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146-544: From atop the four mile long ridge, summit trails afford expansive views of the San Francisco Bay Area . Much of the mountain is in the 2,326-acre (941 ha) San Bruno Mountain State Park or the adjoining 83-acre (34 ha) State Ecological Reserve . Radio Peak (elevation 1,319 feet or 402 meters), the highest point, hosts radio/TV broadcast towers serving the hilly Bay Area . San Bruno Mountain

292-778: A World Series game between two Bay Area baseball teams, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck and caused widespread infrastructural damage, including the failure of the Bay Bridge , a major link between San Francisco and Oakland . Even so, the Bay Area's technology industry continued to expand and growth in Silicon Valley accelerated: the United States census confirmed that year that San Jose had overtaken San Francisco in terms of population. The commercialization of

438-620: A channel sharing agreement with KDTV-DT and moved to its site on Mount Allison . Radio transmitters presently on San Bruno Mountain include KIOI , KITS , KMEL , KMVQ , KOSF (formerly KSFX), KQED , and KSAN , In 1954, construction was begun for an early-warning radar and missile-control site on the mountaintop. It became active in 1956, controlling Nike anti-aircraft defense systems at Fort Funston (SF-59) and Milagra Ridge (SF-51), and remained in service through March 1963. The site has been re-purposed, and no trace can now be seen. The runways of San Francisco Airport are three miles from

584-404: A city park which provides 30 acres (12 ha) of open space, almost 2 miles (3.2 km) of hiking trails, and access to the letters of the sign itself. The sign spells out "SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO THE INDUSTRIAL CITY" in white-painted concrete letters and is visible to drivers on northbound U.S. 101 and flights to San Francisco International Airport . The letters are set on the south side of

730-453: A complex multimodal transportation network. The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlements in the Bay Area dates back to 8000–10,000 BC. The oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok people suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years. The Spanish empire claimed the area beginning in the early period of Spanish colonization of

876-643: A few years earlier, which now provides drinking water for 2.4 million people in the Bay Area. By 1915, the city had been sufficiently rebuilt and advertised itself to the world during the Panama Pacific Exposition that year, although the effects of the quake hastened the loss of the region's dominant status in California to the Los Angeles metropolitan area . During the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent economic depression , not

1022-559: A first in the United States, and four years later a majority of voters in the Bay Area rejected California Proposition 8 , which sought to constitutionally restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples but ultimately passed statewide. The Bay Area was also the center of contentious protests concerning racial and economic inequality . In 2009, an African-American man named Oscar Grant was fatally shot by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers , precipitating widespread protests across

1168-755: A major domestic military and naval hub, with large shipyards constructed in Sausalito and across the East Bay to build ships for the war effort. The Army's San Francisco Port of Embarkation was the primary origin for Army forces shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations . That command consisted of fourteen installations including Fort Mason, the Oakland Army Base , Camp Stoneman and Fort McDowell in San Francisco Bay and

1314-516: A member of the 1776 De Anza Expedition , was awarded Rancho Buri Buri in 1827, it was confirmed by the Mexican government in 1835. Rancho Buri Buri extended from the bay salt flats to San Andreas Valley and from Daly City to Coyote Point in Burlingame . Its northern extremity included "La Portezuela" (Doorway) the pass between the western end of the mountain and the coastal upthrust along

1460-474: A rate of one thousand per week on their way to California's interior, including the first large influx of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. The rush was so great that vessels were abandoned by the hundreds in San Francisco's ports as crews rushed to the goldfields. The unprecedented influx of new arrivals spread the nascent government authorities thin, and the military was unable to prevent desertions. As

1606-466: A result, numerous vigilante groups formed to provide order, but many tasked themselves with forcibly moving or killing local Native Americans , and by the end of the Gold Rush, two thirds of the indigenous population had been killed. During this same time, a constitutional convention was called to determine California's application for statehood into the United States. After statehood was granted,

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1752-499: A significant earthquake hazard. Among the more well-understood faults, as of 2014, scientists estimate a 72% probability of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurring along either the Hayward, Rogers Creek, or San Andreas fault, with an earthquake more likely to occur in the East Bay's Hayward Fault. Two of the largest earthquakes in recent history were the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . The Bay Area

1898-535: A single San Francisco-based bank failed, while the region attempted to spur job growth by simultaneously undertaking two large infrastructure projects: construction of the Golden Gate Bridge , which would connect San Francisco with Marin County , and the Bay Bridge , which would connect San Francisco with Oakland and the East Bay. After the United States joined World War II in 1941, the Bay Area became

2044-622: A single county, Alameda. Diverse assemblages adjoin in complex arrangements due to offsets along the many faults (both active and stable) in the area. As a consequence, many types of rock and soil are found in the region. The oldest rocks are metamorphic rocks that are associated with granite in the Salinian Block west of the San Andreas Fault . These were formed from sedimentary rocks of sandstone , limestone , and shale in uplifted seabeds. Volcanic deposits also exist in

2190-514: A source in San Bruno Mountain State and County Park , runs west into Colma Canyon, then turns southeast and runs south along the base of the mountain (fed by Twelve-Mile Creek along Westborough Boulevard, and at least eight other streams) until it reaches the San Francisco Bay north of San Francisco International Airport. Steelhead trout historically swam nearly to the headwaters of Colma Creek to spawn; boats carried supplies up to

2336-410: A stampede of wealth-seekers descending on Sutter's Mill . The Bay Area's population quickly emptied out as laborers, clerks, waiters, and servants joined the rush to find gold, and California's first newspaper, The Californian , was forced to announce a temporary freeze in new issues due to labor shortages. By the end of 1849, news had spread across the world and newcomers flooded into the Bay Area at

2482-470: A steep 581-foot (177 m) hill, part of the San Bruno Mountains , overlooking the city. In order to create the appearance of straight, uniformly sized type despite the varied contour of the hillside, the letters are laid out using anamorphosis , ranging in height from 48 to 65 feet (15 to 20 m). The first line, "SOUTH", is 166 feet (51 m) long. The second line, "SAN FRANCISCO",

2628-675: A storm sank the San Agustin and killed between 7 and 12 people. On December 8, 80 remaining crew members set sail on the San Buenaventura , a launch which was partially constructed en route from the Philippines . Seeking the fastest route south, the expedition sailed past the Golden Gate, arriving at Puerto de Chacala, Mexico on January 17, 1596. The Bay Area estuaries remained unknown to Europeans until members of

