San Francisco

City and County of San Francisco

Flag of San Francisco

Seal

Nicknames:The City by the BayFog City

History of San Francisco

• The first Native Americans to settle this region found the bay to be a vast natural resource for hunting and gathering their provisions and for the establishment of many small villages.

• The first Europeans to see what would become San Francisco were members of a Spanish exploratory voyage

• San Francisco became part of the United States with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. San Francisco is now estimated to be the twelfth largest city in the United States, and has been characterized by rapid economic change and cultural diversity.

Geography• San Francisco is located on the West

Coast of the United States in the north part of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries.

•  There are more than 50 hills within city limits. Some neighborhoods are named after the hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, 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 resting at one of the city's highest points, forms a popular overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson, is 282 m high and is capped with 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.

Climate•  San Francisco's

climate is characteristic of the cool-summer Mediterranean climate of California’s coast, "generally characterized by moist mild winters and dry summers."

Cityscape

Culture of San Francisco

• The culture of San Francisco is major and diverse in terms of arts, music, cuisine, festivals, museums, and architecture. San Francisco's diversity of cultures along with its eccentricities are so great that they have greatly influenced the country and the world at large over the years.

Museums

• Palace of Fine Arts Palace of the Legion of Honor

Haas-Lilienthal House

Performing arts• Classical and Opera venues in

San Francisco include the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet. They all perform at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. San Francisco's Ballet and Opera are some of the oldest continuing performing arts companies in the United States. San Francisco is the birthplace and home city of the renowned vocal ensemble Chanticleer. 

War Memorial Opera House

Popular music• San Francisco has often hosted

influential rock music trends. Two of the most influential bands from that era, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane Head. 

• Punk, electronica, industrial, goth, and rave activity 1980s and early 1990s, was also somewhat influential. 

• Famous songs about San Francisco include Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", the Scott McKenzie song "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)", People Under the Stairs' "San Franciscan Nights", Chris Isaak's "San Francisco Days", Journey's "Lights", "Fake Tales of San Francisco" by the Arctic Monkeys, and "Save Me, San Francisco" by Train

Architecture and tourist attractions• The C. A. Belden House, a Queen Anne

Victorian in the Pacific Heights section on Gough Street Between Clay and Washington Streets. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco.

• These Victorian rowhouses are in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, California

Chinatown

•The Palace of Fine Arts at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, painted by Colin Campbell Cooper

Golden Gate Bridge