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131-697: Located in the Mission District , the mission complex was founded on October 9, 1776, by Frs Francisco Palóu and Pedro Benito Cambón. The Franciscan Order sent the two priests to the Spanish Province of Alta California to bring in Spanish settlers and evangelize the indigenous Ohlone people . The Mission Dolores Basilica replaced a brick church built in 1876 that was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 . The site of

262-628: A San Francisco legacy business , is located in the Mission. Numerous Latino artistic and cultural institutions are based in the Mission. These organizations were founded during the social and cultural renaissance of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Latino community artists and activists of the time organized to create community-based arts organizations that were reflective of the Latino aesthetic and cultural traditions. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts , established by Latino artists and activists,

393-434: A ghost town of abandoned ships and businesses, but then boomed as merchants and new people arrived. The population of San Francisco increased quickly from about 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850. Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships. There was no churches or religious services in the rapidly growing city, which prompted missionaries like William Taylor to meet

524-584: A state constitution was written . The new constitution was adopted by referendum vote; the future state's interim first governor and legislature were chosen. In September 1850, California became a state . At the beginning of the gold rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning . Although mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around

655-471: A businessman who went on to great success was Levi Strauss , who first began selling denim overalls in San Francisco in 1853. Other businessmen reaped great rewards in retail, shipping, entertainment, lodging, or transportation. Boardinghouses, food preparation, sewing, and laundry were highly profitable businesses often run by women (married, single, or widowed) who realized men would pay well for

786-483: A few years, there was an important but lesser-known surge of prospectors into far Northern California, specifically into present-day Siskiyou , Shasta and Trinity Counties . Discovery of gold nuggets at the site of present-day Yreka in 1851 brought thousands of gold-seekers up the Siskiyou Trail and throughout California's northern counties. Settlements of the gold rush era, such as Portuguese Flat on

917-578: A few, though many who participated in the California gold rush earned little more than they had started with. Gold was discovered in California as early as March 9, 1842, at Rancho San Francisco , in the mountains north of present-day Los Angeles. Californian native Francisco Lopez was searching for stray horses and stopped on the bank of a small creek (in today's Placerita Canyon ), about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of present-day Newhall , and about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Los Angeles. While

1048-469: A group called the "Plaza 16 Coalition" in response to the gentrification and the new zoning law, the "Eastern Neighborhoods Plan". They advocate for affordable housing, opposing market-rate developments and the luxury developments. San Francisco Unified School District operates public schools. Schools in the Mission District include: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco operates

1179-577: A high concentration of Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Nicaraguan restaurants there as well as a large number of street food vendors. In the last couple decades a number of Mission restaurants have gained national attention, most notably the five restaurants who have received Michelin stars for 2017: Commonwealth, Lazy Bear, Aster, Californios, and Al's Place. A large number of other restaurants are also popular, including: Mission Chinese Food, Western Donut, Bar Tartine, La Taqueria, Papalote, Foreign Cinema on Mission Street, and Delfina on 18th. La Mejor Bakery ,

1310-476: A large sea; underwater volcanoes deposited lava and minerals (including gold) onto the sea floor. By tectonic forces these minerals and rocks came to the surface of the Sierra Nevada, and eroded . Water carried the exposed gold downstream and deposited it in quiet gravel beds along the sides of old rivers and streams. The forty-niners first focused their efforts on these deposits of gold. Because

1441-679: A live concert with his band Santana that was recorded in 1969, and for the KQED documentary "The Mission" filmed in 1994. The locally inspired song "Mission in the Rain" by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia appeared on Garcia's solo album Reflections , and was played by the Grateful Dead five times in concert in 1976. Classical music is heard in the concert hall of the Community Music Center on Capp Street. The area

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1572-439: A major commercial thoroughfare. In 1901, the city of San Francisco changed laws and forbade burials in the city, which helped form the nearby city of Colma . During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake , a single working water hydrant (the so-called ' Golden Fire Hydrant ') saved the Mission District from being burned down by massive fires sparked by the earthquake. In the 1910s, the roads into Colma were not well maintained and it

1703-488: A method that involved digging a shaft 6 to 13 meters (20 to 43 ft) deep into placer deposits along a stream. Tunnels were then dug in all directions to reach the richest veins of pay dirt . In the most complex placer mining, groups of prospectors would divert the water from an entire river into a sluice alongside the river and then dig for gold in the newly exposed river bottom. Modern estimates are that as much as 12 million ounces (370  t ) of gold were removed in

1834-517: A possession of the United States, but it was not a formal " territory " and did not become a state until September 9, 1850. California existed in the unusual condition of a region under military control. There was no civil legislature, executive or judicial body for the entire region. Local residents operated under a confusing and changing mixture of Mexican rules, American principles, and personal dictates. Lax enforcement of federal laws, such as

1965-410: A previously claimed site. Disputes were often handled personally and violently, and were sometimes addressed by groups of prospectors acting as arbitrators . This often led to heightened ethnic tensions. In some areas the influx of many prospectors could lead to a reduction of the existing claim size by simple pressure. Approximately four hundred million years ago, California lay at the bottom of

2096-415: A prospector, but that claim was valid only as long as it was being actively worked. Miners worked at a claim only long enough to determine its potential. If a claim was deemed as low-value—as most were—miners would abandon the site in search of a better one. In the case where a claim was abandoned or not worked upon, other miners would "claim-jump" the land. "Claim-jumping" meant that a miner began work on

2227-492: A protective reasons. The siding was removed in a later renovation. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed the brick church and damaged the adobe building. To prevent the huge fire sparked by the earthquake from engulfing the two buildings, firefighters blew up the convent and School of Notre Dame building across the street. In 1913, the archdiocese began constructing the Mission Dolores Church to replace