2774-596: A variety of habitats in this mountainous area, and notably the following rare or endangered flora: The State Parks system, San Mateo County, private agencies, water-districts, and cities surrounding the mountain have all begun efforts to mitigate effects of invasive species , many of which are successful in crowding-out native flora and fauna. Beginning in 1853, for example, many variants of Eucalyptus were brought to San Francisco. Used for windbreaks, shade, and firewood, their ability to thrive and grow quickly in very dry conditions got them planted throughout California in

2920-462: Is 484 feet (148 m) long. The third line, "THE INDUSTRIAL CITY", is 628 feet (191 m) long. The letters are intact with the exception of the T in "CITY", which had separated the vertical line from the horizontal line by approximately 40 inches (1,000 mm) by 1996. An early version of the sign was installed on the hillside in 1923. Each letter was laid out by city engineer George A. Kneese to ensure even spacing and appearance. The letters for

3066-511: Is a greenish soft metamorphic material; . With their unusual and diverse mineral composition, serpentine soils host a variety of rare plants which support even-rarer animal life. The mountain pairs two parallel ranges separated by the Guadalupe Valley and Colma Canyon and united by a saddle. The lower north range (also called Crocker Hills ) attains a peak of 850 feet (259 m). The south range rises abruptly from Merced Valley at

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3212-787: Is accepted by most local governmental agencies including San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board , Bay Area Air Quality Management District , the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority , the Metropolitan Transportation Commission , and the Association of Bay Area Governments , the latter two of which partner to deliver a Bay Area Census using the nine-county definition. Various U.S. Federal government agencies use definitions that differ from their local counterparts' nine-county definition. For example,

3358-403: Is additionally known for the complexity of its landforms, the result of millions of years of tectonic plate movements. Because the Bay Area is crossed by six major earthquake faults , the region is particularly exposed to hazards presented by large earthquakes. The climate is temperate and conducive to outdoor recreational and athletic activities such as hiking, running, and cycling. The Bay Area

3504-867: Is home to a complex network of watersheds, marshes, rivers, creeks, reservoirs, and bays that predominantly drain into the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. The largest bodies of water in the Bay Area are the San Francisco , San Pablo , and Suisun estuaries. Major rivers of the North Bay include the Napa River , the Petaluma River , the Gualala River , and the Russian River ; the former two drain into San Pablo Bay ,

3650-474: Is host to five professional sports teams and is a cultural center for music, theater, and the arts. It is also host to numerous higher education institutions, including research universities such as the University of California, Berkeley , and Stanford University , the latter known for helping to create the high tech center called Silicon Valley . Home to 101 municipalities and 9 counties, governance in

3796-564: Is largely formed of late Cretaceous graywacke exposed on high ridges and on steep canyon walls. This dark greenish-gray rock is a poorly-sorted sandstone with angular fragments of feldspar and detrital chert . The fragments suggest rapid erosion and deposit in a sea-basin, visible fossils are rare. Microscopic fossils, though, abound in the radiolarian chert seen on south facing slopes of San Bruno Mountain and at Point San Bruno. Finally, Serpentinite outcrops occur near Serbian Ravine and at Point San Bruno; this California State Rock

3942-468: Is largely influenced by the cold California Current , which penetrates the natural mountainous barrier along the coast by traveling through various gaps. In terms of precipitation , this means that the Bay Area has pronounced seasons. The winter season, which roughly runs between November and March, is the source of about 82% of annual precipitation in the area. In the South Bay and further inland, while

4088-592: Is not part of the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains , though their northern-most peak, Montara Mountain , is only eight miles from Radio Peak. The Santa Cruz range is on the Pacific tectonic plate , however, while San Bruno Mountain is on the North American Plate . Distinct geology and weather set San Bruno Mountain apart from other California coastal areas. The mountain soil provides habitat for rare and endangered plants (see below) and butterflies ;

4234-476: Is now Genentech , which has promoted South San Francisco as "the birthplace of biotechnology". As a result of this shift away from industry as the city's economic focus, there was a movement during the 1980s to tear down the sign or change it to "the industrious city". In response, the city's Historic Preservation Commission and Historical Society persuaded the City Council to seek historic designation, which

4380-577: The Callippe silverspot , Mission blue , and San Bruno elfin butterfly all inhabit mountain slopes. The mountain is also a cradle for economically-useful plants; the low-growing evergreen "San Bruno Mountain Manzanita" (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) has become widely used in drought-resistant landscaping. The southern border of San Francisco runs up the north reaches of the mountain; post-WW2 residential tracts of Southern Hills and Bayshore encircle

4526-604: The Bank of Italy (now known as the Bank of America ), had managed to retrieve the money from his bank's vaults before fires broke out through the city and was the only bank with liquid funds readily available and was instrumental in loaning out funds for rebuilding efforts. Congress immediately approved plans for a reservoir in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park , a plan they had denied

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4672-559: The Bay Area , is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay . The Association of Bay Area Governments defines the Bay Area as including the nine counties that border the estuaries of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay , and Suisun Bay : Alameda , Contra Costa , Marin , Napa , San Mateo , Santa Clara , Solano , Sonoma , and San Francisco . Other definitions may be either smaller or larger, and may include neighboring counties which are not officially part of

4818-624: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which regulates broadcast, cable, and satellite transmissions, includes nearby Colusa , Lake and Mendocino counties in their " San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose " media market , but excludes eastern Solano County. On the other hand, the United States Office of Management and Budget , which designates metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and combined statistical areas (CSA) for populated regions across

4964-597: The Golden Gate or the estuaries, likely due to fog. Sir Francis Drake became the first European to land in the area and claim it in June 1579, when he landed at Drakes Bay near Point Reyes. Even though he claimed the region for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or New Albion , the English made no immediate follow up to the claim. In 1595, Philip II of Spain tasked Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho with mapping

5110-711: The Hayward Fault Zone , Concord-Green Valley Fault , Calaveras Fault , Clayton-Marsh Creek-Greenville Fault , Rodgers Creek Fault , and the San Gregorio Fault . Significant blind thrust faults (faults with near vertical motion and no surface ruptures) are associated with portions of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the northern reaches of the Diablo Range and Mount Diablo . These "hidden" faults, which are not as well known, pose

5256-591: The Hayward fault , and the Diablo Range , which includes Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton and runs along the Calaveras fault . In total, the Bay Area is traversed by seven major fault systems with hundreds of related faults, all of which are stressed by the relative motion between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate or by compressive stresses between these plates. The fault systems include

5402-516: The Internet in the middle of the decade rapidly created a speculative bubble in the high-tech economy known as the dot-com bubble . This bubble began collapsing in the early 2000s and the industry continued contracting for the next few years, nearly wiping out the market. Companies like Amazon.com and Google managed to weather the crash however, and following the industry's return to normalcy, their market value increased significantly. Even as

