known as Fort Point. In 1804, the province of Alta California was created, which included San Francisco. At its peak in 1810–1820, the average population at the Mission Dolores settlement was about 1,100 people. In 1821, the Californias were ceded to Mexico by Spain. The extensive California mission system gradually lost its influence during

21156-426: The start of rail service with a picnic. Regular passenger service departing Newark was established in 1911; the western terminus was Redwood City , where passengers could connect to the regular San Francisco – San Jose service . The increased freight service afforded by the Dumbarton Cut-off caused some Hillsborough residents to complain about the black smoke. The Central California Railway transferred ownership of

21320-551: The strategic benefits of the area due to its large natural harbor, the Spanish dispatched Pedro Fages in 1770 to find a more direct route to the San Francisco Peninsula from Monterey , which would become part of the El Camino Real route. By 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza had arrived to the area to select the sites for a mission and presidio . The first European maritime presence in San Francisco Bay occurred on August 5, 1775, when

21484-570: The successor to Southern Pacific's Peninsula Commute service. Fill from the five tunnels was used to build the Visitacion or Bayshore Yard, the main SP classification yard near the city of Brisbane . The Del Monte was similarly rerouted over the line at some point in its operational history. The original alignment of the Coast Line completed in 1863 took it around the western side of San Bruno Mountain , through Colma and Daly City . Rail traffic along

21648-485: The swing span, washed out in the receding tide and the bridge plans were modified. The first proposed change was to modify the trestle approaches 200 feet (61 m) immediately to the east and 600 feet (180 m) immediately to the west of the swing span by changing these to double-track width. However, the wider trestle bents continued to vibrate in the receding tide. The final as-built design eliminated approximately 1,080 feet (330 m) of trestle approaches in favor of

21812-488: The territory of San Francisco dates to 3000 BCE. The Yelamu group of the Ramaytush people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay . The Ohlone name for San Francisco was Ahwaste , meaning, "place at the bay." The arrival of Spanish colonists, and the implementation of their Mission system, marked

21976-611: The tunnels built for the Bayshore Cutoff. The fifth tunnel at Sierra Point was bypassed with the completion of the Bayshore Freeway about 1956. The prior route west of San Bruno Mountain was renamed the Ocean View line and relegated to branch status. Although the Ocean View line was severed in 1942, the rails remained in place until the right-of-way was sold to the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and construction began on

22140-577: The tunnels, which they thought were aftershocks. Some of the areas for the Bayshore Cutoff route south of China Basin were filled with rubble from the earthquake, allowing more rapid progress than planned. SP officials announced in August 1906 the estimated completion date for the Bayshore Cutoff would be January 24, 1907. Once the Cutoff was in place, they stated that more frequent service would be offered for commuters, with headways of 30 minutes and total travel time to San Jose estimated at one hour. By July 1907, four bridges still needed to be completed for

22304-402: The underwater lot. By 1851, the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870, Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land. Buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and

22468-421: The wider region. San Francisco, which is Spanish for "Saint Francis," takes its name from Mission San Francisco de Asís , which in turn was named after Saint Francis of Assisi . The mission received its name in 1776, when it was founded by the Spanish under the leadership of Padre Francisco Palóu . The city has officially been known as San Francisco since 1847, when Washington Allon Bartlett , then serving as

22632-415: Was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill , and a thriving arts scene. The first North American plague epidemic was the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 . 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 spread across

22796-592: Was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration , liberalizing attitudes,

22960-726: Was absorbed into the Southern Pacific (SP). From the station in San Francisco at Mariposa and 18th, tracks were laid generally bearing west-southwest through the Mission District close to the present-day route of San Jose Avenue. Southern Pacific took over the Peninsula Corridor in 1870 from the SF&;SJ and began operating the Peninsula Commute between San Francisco and San Jose. Surveys were conducted for an alternate route east of San Bruno Mountain as early as 1878 and in 1894, it

