Timeline of San Francisco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of San Francisco, California, United States.
Prior to the 1800s
- 1776 – Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asís established by colonists from Spain.
- 1791 – Mission San Francisco de Asís building dedicated.
1800s
- 1833
- Mexican Secularization Act of 1833: Mission Dolores begins process of shutting down, San Francisco opened up to civilian settlement.
- 1834
- The pueblo of Yerba Buena founded, Francisco de Haro becomes first alcalde.
- 1847
- Yerba Buena renamed "San Francisco."
- The City Hotel built by William Leidesdorff.[1]
- 1848
- Territory ceded from Mexico to the United States per Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
- California Gold Rush begins.[2]
- 1849
- July 15: Little Chile attacked by The Hounds gang.[3]
- St. Francis hotel built.[1]
- Boudin Bakery, Olympic Amphitheatre,[4] and Union Iron Works[5] in business.
- West Indian Benevolent Association established.[6]
- 1850
- April 15: City of San Francisco incorporated.[7][2]
- May 1: John W. Geary becomes mayor.
- October 29: San Francisco becomes part of the new U.S. State of California.
- Chamber of Commerce[8] Society of California Pioneers,[9] and Jenny Lind Theatre[4] established.
- Population: 34,000.[2]
- 1851
- May 3–4: Fire.[10]
- San Francisco Committee of Vigilance organized.
- Pioneer Race Course opens.
- 1852
- Ghirardelli in business.
- Mercantile Library Association of San Francisco, Sons of the Emerald Isle, and San Francisco Turn Verein established.[9]
- The Golden Era newspaper begins publication.
- 1853 – California Academy of Sciences, YMCA,[9] and Russ garden[1] established.
- 1854
- San Francisco Mechanics' Institute established.
- Lone Mountain Cemetery established[11]
- 1855 – Hebrew Young Men's Literary Assoc. active.[12]
- 1856 – Mirror of the Times[6] and Daily Morning Call[13] newspapers begin publication.
- 1857 – California State Convention of Colored Citizens, a colored convention, held in city.[14]
- 1858 – Italian Benevolent Society organized.[9]
- 1859 – San Francisco Schuetzen-Verein founded.[15]
- 1860
- March 27: Japanese embassy arrives.[16]
- Olympic Club founded.[17]
- Population: 56,802.[18]
- 1861
- Overland Telegraph Company begins operating (New York-San Francisco).[10]
- Fraternitas Rosae Crucis lodge established.[19]
- 1862
- Heald's Business College[20] and Franchise League[6] established.
- The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange was founded.[21]
- 1863
- San Francisco and San Jose Railroad begins operating soon.
- St. Andrew's Society founded.[9]
- Cliff House rebuilt.
- Charlotte L. Brown sues a racially segregated San Francisco streetcar company and wins.[22]
- 1864 –
- Concordia-Argonaut Club founded.
- Hugh Toland found the Toland Medical College, which would later become the University of California, San Francisco
- 1865 – Daily Examiner and Daily Dramatic Chronicle newspapers begin publication.[13]
- 1866 – Merchants' Exchange Association, Caledonian Club,[9] and Woodward's Gardens[1] established.
- 1867
- Street begging ban effected.[23]
- San Francisco City and County Almshouse opens.[24]
- 1868 – San Francisco County Medical Society[9] and Women's Co-operative Printing Office established.
- 1869
- California Theatre opens.
- San Francisco Yacht Club founded.[9]
- Grand hotel built.[1]
- Central Pacific Railroad line to Oakland completed.[2]
- 1870
- Golden Gate Park[10] and San Francisco Microscopical Society[25] established.
- Population: 149,473.[18]
- 1871 – San Francisco Art Association and St. Luke's Hospital[15][26] established.
- 1872 – Bohemian Club and Bar Association of San Francisco founded.[9]
- 1873
- Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating.
- Polish Society of California organized.[9]
- 1874 – California School of Design, and Territorial Pioneers of California[9] established.
- 1875
- Palace Hotel in business.[1]
- Fire patrol established.[15]
- 1876
- Pioneer Park, Pacific Homeopathic Dispensary Association, and Ligue Nationale Francaise established.[9]
- Railway connexion to Los Angeles.[2]
- 1877
- Board of Trade, Spanish Mutual Benevolent Society,[9] and Workingmen's Party of California[27] established.
