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63-737: From the south, Mission Street begins as a continuation of SR 82/El Camino Real at the Colma -Daly City border, just south of San Pedro Road. Mission Street then runs north to the Top of the Hill district, where SR 82 splits as San Jose Avenue to the northeast, and Mission Street continues north-northeast. It then crosses the San Francisco city limits mid-block between Templeton Avenue in Daly City and Huron Avenue in San Francisco. Mission Street then turns back northeast through

126-795: A Catholic school for preschool through 8th grade. Colma belongs to the Jefferson Elementary School District , which has two schools in Colma: Garden Village Elementary (grades K–5) and Benjamin Franklin Intermediate (grades 6–8). High school students typically attend Westmoor High School in the Jefferson Union High School District . Informally, as of 2006 Colma had "1,500 aboveground residents ... and 1.5 million underground". The 2010 United States Census reported that Colma had

189-630: A company called the "Realty Syndicate" which acquired large tracts of undeveloped land throughout the East Bay. The Realty Syndicate also built two large hotels, each served by a San Francisco-bound train, the Claremont and the Key Route Inn , and a popular amusement park in Oakland called Idora Park . Streetcar lines were also routed to serve all these properties, thereby enhancing their value. In its early years,

252-471: A female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 17.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.47 and the average family size was 3.92. In the town the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

315-509: A ferry terminal near Yerba Buena Island . Filling for the causeway had been started by a short-lived narrow-gauge railroad company in the late 19th century, the California and Nevada Railroad . "Borax" Smith acquired the causeway from the California and Nevada upon its bankruptcy. On December 4, 1924, six people were killed in a train collision on the mole. On May 6, 1933, a major fire erupted on

378-519: A floating bridge was used instead. A parallel plank road was completed along Folsom Street to stave off potential competition from a free road along Market; however, a high tide in 1854 destroyed the Folsom Plank Road by floating off the planks. Since 2000, between Third Street and Beale Street in the Financial District , several new high rises have been erected along Mission Street, all in

441-406: A horse and cart, and one dollar for a four-horse team. The Mission alignment was selected because Market had a high ridge between Second and Fifth; although a cut was still required for Mission, it was less extensive. The Plank Road used a bridge to cross a swamp at Mission and Seventh; the bridge was intended to rest on piles, but piles were sunk to 80 feet (24 m) deep without reaching bottom, so

504-492: A pair of pantographs , invented and manufactured by the Key System's own shops, were installed to collect current from overhead wires to power a pair of electric motors on each car, one on each truck (bogie). The design of rolling stock changed over the years. Wood gave way to steel, and, instead of doors at each end, center doors were adopted. The later rolling stock consisted of specially designed "bridge units" for use on

567-622: A petition with the PUC "against the Key System, seeking restoration of the bus service on the #70 Chabot Bus line". The city councils of Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro opposed the removal of street cars. The traffic planners supported removal of the streetcar lines to facilitate movement of automobiles. Local governments in the East Bay attempted to purchase the Key System, but were unsuccessful. Streetcars were converted to buses during November/December 1948. In 1949 National City Lines, General Motors and others were convicted of conspiring to monopolize

630-438: A population of 1,792. The population density was 938.6 inhabitants per square mile (362.4/km ). The racial makeup of Colma was 620 (34.6%) White , 59 (3.3%) African American , 7 (0.4%) Native American , 619 (34.5%) Asian , 9 (0.5%) Pacific Islander , 366 (20.4%) from other races , and 112 (6.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 708 persons (39.5%). The Census reported that 1,763 people (98.4% of

693-594: Is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California , United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area . The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census . The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924. With most of Colma's land dedicated to cemeteries , the population of the dead—not specifically known but speculated to be around 1.5 million —outnumbers that of

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756-469: Is an urgent warning to each and every one of you that there is a careful, deliberately planned campaign to swindle you out of your most important and valuable public utilities–your Electric Railway System". The new owners made a number of rapid changes. In 1946 they cut back the A-1 train route and then the express trains in 1947. The company increased fares in 1946 and then in both January and November 1947. During

819-615: Is the western terminus for several AC Transit bus lines via the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge , and it will be the future northern terminus of Caltrain and the California High-Speed Rail Authority . From the completion of the Bay Bridge in 1936 until the 1950s, it was also the western terminus for Key System commuter rail service. Colma, California Colma ( Ohlone for "Springs")