5548-619: The North Pacific High through the Golden Gate, which creates the city's characteristic cool winds and fog . The microclimate phenomenon is most pronounced during this time, when fog penetration is at its maximum in areas near the Golden Gate strait, while the South Bay and areas further inland are sunny and dry. Along the San Francisco peninsula, gaps in the Santa Cruz Mountains , one south of San Bruno Mountain and another in Crystal Springs, allow oceanic weather into

5694-556: The Pacific Ocean on the west and the bay on the east and are characterized by their mountainous and woody terrain. Sonoma and Napa counties are known internationally for their grape vineyards and wineries , and Solano County to the east, centered around Vallejo , is the fastest growing region in the Bay Area. The " Peninsula " subregion includes the cities and towns on the San Francisco Peninsula, excluding

5840-585: The Portola Festival . The current, permanent sign was created in 1929. The sign is cited as a prime example of "civic boosterism"; the intention was to advertise the city's welcoming attitude toward industry. Its location was chosen so as to be visible from the main north-south highways El Camino Real and the Bayshore Highway , as well as from the train and the nearby Mills Field airfield (now San Francisco International Airport ). The sign

5986-615: The Portolá expedition , while trekking along the California coast, encountered them in 1769 when the Golden Gate blocked their continued journey north. Several missions were founded in the Bay Area during this period. In 1806, a Spanish expedition led by Gabriel Moraga began at the Presidio, traveled south of the bay, and then east to explore the San Joaquin Valley . In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and

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6132-604: The San Joaquin River Delta , causing a cooling effect in Stockton and Sacramento , so that these cities are also cooler than their Central Valley counterparts in the south. The Bay Area is home to a diverse array of wildlife and, along with the connected San Joaquin River Delta represents one of California's most important ecological habitats. California's Dungeness crab , Pacific halibut , and

6278-684: The USS ; Portsmouth into the bay and seized San Francisco, which was then known as Yerba Buena , and raised the American flag for the first time over Portsmouth Square . In 1848, James W. Marshall 's discovery of gold in the American River sparked the California Gold Rush , and within half a year 4,000 men were panning for gold along the river and finding $ 50,000 per day. The promise of fabulous riches quickly led to

6424-615: The University of California, Berkeley Richard Walker claimed that "no other U.S. city-region is as definitionally challenged [as the Bay Area]." When the region began to rapidly develop during and immediately after World War II , local planners settled on a nine-county definition for the Bay Area, consisting of the counties that directly border the San Francisco , San Pablo , and Suisun estuaries : Alameda , Contra Costa , Marin , Napa , San Francisco , San Mateo , Santa Clara , Solano , and Sonoma counties. Today, this definition

6570-485: The gay rights movement . At the same time, parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties began to rapidly develop from an agrarian economy into a hotbed of the high-tech industry . Fred Terman , the director of a top-secret research project at Harvard University during World War II, joined the faculty at Stanford University in order to reshape the university's engineering department. His students, including David Packard and William Hewlett , would later help usher in

6716-476: The osprey . In 1927, zoologist Joseph Grinnell wrote that osprey were only rare visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area, although he noted records of one or two used nests in the broken tops of redwood trees along the Russian River . In 1989, the southern breeding range of the osprey in the Bay Area was Kent Lake , although osprey were noted to be extending their range further south in

6862-575: The west coast of the United States , including populations residing in tributaries to San Francisco Bay. California Coast Chinook salmon were historically native to the Guadalupe River in San Francisco Bay, and Chinook salmon runs persist today in the Guadalupe River, Coyote Creek , Napa River , and Walnut Creek . Industrial, mining, and other uses of mercury have resulted in a widespread distribution of that poisonous metal in

7008-504: The 1906 quake. Brisbane is on an eastern prominence, while the residential portion of the community of South San Francisco spills into the southeastern valleys. The large cemeteries in Colma abut nearly two miles of the mountain's south flank; most were developed after the City and County of San Francisco evicted all burial grounds from the county in 1912. The 144-acre Guadalupe quarry on

7154-411: The 1970s, while KTSF now transmits from Mount Allison . Radio Peak currently houses TV broadcasts for KRON, KOFY (and sister stations KCNZ and KQRM), KKPX , and KNTV . A number of FM radio stations built transmitter towers on the mountain, and in 2005, KNTV moved its transmitter to the mountain, on the former KCSM-TV tower. KTSF occupied the former KRON site until 2018, when it entered into

7300-587: The 1980s an effort to re-introduce the species to the area began with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and the San Francisco Zoo importing birds and eggs from Vancouver Island and northeastern California, and there are now nineteen nesting couples in eight of the Bay Area's nine counties. Other once absent species that have returned to the Bay Area include Swainson's hawk , white tailed kite , and

7446-550: The Americas . The earliest Spanish exploration of the Bay Area took place in 1769. The Mexican government controlled the area from 1821 until the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . Also in 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold in nearby mountains , resulting in explosive immigration to the area and the precipitous decline of the Native population . The California Gold Rush brought rapid growth to San Francisco . California

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7592-476: The Bay Area at the time of first European contact were descended from Siberian tribes who arrived at around 1,000 BCE by sailing over the Arctic Ocean and following the salmon migration. However the current academic consensus is compatible with the oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok peoples, which suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years. At

7738-576: The Bay Area became part of the Mexican province of Alta California , a period characterized by ranch life and visiting American trappers. Mexico's control of the territory would be short-lived, however, and in 1846 a party of settlers occupied Sonoma Plaza and proclaimed the independence of the new Republic of California . That same year, the Mexican–American War began, and American captain John Berrien Montgomery sailed

7884-449: The Bay Area has experienced numerous political, cultural, and artistic movements, developing unique local genres in music and art and establishing itself as a hotbed of progressive politics . Economically, the post-war Bay Area saw large growth in the financial and technology industries, creating an economy with a gross domestic product of over $ 700 billion. In 2018 it was home to the third-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in

8030-521: The Bay Area involves numerous local and regional jurisdictions, often with broad and overlapping responsibilities. The Coyote Hills Shell Mound, the earliest known archaeological evidence of human habitation of the Bay Area estuaries, dates to around 10,000 BCE, with evidence pointing to even earlier settlement in Point Reyes in Marin County . It has been conjectured that the people living in

8176-581: The Bay Area their home, making the region a popular destination for birdwatching . Many birds are listed as endangered species despite once being common in the region. Western burrowing owls were originally listed as a species of special concern by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1979. California's population declined 60% from the 1980s to the early 1990s, and continues to decline at roughly 8% per year. A 1992–93 survey reported little to no breeding burrowing owls in most of

