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182-628: The Santa Cruz Wharf opened on December 5, 1914. The original purpose of building the wharf was for shipping potatoes to San Francisco for mining camps in the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush. After the innovation of motor vehicles and improved land routes, the Wharf's primary focus changed to be the base of the north Monterey Bay fishing industry. By the 1950s as Monterey Bay's sardine and other fish populations dwindled, nearly every family owned

364-400: A factor , who guarded weapons and supplies belonging to the king, and disposed of tribute collected in the province; and a veedor (overseer), who was responsible for contacts with native inhabitants of the province, and collected the king's share of any war booty. The veedor , or overseer, position quickly disappeared in most jurisdictions, subsumed into the position of factor . Depending on

546-442: A 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934. Dominating this area is Sutro Tower , a large red and white radio and television transmission tower reaching 1,811 ft (552 m) above sea level. The nearby San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake activity, although neither physically passes through the city itself. The San Andreas Fault caused the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989. Minor earthquakes occur on

728-734: A 2023 estimated population of over 9 million. Prior to European settlement , the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu , who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone . On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate , and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi . The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into

910-416: A GDP of $ 729 billion in 2022 . The wider San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area is the nation's fifth-most populous, with around nine million residents, and the third-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $ 1.32 trillion in 2022 . In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $ 252.2 billion, and a GDP per capita of $ 312,000. San Francisco was ranked fifth in the world and second in

1092-578: A busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in the city proper. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county . After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II , it

1274-399: A commercial firm. Upon the success of the expedition, the spoils of war were divvied up in proportion to the amount a participant initially staked, with the leader receiving the largest share. Participants supplied their own armor and weapons, and those who had a horse received two shares, one for himself, the second recognizing the value of the horse as a machine of war. For the conquest era,

1456-623: A common place to live for people employed in Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Google . The early 2020s featured an exodus of tech companies from Downtown San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and struggles with homelessness and public drug use. Although some observers have raised the possibility that office vacancies and declining tax revenues could cause San Francisco to enter an economic doom loop , other sources have refuted this broad-based characterization of

1638-714: A complex, hierarchical bureaucracy, which in many ways was decentralized. The crown asserted is authority and sovereignty of the territory and vassals it claimed, collected taxes, maintained public order, meted out justice, and established policies for governance of large indigenous populations. Many institutions established in Castile found expression in The Indies from the early colonial period. Spanish universities expanded to train lawyer-bureaucrats ( letrados ) for administrative positions in Spain and its overseas empire. The end of

1820-549: A crude fort built on his first voyage in 1492, had been abandoned by the time he returned in 1493. He then founded the settlement of La Isabela on the island they named Hispaniola (now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). Spanish explorations of other islands in the Caribbean and what turned out to be the mainland of South and Central America occupied them for over two decades. Columbus had promised

2002-647: A flood of treasure seekers (known as "forty-niners," as in "1849"). With their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia , raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of wealth was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships , saloons , and hotels; many were left to rot, and some were sunk to establish title to

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2184-458: A fort on Alcatraz Island to secure San Francisco Bay. San Francisco County was one of the state's 18 original counties established at California statehood in 1850. Until 1856, San Francisco's city limits extended west to Divisadero Street and Castro Street, and south to 20th Street. In 1856, the California state government divided the county. A straight line was then drawn across the tip of

2366-484: A gourmet marketplace. San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb , Trewartha : Csll), characteristic of California's coast, with moist winters and dry summers. San Francisco's weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the city, and the water of San Francisco Bay to the north and east. This moderates temperature swings and produces

2548-472: A labor force. Spaniards continued to expand their presence in the circum-Caribbean region with expeditions. One was by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in 1517, another by Juan de Grijalva in 1518, which brought promising news of possibilities there. Even by the mid-1510s, the western Caribbean was largely unexplored by Spaniards. A well-connected settler in Cuba, Hernán Cortés received authorization in 1519 by

2730-566: A large African American population after World War II . The Western Addition is usually divided into smaller neighborhoods including Hayes Valley , the Fillmore , and Japantown , which was once the largest Japantown in North America but suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The Western Addition survived the 1906 earthquake with its Victorians largely intact, including

2912-695: A long campaign that took decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest empire in the Americas. In the following years, Spain extended its rule over the Empire of the Inca civilization . The Spanish took advantage of a recent civil war between the factions of the two brothers Emperor Atahualpa and Huáscar , and the enmity of indigenous nations the Incas had subjugated, such as the Huanca , Chachapoyas , and Cañaris . In

3094-599: A magnet for America's counterculture movement . Beat Generation writers fueled the San Francisco Renaissance and centered on the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s. Hippies flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, reaching a peak with the 1967 Summer of Love . In 1974, the Zebra murders left at least 16 people dead. In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement , with

3276-544: A major metropolis, it held no interest for Spaniards and the 1535–36 settlement failed and was abandoned by 1541. Pedro de Mendoza and Domingo Martínez de Irala , who led the original expedition, went inland and founded Asunción, Paraguay , which became the Spaniards' base. A second (and permanent) settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay , who arrived by sailing down the Paraná River from Asunción , now

3458-457: A phase of inland expeditions and conquest. In 1500 the city of Nueva Cádiz was founded on the island of Cubagua , Venezuela, followed by the founding of Santa Cruz by Alonso de Ojeda in the present-day Guajira Peninsula . Cumaná in Venezuela was the first permanent settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland Americas, in 1501 by Franciscan friars , but due to successful attacks by

3640-560: A population of 808,988 residents as of 2023, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles , San Diego , and San Jose . It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula , making it the second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county , behind four of New York City's boroughs . Among

3822-440: A port and naval base, post-Conquest San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. Situated at the tip of a windswept peninsula without water or firewood, San Francisco lacked most of the basic facilities for a 19th-century settlement. These natural disadvantages forced the town's residents to bring water, fuel and food to the site. Its 1847 population was said to be 459. The California gold rush brought

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4004-468: A port city so that inland settlements could be connected by sea to Spain. In Mexico, Hernán Cortés and the men of his expedition founded of the port town of Veracruz in 1519 and constituted themselves as the town councilors, as a means to throw off the authority of the governor of Cuba, who did not authorize an expedition of conquest. Once the Aztec Empire was toppled, they founded Mexico City on

4186-424: A regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development. The city constructed an auxiliary water supply system and has repeatedly upgraded its building codes, requiring retrofits for older buildings and higher engineering standards for new construction. However, there are still thousands of smaller buildings that remain vulnerable to quake damage. USGS has released

4368-567: A remarkably mild year-round climate with little seasonal temperature variation. Spanish colonization of the Americas The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella I of Castile . These overseas territories of

4550-603: A significant portion of the Comstock Lode 's gold and silver mines, establishing a virtual monopoly. Using his incredible clout, Ralston was able to generate millions of dollars for San Francisco during its heady boom years. He founded the Bank of California , the first bank in the Western United States, and built the opulent Palace Hotel, a symbol of San Francisco's newfound prosperity and the largest hotel in

4732-485: A source in Huancavelica (founded 1572), while Mexico had to rely on mercury imported from Spain. The Spanish founded towns in the Caribbean, on Hispaniola and Cuba, on a pattern that became spatially similar throughout Spanish America. A central plaza had the most important buildings on the four sides, especially buildings for royal officials and the main church. A checkerboard pattern radiated outward. Residences of

4914-407: A source of their own wealth, disappearing before their eyes. In the first settlements in the Caribbean, the Spaniards deliberately brought animals and plants that transformed the ecological landscape. Pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens allowed Spaniards to eat a diet with which they were familiar. But the importation of horses transformed warfare for both the Spaniards and the indigenous. Where