882-629: The San Francisco Call as "a scheme whereby the town of Colma is to be made a plague spot of vice" to benefit gamblers and crooked politicians. The Town of Lawndale was incorporated in 1924, primarily at the behest of the cemetery owners with the cooperation of the handful of residents who lived closest to the cemeteries. The residential and business areas immediately to the north continued to be known as Colma. As another California city named Lawndale already existed, in Los Angeles County ,

945-604: The Bayshore Cutoff , completed in 1907 and providing a route closer to the San Francisco Bay shoreline, and the former main line was repurposed as a branch line to move coffins to Colma. Decades later, the right-of-way for the branch line through Colma was purchased by BART for use in the San Francisco International Airport extension project. An early effort to incorporate in 1903 was condemned by

1008-617: The Lone Mountain Cemetery complex. Those for whom no one paid the fee were reburied in mass graves, and the markers were recycled in various San Francisco public works. Some examples include drain gutters at Buena Vista Park and bolstering breakwater near the St. Francis Yacht Club . They can be seen at low tide on Ocean Beach. The completion of the relocation was delayed until after World War II . The main rail line between San Francisco and San Jose running through Colma had been bypassed by

1071-730: The San Francisco Municipal Railway 14 Mission trolleybus , two BART stations that run below grade in the Inner Mission , and the remainder of the San Francisco BART stations less than a half mile away, notably including those on the Market Street subway . The street is four lanes wide. The Salesforce Transit Center , which replaced the Transbay Terminal , straddles several blocks between Mission and Howard. It

1134-558: The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge , bringing Key System trains to the then-new Transbay Terminal in San Francisco's downtown. The bridge railway and Transbay Terminal were shared with the Southern Pacific 's Interurban Electric and the Western Pacific 's Sacramento Northern railroads. The Key System's first trains were composed of standard wooden railroad passenger cars , complete with clerestory roofs. Atop each of these,

1197-636: The Santa Cruz Mountain Range . The foothills and eastern flanks of the range are composed largely of poorly consolidated Pliocene - Quaternary freshwater and shallow marine sediments that include the Colma and Merced Formations, recent slope wash, ravine fill, colluvium , and alluvium . These surficial deposits unconformably overlay the much older Jurassic to Cretaceous-aged Franciscan Assemblage. The Junipero Serra Landfill , which closed in 1983 and extended approximately 135 ft (41 m) deep,

1260-520: The Temescal District of Oakland. The Elmhurst Carhouse was in the east Oakland district of Elmhurst , on East 14th (International Blvd.) between 94th and 96th Avenues. The Northern Carhouse was in Richmond where today's AC Transit has a bus yard. In the early years of operation, these were supplemented by a number of smaller carbarns scattered throughout the East Bay area, many of them inherited from

1323-421: The census of 2000, there were 1,191 people, 329 households, and 245 families residing in the town. The population density was 624.6 inhabitants per square mile (241.2/km ). There were 342 housing units at an average density of 179.4 per square mile (69.3/km ). There were 329 households, out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 11.9% had

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1386-412: The poverty line , including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over. Key System The Key System (or Key Route ) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland , Berkeley , Alameda , Emeryville , Piedmont , San Leandro , Richmond , Albany , and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when it

1449-446: The 1200 volts used by the SP commuter trains. The cars had an enclosed operator's cab in the right front, with passenger seats extending to the very front of the vehicle, a favorite seat for many children, with dramatic views of the tracks ahead. The exterior color of the cars was orange and silver. Interior upholstery was woven reed seat covers in one of the articulated sections, and leather in

1512-461: The 1910s, many of the roads to Colma were not maintained. Bodies were transported by street cars in San Francisco down Valencia Street in the Mission District ; which resulted in many mortuaries and funeral homes in this location for quick access to Colma. Approximately 150,000 bodies were moved between 1920 and 1941, at a cost of $ 10 per grave and marker. Many of the remains in Colma came from

1575-801: The Great Crash of 1929 , a holding company called the Railway Equipment & Realty Co. was created, with the subsidiary Key System Ltd running the commuter trains. In 1938, the name became the Key System . During World War II , the Key System built and operated the Shipyard Railway between a transfer station in Emeryville and the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond. National City Lines acquired 64% of

1638-699: The United States. Of the large bridge units, three are at the Western Railway Museum near Rio Vista, California while another is at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in southern California. The initial connection across the Bay to San Francisco was by ferryboat via a causeway and pier (" mole "), extending from the end of Yerba Buena Avenue in Oakland, California , westward 16,000 feet (4,900 m) to