2358-631: A renovation in 1910. Part of the mural depicts the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The mural also contains the image of a rooster, a Christian symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. The Junípero Serra statue is located on the grounds of the Mission San Francisco complex. The cast stone sculpture was designed by the American artist Arthur Putnam and completed in 1909. It was cast between 1916 and 1917, and installed in 1918 when

2489-413: A service done by a woman. Brothels also brought in large profits, especially when combined with saloons and gaming houses. By 1855, the economic climate had changed dramatically. Gold could be retrieved profitably from the goldfields only by medium to large groups of workers, either in partnerships or as employees. By the mid-1850s, it was the owners of these gold-mining companies who made the money. Also,

2620-510: A small number (probably fewer than 500) traveled overland from the United States that year. Some of these "forty-eighters", as the earliest gold-seekers were sometimes called, were able to collect large amounts of easily accessible gold—in some cases, thousands of dollars worth each day. Even ordinary prospectors averaged daily gold finds worth 10 to 15 times the daily wage of a laborer on the East Coast. A person could work for six months in

2751-546: A vial of gold, shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald was the first major newspaper on the East Coast to report the discovery of gold. On December 5, 1848, US President James K. Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in an address to Congress . As a result, individuals seeking to benefit from the gold rush—later called the "forty-niners"—began moving to

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2882-492: Is a nonprofit performance venue and dance school in the neighborhood as well. Throughout the Mission walls and fences are decorated with murals initiated by the Chicano Art Mural Movement of the 1970s and inspired by the traditional Mexican paintings. Some of the more significant mural installations are located on Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley . Many of these murals have been painted or supported by

3013-519: Is also home to Afrolicious , and Dub Mission , a formerly weekly reggae / dub party started in 1996, and over the years has brought many reggae and dub musicians to perform there. The Mission District also has a Hip-Hop / Rap music scene. Other prominent musicians and musical personalities include alternative rock bands and musicians Luscious Jackson , Faith No More , The Looters , Primus , Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express , Beck , and Jawbreaker . Some well-known artists associated with

3144-478: Is an art space that was founded in 1976 in a space that was formerly a furniture store. The local bilingual newspaper El Tecolote was founded in 1970. The Mission's Galería de la Raza , founded by local artists active in el Movimiento (the Chicano civil rights movement), is a nationally recognized arts organization, also founded during this time of cultural and social renaissance in the Mission, in 1971. Late May,

3275-499: Is bordered to the east by U.S. Route 101 , which forms the boundary between the eastern portion of the district, known as "Inner Mission", and its eastern neighbor, Potrero Hill . Sanchez Street separates the neighborhood from Eureka Valley (containing the sub-district known as " the Castro ") to the north west and Noe Valley to the south west. The part of the neighborhood from Valencia Street to Sanchez Street, north of 20th Street,

3406-474: Is famous for Victorian mansions and the popular Dolores Park at 18th Street. Two main commercial zones, known as the Valencia corridor (Valencia St, from about 15th to 22nd) and the 24th Street corridor known as Calle 24 in the south central part of the Mission District are both very popular destinations for their restaurants, bars, galleries and street life. Prior to the arrival of Spanish missionaries,

3537-536: Is known as the "Mission Dolores" neighborhood. South of 20th Street towards 22nd Street, and between Valencia and Dolores Streets is a distinct neighborhood known as Liberty Hill. Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street) is the southern border; across Cesar Chavez Street is the Bernal Heights neighborhood. North of the Mission District is the South of Market neighborhood, bordered roughly by Duboce Avenue and

3668-445: Is often warmer and sunnier than other parts of San Francisco. The microclimates of San Francisco create a system by which each neighborhood can have different weather at any given time, although this phenomenon tends to be less pronounced during the winter months. The Mission's geographical location insulates it from the fog and wind from the west. This climatic phenomenon becomes apparent to visitors who walk downhill from 24th Street in

3799-416: Is that some US$ 80 million worth of California gold (equivalent to US$ 2.6 billion today) was sent to France by French prospectors and merchants. A majority of the gold went back to New York City brokerage houses. As the gold rush progressed, local banks and gold dealers issued "banknotes" or "drafts"—locally accepted paper currency—in exchange for gold, and private mints created private gold coins . With

3930-473: Is the largest park in the neighborhood, and one of the most popular parks in the city. Dolores Park is near Mission Dolores. Across from Dolores Park is Mission High School , built in 1927 in the Mediterranean Revival style. The San Francisco Armory is a castle-like building located at 14th and Mission that was built as an armory for the U.S. Army and California National Guard. It served as

4061-549: The Dead Kennedys , Flipper , and several clubs including The Offensive, The Deaf Club , Valencia Tool & Die and The Farm . The former fire station on 16th Street, called the Compound, sported what was commonly referred to as "the punk mall", an establishment that catered to punk style and culture. On South Van Ness, Target Video and Damage magazine were located in a three-story warehouse. The former Hamms brewery

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4192-614: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 , encouraged the arrival of free blacks and escaped slaves. While the treaty ending the Mexican–American War obliged the United States to honor Mexican land grants, almost all the goldfields were outside those grants. Instead, the goldfields were primarily on " public land ", meaning land formally owned by the United States government. However, there were no legal rules yet in place, and no practical enforcement mechanisms. The benefit to

4323-465: The Gold Country of California or "Mother Lode" from other countries and from other parts of the United States. As Sutter had feared, his business plans were ruined after his workers left in search of gold, and squatters took over his land and stole his crops and cattle. San Francisco had been a tiny settlement before the rush began. When residents learned about the discovery, it at first became