8322-518: The Bay Area, all naturally spawned anadromous steelhead populations below natural and manmade impassable barriers in California streams from the Russian River to Aptos Creek , and the drainages of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays are listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act . The Central California Coast coho salmon population is the most endangered of the many troubled salmon populations on

8468-420: The Bay Area, left behind by the movement of the San Andreas Fault, whose movement sliced a subduction plate and allowed magma to briefly flow to the surface. The region has considerable vertical relief in its landscapes that are not in the alluvial plains leading to the bay or in the inland valleys. The topography, and geologic history, of the Bay Area can largely be attributed to the compressive forces between

8614-420: The Bay Area: the Karkin of the Carquinez Strait , the Chochenyo of the East Bay , the Ramaytush of the San Francisco Peninsula , and the Tamien of the South Bay. The Miwok had two major groups in the Bay Area: the Bay Miwok of Contra Costa and the Coast Miwok of Marin and Sonoma . In 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo explored the Pacific coast near the Bay Area though the expedition did not see

8760-404: The Bay provided riparian habitat along the peninsula. San Bruno mountain is not only one of the largest remaining examples of the original ecosystems, but also encompasses many microsystems in its relatively small area. The mineral content of the underlying rock and the high velocity marine air have evolved unusual varieties of flora and sustained specialized fauna that live among them. There are

8906-458: The Bay. The wild turkey population was introduced in the 1960s by state game officials, and by 2015 have become a common sight in East Bay communities. The Bay Area is well known for the complexity of its landforms that are the result of the forces of plate tectonics acting over of millions of years, since the region is located in the middle of a meeting point between two plates. Nine out of eleven distinct assemblages have been identified in

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9052-418: The Bayshore Road to Radio Road was constructed to service the traffic from the proposed development; named the Guadalupe Canyon Parkway, it was completed in 1968. In order to remove 250 million cubic yards (190,000,000 m) of earth from the ridge, Westbay proposed using a conveyor belt system to transport the fill across Bayshore Boulevard and Bayshore Freeway to offshore barges, which would then deposit

9198-424: The California scorpionfish are all significant components of the bay's fisheries . The bay's salt marshes now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh and support a number of endangered species and provide key ecosystem services such as filtering pollutants and sediments from the rivers. Most famously, the bay is a key link in the Pacific Flyway and with millions of shorebirds annually visiting

9344-554: The Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada. In 2014, a Bay Area-wide survey found osprey had extended their breeding range southward with nesting sites as far south as Hunters Point in San Francisco on the west side and Hayward on the east side, while further studies have found nesting sites as far south as the Los Gatos Creek watershed, indicating that the nesting range now includes the entire length of San Francisco Bay. Most nests were built on man-made structures close to areas of human disturbance, likely due to lack of mature trees near

9490-429: The Crocker and Southern Hills neighborhoods of Daly City. These areas are of great ecological significance, hosting the same plant and animal communities as found in the state park. The title "San Bruno Mountain Hermits" refers was given to individuals known to inhabit San Bruno Mountain at various times: first in the 1980s, and then in the 2000s. Over the years, people sought refuge on the mountain from modern society and

9636-408: The East Bay receives oceanic weather that travels through the Golden Gate strait, and further diffuses that air through the Berkeley Hills , Niles Canyon and the Hayward Pass into the Livermore Valley and Altamont Pass . Here, the resulting breeze is so strong that it is home to one of the world's largest array of wind turbines . Further north, the Carquinez Strait funnels the ocean weather into

9782-469: The Metal and Thermit Corporation, and the Western Meat Company. A shipbuilding yard on Oyster Point built 45 ships in 48 months for use in World War II. A giant electric sign was added near the site in 1932; it could spell out letters using twenty individual "letter sections", each of which had twenty-one light boxes to form the pixels of the display. Each light box used fourteen sixty-watt lamps. The sign had an overall length of 388 feet (118 m) and it

9928-399: The Mission blue and Callippe silverspot butterflies to The Trust for Public Land , who would incorporate the parcel into San Bruno Mountain State Park. Ultimately, Terra Bay Phase III was scaled back significantly from the original mixed-use retail/office proposal. The shorter 12-story south tower was completed in 2009, and the taller 21-story north tower was completed in 2020 after the project

10074-434: The Pacific Plate and the North American plate. The three major ridge structures in the Bay Area, part of the Pacific Coast Range , are all roughly parallel to the major faults . The Santa Cruz Mountains along the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Hills in Marin County follow the San Andreas fault , The Berkeley Hills , San Leandro Hills and their southern ridgeline extension through Mission Peak roughly follow

10220-408: The Pacific side of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of Montara Mountain is forested, grasslands and scrub predominated from Montara Mountain to the Golden Gate . Along the San Francisco Bay , most of the original wetlands have been filled in by sediment from inland human activities (hydraulic mining, dredging, farmland runoff) and by purposeful landfill. More than eighty small streams draining to

10366-510: The San Andreas Fault, the juncture of Mission Street and El Camino Real. This gap was the main route between San Francisco and the peninsula before 1907, initially established to serve the missions, adopted by the Overland Stage in 1857, followed by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad in 1863 and the Southern Pacific , and by I-280 . The south flank of the mountain in present-day Colma, Daly City, and South San Francisco were all part of this grant. Three other ranchos held minor portions of

10512-413: The San Francisco Bay Area are not officially delineated, and the unique development patterns influenced by the region's topography , as well as unusual commute patterns caused by the presence of three central cities and employment centers located in various suburban locales, has led to considerable disagreement between local and federal definitions of the area. Because of this, professor of geography at

10658-540: The San Francisco Bay Area, such as the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz , San Benito , and Monterey , or the Central Valley counties of San Joaquin , Merced , and Stanislaus . The Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, prominent universities, technology companies, and affluence. The Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by

10804-591: The San Francisco area, producing a 15-minute topographic map in 1892 and updating it in 1899. The County of San Francisco discouraged graveyard-expansion in the 1880s, and prohibited burials after 1900. New cemeteries were established over the county line in Colma on the southern flank of the mountain. Holy Cross Roman Catholic Cemetery, went into service in 1887, quickly followed by Jewish institutions Hills of Eternity Memorial Park and Home of Peace Cemetery which moved from San Francisco. The Chinese Six Companies established Hoy Sun Ning Yung Cemetery in 1898, while