23124-414: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The Erecting and Machine Shops (or Backshops) building had a footprint of 130.4 by 449 feet (39.7 m × 136.9 m), and had 15 engine pits, each 55 feet (17 m) in length, with a 120-short-ton (110 t) gantry crane in the erecting portion, and a smaller 15-short-ton (14 t) crane in the machine shops portion. One scene for

23288-409: Was advanced in 1907, prior to the completion of the bridge, but was dismissed as unlikely just a few months later. The Cut-off reduces the distance (by rail) between Oakland and San Francisco by 26.1 miles (42.0 km). The depth of the Bay at the middle of the channel was 50 feet (15 m) at mean low tide, with a mean high tide variance of 6 feet (1.8 m). Preliminary test piles had shown

23452-496: Was almost fully funded in 2001 (the Metropolitan Transportation Commission estimated the total capital cost for the Dumbarton Rail Corridor was US$ 129,000,000 (equivalent to $ 222,000,000 in 2023); of that, 91% had been secured or was pending via local sales taxes in San Mateo, Alameda, and Santa Clara Counties), subsequent studies, including the 2003 Dumbarton Rail Corridor Project Study Report , identified several deficiencies in

23616-492: Was also concern that a new town being planned by General Vallejo on the Carquinez Strait was to be called "Francisca", after the first name of his wife. After the name change to "San Francisco", the name of Vallejo's town was changed to Benicia , after his wife's middle name. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Alta California was ceded from Mexico to the United States . Despite its attractive location as

23780-456: Was at first mistaken for blasting being done for the Cutoff. Work on the first tunnel (which was later designated Tunnel No. 5) at Sierra Point began on April 18, 1905, and at the time it was predicted that revenue service would begin on December 31, 1906. A week and a half later, a steam shovel had excavated 150 feet (46 m) (starting from the south portal) and work had begun on the second tunnel (later designated Tunnel No. 4), which had reached

23944-650: 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 ,

24108-417: Was built using cut-and-cover , but the other four were built by first sinking pilot drifts approximately 8 by 7 feet (2.4 by 2.1 m) in cross-section at the bottom corners of the tunnel. After these first two drifts were completed, the concrete side walls were partially built and timber supports were placed to allow the excavation of two more drifts on top of the first drifts up to the springing line where

24272-460: Was centered on a plaza that is now Portsmouth Square . A land survey of Yerba Buena was made by the Swiss immigrant Jean Jacques Vioget as prelude to the city plan. Francisco de Haro , a non- Californio Mexican native, became the first alcalde of Yerba Buena. The second alcalde José Joaquín Estudillo was a Californio from a prominent Monterey family. In 1835, while in office, he approved

24436-499: Was completed in 1910 and still stands, although it was damaged in an October 2001 fire which destroyed approximately half the roof. Construction on the Roundhouse started in 1908, shortly after the Bayshore Cutoff was completed, and it was one of the first buildings at the new Bayshore railyard. The Roundhouse encompasses an arc of 108 degrees, and has an inner radius of 125 feet (38 m) and an outer radius of 212 feet (65 m). It has forty stalls, and an on-site powerhouse, north of

24600-438: Was designed to accommodate a double-track line . Both eastern and western trestle approaches were designed and built with single track service, as they were completed prior to the decision to accommodate double-track service on the steel structure. The swing span was completed with double-track lines. The bridge was designed to accommodate automobile or horse traffic on an overhead platform. A proposal for an upper-deck road

24764-536: Was drafted and signed in San Francisco in 1945 and, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . 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 . The onset of containerization made San Francisco's small piers obsolete, and cargo activity moved to

24928-437: Was granted a small rancho at El Polín Spring , near the Presidio, founding the first non-indigenous civilian household in San Francisco. In 1834, the pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded. Yerba Buena Cove (named after a native herb ) was already a favored anchorage spot and the new settlement and trading post was founded by its shores. Yerba Buena was located in what is now the city's Chinatown and Financial District and

25092-788: Was hired by San Francisco Mayor James Rolph as chief engineer for the city in September 1912 to supervise the construction of the Twin Peaks Reservoir, the Stockton Street Tunnel , the Twin Peaks Tunnel , the San Francisco Municipal Railway , the Auxiliary Water Supply System , and new sewers. San Francisco's streetcar system, of which the J , K , L , M , and N lines survive today, was pushed to completion by O'Shaughnessy between 1915 and 1927. It