4454-757: The Isthmus of Panama and the steamships of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company . Australians and New Zealanders picked up the news from ships carrying Hawaiian newspapers, and thousands, infected with "gold fever", boarded ships for California. Forty-niners came from Latin America, particularly from the Mexican mining districts near Sonora and Chile. Gold-seekers and merchants from Asia, primarily from China, began arriving in 1849, at first in modest numbers to Gum San (" Gold Mountain "),

4585-545: The Mexican American War ended in 1848, the Mission San Francisco and the rest of Alta California became part of the United States. With the end of Mexican authority, the rules governing the California missions became defunct. In 1848, the California Gold Rush brought a surge of population and commercial activity to the San Francisco area. In the 1850s, the city constructed two plank roads from

4716-486: The Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 forced the missions in 1834 to start selling their vast commercial properties. In practical terms, this meant that each mission could own its church, its priests residence and small plots of land surrounding the church for gardens. The Mission San Francisco sold most of its property in 1836. By 1842, only eight Native Americans were still residing there. After

4847-662: The Mexican–American War , the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed, leading to the resolution of the military conflict in Alta California (Upper California). On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill he was building for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter —known as Sutter's Mill , near Coloma on the American River . Marshall brought what he found to Sutter, and

4978-541: The Mission ( Spanish : La Misión ), is a neighborhood in San Francisco , California . One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is derived from Mission San Francisco de Asís , built in 1776 by the Spanish. The Mission is historically one of the most notable centers of the city's Chicano / Mexican-American community. The Mission District is located in east-central San Francisco. It

5109-544: The Mission Dolores mural painted in 1791 by Ohlone artists. The mural covers the entire rear wall of the building, behind the historic wooden altar. It measures 22 by 20 feet and includes two statuary niches. In 1796, the Franciscans installed a baroque-style relief sculpture called a reredos in front of the mural. In later years, the mural was covered up with wooden boarding. The mural was rediscovered during

5240-566: The Precita Eyes muralist organization. Someone called my name You know, I turned around to see It was midnight in the Mission and the bells were not for me There's some satisfaction in the San Francisco rain No matter what comes down the Mission always looks the same Come again Walking along in the Mission in the rain – Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter , Mission in

5371-655: The Sacramento River , sprang into existence and then faded. The Gold Rush town of Weaverville on the Trinity River today retains the oldest continuously used Taoist temple in California, a legacy of Chinese miners who came. While there are not many Gold Rush era ghost towns still in existence, the remains of the once-bustling town of Shasta have been preserved in a California State Historic Park in Northern California. By 1850, most of

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5502-543: The San Francisco Bay in 1849, only 700 were women (including those who were poor, wealthy, entrepreneurs, prostitutes, single, and married). They were of various ethnicities including Anglo-American, African-American, Hispanic , Native , European, Chinese, and Jewish. The reasons they came varied: some came with their husbands, refusing to be left behind to fend for themselves, some came because their husbands sent for them, and others came (singles and widows) for

5633-563: The 1960s, Central American immigration has contributed to a Central American presence that outnumbers Mexicans since the 1960s. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Chicano/Latino population in the western part of the Mission (including the Valencia Corridor) declined somewhat and more middle-class young people moved in, including gay and lesbian people (alongside the existing LGBTQ Latino population). One Political movement during

5764-493: The 1980s, the Valencia Street corridor included one of the most concentrated and visible lesbian neighborhoods in the United States. The Women's Building , Osento Bathhouse, Old Wives Tales bookstore, Artemis Cafe, Amelia's and The Lexington Club were part of that community. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Valencia Street corridor had a lively punk nightlife featuring the bands The Offs , The Avengers ,

5895-599: The 1990s from Mexico's Yucatán region. Their presence is reflected in the Mayan-language name of In Chan Kaajal Park , opened in 2017 north of 17th Street between Folsom and Shotwell Street. Mission Dolores , the eponymous former mission located the far western border of the neighborhood on Dolores Street, continues to operate as a museum and as a California Historical Landmark, while the newer basilica built and opened next to it in 1918 continues to have an active congregation. Dolores Park (Mission Dolores Park)

6026-490: The 1990s, the area has been home to the Mission School art movement. Many studios, galleries, performance spaces, and public art projects are located in the Mission, including 1890 Bryant St Studios, Southern Exposure , Art Explosion Studios, City Art Collective Gallery, Artists' Television Access , Savernack Street , and the oldest, alternative, not-for-profit art space in the city of San Francisco, Intersection for

6157-600: The American economy; the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood in the Compromise of 1850 . The gold rush had severe effects on Native Californians and accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation, and the California genocide . The effects of the gold rush were substantial. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by

6288-493: The Arts . There are more than 500 Mission artists listed on Mission Artists United site put together by Mission artists. The Roxie Theater , the oldest continuously operating movie theater in San Francisco, is host to repertory and independent films as well as local film festivals. Poets, musicians, emcees, and other artists sometimes gather on the southwest corner of the 16th and Mission intersection to perform. Dance Mission Theater

6419-421: The California foreign miners tax passed in 1851, targeted mainly Latino miners and kept them from making as much money as whites, who did not have any taxes imposed on them. In California most late arrivals made little or wound up losing money. Similarly, many unlucky merchants set up in settlements that disappeared, or which succumbed to one of the calamitous fires that swept the towns that sprang up. By contrast,

6550-517: The Headquarters of the 250th Coast Artillery from 1923 through 1944, and the 49th Infantry, also known as the 49ers, in the Cold War. The Mission district is also famous and influential for its restaurants. Dozens of taquerías are located throughout the neighborhood, showcasing a localized styling of Mexican food . San Francisco is the original home of the Mission burrito . There is also