1701-638: The center of Colma by Serramonte Boulevard. In the California State Legislature , Colma is in the 11th Senate District , represented by Democrat Scott Wiener , and in the 19th Assembly District , represented by Democrat Phil Ting . In the United States House of Representatives , Colma is in California's 15th congressional district , represented by Democrat Kevin Mullin . Colma has one private school, Holy Angels School,

1764-528: The commuter trains to San Francisco were discontinued in 1958. The Key System's territory is today served by BART and AC Transit bus service. The system began as a consolidation of several streetcar lines assembled in the late 1890s and early 1900s by Francis Marion "Borax" Smith and his business interests. After having made a fortune in Borax and gained his nickname, "Borax", the entrepreneur turned to real estate and electric traction for streetcars. The Key System

1827-644: The former village of Yerba Buena , in the northeastern corner of modern San Francisco, via the Mission Plank Road , a 3.25-mile (5.23 km) long toll road extending from Kearny/Third to Fifteenth. The franchise for the Mission Plank Road was granted in November 1850 and the Plank Road was completed by the following Spring at a cost of US$ 96,000 (equivalent to $ 3,516,000 in 2023); tolls were 50 cents for

1890-499: The idea of using a stylized map on which the system's routes resembled an old-fashioned key, with three "handle loops" that covered the cities of Berkeley, Piedmont (initially, "Claremont" shared the Piedmont loop) and Oakland, and a "shaft" in the form of the Key pier, the "teeth" representing the ferry berths at the end of the pier. The company touted its 'key route', which led to the adoption of

1953-399: The increasing use of buses. Initially a separate company, it was formed by the merger of six local street railroads. The numbering of the streetcar lines changed several times over the years. The Key System's streetcars operated out of several carbarns. The Central Carhouse was on the east side of Lake Merritt on Third Avenue. The Western Carhouse was located at 51st and Telegraph Avenue in

Mission Street - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-657: The living by a ratio of nearly a thousand to one. This has led to Colma being called "the City of the Silent" and has given rise to a humorous motto, formerly featured on the city's website: "It's great to be alive in Colma". The most commonly proposed origin of the name "Colma" is the Ohlone word mean "springs" or "many springs". There are several other proposed origins of Colma. Erwin Gudde's California Place Names states seven possible sources of

2079-581: The many cemeteries in the town. Since the 1980s, however, Colma has become more diversified, and a variety of retail businesses and automobile dealerships has brought more sales tax revenue to the town government. In 1986, 280 Metro Center opened for business in Colma; it is now recognized as the world's first power center . According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 1.9 sq mi (4.9 km ), all land. The town's 17 cemeteries comprise approximately 73% of

2142-704: The name "Key System". In 1908, the SFOSJR changed its name to the San Francisco, Oakland & San Jose Consolidated Railway ; it changed to the San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railway in 1912. Smith was ousted from the company in 1913. After it went bankrupt in December 1923, it was re-organized as the Key System Transit Co. , adopting a marketing concept as the name of the company. Following

2205-414: The name of its post office in 1869. The community of Colma was formed in the 19th century as a collection of homes and small businesses along El Camino Real and the adjacent San Francisco and San Jose Railroad line. Several churches, including Holy Angels Catholic Church, were founded in these early years. The community founded its own fire district, which serves the unincorporated area of Colma north of

2268-424: The new bridge, articulated cars sharing a common central truck and including central passenger entries in each car, a forerunner of the design of most light rail vehicles today. Several of these pairs were connected to make up a train. Power pickup was via pantograph from overhead catenary wires, except on the Bay Bridge where a third rail pickup was used. The Key's trains ran on 600 volt direct current , compared to

2331-405: The order (some units of which had already been painted for the Key and delivered to Oakland) to its own Los Angeles Transit Lines , where they ran until 1963. The last Key streetcars ran on November 28, 1948, replaced by buses. From the beginning, the Key System had been conceived as a dual real estate and transportation system. "Borax" Smith and his partner Frank C. Havens first established

2394-411: The other, the smoking section. The flooring was linoleum . During WWII, the roofs were painted gray for aerial camouflage. After acquisition by National City Lines, all Key vehicles including the bridge units were re-painted in that company's standard colors, yellow and green. Until the Bay Bridge railway began operation, Key commuter trains had no letter designation. They were generally referred to by

2457-414: The ownership of these companies. In 1948 National City Lines proposed a plan to convert all the streetcars to buses. They placed an advertisement in the local papers explaining their plan to 'modernize' and 'motorize' Line 14. The Oakland City Council opposed the plan by 5–3. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) supported the plan which included large fare increases. In October 1948, 700 people signed