5096-528: A spacious public park, resulting in plans for Golden Gate Park . San Franciscans built schools, churches, theaters, and all the hallmarks of civic life. The Presidio developed into the most important American military installation on the Pacific coast. By 1890, San Francisco's population approached 300,000, making it the eighth-largest city in the United States at the time. Around 1901, San Francisco

5278-468: A vehicle and had money to spend on recreation. As a result, the Santa Cruz Wharf became predominantly a recreational destination. Today, the wharf is still a popular tourist attraction, nestled adjacent to the city's leading attraction, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk . Visitors flock to the wharf for a variety of restaurants, gift shops, wine tasting, candy stores, and just to stroll and peer down at

5460-484: A wave of " Manhattanization " that lasted until the late 1980s, a period of extensive high-rise development downtown. The 1980s also saw a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the city, an issue that remains today, despite many attempts to address it. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in

5642-399: Is Lope de Aguirre , who led a mutiny against Ursúa, who was murdered. Aguirre subsequently wrote a letter to Philip II bitterly complaining about the treatment of conquerors like himself in the wake of the assertion of crown control over Peru. An earlier expedition that left in 1527 was led by Pánfilo Naváez , who was killed early on. Survivors continued to travel among indigenous groups in

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5824-484: Is a quarter moon, when it rains one or two days, all the other days have such a beautiful sunshine... Chile was explored by Spaniards based in Peru, where Spaniards found the fertile soil and mild climate attractive. The Mapuche people of Chile, whom the Spaniards called Araucanians , resisted fiercely. The Spanish did establish the settlement of Chile in 1541, founded by Pedro de Valdivia . Southward colonization by

6006-541: Is commonly given credit for being the first European to sight Florida in 1513. For political reasons, Spain would sometimes claim that La Florida was all of the North American continent. However, the name was typically used to refer to the peninsula itself as well as the Gulf Coast , Georgia, Carolina, and southern Virginia . In 1521, Ponce de Leon was killed while trying to establish a settlement near what

6188-494: Is essentially their original form, but most of the city's natural watercourses, such as Islais Creek and Mission Creek , have been partially or completely culverted and built over. Since the 1990s, however, the Public Utilities Commission has been studying proposals to daylight or restore some creeks. An Historical Center of San Francisco monument, where the 1899–1906 City Hall was once located,

6370-408: Is gone." Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed. Amadeo Giannini 's Bank of Italy , later to become Bank of America , provided loans for many of those whose livelihoods had been devastated. The influential San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association or SPUR was founded in 1910 to address

6552-583: Is in United Nations Plaza , at 37°46′48″N 122°24′49″W  /  37.7800397°N 122.4135943°W  / 37.7800397; -122.4135943 The earliest center of San Francisco is Portsmouth Square , in the northeast quadrant of the city anchored by Market Street and the waterfront. Here in the northeast quadrant, the Financial District is centered, with Union Square , the principal shopping and hotel district, and

6734-585: Is most clearly seen in the conquest of the Aztec Empire with the alliance of the Nahua city-state of Tlaxcala against the Aztec Empire resulting in lasting benefits to themselves and their descendants. Patterns of the first Spanish settlements in the Caribbean were to endure there and had a lasting impact on the Spanish Empire. Until his dying day, Columbus was convinced that he had reached Asia,

6916-421: Is now Charlotte Harbor, Florida . Another failed attempt was conducted by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón , who set out with approximately 500 colonists and established the settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape in modern-day South Carolina in 1526. In 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano established the first multi-year European settlement in the United States in what is now Pensacola , Florida. This settlement predates

7098-629: Is sometimes referred to as "the Last Conquistador ", expanded Spanish sovereignty over what is now New Mexico. Like previous conquistadors, Oñate engaged in widespread abuses of the Indian population. Shortly after founding Santa Fe , Oñate was recalled to Mexico City by the Spanish authorities. He was subsequently tried and convicted of cruelty to both natives and colonists and banished from New Mexico for life. Two major factors affected

7280-556: The Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) in Seville. Ships and cargoes were registered, and emigrants vetted to prevent migration of anyone not of Old Christian heritage, (i.e., with no Jewish or Muslim ancestry), and facilitated the migration of families and women. In addition, the Casa de Contratación took charge of the fiscal organization, and of the organization and judicial control of

7462-402: The adelantado was a senior with material wealth and standing who could persuade the crown to issue him a license for an expedition. He also had to attract participants to the expedition who staked their own lives and meager fortunes on the expectation of the expedition's success. The leader of the expedition pledged the larger share of capital to the enterprise, which in many ways functioned as

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7644-553: The Audiencia of Bogotá , and comprised an area corresponding mainly to modern-day Colombia and parts of Venezuela . The conquistadors originally organized it as a captaincy general within the Viceroyalty of Peru . The crown established the audiencia in 1549. Ultimately, the kingdom became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada first in 1717 and permanently in 1739. After several attempts to set up independent states in

7826-638: The Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma and the beginning of the U.S. Conquest of California , American forces from the USS Portsmouth under the command of John B. Montgomery captured Yerba Buena on July 9, 1846, with little resistance from the local Californio population, raising the American flag over Yerba Buena plaza (later renamed Portsmouth Square in commemoration of this event). Following

8008-578: The California earthquake forecast which models earthquake occurrence in California. San Francisco's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina , Mission Bay , and Hunters Point , as well as large sections of the Embarcadero , sit on areas of landfill . Treasure Island was constructed from material dredged from the bay as well as material resulting from

8190-516: The Carolinas , Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, and California. Puerto Rico was also colonized by the Spanish during this era, occasioning the earliest contact between Africans and what would become the United States (via the free Black conquistador Juan Garrido ). Free and enslaved Africans were a feature of New Spain throughout the colonial period. One of the colonists who conquered Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de León ,

8372-562: The Catholic Church peacefully or by force. The crown created civil and religious structures to administer the vast territory. Spanish men and women settled in greatest numbers where there were dense indigenous populations and the existence of valuable resources for extraction . The Spanish Empire claimed jurisdiction over the New World in the Caribbean and North and South America, with the exception of Brazil, ceded to Portugal by

8554-838: The Golden Gate Bridge , cable cars , and Alcatraz . The city is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco , the University of San Francisco , San Francisco State University , the San Francisco Conservatory of Music , the de Young Museum , the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the San Francisco Symphony , the San Francisco Ballet ,

8736-501: The Marina and South of Market districts and precipitated the demolition of the damaged Embarcadero Freeway and much of the damaged Central Freeway , allowing the city to reclaim The Embarcadero as its historic downtown waterfront and revitalizing the Hayes Valley neighborhood. The two recent decades have seen booms driven by the internet industry. During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated

8918-848: The San Francisco Opera , the SFJAZZ Center , and the California Academy of Sciences . Two major league sports teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors , play their home games within San Francisco proper. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers flights to over 125 destinations, while a light rail and bus network , in tandem with the BART and Caltrain systems, connects nearly every part of San Francisco with

9100-494: The Spanish Empire were under the jurisdiction of Crown of Castile until the last territory was lost in 1898 . Spaniards saw the dense populations of indigenous peoples as an important economic resource and the territory claimed as potentially producing great wealth for individual Spaniards and the crown. Religion played an important role in the Spanish conquest and incorporation of indigenous peoples, bringing them into