6681-546: The Methodist church deemed it necessary to send missionaries there to preach the gospel, as churches in that part of the state were not to be found. The first missionary to arrive was William Taylor who arrived in San Francisco in September 1849. For many months he preached in the streets to hundreds of people without salary, and ultimately after saving often generous donations from successful miners, he built and established

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6812-569: The Mission District include: The Mission District is covered by three free bilingual newspapers. El Tecolote is biweekly and has online articles. Mission Local is predominantly an online news site but does publish a semiannual printed paper. And El Reportero is a weekly newspaper that also has an online site. The neighborhood is served by the BART rail system with stations on Mission Street at 16th Street and 24th Street , by Muni bus numbers 9, 9R, 12, 14, 14R, 22, 27, 33, 48, 49, 67, and along

6943-419: The Mission District to go to college, they also worked with organizations that helped make the community better for latino people which included a free bilingual services through Centro de Salud, which ultimately led other local hospitals to do the same. They were also involved in a free breakfast program, a community newspaper, and its main program, the "Los Siete" Defense Committee. From the mid-1970s through

7074-513: The Mission District's Latino population was at 60 percent. By 2015 it had dropped to 48%; a city-funded research study that year predicted a decline to 31 percent by 2025. However, the Mission remains the cultural nexus and epicenter of San Francisco's Mexican/ Chicano , and to a lesser extent, the Bay Area's Nicaraguan , Salvadoran and Guatemalan community. While Mexican, Salvadoran, and other Latin American businesses are pervasive throughout

7205-552: The Mission Dolores church began in 1788, with the Ohlone laborers manufacturing 36,000 bricks. By 1790, the walls were completed, plastered, and whitewashed . The missionary Junípero Serra is recorded as having celebrated a mass at the chapel while it was still under construction. The Mission Dolores adobe church was finished in 1791. The new church had adobe walls that were four feet thick. The roof beams were redwood and

7336-638: The Modocs . The first people to rush to the goldfields, beginning in the spring of 1848, were the residents of California themselves—primarily agriculturally oriented Americans and Europeans living in Northern California , along with Native Californians and some Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians; at the time, commonly referred to in English as simply 'Californians'). These first miners tended to be families in which everyone helped in

7467-509: The Outer Mission area, or out of the city entirely to the suburbs of East Bay and South Bay area. Despite rising rent and housing prices, many Mexican and Central American immigrants continue to reside in the Mission, although the neighborhood's high rents and home prices have led to the Latino population dropping by 20% over the decade until 2011. However, in 2008 the Mission still had a reputation of being artist-friendly. In 2000,

7598-533: The Pacific side, wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco. There was also a route across Mexico starting at Veracruz . The companies providing such transportation created vast wealth among their owners and included the U.S. Mail Steamship Company , the federally subsidized Pacific Mail Steamship Company , and the Accessory Transit Company . Many gold-seekers took the overland route across

7729-406: The Rain (1976) The Mission is rich in musical groups and performances. Mariachi bands play in restaurants throughout the district, especially in the restaurants congregated around Valencia and Mission in the northeast portion of the district. Carlos Santana spent his teenage years in the Mission, graduating from Mission High School in 1965. He often returned to the neighborhood, including for

7860-449: The St. Peter's Catholic School, which opened in 1878. Previously its students were Irish or Italian American, but by 2014 95% of the student body was Latino and about two thirds were categorized as economically disadvantaged. Enrollment was once around 600 but by 2014 was around 300 due to gentrification . Its yearly per-student cost was $ 5,800 while yearly tuition, the lowest in the archdiocese,

7991-547: The adventure and economic opportunities. On the trail many people died from accidents, cholera , fever, and myriad other causes, and many women became widows before even setting eyes on California. While in California, women became widows quite frequently due to mining accidents , disease, or mining disputes of their husbands. Life in the goldfields offered opportunities for women to break from their traditional work. Because of many thousands of people flooding into California at Sacramento and San Francisco and surrounding areas,

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8122-519: The area during this time, with notable residents such as etymologist Peter Tamony calling the Mission home. During the 1940 to 1960s, a large number of Mexican immigrants moved into the area—displaced from an earlier "Mexican Barrio" located on Rincon Hill in order to create the western landing of the Bay Bridge —initiating white flight , giving the Mission a heavily Chicano/Latino character for which it continues to be known today. Starting in

8253-524: The area which now includes the Mission District was inhabited by the Ohlone people who populated much of the San Francisco bay area. The Yelamu Indians inhabited the region for over 2,000 years. Spanish missionaries arrived in the area during the late 18th century. They found these people living in two villages on Mission Creek . It was here that a Spanish priest named Father Francisco Palóu founded Mission San Francisco de Asis on June 29, 1776. The Mission

8384-410: The area, separated from the town of Yerba Buena , later renamed San Francisco (centered around Portsmouth Square ) by a two-mile wooden plank road (later paved and renamed Mission Street). The lands around the nearly abandoned mission church became a focal point of raffish attractions including bull and bear fighting, horse racing, baseball and dueling. A famous beer parlor resort known as The Willows

8515-414: The area. Around 1900, the Mission District was still one of San Francisco's least densely populated areas, with most of the inhabitants being white families from the working class and lower middle class who lived in single-family houses and two-family flats. Development and settlement intensified after the 1906 earthquake , as many displaced businesses and residents moved into the area, making Mission Street

8646-655: The baseball team named after the Mission District known as the Mission Reds and the San Francisco Seals . Irish immigrants moved into the Mission in the late 19th century. The Irish made their mark not only by working for the city government but by helping build the Catholic Schools in the Mission District. During California's early statehood period, in the 19th and 20th century, large numbers of Irish and German immigrant workers moved into