10950-668: The Southern Pacific stop (now Molloy's Tavern on Old Mission Road in Colma). Seasonal creeks to drain runoff cut ravines in the south face; after a heavy rain a 12-foot waterfall regularly appears in Juncus ravine behind Hillside School, others may be found in Guadalupe canyon. An inland sand-dune (Colma formation) is found on the western slope behind Daly City's John F. Kennedy Elementary School, more than two-and-a-half miles from

11096-540: The United States. The Bay Area is home to approximately 7.52 million people. The larger federal classification, the combined statistical area of the region which includes 13 counties, is the second-largest in California—after the Greater Los Angeles area—and the fifth-largest in the United States, with over 9 million people. The Bay Area's population is ethnically diverse: roughly three-fifths of

11242-488: The Whale , a humpback whale who entered San Francisco Bay twice on errant migrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Bottlenose dolphins and harbor porpoises have recently returned to the bay, having been absent for many decades. Historically, this was the northern extent of their warm-water species range. In addition to the many species of marine birds that can be seen in the Bay Area, many other species of birds make

11388-472: The area's largest city and the 13th-most populous in the United States . Despite its urban character, San Francisco Bay is one of California's most ecologically sensitive habitats, providing important ecosystem services such as filtering the pollutants and sediments from rivers and supporting a number of endangered species . In addition, the Bay Area is known for its stands of coast redwoods , many of which are protected in state and county parks. The region

11534-590: The bay has been significantly altered heavily re-engineered to accommodate the needs of water delivery, shipping, agriculture, and urban development, with side effects including the loss of wetlands and the introduction of contaminants and invasive species . Approximately 85% of those marshes have been lost or destroyed, but about 50 marshes and marsh fragments remain. Huge tracts of the marshes were originally destroyed by farmers for agricultural purposes, then repurposed to serve as salt evaporation ponds to produce salt for food and other purposes. Today, regulations limit

11680-436: The bay into north and south regions. In 1989, the federal Environmental Protection Agency defined the South Bay as the northern part of Santa Clara County and the southeastern part of San Mateo County. The Bay Area is located in the warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone ( Köppen Csb ) that is a characteristic of California's coast, featuring mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall, and warm to hot, dry summers. It

11826-502: The bay shallows as a refuge, is the most important component of the flyway south of Alaska . Many endangered species of birds are also found here: the California least tern , the California clapper rail , the snowy egret , and the black crowned night heron . There is also a significant diversity of salmonids present in the bay. Steelhead populations in California have dramatically declined due to human and natural causes; in

11972-488: The bay, with uptake in the bay's phytoplankton and contamination of its sportfish . Aquatic mammals are also present in the bay. Before 1825, Spanish, French, English, Russians and Americans were drawn to the Bay Area to harvest prodigious quantities of beaver , river otter , marten, fisher, mink, fox, weasel, harbor and fur seals and sea otter . This early fur trade, known as the California Fur Rush ,

12118-547: The capital city moved between three cities in the Bay Area: San Jose (1849–1851), Vallejo (1851–1852), and Benicia (1852–1853) before permanently settling in Sacramento in 1854. As the Gold Rush subsided, wealth generated from the endeavor led to the establishment of Wells Fargo Bank and the Bank of California , and immigrant laborers attracted by the promise of wealth transformed the demographic makeup of

12264-568: The city of San Francisco, natural and artificial topographical features direct the movement of wind and fog, resulting in startlingly varied climates between city blocks. Along the Golden Gate Strait , oceanic wind and fog from the Pacific Ocean are able to penetrate the mountain barriers inland into the Bay Area. During the summer, rising hot air in California's interior valleys creates a low pressure area that draws winds from

12410-579: The collections of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley) some time in the 1840s. That name was continued in use by the Geological Survey of California in 1865, which described the place as a short range extending from Sierra Point nearly to the Pacific Ocean . San Bruno Mountain incorporates portions of five Spanish/ Mexican land grants ; the southernmost and largest being Rancho Buri Buri . Jose Antonio Sanchez,

12556-456: The completed Centennial Towers was scaled back to fit on just 8 acres (3.2 ha), partly in order to establish a buffer zone between the development and an ancient shellmound . Although the shellmound had been noted as early as 1909, a sample of 22 cubic metres (780 cu ft) of the shellmound conducted in 1989 by Holman & Associates (commissioned by W.W. Dean) revealed the massive shellmound contained human remains, and further, that

12702-494: The country, has five MSAs which include, wholly or partially, areas within the nine-county definition, and one CSA which includes eight Bay Area counties (excluding Sonoma ), but including neighboring San Benito , Santa Cruz , San Joaquin , Merced , and Stanislaus counties. The Association of Bay Area Health Officers (ABAHO), an organization that has fought local outbreaks of HIV/AIDS in 1980s and with COVID-19 pandemic and Delta cron hybrid variant (2020–22), consists of

12848-490: The destruction of tidal marshes, and large portions are currently being rehabilitated to their natural state. Over time, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year-round, further straining the region's water security . According to the 2010 United States Census , the population of the nine-county Bay Area was 7.15 million, with 49.6% male and 50.4% female. Of these, approximately 2.3 million (32%) are foreign born. In 2010

12994-805: The earliest dynasties of Ancient Egypt; and possibly a Hokan or early Penutian settlement pre-dating the Ohlone) through AD 1800. Other prehistoric shell middens (names unrecorded and now unknown) have been unearthed during excavations over the past century - now denominated with CA-SMA numbers 44, 299, and 355. These are on the south flank of the mountain where Colma Creek once entered the salt marshes that formerly lined San Francisco Bay. All of them are presently considered outlying seasonal encampments for residents of Siplichichiquin and Urebure, and none have been extensively studied. The Portola expedition visited San Francisco Bay in 1769. Sergeant Ortega 's party of scouts crossed Sweeney Ridge , and are considered

13140-431: The first Europeans to see San Bruno Mountain. On December 2, 1774 Alta California governor Fernando Rivera y Moncada and four soldiers (possibly with Father Palóu ) climbed the mountain and watched the sun rise across the bay. The mountain was named by Bruno de Heceta to honor his patron saint , and Sierra de San Bruno appears on the land-map of Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe drawn by Jean Jacques Vioget (presently in

13286-435: The first sign were carved directly into the hillside and filled with whitewash, consisting of a mixture of lime, white cement, and water; it was completed by November 22, 1923. Local high school students were hired to maintain the sign by removing grass and applying fresh whitewash. The construction method and scale of the sign were comparable to an earlier sign constructed in 1909 on the side of Yerba Buena Island to advertise