9282-501: The Tenderloin nearby. Cable cars carry riders up steep inclines to the summit of Nob Hill , once the home of the city's business tycoons, and down to the waterfront tourist attractions of Fisherman's Wharf , and Pier 39 , where many restaurants feature Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing industry. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill , a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street ; North Beach ,

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9464-516: The Treaty of Tordesillas . Other European powers, including England, France, and the Dutch Republic, took possession of territories initially claimed by Spain. Although the overseas territories under the jurisdiction of the Spanish crown are now commonly called "colonies" the term was not used until the second half of 18th century. The process of Spanish settlement, now called "colonization" and

9646-699: The conquest of the Incan Empire , which used similar tactics and began in 1532, was the conquest of the Aztecs matched in scale of either territory or treasure. In 1532 at the Battle of Cajamarca a group of Spaniards under Francisco Pizarro and their indigenous Andean Indian auxiliaries native allies ambushed and captured the Emperor Atahualpa of the Inca Empire . It was the first step in

9828-461: The "colonial era" are terms contested by scholars of Latin America and more generally. It is estimated that during the period 1492–1832, a total of 1.86 million Spaniards settled in the Americas, and a further 3.5 million immigrated during the post-independence era (1850–1950); the estimate is 250,000 in the 16th century and most during the 18th century, as immigration was encouraged by

10010-469: The 1540s and regional capitals founded by the 1550s. Among the most notable expeditions are Hernando de Soto into southeast North America, leaving from Cuba (1539–1542); Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to northern Mexico (1540–1542), and Gonzalo Pizarro to Amazonia, leaving from Quito, Ecuador (1541–1542). In 1561, Pedro de Ursúa led an expedition of some 370 Spanish (including women and children) into Amazonia to search for El Dorado. Far more famous now

10192-439: The 1810s, the kingdom and the viceroyalty ceased to exist altogether in 1819 with the establishment of Gran Colombia . Venezuela was first visited by Europeans during the 1490s, when Columbus was in control of the region, and the region as a source for indigenous slaves for Spaniards in Cuba and Hispaniola, since the Spanish destruction of the local indigenous population. There were few permanent settlements, but Spaniards settled

10374-466: The 1910s, a wave of Central American immigrants settled in the Mission and, in the 1950s, immigrants from Mexico began to predominate. In recent years, gentrification has changed the demographics of parts of the Mission from Latino, to twenty-something professionals. Noe Valley to the southwest and Bernal Heights to the south are both increasingly popular among young families with children. East of

10556-409: The 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022. San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States , with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area , the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had

10738-595: The Andes to the east, Pacific Ocean to the west, and indigenous to the south. Between 1537 and 1543, six Spanish expeditions entered highland Colombia, conquered the Muisca Confederation , and set up the New Kingdom of Granada (Spanish: Nuevo Reino de Granada ). Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada was the leading conquistador with his brother Hernán second in command. It was governed by the president of

10920-585: The Argentine pampas. The introduction of sheep production was an ecological disaster in places where they were raised in great numbers, since they ate vegetation to the ground, preventing the regeneration of plants. The Spanish brought new crops for cultivation. (See Mission Garden for specific foods.) They preferred wheat cultivation to indigenous sources of carbohydrates: casava, maize (corn), and potatoes, initially importing seeds from Europe and planting in areas where plow agriculture could be utilized, such as

11102-407: The Aztec Empire and the Spanish conquest of Peru , more stringent laws to control conquerors' and settlers' exercise of power, especially their maltreatment of the indigenous populations, were promulgated, known as the New Laws (1542). The crown aimed to prevent the formation of an aristocracy in the Indies not under crown control. Queen Isabel was the first monarch that laid the first stone for

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11284-680: The Aztec and Inca indigenous civilizations, and rich deposits of the valuable metal silver. Spanish settlement in Mexico "largely replicated the organization of the area in preconquest times". However, in Peru the center of the Incas was too far south, too remote, and at too high an altitude for the Spanish capital, so the capital Lima was built near the Pacific coast. The capitals of both Mexico and Peru (Mexico City and Lima) came to have large concentrations of Spanish settlers and hubs of royal and ecclesiastical administration, large commercial enterprises with skilled artisans, and centers of culture. Although Spaniards had hoped to find vast quantities of gold,

11466-415: The Aztec emperor Moctezuma II , by Cortés was not a brilliant stroke of innovation, but came from the playbook that the Spanish developed during their period in the Caribbean. The composition of the expedition was the standard pattern, with a senior leader, and participating men investing in the enterprise with the full expectation of rewards if they did not lose their lives. Cortés's seeking indigenous allies

11648-535: The Bay Area a center for trade. Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, Levi Strauss opened a dry goods business and Domingo Ghirardelli began manufacturing chocolate. Chinese immigrants made the city a polyglot culture, drawn to "Old Gold Mountain," creating the city's Chinatown quarter. By 1880, Chinese made up 9.3% of the population. The first cable cars carried San Franciscans up Clay Street in 1873. The city's sea of Victorian houses began to take shape, and civic leaders campaigned for

11830-435: The Birdman of Alcatraz. San Francisco later celebrated its regained grandeur with a World's fair , the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939–40, creating Treasure Island in the middle of the bay to house it. During World War II , the city-owned Sharp Park in Pacifica was used as an internment camp to detain Japanese Americans . Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity, and Fort Mason became

12012-466: The Catholic Monarchs gave official approval for the plans for Columbus's voyage to reach "the Indies" by sailing West, the funding came from the queen of Castile. The profits from Spanish expedition flowed to Castile. The Kingdom of Portugal authorized a series of voyages down the coast of Africa and when they rounded the southern tip, were able to sail to India and further east. Spain sought similar wealth, and authorized Columbus's voyage sailing west. Once

12194-423: The Chichimeca demanded. "Peace by purchase" ended the conflict. In southern Chile and the pampas, the Araucanians (Mapuche) prevented further Spanish expansion. The image of mounted Araucanians capturing and carrying off white women was the embodiment of Spanish ideas of civilization and barbarism. Cattle multiplied quickly in areas where little else could turn a profit for Spaniards, including northern Mexico and

12376-400: The Columbus voyages, which were funded by the crown of Castile, were done at the expense of the leader of the expedition and its participants. Although often the participants, conquistadors , are now termed "soldiers", they were not paid soldiers in ranks of an army, but rather soldiers of fortune , who joined an expedition with the expectation of profiting from it. The leader of an expedition,

12558-402: The Comanche in the northern Great Plains and the Mapuche in southern Chile and the pampas of Argentina resisted Spanish conquest. For Spaniards, the fierce Chichimecas barred them for exploiting mining resources in northern Mexico. Spaniards waged a fifty-year war (ca. 1550–1600) to subdue them, but peace was only achieved by Spaniards' making significant donations of food and other commodities

12740-402: The Dominican Republic (Hispaniola), have become important. Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos denounced Spanish cruelty and abuse in a sermon in 1511, which comes down to us in the writings of Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas . In 1542 Dominican friar Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote a damning account of this demographic catastrophe, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies . It

12922-423: The German Welser and Fugger banking families. To satisfy his debts to the Welsers, he granted them the right to colonize and exploit western Venezuela, with the proviso that they found two towns with 300 settlers each and construct fortifications. They established the colony of Klein-Venedig in 1528. They founded the towns of Coro and Maracaibo . They were aggressive in making their investment pay, alienating

13104-550: The Habsburg dynasty in 1700 saw major administrative reforms in the eighteenth century under the Bourbon monarchy, starting with the first Spanish Bourbon monarch, Philip V (r. 1700–1746) and reaching its apogee under Charles III (r. 1759–1788). The reorganization of administration has been called "a revolution in government." Reforms sought to centralize government control through reorganization of administration, reinvigorate