8777-443: The bay, that have now become the hot spot for tech companies. The Mission has felt the downstream effects of this demographic shift acutely. The intense surge in demand for housing and low supply of available housing has placed upward pressure on rents in transit hubs like the Mission, leading to gentrification and the displacement of families and small businesses. However, many residents protested and engaged in activism. They created

8908-587: The building of the San Francisco Mint in 1854, gold bullion was turned into official United States gold coins for circulation. The gold was also later sent by California banks to U.S. national banks in exchange for national paper currency to be used in the booming California economy . The arrival of hundreds of thousands of new people in California within a few years, compared to a population of some 15,000 Europeans and Californios beforehand, had many dramatic effects. A 2017 study attributes

9039-608: The ceiling displayed traditional Ohlone designs painted in vegetable dyes. The mission complex at this time included a convent and facilities for agriculture and manufacturing. The early 19th century saw the greatest period of activity at Mission San Francisco: At its peak in 1810–1820, the average Indian population at Pueblo Dolores was about 1,100 people. In 1810 the Mission owned 11,000 sheep, 11,000 cows, and thousands of horses, goats, pigs, and mules. Its ranching and farming operations extended as far south as San Mateo and east to Alameda . Horses were corralled on Potrero Hill , and

9170-607: The city grew in the decades following the Gold Rush, the Mission District became home to the first professional baseball stadium in California, opened in 1868 and known as Recreation Grounds seating 17,000 people which was located at Folsom and 25th Streets; a portion of the grounds remain as present day Garfield Square . Also, in the 20th century, the Mission District was home to two other baseball stadiums, Recreation Park located at 14th and Valencia and Seals Stadium located at 16th and Bryant with both these stadiums being used by

9301-503: The city's annual Carnaval festival and parade marches down Mission Street. Inspired by the festival in Rio de Janeiro , it is held in late May instead of the traditional late February to take advantage of better weather. The first Carnaval in San Francisco happened in 1978, with less than 100 people dancing in a parade that went around Precita Park . Alejandro Murguía (born 1949) is an American poet, short story writer, editor and filmmaker who

9432-515: The clear intent to distinguish their higher class power over those that could not afford those accommodations. Supply ships arrived in San Francisco with goods to supply the needs of the growing population. When hundreds of ships were abandoned after their crews deserted to go into the goldfields, many ships were converted to warehouses, stores, taverns, hotels, and one into a jail. As the city expanded and new places were needed on which to build, many ships were destroyed and used as landfill. Within

9563-573: The continental United States, particularly along the California Trail . Each of these routes had its own deadly hazards, from shipwreck to typhoid fever and cholera . In the early years of the rush, much of the population growth in the San Francisco area was due to steamship travel from New York City through overland portages in Nicaragua and Panama and then back up by steamship to San Francisco. While traveling, many steamships from

9694-654: The destroyed brick church. The architect Willis Polk restored the Adobe building in 1917. Construction of the new Mission Dolores Church experienced delays due to the American entry into World War I in 1917. It was finally completed in 1918. The church was remodeled in 1926, with the archdiocese adding churrigueresque ornamentation. These were inspired by exhibits at the 1915 Panama–California Exposition in San Diego, California. In 1952, Archbishop John J. Mitty announced that Pope Pius XII had elevated Mission Dolores to

9825-634: The dominant activity held throughout the steamships was gambling, which was ironic because segregation between wealth gaps was prominent throughout the ships. Everything was segregated between the rich vs. the poor. There were different levels of travel one could pay for to get to California. The cheaper steamships tended to have longer routes. In contrast, the more expensive would get passengers to California quicker. There were clear social and economic distinctions between those who traveled together, being that those who spent more money would receive accommodations that others were not allowed. They would do this with

9956-460: The downtown area to the Mission District. The area soon became a popular resort and entertainment center. The Franciscans sold or leased some of the remaining mission land to developers who built saloons and gambling halls. By 1857, the Franciscans had turned control of the Mission San Francisco to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. During the late 19th century, the archdiocese converted part of

10087-461: The early 70s emerged in the community as 7 young Latino men known as Los Siete de la Raza from the mission district were being charged for the 1969 murder of a San Francisco Police officer. The community got together as these young men were standing up to what was being said about them and were determined to be heard. The people around the Mission District knew these 7 young individuals as change-makers, they were actively trying to get more people from

10218-572: The easily accessible gold had been collected, and attention turned to extracting gold from more difficult locations. Faced with gold increasingly difficult to retrieve, Americans began to drive out foreigners to get at the most accessible gold that remained. The new California State Legislature passed a foreign miners tax of twenty dollars per month ($ 730 per month as of 2024), and American prospectors began organized attacks on foreign miners, particularly Latin Americans and Chinese . In addition,

10349-419: The eastern seaboard required the passengers to bring kits, which were typically full of personal belongings such as clothes, guidebooks, tools, etc. In addition to personal belongings, Argonauts were required to bring barrels full of beef, biscuits, butter, pork, rice, and salt. While on the steamships, travelers could talk to each other, smoke, fish, and other activities depending on the ship they traveled. Still,

10480-404: The effort. Women and children of all ethnicities were often found panning next to the men. Some enterprising families set up boarding houses to accommodate the influx of men; in such cases, the women often brought in steady income while their husbands searched for gold. Word of the gold rush spread slowly at first. The earliest gold-seekers were people who lived near California or people who heard

10611-589: The elevated highway of the Central Freeway which runs above 13th Street. The principal thoroughfare of the Mission District is Mission Street . South of the Mission District, along Mission Street, are the Excelsior and Crocker-Amazon neighborhoods, sometimes referred to as the "Outer Mission" (not to be confused with the actual Outer Mission neighborhood ). The Mission District is part of San Francisco's supervisorial districts 6, 9 and 10. The Mission