13432-707: The first such plan for the area around San Bruno Mountain. In the case of endangered San Bruno Mountain flora and fauna, it allowed new mountain developments at Terrabay, the Northeast Ridge in Brisbane (built in the mid 1990s, it's streets and civic features are named after endangered species they displaced), as well as at Village in the Park (built in 1985), Pointe Pacific (1986), and Bayshore Heights (1995) in Daly City. The accommodation offset for each development

13578-553: The growth of the technology sector transformed the region's economy, progressive politics continued to guide the region's political environment. By the turn of the millennium, non-Hispanic whites , the largest ethnic group in the United States, were only half of the population in the Bay Area as immigration among minority groups accelerated. During this time, the Bay Area was the center of the LGBT rights movement : in 2004, San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples ,

13724-474: The habitat of endangered species if substitute lands were made available. SunChase agreed to fund ecological restoration to mitigate the impact of Terra Bay during the development of Phase I under the terms of the San Bruno HCP. SunChase entered a joint venture with Myers Development for the development of Phases II and III; although Phase III had 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land available for construction,

13870-581: The hit American pop song San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) further enticing like-minded individuals to join the movement in the Bay Area and leading to the Summer of Love . In the proceeding decades, the Bay Area would cement itself as a hotbed of New Left activism, student activism , opposition to the Vietnam War and other anti-war movements , the black power movement , and

14016-660: The homeless support system; some claimed to have cleared invasive or aggressive florae, performed fire prevention services, and engaged with local visitors who passed by their hut. In several cases, the San Mateo Sheriff or Parks Department have issued eviction notices, citing environmental degradation and illegal residency. In each case, after a series of notices from park rangers and local authorities, these residents were forced to leave. San Bruno Mountain Watch has questioned governments' approaches to land management and

14162-523: The interior, causing a cooling effect for cities along the Peninsula and even as far south as San Jose. This weather pattern is also the source for delays at San Francisco International Airport . In Marin county north of the Golden Gate strait, two gaps north of Muir Woods bring cold air across the Marin Headlands , with the cooling effect reaching as far north as Santa Rosa . Further inland,

14308-408: The larger subregions, the East Bay includes a variety of enclaves, including the suburban Tri-Valley area and the highly urban western part of the subregion that runs alongside the bay, including Oakland. The " North Bay " includes Marin , Sonoma , Napa , and Solano counties, and is the geographically largest and least populated subregion. The western counties of Marin and Sonoma are encased by

14454-479: The largest part of the holdings of this rancho amounting to 3,997 acres (1,618 ha), and that land devolved to the Crocker Estate Company. The United States Coast Survey sketch of San Francisco Bay drawn in 1853 from observations made from 1850 to 1852 labels the mountain as Abbey Hill , which name appeared on U.S. Coast Survey maps until 1869. The United States Geological Survey surveyed

14600-676: The late 19th and early 20th centuries; increased populations of the monarch butterfly and several bird species were side-effects. Groves of eucalyptus, however, radically alter subterranean hydrology, they are very susceptible to fire and wind, and their shade and chemical composition have proved to discourage other plants and the fauna those plants support. After the Oakland firestorm of 1991 , many localities (including San Bruno Mountain State and County Park) began projects to reduce or eliminate eucalyptus stands. Other non-native flora being targeted on

14746-429: The latter two into the Pacific Ocean. In the South Bay, the Guadalupe River drains into San Francisco Bay near Alviso . There are also several lakes present in the Bay Area, including man-made lakes like Lake Berryessa and natural albeit heavily modified lakes like Lake Merritt . Prior to the introduction of European agricultural methods, the shores of San Francisco Bay consisted mostly of tidal marshes. Today,

14892-525: The material along the shores of the Bay. Opposition by organizations such as Save The Bay and the residents of Brisbane led to the defeat of Westbay's conveyor plan in June 1967 and eventual cessation of landfill operations at Sierra Point by December 1972.  In 1970, the Crocker Land Company and Foremost/McKesson partnered in development company Visitacion Associates, and 3,600 acres of

15038-540: The most ethnically diverse cities in the United States. South San Francisco hillside sign The South San Francisco Hillside Sign is a historic sign on a hillside overlooking the city of South San Francisco in San Mateo County, California . It was created in the 1920s and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The sign is the main feature of Sign Hill Park ,

15184-481: The most recent (and sixteenth) development is the neighboring Golden Hill Memorial Park & Funeral Home, begun in 1994. The road to the top of the mountain (Radio Road) does not appear on the 1950 USGS 7.5-minute topographic map, but does appear on the 1956 edition. In 1949 KRON (Channel 4) was the first television station to place a transmitter tower on Radio Peak, followed by KQED and KTVU , though these latter tenants moved their transmitters to Sutro Tower in

15330-463: The mountain been covered with snow (recorded in December 1932, January 1952, January 1957, January 1962, February 5, 1976, February 26, 2011, and February 5, 2019). The northern end of the San Francisco peninsula was primarily covered by plant communities of the grasslands , coastal scrub , redwood and mixed evergreen forest types prior to being overtaken by urban development. And, though much of

15476-417: The mountain include common gorse and broom (introduced as a garden shrubs), fennel (brought for food), yellow-blooming oxalis (which spreads rapidly, is difficult to control and attracts gophers), as well as a variety of non-native grasses. The county also reports that plague was detected in rodents on the mountain during the 1940s. The earliest Spanish explorers on the San Francisco peninsula found

15622-517: The mountain mornings and evenings between late June and October, particularly the western slopes. Minimum temperature may fall below 50 °F (10 °C) in some sheltered valleys. Wind speed is higher than at surrounding locations; on ridges winter storms regularly produce gusts from 50 to 80 miles per hour (80 to 129 km/h). Precipitation is similar to surrounding cities, or about 22 inches (560 mm) per-annum; approximately 66 days-per-annum have measurable rainfall. Very occasionally,

15768-402: The mountain-side. Construction there inspired Malvina Reynolds song Little Boxes (a 1964 Billboard Hot 100 hit for singer Pete Seeger ). The Bayshore neighborhood features the 1941 Cow Palace indoor arena, and faces a large bay-landfill. At the western end of the mountain, Daly City's "top-of-the-hill" community was founded on John Daly's dairy farm by San Francisco residents fleeing

15914-414: The nearby ancient Ramaytush shoreline hamlet. Into the early 1900s, San Francisco Bay still lapped directly against the eastern flank of San Bruno Mountain; but today the entire bay shoreline is fill . The region is drained by two streams: Guadalupe Valley Creek flows east between the two ranges to reach the Bay north of Brisbane - most of it now runs through underground culverts. Colma Creek rises from