13286-557: The Indies. From that misperception the Spanish called the indigenous peoples of the Americas , "Indians" ( indios ), lumping a multiplicity of civilizations, groups, and individuals into a single category. The Spanish royal government called its overseas possessions "The Indies" until its empire dissolved in the nineteenth century. In the Caribbean, because there was no integrated indigenous civilization such as found in Mexico and Peru, there

13468-504: The Mexican Bajío . They also imported cane sugar, which was a high-value crop in early Spanish America. Spaniards also imported citrus trees, establishing orchards of oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. Other imports were figs, apricots, cherries, pears, and peaches among others. The exchange did not go one way. Important indigenous crops that transformed Europe were the potato and maize , which produced abundant crops that led to

13650-522: The Mission is the Potrero Hill neighborhood, a mostly residential neighborhood that features sweeping views of downtown San Francisco. West of the Mission, the area historically known as Eureka Valley , now popularly called the Castro , was once a working-class Scandinavian and Irish area. It has become North America's first gay village , and is now the center of gay life in the city. Located near

13832-750: The Muslims since 711. On 31 March 1492, the Catholic Monarch ordered the expulsion of the Jews in Spain who refused to convert to Christianity. Having departed from the port of Palos de la Frontera on 3 August 1492, on 12 October 1492, Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus and his crew made landfall in the Western Hemisphere, and in 1493 permanent Spanish settlement of the Americas began. Castile and Aragon were ruled jointly by their respective monarchs, but they remained separate kingdoms. When

14014-469: The North American south and southwest until 1536. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was one of four survivors of that expedition, writing an account of it. The crown later sent him to Asunción , Paraguay to be adelantado there. Expeditions continued to explore territories in hopes of finding another Aztec or Inca empire, with no further success. Francisco de Ibarra led an expedition from Zacatecas in northern New Spain, and founded Durango . Juan de Oñate ,

14196-731: The Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset can refer to the more western portions of their respective district and the Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset can refer to the more eastern portions. Many piers remained derelict for years until the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway reopened the downtown waterfront, allowing for redevelopment. The centerpiece of the port, the Ferry Building , while still receiving commuter ferry traffic, has been restored and redeveloped as

14378-531: The Presidio garrison, commanded by Mariano Vallejo , relocated to the Presidio of Sonoma , which was regarded as needing a greater military presence due the proximity of the Russian settlement at Fort Ross . Only a small detachment remained at the Presidio of San Francisco. Mission Dolores sold most of its property in 1836, retaining only the church and related structures. In 1833, Juana Briones de Miranda

14560-709: The San Francisco Peninsula just north of San Bruno Mountain . Everything south of the line became the new San Mateo County while everything north of the line became the new consolidated City and County of San Francisco. The California Gold Rush triggered a wave of entrepreneurial activity as individuals sought to capitalize on the newfound wealth. The discovery of silver deposits, notably the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further fueled rapid population growth and economic expansion. San Francisco, as

14742-457: The San Francisco economy. Large numbers of entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved into the city, followed by marketing, design, and sales professionals, changing the social landscape as once poorer neighborhoods became increasingly gentrified . Demand for new housing and office space ignited a second wave of high-rise development, this time in the South of Market district. By 2000,

14924-517: The Seven Cities in 1599–1604. This Mapuche victory laid the foundation for the establishment of a Spanish-Mapuche frontier called La Frontera . Within this frontier the city of Concepción assumed the role of "military capital" of Spanish-ruled Chile. With a hostile indigenous population, no obvious mineral or other exploitable resources, and little strategic value, Chile was a fringe area of colonial Spanish America, hemmed in geographically by

15106-403: The Spaniards had exclusive access to horses in warfare, they had an advantage over indigenous warriors on foot. They were initially a scarce commodity, but horse breeding became an active industry. Horses that escaped Spanish control were captured by indigenous; many indigenous also raided for horses. Mounted indigenous warriors were significant foes for Spaniards. The Chichimeca in northern Mexico,

15288-503: The Spanish empire had a royal treasury controlled by a set of oficiales reales (royal officials). There were also sub-treasuries at important ports and mining districts. The officials of the royal treasury at each level of government typically included two to four positions: a tesorero (treasurer), the senior official who guarded money on hand and made payments; a contador (accountant or comptroller ), who recorded income and payments, maintained records, and interpreted royal instructions;

15470-634: The Spanish in Chile halted after the conquest of Chiloé Archipelago in 1567. This is thought to have been the result of an increasingly harsh climate to the south, and the lack of a populous and sedentary indigenous population to settle among for the Spanish in the fjords and channels of Patagonia . South of the Bío-Bío River the Mapuche successfully reversed colonization with the Destruction of

15652-451: The Spanish settlement in the Caribbean occurred, Spain and Portugal formalized a division of the world between them in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas . The deeply pious Isabella saw the expansion of Spain's sovereignty inextricably paired with the evangelization of non-Christian peoples, the so-called "spiritual conquest" with the military conquest. Pope Alexander VI in a 4 May 1493 papal decree, Inter caetera , divided rights to lands in

15834-455: The Spanish ship San Carlos , commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala , became the first ship to anchor in the bay. Soon after, on March 28, 1776, Anza established the Presidio of San Francisco . On October 9, Mission San Francisco de Asís , also known as Mission Dolores, was founded by Padre Francisco Palóu . In 1794, the Presidio established the Castillo de San Joaquín , a fortification on

16016-463: The Spanish, to extract mineral wealth or produce another valuable commodity for Spanish enrichment. The labor of dense populations of Taínos were allocated as grants to Spanish settlers in an institution known as the encomienda , where particular indigenous settlements were awarded to individual Spaniards. There was surface gold found in early islands, and holders of encomiendas put the indigenous to work panning for it. For all practical purposes, this

16198-577: The Surfing Preservation Society's surf shack! The festivities ended with fireworks. The Surf City Classic "Woodies on the Wharf" is Northern California's largest woodie show that features more than 200 stylish, pre-1952 wood-bodied cars. Admission is free. Music, woodie goodies and prize drawings are included. A free bike valet is available. Each year, on the fourth Sunday in July, thousands of runners from across America and around

16380-501: The United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of September 2023 . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from the downtown area of San Francisco, the city is still home to numerous companies inside and outside of technology, including Salesforce , Uber , Airbnb , X , Levi's , Gap , Dropbox , and Lyft . In 2022, San Francisco had more than 1.7 million international visitors –

16562-646: The Western Hemisphere between Spain and Portugal on the proviso that they spread Christianity. These formal arrangements between Spain and Portugal and the pope were ignored by other European powers, with the French, the English, and the Dutch seizing territory in the Caribbean and in North America claimed by Spain but not effectively settled. Portugal's claim to part of South America under the Treaty of Tordesillas resulted in

16744-464: The area. Further development is taking place just to the south in Mission Bay area, a former railroad yard, which now has a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco and Chase Center , which opened in 2019 as the new home of the Golden State Warriors . West of downtown, across Van Ness Avenue , lies the large Western Addition neighborhood, which became established with

16926-507: The arts and sciences, spurred by leading universities , high-tech , healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional services sectors. As of 2020 , the metropolitan area, with 4.5 million residents, ranked 5th by GDP ($ 874 billion) and 2nd by GDP per capita ($ 131,082) across the OECD countries, ahead of global cities like Paris , London , and Singapore . It is the fourth-largest by aggregate income and economic output, with