10742-676: The end of the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, the newly independent Mexico took control of Alta California. Relations were strained between the new Mexican Government and the Franciscan overseers of the California missions. Supplies were scarce and over 5,000 Native Americans died from disease and other causes at the Mission San Francisco. The Mexican Government decided to free the Native Americans under mission guardianship and give them mission lands. New regulations under

10873-431: The first Methodist church in California, and California's first professional hospital. When the Gold Rush began, the California goldfields were peculiarly lawless places. When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California was still technically part of Mexico, under American military occupation as the result of the Mexican–American War. With the signing of the treaty ending the war on February 2, 1848, California became

11004-437: The first five years of the Gold Rush. In the next stage, by 1853, hydraulic mining was used on ancient gold-bearing gravel beds on hillsides and bluffs in the goldfields. In a modern style of hydraulic mining first developed in California, and later used around the world, a high-pressure hose directed a powerful stream or jet of water at gold-bearing gravel beds. The loosened gravel and gold would then pass over sluices, with

11135-565: The first supply stores in Sacramento, Coloma, and other spots in the goldfields. Just as the rush began, he purchased all the prospecting supplies available in San Francisco and resold them at a substantial profit. Some gold-seekers made a significant amount of money. On average, half the gold-seekers made a modest profit, after taking all expenses into account; economic historians have suggested that white miners were more successful than black, Indian, or Chinese miners. However, taxes such as

11266-400: The forty-niners was that the gold was simply "free for the taking" at first. In the goldfields at the beginning, there was no private property, no licensing fees, and no taxes . The miners informally adapted Mexican mining law that had existed in California. For example, the rules attempted to balance the rights of early arrivers at a site with later arrivers; a " claim " could be "staked" by

11397-655: The future Mission San Francisco was scouted by the Spanish missionary Pedro Font in March 1776 during a visit to the Bay Area by the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza . The Spanish missionaries named the new mission San Francisco de Asís, in honor of Francis of Assisi , founder of the Franciscan Order . It became commonly known as Mission Dolores, after the nearby creek, Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores ( Our Lady of Sorrows Creek )" On October 9, 1776,

11528-454: The gold in the California gravel beds was so richly concentrated, early forty-niners were able to retrieve loose gold flakes and nuggets with their hands, or simply " pan " for gold in rivers and streams. Panning cannot take place on a large scale, and industrious miners and groups of miners graduated to placer mining , using " cradles " and "rockers" or "long-toms" to process larger volumes of gravel. Miners would also engage in "coyoteing",

11659-559: The gold settling to the bottom where it was collected. By the mid-1880s, it is estimated that 11 million troy ounces (340 t) of gold (worth approximately US$ 15 billion at December 2010 prices) had been recovered by hydraulic mining. A byproduct of these extraction methods was that large amounts of gravel, silt , heavy metals , and other pollutants went into streams and rivers. Court rulings (1882 Gold Run and 1884 "Sawyer Act" ) and 1893 federal legislation limited hydraulic mining in California. As of 1999 many areas still bear

11790-503: The gold was sent to the U.S. Mint , although otherwise attracted little notice. In 1843, Lopez found gold in San Feliciano Canyon near his first discovery. Mexican miners from Sonora worked the placer deposits until 1846. Minor finds of gold in California were also made by Mission Indians prior to 1848. The friars instructed them to keep its location secret to avoid a gold rush . In January 1847, nine months into

11921-440: The gold-bearing quartz. Once the gold-bearing rocks were brought to the surface, the rocks were crushed and the gold separated, either using separation in water, using its density difference from quartz sand, or by washing the sand over copper plates coated with mercury (with which gold forms an amalgam ). Loss of mercury in the amalgamation process was a source of environmental contamination . Eventually, hard-rock mining became

12052-592: The gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for gold rush immigration). Outside of California, the first to arrive were from Oregon , the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and Latin America in late 1848. Of the approximately 300,000 people who came to California during the gold rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the California Road ; forty-niners often faced substantial hardships on

12183-423: The goldfields and find the equivalent of six years' wages back home. Some hoped to get rich quick and return home, and others wished to start businesses in California. By the beginning of 1849, word of the gold rush had spread around the world, and an overwhelming number of gold-seekers and merchants began to arrive from virtually every continent. The largest group of forty-niners in 1849 were Americans, arriving by

12314-721: The hills near Genoa , Italy were among the first to settle permanently in the Sierra Nevada foothills ; they brought with them traditional agricultural skills, developed to survive cold winters. A modest number of miners of African ancestry (probably less than 4,000) had come from the Southern States , the Caribbean and Brazil. A number of immigrants were from China. Several hundred Chinese arrived in California in 1849 and 1850, and in 1852 more than 20,000 landed in San Francisco. Their distinctive dress and appearance

12445-415: The horses grazed, Lopez dug up some wild onions and found a small gold nugget in the roots among the bulbs. He looked further and found more gold. Lopez took the gold to authorities who confirmed its worth. Lopez and others began to search for other streambeds with gold deposits in the area. They found several in the northeastern section of the forest, within present-day Ventura County . In November, some of

12576-638: The huge numbers of newcomers were driving Native Americans out of their traditional hunting, fishing and food-gathering areas. To protect their homes and livelihood, some Native Americans responded by attacking the miners. This provoked counter-attacks on native villages. The Native Americans, out-gunned, were often slaughtered. Those who escaped massacres were many times unable to survive without access to their food-gathering areas, and they starved to death. Novelist and poet Joaquin Miller vividly captured one such attack in his semi-autobiographical work, Life Amongst