16060-461: The north end occupied by Ramaytush -speaking Ohlone peoples. The Yelamu seasonal hamlet of Siplichiquin occupied the southeastern point of the mountain, sheltered from western breezes and facing an oyster-laden cove; the occupants covered their dead with the shells. Tested samples from the Siplichiquin shellmound indicate regular and continuous occupation from 3,200 BCE (contemporary with

16206-431: The northern flank of the mountain: Rancho Laguna de la Merced , Rancho Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo , and a corner of Rancho San Miguel all climbed the hills of the north range. Rancho Canada de Guadalupe la Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo , however, contained most of the present day San Bruno Mountain. It included the present-day city of Brisbane , Guadalupe Valley , Crocker Industrial Park, Visitacion Valley and

16352-635: The ocean and elevated more than seven hundred feet above sea-level. Reputedly, an exploratory gold mine exists on the mountain, above the Southern Hills., while the South San Francisco Land And Improvement Company registered a small silver, lead, and zinc mine in 1919. The mountain's climate is dominated by marine air flow heading inland, temperatures are mild to chilly in all seasons. Summer temperatures are further affected by marine fog shrouding

16498-424: The peak; in 1998 a United Airlines 747 lost power in an engine and nearly crashed into the peak. In 1965, Westbay Community Associates announced a plan to level a portion of the mountain to fill 27 square miles (70 km) of San Francisco Bay north of Sierra Point with landfill. The proposal intended to create housing developments in the "Saddle" and in the landfill zone. A four-lane limited-access road to connect

16644-626: The public health officers of 9 Bay Area counties, in addition to the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz , San Benito , and Monterey and the city of Berkeley . Among locals, the nine-county Bay Area is divided into five sub-regions: the East Bay , North Bay , Peninsula , city of San Francisco , and South Bay . The " East Bay " is the densest region of the Bay Area outside of San Francisco and includes cities and towns in Alameda and Contra Costa counties centered around Oakland . As one of

16790-497: The racial makeup of the nine-county Bay Area was 52.5% White (42.4% were non-Hispanic and 10.1% were Hispanic ), 23.3% Asian , 6.7% non-Hispanic Black or African American , 0.7% Native American or Alaska Native , 0.6% Pacific Islander , 5.4% from two or more races and 10.8% from other races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 23.5% of the population. The Bay Area cities of Vallejo , Suisun City , Oakland , San Leandro , Fairfield , and Richmond are among

16936-525: The region and even riots in Oakland. His name was symbolically tied to the Occupy Oakland protests two years later that sought to fight against social and economic inequality. By August 2023, San Francisco was in such severe decline that Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose joked that one day the region might be renamed the "San Jose Bay Area", after its largest and most prosperous city. The borders of

17082-472: The region's high-tech revolution. In 1955, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory opened for business in Mountain View near Stanford, and although the business venture was a financial failure, it was the first semiconductor company in the Bay Area, and the talent that it attracted to the region eventually led to a high-tech cluster of companies later known as Silicon Valley . In 1989, in the middle of

17228-412: The region's residents are Hispanic/Latino , Asian , African/Black , Indian , or Pacific Islander , all of whom have a significant presence throughout the region. Most of the remaining two-fifths of the population is non-Hispanic White American . The most populous cities of the Bay Area are San Francisco, Oakland , and San Jose , the latter of which had a population of 969,655 in 2023, making San Jose

17374-563: The region. In the early morning of April 18, 1906, a large earthquake with an epicenter near the city of San Francisco hit the region. Immediate casualty estimates by the U.S. Army 's relief operations were 498 deaths in San Francisco, 64 deaths in Santa Rosa , and 102 in or near San Jose, for a total of about 700. More recent studies estimate the total death count to be over 3,000, with over 28,000 buildings destroyed. Rebuilding efforts began immediately. Amadeo Peter Giannini , owner of

17520-598: The region. Between 1950 and 1960, San Francisco welcomed over 100,000 new residents, inland suburbs in the East Bay saw their populations double, Daly City 's population quadrupled, and Santa Clara 's population quintupled. By the early 1960s, the Bay Area and the rest of Northern California became the center of the counterculture movement . Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco were seen as centers of activity, with

17666-525: The region. Construction of the First transcontinental railroad from the Oakland Long Wharf attracted so many laborers from China that by 1870, eight percent of San Francisco's population was of Asian origin. The completion of the railroad connected the Bay Area with the rest of the United States, established a truly national marketplace for the trade of goods, and accelerated the urbanization of

17812-438: The rodeo grounds south of Islais Creek . In 1835 Governor Vallejo granted this rancho to Jacob P. Leese , his brother-in-law. Leese exchanged it for a rancho near Clear Lake owned by Yerba Buena character Robert T. Ridley and his wife Presentacion (daughter of Juana Briones de Miranda ). The Visitacion rancho was actioned after Ridley died in 1851, despite the claims of his widow. In 1884 banker Charles Crocker acquired

17958-493: The shellmound site is eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The Holman & Associates report was not made public for nearly ten years, with leaked copies circulating privately in 1997, and a public copy incorporated in the draft Environmental Impact Report in 1998. A lawsuit was settled out of court, resulting in the developer selling the land which included the shellmound and habitat for

18104-554: The south side of Guadalupe Canyon is presently owned and operated by American Rock and Asphalt, Inc., while the Crocker Industrial Park occupies much of the canyon floor. Radio towers occupy the highest (1,319 ft) peak, and may be accessed from the San Bruno County Park center, in the "saddle" between the north and south ridges. A series of historic maps and photos of the area may be viewed at

18250-527: The south to the 1,319 feet (402 m) Radio Peak in a horizontal distance of only 0.8 miles (1.3 km). Slightly to the east of the highest peak, south of the main range, a small block reaches 581 feet (177 m) in South San Francisco, named Sign Hill for the large letters there since the 1920s. An even-smaller block rising 246 feet (75 m) is now called Siplichiquin Hill to memorialize

18396-648: The sub port of Los Angeles. After World War II, the United Nations was chartered in San Francisco, and in September 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco to re-establish peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers was signed in San Francisco, entering into force a year later. In the years immediately following the war, the Bay Area saw a huge wave of immigration as populations increased across

18542-405: The surrounding communities, and has promulgated the stories of these "hermits" in this context. Other inhabitants have perished in mountain encampments. The mountain has been the site of at least one murder. Human remains were found in the park area in 2012, and later in 2020, - these have not yet been identified. San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area , commonly known as