25256-457: Was not capped until 1911. Tunnel 5 crosses Sierra Point and was bored through hard sandstone. Tunnel 5 was abandoned in 1956 when the old Bayshore Highway (which is now the present-day Bayshore Boulevard in Brisbane and South San Francisco) was expanded into the six-lane divided Bayshore Freeway . The route for the freeway was moved to the east along a new causeway constructed on fill between Candlestick Point and Sierra Point, which also pushed

25420-477: Was offloaded at Oakland and ferried to San Francisco. Preliminary work started in 1904 with the condemnation of land at Dumbarton Point, and the incorporation of the Central California Railway Company, created by several Southern Pacific officers for the sole purpose of building a rail line from Newark to San Mateo . There was some opposition to the bridge from local business groups, and

25584-423: Was revealed that SP had secretly purchased a more direct route along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay through an agent, Alfred E. Davis, who had previously built a narrow-gauge railroad to Santa Cruz . By 1900, the Bayshore Cutoff route, including five tunnels, had been designed and plans were announced to start work "within a few weeks". The San Francisco Board of Supervisors attempted to compel SP to start using

25748-551: Was severed in the 1940s, but a few miles at the south end was still in SP's 1996 timetable. In the late 1980s BART purchased the right-of-way of the Ocean View line for the San Francisco International Airport extension south from Daly City. Bayshore Cutoff Tunnel 5, at Sierra Point, was abandoned when the easternmost tip of the point was leveled during construction of the Bayshore Freeway in 1955–56, and

25912-635: Was sold to the Market Street Van & Storage Company in 1962. From north to south: San Francisco, California San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco , is a commercial, financial , and cultural center within Northern California . With a population of 808,988 residents as of 2023, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles , San Diego , and San Jose , and

26076-400: Was suspended. Efforts continue to revive the project. On June 2, 2019, a brush fire that authorities suspected was arson spread to the wooden trestle on the eastern approach near the Newark Slough Bridge. Like the prior 1998 fire, firefighters had difficulty reaching the relatively remote location, and a firefighting boat was required during the response. The Dumbarton Rail Bridge carries

26240-410: Was the O'Shaughnessy Dam , Hetch Hetchy Reservoir , and Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct that would have the largest effect on San Francisco. An abundant water supply enabled San Francisco to develop into the city it has become today. 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. Indeed, it

26404-416: Was the foundation for the steel structure over the San Francisco Bay that posed the greatest challenge, due to the rushing current and marshy land approaches. Tracks were laid from Niles to Dumbarton starting in late 1906, and on the opposite side of the Bay, tracks were laid between Redwood City and the western bridge approach in 1908. The Dumbarton Cut-off rail line includes a second swing bridge to

26568-632: Was the second hump constructed on the West Coast (after the classification yard at Roseville ). Steam locomotive maintenance would start in the Roundhouse. Once the locomotive left the Roundhouse, it would move to the Transfer Pit (northwest of the Roundhouse), then be moved sideways on a 78-foot (24 m) long transfer table riding on six rails to line up with a track into the Erecting and Machine Shops, where

26732-428: Was used to assemble trains and a large roundhouse and shops were used for steam locomotive maintenance. After diesel locomotives replaced steam by 1958 (the last steam locomotive in SP's system was a Peninsula Commute engine, which ran on January 22, 1957), the yard was used less frequently. SP consolidated freight operations at Oakland in 1964, and the Bayshore Yard began to be dismantled in 1979. The last day of work at

26896-444: Was used to build a new railyard at Visitacion. One of the cuts, at Visitacion Point, was 95 feet (29 m) deep and removed 750,000 cubic yards (570,000 m) of material. SP purchased Visitacon Cove and constructed 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of trestles to dump fill into San Francisco Bay, reclaiming 156 acres (63 ha) of land in total. In total, more than 3,000,000 cubic yards (2,300,000 m) of fill were used to reclaim land for

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