12707-511: The late 1890s, dredging technology (also invented in California) had become economical, and it is estimated that more than 20 million troy ounces (620 t) were recovered by dredging. Both during the gold rush and in the decades that followed, gold-seekers also engaged in "hard-rock" mining, extracting the gold directly from the rock that contained it (typically quartz ), usually by digging and blasting to follow and remove veins of

12838-596: The milking sheds for the cows were located along Dolores Creek at what is today Mission High School. Twenty looms were kept in operation to process wool into cloth. The circumference of the Mission's holdings was said to have been about 125 miles. In 1817, the Franciscans established the Mission San Rafael Arcángel in San Rafael, California as an a sistencia to act as a hospital for the mission. It became an independent mission in 1822. With

12969-524: The mill to secrecy, in February 1848, Sutter sent Charles Bennett to Monterey to meet with Colonel Mason, the chief U.S. official in California, to secure the mineral rights of the land where the mill stood. Bennett was not to tell anyone of the discovery of gold, but when he stopped at Benicia , he heard talk about the discovery of coal near Mount Diablo, and he blurted out the discovery of gold. He continued to San Francisco, where again, he could not keep

13100-455: The mission was remodeled. Funding for the sculpture came from D.J. McQuarry and it cost $ 500 to cast. It is approximately 6 ft 6 in tall. The sculpture depicts Serra wearing a Franciscan friar's robe belted at the waist with a knotted rope and a rosary around his neck. The sculpture is on a concrete base. It is one of a series of allegorical figures commissioned by the estate of E. W. Scripps to depict California history. In 1993 it

13231-403: The missionaries dedicated a small chapel in present-day San Francisco as the Mission San Francisco. According to some sources, the chapel stood near the present intersection of Camp and Albion Streets . Members of the local Ramaytush Ohlone tribe are recorded as entering the mission in 1785. They would later provide the labor to build the new mission church. The construction of adobe walls for

13362-553: The name given to California in Chinese. The first immigrants from Europe, reeling from the effects of the Revolutions of 1848 and with a longer distance to travel, began arriving in late 1849, mostly from France, with some Germans , Italians , and Britons . It is estimated that approximately 90,000 people arrived in California in 1849—about half by land and half by sea. Of these, perhaps 50,000 to 60,000 were Americans, and

13493-412: The need, where he held services in the street, using a barrel head as his pulpit. Crowds would gather to listen to his sermons, and before long he received enough generous donations from successful gold miners and built San Francisco's first church. In what has been referred to as the "first world-class gold rush," there was no easy way to get to California; forty-niners faced hardship and often death on

13624-408: The neighborhood, residences are not evenly distributed. Of the neighborhood's Chicano/Latino residents, most live on the eastern and southern sides. The western and northern sides of the neighborhood are more affluent and white. As of 2017, the northern part of the Mission, together with the nearby Tenderloin, is home to a Mayan -speaking community, consisting of immigrants who have been arriving since

13755-504: The news from ships on the fastest sailing routes from California. The first large group of Americans to arrive were several thousand Oregonians who came down the Siskiyou Trail. Next came people from the Sandwich Islands , and several thousand Latin Americans, including people from Mexico, from Peru and from as far away as Chile, both by ship and overland. By the end of 1848, some 6,000 Argonauts had come to California. Only

13886-543: The old convent into a two-story wooden wing for use as a seminary and priests' residence. The rest of the convent building became the Mansion House, a tavern. By 1876, the archdiocese had razed the Mansion House, replacing it with a large Gothic Revival brick church to accommodate more congregants than the adobe church The archdiocese also covered the adobe church with clapboard siding for both cosmetic and

14017-467: The population and economy of California had become large and diverse enough that money could be made in a wide variety of conventional businesses. Once extracted, the gold itself took many paths. First, much of the gold was used locally to purchase food, supplies and lodging for the miners . It also went towards entertainment, which consisted of anything from a traveling theater to alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes. These transactions often took place using

14148-560: The recently recovered gold, carefully weighed out. These merchants and vendors, in turn, used the gold to purchase supplies from ship captains or packers bringing goods to California. The gold then left California aboard ships or mules to go to the makers of the goods from around the world. A second path was the Argonauts themselves who, having personally acquired a sufficient amount, sent the gold home, or returned home taking with them their hard-earned "diggings". For example, one estimate

14279-466: The record-long economic expansion of the United States in the recession-free period of 1841–1856 primarily to "a boom in transportation-goods investment following the discovery of gold in California." The gold rush propelled California from a sleepy, little-known backwater to a center of the global imagination and the destination of hundreds of thousands of people. The new immigrants often showed remarkable inventiveness and civic mindedness. For example, in

14410-473: The residents that live in Mission District are of minorities and low-income families and uses this useful and open hub for gatherings and doing local businesses like food trucks. However, because of the Dot-Com Boom that occurred in the 1990s and the rise of technology and social media, major technology companies like Google and Facebook have moved up their offices to places like Silicon Valley , south of

14541-475: The rest were from other countries. By 1855, it is estimated at least 300,000 gold-seekers, merchants, and other immigrants had arrived in California from around the world. The largest group continued to be Americans, but there were tens of thousands each of Mexicans, Chinese, Britons, Australians, French, and Latin Americans, together with many smaller groups of miners, such as African Americans, Filipinos , Basques and Turks . People from small villages in

14672-517: The scars of hydraulic mining, since the resulting exposed earth and downstream gravel deposits do not support plant life. After the gold rush had concluded, gold recovery operations continued. The final stage to recover loose gold was to prospect for gold that had slowly washed down into the flat river bottoms and sandbars of California's Central Valley and other gold-bearing areas of California (such as Scott Valley in Siskiyou County). By