2520-683: The period there were many complaints of overcrowding. On April   9, 1947, nine corporations and seven individuals (constituting officers and directors of certain of the corporate defendants) were indicted in the Federal District Court of Southern California on two counts: ' conspiring to acquire control of a number of transit companies, forming a transportation monopoly ' and 'Conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies to companies owned by National City Lines'. They were convicted of conspiring to monopolize sales of buses and supplies. They were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize

2583-532: The pier end of the mole, consuming the ferry terminal building as well as gutting the ferryboat Peralta . The pier was subsequently reconstructed further south and a new terminal building erected. The Key System operated a fleet of ferries between the Key Route Pier and the San Francisco Ferry Building until January 15, 1939, when a new dual track opened on the south side of the lower deck of

Mission Street - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-625: The population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 29 (1.6%) were institutionalized. There were 564 households, out of which 217 (38.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 271 (48.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 110 (19.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 42 (7.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 44 (7.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 8 (1.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 91 households (16.1%) were made up of individuals, and 31 (5.5%) had someone living alone who

2709-526: The post office retained the Colma designation, and the town changed its name back to Colma in 1941. Many, if not most, of the well-known people who died in San Francisco since the first cemeteries opened there have been buried or reburied in Colma, with an additional large number of such burials in Oakland's Mountain View Cemetery . Some notable people interred in Colma include: Originally, Colma's residents were primarily employed in occupations related to

2772-469: The pre-Key companies acquired by "Borax" Smith. The Key streetcars were originally painted dark green and cream white, then orange. They were re-painted in the green and yellow scheme of National City Lines after NCL acquired the Key System. The Key System had ordered 40 trolley coaches from ACF-Brill in 1945 to convert the East Bay trolley lines. The new NCL management canceled the Key's trackless program in 1946 before wire changes were made, and diverted

2835-550: The principal street or district they served, though the Key System did not have any formal naming scheme outside of letter designations. D was reserved for a proposed line into Montclair alongside the Sacramento Northern interurban railway. Shortly after opening of the Bay Bridge to train traffic, the Key System continued to use its pier for special service trains for ferry service to the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island   — these were given

2898-413: The railroad in order to gain access to its right of way and waterfront operations, as well as use the abandoned pier as a starting point for his own passenger mole . Transbay service began on October 26, 1903, with a four-car train carrying 250 passengers, departing downtown Berkeley for the ferry to San Francisco . Before the end of 1903, Frank C. Havens , the general manager of the SFOSJR, devised

2961-522: The sale of buses and related products to their subsidiary transit companies throughout the U.S. Between 1946 and 1954 transbay fares increased from 20¢ to 50¢ ($ 3 to $ 6 adjusted for inflation). Fares in this period were used to operate and for 'motorisation' which included streetcar track removal, repaving, purchase of new buses and the construction of bus maintenance facilities. Transbay ridership fell from 22.2   million in 1946 to 9.8   million in 1952. The Key System's famed commuter train system

3024-458: The same letter designations. AC Transit preserved the letter-designated routes when it took over the Key System two years later, and are still in use; AC Transit's B, C, E, F, G and H lines follow roughly the corresponding Key routes and neighborhoods. The Key System's streetcars operated as a separate division under the name "Oakland Traction Company", later changed to "East Bay Street Railways. Ltd", and finally to "East Bay Transit Co.", reflecting

3087-531: The special designation "X". The service was discontinued at the end of the first year of the Exposition and not revived for the 1940 season. On September 13, 1942, a stop was opened at Yerba Buena Island to serve expanded wartime needs on adjacent Treasure Island. It remained after the war until the end of all rail service on the Key System. The A, B, C, E and F lines were the last Key System rail lines. Train service ended on April 20, 1958, replaced by buses using

3150-425: The stock in the system in 1946. The same year E. Jay Quinby hand published a document exposing the ownership of National City Lines ( General Motors , Firestone Tire , and Phillips Petroleum ). He addressed the publication to The Mayors; The City Manager; The City Transit Engineer; The members of The Committee on Mass-Transportation and The Tax-Payers and The Riding Citizens of Your Community . In it he wrote "This

3213-479: The town limits, as well as the area that became a town in 1924. Heinrich (Henry) von Kempf moved his wholesale nursery here in the early part of the 20th century, from the land where the Palace of Fine Arts currently sits. The business was growing, and thus required more space for von Kempf's plants and trees. Von Kempf then began petitioning to turn the Colma community into an agricultural township. He succeeded and became