17108-690: The beginning of Spanish power beyond the Iberian Peninsula . They pursued a policy of joint rule of their kingdoms and created the initial stage of a single Spanish monarchy , completed under the eighteenth-century Bourbon monarchs. The first expansion of territory was the conquest of the Muslim Emirate of Granada on 1 January 1492, the culmination of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, held by

17290-538: The beginning of the assimilation of the Ramaytush people, and the decline of their language and culture. The Spanish Empire claimed San Francisco as part of Las Californias , a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain . The Spanish first arrived in what is now San Francisco on November 2, 1769, when the Portolá expedition led by Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Crespí arrived at San Francisco Bay . Having noted

17472-454: The behavior of Spanish settlers in the Americas, particularly with regards to treatment of native Indians in the institution of the encomienda . They forbade the maltreatment of natives, and endorsed the forced resettlement of indigenous populations with attempts of conversion to Catholicism. Upon their failure to effectively protect the indigenous and following the Spanish conquest of

17654-481: The capital of Paraguay . Exploration from Peru resulted in the foundation of Tucumán in what is now northwest Argentina. Much of what is now the Southern United States was claimed by Spain, some of it at least explored by the Spanish starting in the early 1500s, and some permanent settlements established. Spanish explorers claimed land for the crown in the modern-day states of Alabama, Arizona,

17836-426: The capture, U.S. forces appointed both José de Jesús Noé and Washington Allon Bartlett to serve as co- alcaldes (mayors), while the conquest continued on in the rest of California. On January 30, 1847, Mayor Bartlett ordained that the city should officially change its name from "Yerba Buena" to "San Francisco", as the former name was only locally recognized and the latter name was in use on international maps. There

18018-476: The city and burned out of control for several days. With water mains out of service, the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks. More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core. Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people died, though modern estimates put the number in

18200-521: The city as a whole, asserting that the issues of concern are restricted primarily to the urban core of San Francisco. As of March 2024, Union Square was in "sorry shape" and had lost its traditional position as the Bay Area's regional shopping hub to Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose. The Ferry Station Post Office Building , Armour & Co. Building , Atherton House , and YMCA Hotel are historic buildings among dozens of historical landmarks in

18382-548: The city's Little Italy and the former center of the Beat Generation ; and Telegraph Hill , which features Coit Tower . Abutting Russian Hill and North Beach is San Francisco's Chinatown , the oldest Chinatown in North America. The South of Market , which was once San Francisco's industrial core, has seen significant redevelopment following the construction of Oracle Park and an infusion of startup companies . New skyscrapers, live-work lofts, and condominiums dot

18564-479: The city's alcalde , renamed it from Yerba Buena (Spanish for "Good Herb"), which had been the name of the first civilian pueblo in San Francisco, as well as the name of Yerba Buena Cove , which the pueblo was on the shore of. Earlier in San Francisco's history, the uninhabited area on the northeastern side of San Francisco was called El Paraje de Yerba Buena , after the herb that was growing abundantly there. The name Yerba Buena continues to be used in locations in

18746-417: The city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001 and again in 2023, many of these companies folded and their employees were laid off. Yet high technology and entrepreneurship remain mainstays of the San Francisco economy. By the mid-2000s (decade), the social media boom had begun, with San Francisco becoming a popular location for tech offices and

18928-576: The city's southern border, the Excelsior District is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco. The Bayview-Hunters Point in the far southeast corner of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods, though the area has been the focus of several revitalizing and urban renewal projects. The construction of the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 connected southwest neighborhoods to downtown via streetcar, hastening

19110-571: The city, according to the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco . San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States , at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several picturesque islands — Alcatraz , Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island , and small portions of Alameda Island , Red Rock Island , and Angel Island —are part of

19292-865: The city, such as on Yerba Buena Island and in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens . While people residing outside the San Francisco Bay Area use nicknames including "Frisco" and "San Fran", local residents in the Bay Area sometimes refer to San Francisco as "the City" or "SF". The choice of nickname a person uses is a common way for locals to distinguish long-time residents from tourists and recent arrivals. "San Fran" and "Frisco" are sometimes considered controversial as nicknames among San Francisco residents. The earliest archeological evidence of human habitation of

19474-432: The city. Also included are the uninhabited Farallon Islands , 27 miles (43 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. The mainland within the city limits roughly forms a "seven-by-seven-mile square," a common local colloquialism referring to the city's shape, though its total area, including water, is nearly 232 square miles (600 km ). There are more than 50 hills within the city limits. Some neighborhoods are named after

19656-507: The coastal islands of Cubagua and Margarita to exploit the pearl beds. Western Venezuela's history took an atypical direction in 1528, when Spain's first Hapsburg monarch, Charles I granted rights to colonize to the German banking family of the Welsers . Charles sought to be elected Holy Roman Emperor and was willing to pay whatever it took to achieve that. He became deeply indebted to

19838-459: The colonial economy. In Peru, silver was found in a single silver mountain, the Cerro Rico de Potosí , which is still producing silver in the 21st century. Potosí (founded 1545) was in the zone of dense indigenous settlement, so that labor could be mobilized on traditional patterns to extract the ore. An important element for productive mining was mercury for processing high-grade ore. Peru had

20020-409: The conditions in a jurisdiction, the position of factor/veedor was often eliminated, as well. The treasury officials were appointed by the king, and were largely independent of the authority of the viceroy, audiencia president or governor. On the death, unauthorized absence, retirement or removal of a governor, the treasury officials would jointly govern the province until a new governor appointed by

20202-477: The conquest of central Mexico include accounts by the expedition leader Hernán Cortés, Bernal Díaz del Castillo and other Spanish conquistadors, indigenous allies from the city-states altepetl of Tlaxcala, Texcoco , and Huexotzinco. In addition, indigenous accounts were written by the defeated from the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan , a case of history being written by those other than the victors. The capture of

20384-526: The conventional sense but were the rulers of a confederation of dozens of city-states and other polities; the status of each varied from harshly subjugated to closely allied. The Spaniards persuaded the leaders of Aztec vassals and Tlaxcala (a city-state never conquered by the Aztecs), to ally with them against the Aztecs. Through such methods, the Spaniards came to accumulate a massive force of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of indigenous warriors. Records of

20566-515: The country at the time. His financial empire, however, collapsed in 1875 as a result of the Panic of 1873 , triggering a major economic crisis in San Francisco. Development of the Port of San Francisco and the establishment in 1869 of overland access to the eastern U.S. rail system via the newly completed Pacific Railroad (the construction of which the city only reluctantly helped support ) helped make

20748-490: The creation of Portuguese colony of Brazil. Although during the rule of Charles V , the Spanish Empire was the first to be called " The empire on which the sun never sets ", under Philip II the permanent colonization of the Philippine Islands made it demonstrably true. The Spanish expansion has sometimes been succinctly summed up as being motivated by "gold, glory, God", that is, the search for material wealth,

20930-487: The crown put in place laws to protect their newly converted indigenous vassals. Europeans imported enslaved Africans to the early Caribbean settlements to replace indigenous labor and enslaved and free Africans were part of colonial-era populations. A mixed-race casta population came into being during the period of Spanish rule. In the early 19th century, the Spanish American wars of independence resulted in

21112-453: The crown that the region he now controlled held a huge treasure in the form of gold and spices. Spanish settlers initially found relatively dense populations of indigenous peoples, who were agriculturalists living in villages ruled by leaders not part of a larger integrated political system. The Spanish saw these populations as a source of labor, there for their exploitation, to supply their own settlements with foodstuffs, but more importantly for