14803-419: The secret. At Monterey, Mason declined to make any judgement of title to lands and mineral rights, and Bennett for the third time revealed the gold discovery. By March 1848, rumors of the discovery were confirmed by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan . Brannan hurriedly set up a store to sell gold prospecting supplies, and he walked through the streets of San Francisco, holding aloft

14934-461: The single largest source of gold produced in the Gold Country . The total production of gold in California from then until now is estimated at 118 million troy ounces (3,700 t). Recent scholarship confirms that merchants made far more money than miners during the gold rush. The wealthiest man in California during the early years of the rush was Samuel Brannan , a tireless self-promoter, shopkeeper and newspaper publisher. Brannan opened

15065-536: The status of a minor Basilica . This was the first designation of a basilica west of the Mississippi and the fifth basilica named in the United States. Today, the church constructed in 1918 is referred to as the Mission Dolores Basilica while the 1791 adobe chapel is called the Mission Dolores. The mission complex also includes a historic cemetery. The Mission Dolores adobe chapel contains

15196-621: The tens of thousands overland across the continent and along various sailing routes (the name "forty-niner" was derived from the year 1849). Many from the East Coast negotiated a crossing of the Appalachian Mountains , taking to riverboats in Pennsylvania , poling the keelboats to Missouri River wagon train assembly ports, and then traveling in a wagon train along the California Trail . Many others came by way of

15327-476: The time. These immigrants brought in many Central American banks and companies which would set up branches, offices, and regional headquarters on Mission Street. From the late 1990s through the 2010s, and especially during the dot-com boom , young urban professionals moved into the area. It is widely believed that their movement initiated gentrification , raising rent and housing prices. A number of Latino American middle-class families as well as artists moved to

15458-430: The trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. In 1849,

15589-446: The two privately tested the metal. After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay, wanting to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were a gold rush in the region. The Mexican–American War ended on May 30 with the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which formally transferred California to the United States. Having sworn all concerned at

15720-458: The way. At first, most Argonauts , as they were also known, traveled by sea. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take four to five months, and cover approximately 18,000 nautical miles (21,000 mi; 33,000 km). An alternative was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama , take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on

15851-602: The west from Noe Valley (where clouds from Twin Peaks in the west tend to accumulate on foggy days) towards Mission Street in the east, partly because Noe Valley is on higher ground whereas the Inner Mission is at a lower elevation. The Mission includes four recognized sub-districts. The northeastern quadrant, adjacent to Potrero Hill is known as a center for high tech startup businesses including some chic bars and restaurants. The northwest quadrant along Dolores Street

15982-543: The western edge by the J Church Muni Metro line, which runs down Church Street and San Jose Avenue . The Mission District in the San Francisco Bay Area is a historic transit hub for the Chicano and the Latino community, especially on the 16th Street BART Plaza. An atmosphere like a public market with live music and food trucks, it is also a commuting point for public transportation, which primarily serves low-income working-class people. The majority of

16113-426: The world. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service. By 1869, railroads were built from California to the eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's US dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for

16244-454: Was $ 3,800. California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California . The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated

16375-580: Was a common practice to use the street cars to move bodies. Valencia Street became a location of many mortuaries and funeral homes during this time due to the quick access to Colma by street car. In 1926, the Polish community of San Francisco converted a church on 22nd Street and Shotwell Street and opened its doors as the Polish Club of San Francisco; it is referred to today as the "Dom Polski", or Polish Home. The Irish American community made its mark on

16506-668: Was converted to a punk living/rehearsal building, popularly known as The Vats. The neighborhood was dubbed "the New Bohemia" by the San Francisco Chronicle in 1995. In the 1980s and 1990s, the neighborhood received a higher influx of immigrants and refugees from Central America, South America, the Middle East and even the Philippines and former Yugoslavia, fleeing civil wars and political instability at

16637-563: Was examined by the Smithsonian Institution 's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program. The program determined that the sculpture was well maintained. The Mission Dolores Basilica contains a stained glass window of Francis of Assisi, created by the German artist Franz Xaver Zettler at the time of the church's construction. Mission District The Mission District ( Spanish : Distrito de la Misión ), commonly known as

16768-476: Was highly recognizable in the goldfields. Chinese miners suffered enormously, enduring violent racism from white miners who aimed their frustrations at foreigners. Further animosity toward the Chinese led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and Foreign Miners Tax. There were also women in the gold rush . However, their numbers were small. Of the 40,000 people who arrived by ship to

16899-592: Was located along Mission Creek just south of 18th Street between Mission Street and San Carlos Street. From 1865 to 1891, a large conservatory and zoo known as Woodward's Gardens covered two city blocks bounded by Mission Street, Valencia Street, 13th Street, and 15th Street. In the decades after the Gold Rush , the town of San Francisco quickly expanded, and the Mission lands were developed and subdivided into housing plots for working-class immigrants, largely German, Irish, and Italian, and also for industrial uses. As

17030-573: Was moved from the shore of Laguna Dolores to its current location in 1783. Franciscan friars are reported to have used Ohlone slave labor to complete the Mission in 1791. This period marked the beginning of the end of the Yelamu culture. The Indian population at Mission Dolores dropped from 400 to 50 between 1833 and 1841. Ranchos owned by Spanish-Mexican families such as the Valenciano, Guerrero, Dolores, Bernal, Noé and De Haro continued in

17161-399: Was named San Francisco Poet Laureate in 2012. He is known for his writings about the Mission District where he has been a long-time resident. Due to the existing cultural attractions, formerly less expensive housing and commercial space, and the high density of restaurants and drinking establishments, the Mission is a magnet for young people. An independent arts community also arose and, since

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