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3276-583: The town of Colma's first treasurer. In the early 20th century, Colma was the site of many major boxing events. Middleweight world champion Stanley Ketchel fought six bouts at the Mission Street Arena in Colma, including two world middleweight title bouts against Billy Papke and a world heavyweight title bout against Jack Johnson . Colma became the site for numerous cemeteries after San Francisco outlawed new interments within its city limits in 1900, then evicted most existing cemeteries in 1912. In

3339-539: The town's being called Colma: William T. Coleman (a local landowner), Thomas Coleman (a local resident), misspelling of Colmar in France, misspelling of Colima in Mexico, a re-spelling of an ancient Uralic word meaning death, a reference to James Macpherson 's Songs of Selma , and two Ohlone possibilities, one meaning "moon" and one meaning "springs". Before 1872, Colma was designated as "Station" or " School House Station ",

3402-523: The town's land area. It borders Daly City (to the north and west, separated by Junipero Serra Boulevard ), South San Francisco (to the south, separated by Arlington, Mission, and Lawndale), and San Bruno Mountain State Park (to the east). Colma is situated on the San Francisco Peninsula at the highest point of the Merced Valley , a gap between San Bruno Mountain and the northernmost foothills of

3465-531: The vicinity of the San Francisco Transbay development project: 101 Second Street (2000), JPMorgan Chase Building (2002), The Paramount (2002), St. Regis Museum Tower (2005), 555 Mission Street (2008), Millennium Tower (2009), 535 Mission Street (2014), 350 Mission Street (2015), and the Salesforce Tower (2017). The Mission Street portion in San Francisco is served 24 hours per day by

3528-463: The working-class Crocker-Amazon , Excelsior , and Bernal Heights neighborhoods, before turning north through the colorful Outer Mission and Inner Mission districts. Near Van Ness Avenue , the road turns northeast again and travels through Mid-Market and South of Market (running parallel to, and a full block south of Market Street ) before ending at The Embarcadero in downtown San Francisco. Mission Bay and Mission Dolores were connected to

3591-507: Was 36.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males. There were 586 housing units at an average density of 306.9 per square mile (118.5/km ), of which 224 (39.7%) were owner-occupied, and 340 (60.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.3%. 738 people (41.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,025 people (57.2%) lived in rental housing units. In

3654-417: Was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was US$ 58,750, and the median income for a family was US$ 60,556. Males had a median income of US$ 32,059 versus US$ 29,934 for females. The per capita income for the town was US$ 20,241. About 3.4% of families and 5.2% of the population were below

3717-407: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.13. There were 423 families (75.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.45. The population was spread out, with 390 people (21.8%) under the age of 18, 178 people (9.9%) aged 18 to 24, 532 people (29.7%) aged 25 to 44, 488 people (27.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 204 people (11.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

3780-659: Was developed and reopened as the 260,000 sq ft (24,000 m ) mixed-use Metro Center. Colma Creek flows through the city as it makes its way from San Bruno Mountain to San Francisco Bay . BART has two stations serving Colma: Colma , at the northern border near Daly City, and South San Francisco , just across the southern border. In addition, SamTrans buses serve the city with public transportation. There are three primary north-south roads for automobile and truck traffic through Colma; from west to east, they are Junipero Serra Boulevard , El Camino Real , and Hillside Boulevard. They are connected approximately through

3843-434: Was dismantled in 1958 after many years of declining ridership as well by the corrupt monopolistic efforts of National City Lines. The last run was on April   20, 1958. In 1960, the newly formed publicly owned AC Transit took over the Key System's facilities. Most of the rolling stock was scrapped, with some sold to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Several streetcars, interurbans and bridge units were salvaged for collections in

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3906-484: Was founded as the San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose Railway (SFOSJR) , incorporated in 1902. After consolidating local lines under one company, Smith sought to compete with the Southern Pacific commuter ferry market as well as develop new streetcar suburbs in the East Bay . The troubled California & Nevada Railroad had begun construction of a ferry pier in Oakland, but its plans were never realized. Smith purchased

3969-487: Was sold to a newly formed public agency, AC Transit . The Key System consisted of local streetcar and bus lines in the East Bay, and commuter rail and bus lines connecting the East Bay to San Francisco by a ferry pier on San Francisco Bay , later via the lower deck of the Bay Bridge . At its height during the 1940s, the Key System had over 66 miles (106 km) of track. The local streetcars were discontinued in 1948 and

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