21294-405: The density of Spanish settlement in the long term. One was the presence or absence of dense, hierarchically organized indigenous populations that could be made to work. The other was the presence or absence of an exploitable resource for the enrichment of settlers. Best was gold, but silver was found in abundance. The two main areas of Spanish settlement after 1550 were Mexico and Peru, the sites of

21476-683: The development of West Portal , and nearby affluent Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood . Further west, stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean and north to Golden Gate Park lies the vast Sunset District , a large middle-class area with a predominantly Asian population. The northwestern quadrant of the city contains the Richmond , a mostly middle-class neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park, home to immigrants from other parts of Asia as well as many Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. Together, these areas are known as The Avenues . These two districts are each sometimes further divided into two regions:

21658-462: The discovery of large quantities of silver became the motor of the Spanish colonial economy, a major source of income for the Spanish crown, and transformed the international economy. Mining regions in Mexico were remote, outside the zone of indigenous settlement in central and southern Mexico Mesoamerica , but mines in Zacatecas (founded 1548) and Guanajuato (founded 1548) emerged as key hubs in

21840-403: The early Caribbean period, particularly Frey Nicolás de Ovando , who was sent to investigate the administration of Francisco de Bobadilla , the governor appointed to succeed Christopher Columbus. Later ecclesiastics served as interim viceroys, general inspectors (visitadores), and other high posts. The crown established control over trade and emigration to the Indies with the 1503 establishment

22022-599: The economies of Spain and the Spanish empire through changes in mercantile and fiscal policies, defend Spanish colonies and territorial claims through the establishment of a standing military, undermine the power of the Catholic church, and rein in the power of the American-born elites. The crown relied on ecclesiastics as important councilors and royal officials in the governance of their overseas territories. Archbishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca , Isabella's confessor,

22204-509: The emergence of The Castro as an urban gay village , the election of Harvey Milk to the Board of Supervisors , and his assassination , along with that of Mayor George Moscone , in 1978. Bank of America , now based in Charlotte , North Carolina , was founded in San Francisco; the bank completed 555 California Street in 1969. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972, igniting

22386-442: The enhancement of the conquerors' and the crown's position, and the expansion of Christianity to the exclusion of other religious traditions. In the extension of Spanish sovereignty to its overseas territories, authority for expeditions ( entradas ) of discovery, conquest, and settlement resided in the monarchy. Expeditions required authorization by the crown, which laid out the terms of such expedition. Virtually all expeditions after

22568-774: The excavation of the Yerba Buena Tunnel through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such land tends to be unstable during earthquakes. The resulting soil liquefaction causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . A few natural lakes and creeks ( Lake Merced , Mountain Lake , Pine Lake , Lobos Creek , El Polin Spring ) are within parks and remain protected in what

22750-709: The expansion of populations in Europe. Chocolate and vanilla were cultivated in Mexico and exported to Europe. Among the foodstuffs that became staples in European cuisine and could be grown there were tomatoes, squashes, bell peppers, cashews , pecans and peanuts . The empire in the Indies was a newly established dependency of the kingdom of Castile alone, so crown power was not impeded by any existing cortes (i.e. parliament), administrative or ecclesiastical institution, or seigneurial group. The crown sought to establish and maintain control over its overseas possessions through

22932-520: The fact that there were no churches to be found, prompted missionaries like William Taylor to come to San Francisco where he began preaching in the streets, using an upright barrel as his pulpit. Taylor was able to garner enough generous donations from successful gold miners with which he used to build a church. One of the most influential figures of this era was William Chapman Ralston . A shrewd banker and investor, Ralston amassed considerable wealth and influence in San Francisco. He gained control over

23114-497: The famous " Painted Ladies ," standing alongside Alamo Square . To the south, near the geographic center of the city is Haight-Ashbury , famously associated with 1960s hippie culture. The Haight is now home to some expensive boutiques and a few controversial chain stores, although it still retains some bohemian character. North of the Western Addition is Pacific Heights , an affluent neighborhood that features

23296-407: The fifth-most visited city from abroad in the United States after New York City, Miami , Orlando , and Los Angeles – and approximately 20 million domestic visitors for a total of 21.9 million visitors. It is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods , its Chinatown and Mission districts, its cooling summers, fog , and landmarks including

23478-584: The film Sudden Impact (1983). A restaurant on the wharf is seen in The Lost Boys (1987). 36°57′41″N 122°01′19″W  /  36.961491°N 122.021868°W  / 36.961491; -122.021868 San Francisco San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco , is a commercial, financial , and cultural center within Northern California . With

23660-610: The first land grant in Yerba Buena: to William Richardson , a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth. Richardson had arrived in San Francisco aboard a whaling ship in 1822. In 1825, he married Maria Antonia Martinez, eldest daughter of the Californio Ygnacio Martínez . Yerba Buena began to attract American and European settlers; an 1842 census listed 21 residents (11%) born in the United States or Europe, as well as one Filipino merchant. Following

23842-534: The following years the conquistadors and indigenous allies extended control over Greater Andes Region. The Viceroyalty of Perú was established in 1542. The last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Peru was the last territory on the continent under Spanish rule, which ended on 9 December 1824 at the Battle of Ayacucho (Spanish rule continued until 1898 in Cuba and Puerto Rico). [Chile] has four months of winter, no more, and in them, except when there

24024-399: The foundation of St. Augustine by six years, marking an important yet often overlooked moment in the history of Spanish colonization. Archaeological evidence from the University of West Florida has confirmed the presence of Luna's expedition, which included 1,500 people and lasted from 1559 to 1561. The artifacts discovered at the site provide a direct link to Spain's early efforts to colonize

24206-518: The gateway to the goldfields, experienced a surge in population and commercial activity. However, the influx of fortune seekers also brought challenges. Lawlessness was rampant, and the Barbary Coast district became synonymous with vice, attracting criminals, prostitutes, and illicit activities, including but not limited to prostitution, bootlegging , and gambling. The rapidly growing population, with its lawlessness, gambling and other vices, and

24388-476: The globe return to Santa Cruz, California for the annual six-mile race to Capitola-by-the-Sea. First run in 1973 by a handful of locals, the Wharf to Wharf Race begins at the Santa Cruz Wharf and completes at the Capitola Wharf , in the neighboring town. Limited to 16,000 runners on a first-come-first-served basis, its field sells out months in advance. A fish market on the wharf is featured in scenes from

24570-439: The governor of Cuba to form an expedition of exploration-only to this far western region. That expedition was to make world history. The Caribbean islands became less central to Spain's overseas colonization, but remained important strategically and economically, especially the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. Smaller islands claimed by Spain were lost to the English and the Dutch, with France taking half of Hispaniola and establishing

24752-420: The governor, it could be joined the military ones, according to military requirements, with the rank of Captain general . The office of captain general involved to be the supreme military chief of the whole territory and he was responsible for recruiting and providing troops, the fortification of the territory, the supply and the shipbuilding. Beginning in 1522 in the newly conquered Mexico, government units in

24934-457: The hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill , Potrero Hill , and Russian Hill . Near the geographic center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less densely populated hills. Twin Peaks , a pair of hills forming one of the city's highest points, forms an overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson , is 928 feet (283 m) high and is capped with

25116-562: The homes built by wealthy San Franciscans in the wake of the 1906 earthquake. Directly north of Pacific Heights facing the waterfront is the Marina , a neighborhood popular with young professionals that was largely built on reclaimed land from the Bay. In the southeast quadrant of the city is the Mission District —populated in the 19th century by Californios and working-class immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Scandinavia. In