- Anti-Chinese sentiment leads to riots against Chinatown residents and businesses.[28]
- Baldwin hotel built.[1]
- 1878 – San Francisco Public Library,[29][30] Pacific Yacht Club, and Young Women's Christian Association founded.[9]
- 1879 – Golden Gate Kindergarten Association organized.[15]
- 1880 – California State Convention of Colored Citizens, a colored convention, held in city.[31]
- 1881 – Geographical Society of the Pacific organized.[9]
- 1883 – Pacific Coast Amateur Photographic Association headquartered in city.[32]
- 1887 – Cogswell Polytechnical College established.[20]
- 1888 – Associated Charities[15] and San Francisco Business College[20] established.
- 1889 – Pacific-Union Club formed.
- 1890
- California Camera Club[33] and University Club of San Francisco established.
- Population: 298,997.[2]
- Grand Conservatory of Music is established by Eugene S. Bonelli[34]
- 1891 – Gregg Shorthand school established.[20]
- 1892
- Hibernia Bank built.[35]
- Trocadero Hotel opens.
- 1893 – Mark Hopkins Institute of Art established.[36]
- 1894
- Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts established.[37]
- California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 held; Japanese Tea Garden built.
- 1895
- California School of Mechanical Arts established.[37]
- M. H. de Young Memorial Museum opens as Golden Gate Park Museum.[38]
- 1896 – Sutro Baths open.
- 1898
- San Francisco Ferry Building opens.
- City rechartered.[10]
- League of California Municipalities headquartered in city.[39]
- Buddhist temple founded.[40][41]
- 1899
- San Francisco State Normal School established.
- City Hall built.
- 1900 – Population: 342,782.[42][2]
1900s
1900s–1940s
- 1901
- 1902 – Eugene Schmitz becomes mayor.
- 1905 – 1908: San Francisco graft trials
- 1906 – April 18: Earthquake and fires.[44][2]
- 1907
- July: Mayor Eugene Schmitz imprisoned.[10]
- International Hotel built.
- A. Mutt comic strip begins publication in the San Francisco Chronicle.
- 1908 – South San Francisco incorporated near city.[45]
- 1910
- San Francisco Housing Association organized.[46]
- Population: 416,912.[2]
- 1911
- Cort Theatre opens on September 2, 1911.[47]
- San Francisco Symphony founded. Plays first concert at Cort Theatre on December 8, 1911.[48]
- 1912
- Lux School for Industrial Training for Girls opens.
- Book Club of California established.[49]
- James Rolph becomes mayor.
- Tadich Grill in business.[50]
- 1914 – San Francisco National Guard Armory and Arsenal built.
- 1915
- January 25: First transcontinental telephone call occurs (San Francisco-New York).
- February 20: Panama–Pacific International Exposition opens; Tower of Jewels built.
- San Francisco Labor Temple built.
- San Francisco City Hall rebuilt.
- Veterans Auditorium opens.
- 1916
- Preparedness Day Bombing.[51]
- Legal Aid Society established.[citation needed]
- Buena Vista Cafe in business.
- 1917 – Strand Theater built.[52][35]
- 1922 – Golden Gate Theatre, and Castro Theatre built.[53]
- 1923
- January: Mae Nolan becomes U.S. representative for California's 5th congressional district.[54]
- August 2: US President Harding dies in the Palace Hotel.[44]
- 1924
- California Palace of the Legion of Honor opens.
- April 24, opening of the Metropolitan Theatre in Cow Hollow[55]
- 1925
- 1926 – Playland at the Beach in business.
- 1927 – San Francisco Municipal Airport dedicated.[10]
- 1928 – Amazon Theater opens.[52]
- 1929
- Fleishhacker Zoo established.
- Topsy's Roost (restaurant) in business.
- 1930 – Pacific Stock Exchange Lunch Club formed.
- 1931
- Stern Grove opens as city park.
- El Rey Theatre opens[57]
- 1932
- War Memorial Opera House opens.
- Photographers' Group f/64 founded.[58]
- 1933
- San Francisco Opera Ballet founded.
- Coit Tower built.
- 1934
- May 9: General Strike begins.[51]
- U.S. Penitentiary established on Alcatraz Island.