18688-485: The tallest buildings in South San Francisco, a condominium tower named the Peninsula Mandalay, and the third phase constructed an office building named Centennial Towers. The original developer, W.W. Dean & Associates, was unable to complete the project, and SunChase Holdings acquired the project in 1992, completing site preparation before selling the parcels for Phase I to Centex Homes. The Terra Bay site

18834-664: The time of colonization, the Ohlone peoples in the Bay Area primarily lived on the San Francisco Peninsula, in the South Bay and in the East Bay, and the Miwok primarily lived in the North Bay, northern East Bay, and Central Valley. Ohlone villages were spread across the Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay, as well as further south into the Monterey Bay area. There were eight major divisions of Ohlone people, four of which were based in

18980-537: The tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, the city of San Francisco is not considered part of the "Peninsula" subregion, but as a separate entity. The term "South Bay" has different meanings to different groups: Writing in 1959 for the Army Corps of Engineers , the United States Department of Commerce defined the South Bay as comprising five counties, corresponding to their two-way division of

19126-495: The titular city of San Francisco. Its eastern half, which runs alongside the Bay, is highly populated, while its less populated western coast traces the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and is known for its open space and hiking trails. Roughly coinciding with the borders of San Mateo County , it also includes the northwestern Santa Clara County cities of Palo Alto , Mountain View , and Los Altos . Although geographically located on

19272-571: The undeveloped mountain real-estate was transferred to the new entity. Visitacion announced development of 8,500 residential units and 2 million square feet of commercial and office-space, to begin construction in 1975. Active opposition to development on the mountain continued, organized as the Committee to Save San Bruno Mountain , and in 1972 San Mateo County voters approved Proposition A (a program for acquiring undeveloped land for county parks) by 147,805 to 74,167. Years of litigation over this plan

19418-688: The website of the City of Brisbane. San Bruno Mountain is a part of the Franciscan Formation; sedimentary rock laid down in the Mesozoic , then uplifted as fault-blocks starting in the Pleistocene ; prior to the initial occurrence of the San Andreas transform-fault. The formation is centered on present-day San Francisco, composed of small ranges trending northwest-to-southeast from the peninsula up into Marin County. The mountain

19564-535: The west coast of the Americas. Soromenho set sail on Manila Galleon San Agustin on July 5, 1595 and in early November they reached land between Point St. George and Trinidad Head , north of the Bay Area, in the Lost Coast . The expedition followed the coast southward and on November 7 the San Agustin anchored in Drakes Bay, and claimed the region as Puerto y Bahía de San Francisco . In late November,

19710-419: The western counties in the Bay Area, leaving only Alameda , Contra Costa , and Solano counties as remnants of a once large breeding range. Bald eagles were once common in the Bay Area, but habitat destruction and thinning of eggs from DDT poisoning reduced the California state population to 35 nesting pairs. Bald eagles disappeared from the Bay Area in 1915, and only began returning in recent years. In

19856-459: The winter season is cool and mild, the summer season is characterized by warm sunny days, while in San Francisco and areas closer to the Golden Gate strait, the summer season is periodically affected by fog. Due to the Bay Area's diverse topographic relief (itself the result of the clashing tectonic plates ), the region is home to numerous microclimates that lead to pronounced differences in climate and temperature over short distances. Within

20002-623: Was admitted as the 31st state in 1850. A major earthquake and fire leveled much of San Francisco in 1906. During World War II , the Bay Area played a major role in America's war effort in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater , with the San Francisco Port of Embarkation , of which Fort Mason was one of 14 installations and location of the headquarters, acting as a primary embarkation point for American forces. Since then,

20148-417: Was acquired by a different developer. The finished two-tower property was acquired by Ventas in late 2020. Undeveloped portions of the mountain that sit between the state park and the counties of San Mateo and San Francisco are still privately owned and at risk for development. Examples of these locations include the prehistoric sand dunes above Hillside Park in Daly City, and the eucalyptus groves bordering

20294-400: Was claimed to be visible for 10 miles (16 km). In addition to displaying "South San Francisco", the sign was used for advertising slogans. It was turned off in 1939 as a potential beacon for aerial attack and never relit. Following World War II the city's economy transitioned from heavy industry to light industry and then to high-tech and biotech companies. The city's largest employer

20440-546: Was declared an endangered species. Visitacion and Crocker Land hired Los Angeles legal firm Nossaman LLP, and in 1982 environmental attorney Robert D. Thornton pioneered the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) concept. An HCP is "a planning document designed to accommodate economic development to the extent possible by authorizing the limited and unintentional take of listed species when it occurs incidental to otherwise lawful activities" He proposed creating

20586-541: Was first reported in Redwood Creek at Muir Beach in 1996, has since been spotted in the North Bay's Corte Madera Creek , the South Bay's Coyote Creek , as well as in 2010 in San Francisco Bay itself at the Richmond Marina . Other mammals include the internationally famous sea lions who began inhabiting San Francisco's Pier 39 after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the locally famous Humphrey

20732-561: Was known to include habitat for the Mission blue and Callippe silverspot butterflies; the original developer received a US$ 15,000 (equivalent to $ 46,000 in 2023) fine in 1983 for bulldozing part of the habitat during site preparation. Under the terms established by the 1982 amendment to the Endangered Species Act, the nation's first-ever Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) was agreed upon, allowing developers to destroy

20878-616: Was more than any other single factor, responsible for opening up the West and the San Francisco Bay Area, in particular, to world trade. By 1817 sea otter in the area were practically eliminated. Since then, the California golden beaver re-established a presence in Alhambra Creek , followed by the Napa River and Sonoma Creek in the north, and the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek in the south. The North American river otter which

21024-609: Was originally proposed, and the first sign was placed, by the South San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. The $ 5,000 cost of the second, permanent sign was funded by a special property tax assessment approved by the voters. At that time the city "was the smokestack capital of the Peninsula ." There were steel and cement plants, meat packers, shipbuilders and many other industrial plants; major companies included W. P. Fuller Paint, Western Pipe and Steel Company ,

21170-473: Was settled with Visitacion and Crocker donating 546 acres on the main ridge, and selling 1,100 more to the County in 1978. The State purchased 256 additional acres at the "Saddle" in 1980, and placed them under County management. In 1989, the state Wildlife Conservation Board purchased another 83 acres and created a San Bruno Mountain Ecological Reserve . But, in 1978, the Mission blue butterfly

21316-414: Was to be the creation of equivalent new habitat nearby, which has not been substantially undertaken after forty years . The Terra Bay project was approved in the mid-1980s for development at the south and southeast base of San Bruno Mountain. Terra Bay was constructed in three phases: the first phase constructed townhomes and detached houses; the second phase constructed more housing units, including one of

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