25298-661: The indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times, until Diego Hernández de Serpa 's foundation in 1569. The Spanish founded San Sebastián de Uraba in 1509 but abandoned it within the year. There is indirect evidence that the first permanent Spanish mainland settlement established in the Americas was Santa María la Antigua del Darién . Spaniards spent over 25 years in the Caribbean where their initial high hopes of dazzling wealth gave way to continuing exploitation of disappearing indigenous populations, exhaustion of local gold mines, initiation of cane sugar cultivation as an export product, and forced migration of enslaved Africans as

25480-586: The indigenous peoples. After the end of the period of conquests, it was necessary to manage extensive and different territories with a strong bureaucracy. In the face of the impossibility of the Castilian institutions to take care of the New World affairs, other new institutions were created. As the basic political entity it was the governorate, or province. The governors exercised judicial ordinary functions of first instance, and prerogatives of government legislating by ordinances. To these political functions of

25662-558: The indigenous population. From the Spanish viewpoint, their source of labor and viability of their own settlements was at risk. After the collapse of the Taino population of Hispaniola, Spaniards began raiding indigenous settlements on nearby islands, including Cuba , Puerto Rico , and Jamaica , to enslave those populations, replicating the demographic catastrophe there as well. The names of two indigenous leaders ( caciques ) who rebelled against Spanish colonization, Enriquillo and Hatuey in

25844-399: The indigenous populations and Spaniards alike. Charles revoked the grant in 1545, ending the episode of German colonization . Argentina was not conquered or later exploited in the grand fashion of central Mexico or Peru, since the indigenous population was sparse and there were no precious metals or other valuable resources. Although today Buenos Aires at the mouth of Río de la Plata is

26026-450: The king could take up his duties. Treasury officials were supposed to be paid out of the income from the province, and were normally prohibited from engaging in income-producing activities. The protection of the indigenous populations from enslavement and exploitation by Spanish settlers were established in the Laws of Burgos , 1512–1513. The laws were the first codified set of laws governing

26208-483: The larger Port of Oakland . The city began to lose industrial jobs and turned to tourism as the most important segment of its economy. The suburbs experienced rapid growth, and San Francisco underwent significant demographic change, as large segments of the white population left the city, supplanted by an increasing wave of immigration from Asia and Latin America. From 1950 to 1980, the city lost over 10 percent of its population. Over this period, San Francisco became

26390-656: The launching point for further expeditions. These were often led by secondary leaders, such as Pedro de Alvarado . Later conquests in Mexico were protracted campaigns with less immediate results than the conquest of the Aztec Empire. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán , the Spanish conquest of Guatemala , the conquest of the Purépecha of Michoacan, the war of Mexico's west , and the Chichimeca War in northern Mexico expanded Spanish control over territory and indigenous populations stretching thousands of miles. Not until

26572-419: The missions were made to divest themselves of their extensive landholdings and emancipate the indigenous people under their control. As part of the process of secularization, Governor José Figueroa opened up San Francisco to civilian settlement. Prior to secularization, the only settlements in San Francisco had been the military settlement at the Presidio and the religious settlement at Mission Dolores. In 1835,

26754-451: The names of two Spaniards are popularly known because they led the conquests of two indigenous empires, Hernán Cortés , leader of the expedition involved in the conquest of the Aztec Empire , and Francisco Pizarro , leader of the conquest of the Inca in Peru. Spanish conquerors took advantage of indigenous rivalries to forge alliances with groups seeing an advantage for their own goals. This

26936-462: The new Bourbon dynasty . The indigenous population plummeted by an estimated 80% in the first century and a half following Columbus's voyages, primarily through the spread of infectious diseases . Practices of forced labor and slavery for resource extraction, and forced resettlement in new villages and later missions were implemented. Alarmed by the precipitous fall in indigenous populations and reports of settlers' exploitation of their labor,

27118-647: The northern Gulf Coast. In the fall of 1528, Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca landed on present day Follet's Island, Texas . In 1565, Spain established a settlement in St. Augustine, Florida , lasting in one way or another until modern times. Permanent Spanish settlements were founded in New Mexico , starting in 1598, with Santa Fe founded in 1610. The spectacular conquests of central Mexico (1519–1521) and Peru (1532) sparked Spaniards' hopes of finding yet another high civilization. Expeditions continued into

27300-434: The officials and elites were closest to the main square. Once on the mainland, where there were dense indigenous populations in urban settlements, the Spanish could build a Spanish settlement on the same site, dating its foundation to when that occurred. Often they erected a church on the site of an indigenous temple. They replicated the existing indigenous network of settlements, but added a port city. The Spanish network needed

27482-423: The participation of indigenous allies, the conquest of central Mexico was protracted and necessitated significant numbers of indigenous allies, who chose to participate in defeating the Aztec Empire for their own purposes. The conquest of the Aztec Empire involved the combined effort of armies from many indigenous allies, spearheaded by a small Spanish force of conquistadors. The Aztecs did not govern over an empire in

27664-484: The period of Mexican rule , although it was not until 1833 that the missions would be secularized. Agricultural land became largely privatized as ranchos , as was occurring in other parts of California. Coastal trade increased, including a half-dozen barques from various Atlantic ports which regularly sailed in California waters. With the enactment of the Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 ,

27846-533: The primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations . The explosion of jobs drew many people, especially African Americans from the South , to the area. After the end of the war, many military personnel returning from service abroad and civilians who had originally come to work decided to stay. The United Nations Charter creating the United Nations

28028-605: The quality of housing after the earthquake. The earthquake hastened development of western neighborhoods that survived the fire, including Pacific Heights , where many of the city's wealthy rebuilt their homes. In turn, the destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose again in the Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915. During this period, San Francisco built some of its most important infrastructure. Civil Engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy

28210-439: The rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution , the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and

28392-989: The ruins of the Aztec capital. Their central official and ceremonial area was built on top of Aztec palaces and temples. In Peru, Spaniards founded the city of Lima as their capital and its nearby port of Callao , rather than the high-altitude site of Cuzco , the center of Inca rule. Spaniards established a network of settlements in areas they conquered and controlled. Important ones include Santiago de Guatemala (1524); Puebla (1531); Querétaro (ca. 1531); Guadalajara (1531–42); Valladolid (now Morelia ), (1529–41); Antequera (now Oaxaca (1525–29); Campeche (1541); and Mérida . In southern Central and South America, settlements were founded in Panama (1519); León, Nicaragua (1524); Cartagena (1532); Piura (1532); Quito (1534); Trujillo (1535); Cali (1537) Bogotá (1538); Quito (1534); Cuzco 1534); Lima (1535); Tunja , (1539); Huamanga (1539); Arequipa (1540); Santiago de Chile (1544) and Concepción, Chile (1550). Settled from

28574-405: The sea lions below. Annually, an estimated 1.5 million visitors come to the Santa Cruz Wharf to fish, shop, dine and sightsee. On October 4, 2014, the community celebrated 100 years of the Santa Cruz Wharf with a festival including a pop-up museum exhibit, historic photo stand, bocce courts, face painting, Mavericks surfboard display, photo booth, Economic Development's Wharf Master Plan model and

28756-460: The secession of most of Spanish America and the establishment of independent nations. Continuing under crown rule were Cuba and Puerto Rico , along with the Philippines , which were all lost to the United States in 1898, following the Spanish–American War , ending its rule in the Americas. The expansion of Spain's territory took place under the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon , whose marriage marked

28938-420: The several thousands. More than half of the city's population of 400,000 was left homeless. Refugees settled temporarily in makeshift tent villages in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, on the beaches, and elsewhere. Many fled permanently to the East Bay . Jack London is remembered for having famously eulogized the earthquake: "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco

29120-480: The south were Buenos Aires (1536, 1580); Asunción (1537); Potosí (1545); La Paz, Bolivia (1548); and Tucumán (1553). The Columbian Exchange was as significant as the clash of civilizations. Arguably the most significant introduction was diseases brought to the Americas, which devastated indigenous populations in a series of epidemics. The loss of indigenous population had a direct impact on Spaniards as well, since increasingly they saw those populations as

29302-419: The southern side of the Golden Gate , which later came to be known as Fort Point. In 1804, the province of Alta California was created, which included San Francisco. At its peak in 1810–1820, the average population at the Mission Dolores settlement was about 1,100 people. In 1821, the Californias were ceded to Mexico by Spain. The extensive California mission system gradually lost its influence during

29484-445: The strategic benefits of the area due to its large natural harbor, the Spanish dispatched Pedro Fages in 1770 to find a more direct route to the San Francisco Peninsula from Monterey , which would become part of the El Camino Real route. By 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza had arrived to the area to select the sites for a mission and presidio . The first European maritime presence in San Francisco Bay occurred on August 5, 1775, when

29666-416: The sugar-producing colony of St-Domingue , as well as also taking other islands. With Spanish expansion into central Mexico under conqueror Hernán Cortés and the conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519-1521)Spanish explorers were able to find wealth on the scale that they had long hoped for. Unlike Spanish contact with indigenous populations in the Caribbean, which involved limited armed combat and sometimes

29848-437: The territory of San Francisco dates to 3000 BCE. The Yelamu group of the Ramaytush people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay . The Ohlone name for San Francisco was Ahwaste , meaning, "place at the bay." The arrival of Spanish colonists, and the implementation of their Mission system, marked

30030-455: The territory, the king, as sovereign, and the appointed leader of an expedition ( adelantado ) agreed to an itemized contract ( capitulación ), with the specifics of the conditions of the expedition in a particular territory. The individual leaders of expeditions assumed the expenses of the venture and in return received as reward the grant from the government of the conquered territories; and in addition, they received instructions about treating

30212-474: The trade with the Indies. The politics of asserting royal authority to oppose Columbus resulted in the suppression of his privileges and the creation of territorial governance under royal authority. These governorates, also called as provinces, were the basic of the territorial government of the Indies, and arose as the territories were conquered and colonized. To carry out the expedition ( entrada ), which entailed exploration, conquest, and initial settlement of

30394-402: The underwater lot. By 1851, the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870, Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land. Buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and

30576-421: The wider region. San Francisco, which is Spanish for "Saint Francis," takes its name from Mission San Francisco de Asís , which in turn was named after Saint Francis of Assisi . The mission received its name in 1776, when it was founded by the Spanish under the leadership of Padre Francisco Palóu . The city has officially been known as San Francisco since 1847, when Washington Allon Bartlett , then serving as

30758-415: Was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill , and a thriving arts scene. The first North American plague epidemic was the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 . At 5:12 am on April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and northern California. As buildings collapsed from the shaking, ruptured gas lines ignited fires that spread across

30940-425: Was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration , liberalizing attitudes,

31122-408: Was a typical tactic of warfare: divide and conquer. But the indigenous allies had much to gain by throwing off Aztec rule. For the Spaniards' Tlaxcalan allies, their crucial support gained them enduring political legacy into the modern era, the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. The conquest of central Mexico sparked further Spanish conquests, following the pattern of conquered and consolidated regions being

31304-434: Was also concern that a new town being planned by General Vallejo on the Carquinez Strait was to be called "Francisca", after the first name of his wife. After the name change to "San Francisco", the name of Vallejo's town was changed to Benicia , after his wife's middle name. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Alta California was ceded from Mexico to the United States . Despite its attractive location as

31486-469: Was at the height of the Great Depression that San Francisco undertook two great civil engineering projects, simultaneously constructing the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge , completing them in 1936 and 1937, respectively. It was in this period that the island of Alcatraz , a former military stockade, began its service as a federal maximum security prison, housing notorious inmates such as Al Capone , and Robert Franklin Stroud ,

31668-412: Was centered on a plaza that is now Portsmouth Square . A land survey of Yerba Buena was made by the Swiss immigrant Jean Jacques Vioget as prelude to the city plan. Francisco de Haro , a non- Californio Mexican native, became the first alcalde of Yerba Buena. The second alcalde José Joaquín Estudillo was a Californio from a prominent Monterey family. In 1835, while in office, he approved

31850-536: Was drafted and signed in San Francisco in 1945 and, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . Urban planning projects in the 1950s and 1960s involved widespread destruction and redevelopment of west-side neighborhoods and the construction of new freeways , of which only a series of short segments were built before being halted by citizen-led opposition . The onset of containerization made San Francisco's small piers obsolete, and cargo activity moved to

32032-437: Was granted a small rancho at El Polín Spring , near the Presidio, founding the first non-indigenous civilian household in San Francisco. In 1834, the pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded. Yerba Buena Cove (named after a native herb ) was already a favored anchorage spot and the new settlement and trading post was founded by its shores. Yerba Buena was located in what is now the city's Chinatown and Financial District and

32214-465: Was hired by San Francisco Mayor James Rolph as chief engineer for the city in September 1912 to supervise the construction of the Twin Peaks Reservoir, the Stockton Street Tunnel , the Twin Peaks Tunnel , the San Francisco Municipal Railway , the Auxiliary Water Supply System , and new sewers. San Francisco's streetcar system, of which the J , K , L , M , and N lines survive today, was pushed to completion by O'Shaughnessy between 1915 and 1927. It

32396-519: Was no large-scale Spanish conquest of indigenous peoples, but there was indigenous resistance to Spanish colonization. Columbus made four voyages to the West Indies as the monarchs granted Columbus vast powers of governance over this unknown part of the world. The crown of Castile financed more of his trans-Atlantic journeys, a pattern they would not repeat elsewhere. Effective Spanish settlement began in 1493, when Columbus brought livestock, seeds, agricultural equipment. The first settlement of La Navidad ,

32578-504: Was slavery. Queen Isabel put an end to formal slavery, declaring the indigenous to be vassals of the crown, but Spaniards' exploitation of indigenous labor continued. The Taíno population on Hispaniola went from hundreds of thousands or millions – the estimates by scholars vary widely – but in the mid-1490s, they were practically wiped out. Disease and overwork, disruption of family life and the agricultural cycle (which caused severe food shortages to Spaniards dependent on them) rapidly decimated

32760-474: Was tasked with reining in Columbus's independence. He strongly influenced the formulation of colonial policy under the Catholic Monarchs, and was instrumental in establishing the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) (1503), which enabled crown control over trade and immigration. Ovando fitted out Magellan's voyage of circumnavigation, and became the first President of the Council of the Indies in 1524. Ecclesiastics also functioned as administrators overseas in

32942-410: Was the O'Shaughnessy Dam , Hetch Hetchy Reservoir , and Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct that would have the largest effect on San Francisco. An abundant water supply enabled San Francisco to develop into the city it has become today. In ensuing years, the city solidified its standing as a financial capital; in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash , not a single San Francisco-based bank failed. Indeed, it

33124-459: Was translated quickly to English and became the basis for the anti-Spanish writings, collectively known as the Black Legend . Las Casas spent his long life attempting to defend the indigenous populations and to enlist the Spanish crown in establishing protections for them, seen most prominently in the enactment of the New Laws of 1542, restricting Spaniards' inheritance of encomiendas . The first mainland explorations by Spaniards were followed by

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