- Golden Grain Macaroni Company in business.
- 1935 – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art opens as San Francisco Museum of Art in Veterans Memorial Building.
- 1936 – Bay Bridge opens.[59]
- 1937 – May 27: Golden Gate Bridge opens.[10]
- 1940 – Holly Courts housing project built.[10]
- 1944 – Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples established.[60]
- 1945
- Tonga Room in business.
- April 25: United Nations Conference on International Organization begins.
- June 26: United Nations Charter signed.
- 1946 – National Urban League branch[61] and Marines' Memorial Club established.
- 1949 – Presidio Theatre built.[53]
1950s–1990s
- 1952 – The Purple Onion nightclub in business.
- 1953 – City Lights Bookstore in business.[51]
- 1955 – City Lights Pocket Poets Series begins publication.
- Allen Ginsberg reads his poem Howl for the first time at the Six Gallery
- 1957
- San Francisco International Film Festival founded.
- Caffe Trieste in business.[62]
- Sister city relationship established with Osaka, Japan.[63]
- The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange (formed in 1882) and the Los Angeles Oil Exchange (formed in 1899) merge to create the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange.[21]
- 1959 – Embarcadero Freeway opens.
- 1960 – Mandarin restaurant in business.[64]
- 1963– The Reverend Cecil Williams becomes pastor at Glide Memorial Church, shifting the church's politics to the left.[65]
- 1964 – City's "San Francisco History Center" established.
- 1965 – Intersection for the Arts incorporated.
- The musical group the Jefferson Airplane is created.
- 1966– The Compton's Cafeteria riot breaks out when transgender patrons become angry over police harassment.[66]
- 1967 – Summer of Love.
- January: The Human Be-In takes place in Golden Gate park, a prelude to the Summer of Love.
- The anarchist group The Diggers is founded, and begins distributing free food.[67]
- 1968 – Sister city relationship established with Sydney, Australia.[63]
- The Church of John Coltrane is established, and continues religious services until 2016.[68]
- 1969
- 555 California Street built.
- Sister city relationships established with Assisi, Italy; and Taipei, Taiwan.[63]
- The San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner receive their first letters from The Zodiac Killer.[69]
- 1970 – Regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission established.
- 1971 – Peoples Temple in San Francisco and Church of the Tree of Life[19] established.
- 1972
- San Francisco Pride begins.
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area established.
- Transamerica Pyramid built.
- 1973
- October: Zebra murders begin.[70]
- Church of the Gentle Brothers and Sisters incorporated.[19]
- Sister city relationship established with Haifa, Israel.[63]
- 1974
- People's Food System active (approximate date).[71]
- Southern Exposure (art space)[72] and San Francisco Cable Car Museum established.
- April 15: Hibernia Bank robbery by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
- 1975
- Rainbow Grocery Cooperative opens.[71]
- Sister city relationship established with Seoul, South Korea.[63]
- September 22: Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in front of the St. Francis Hotel by firing two gunshots at Ford; both shots missed.
- 1976 – Bay Area Video Coalition founded.
- 1977
- 1978
- June 25: Rainbow flag (LGBT movement) introduced.
- November 18: Jonestown mass murder-suicide at the People's Temple Guyana compound.
- November 27: Moscone–Milk assassinations.
- December 4: Dianne Feinstein becomes mayor.
- 1979
- The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence make their first appearance on Castro Street.
- May 21: White Night riots.
- Sister city relationship established with Shanghai, China.[63]
- 1980 – Davies Symphony Hall opens.
- 1981
- San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and Hansberry Theatre established.
- Sister city relationship established with Manila, Philippines.[63]
- 1982 – City/county handgun ban approved; later struck down by state court.[70]
- 1983
- San Francisco General Hospital AIDS clinic established.[73]
- The first San Francisco Historic Trolley Festival takes place.
- 1984 – Sister city relationship established with Cork, Ireland.[63]
- 1986
- Cacophony Society formed.
- A bonfire of a wooden man is held on Baker Beach which evolves into the Burning Man event.[74]
- Sister city relationship established with Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.[63]
- 1987 – Luggage Store (arts organization) established.[72]
- 1988 – San Francisco Museum and Historical Society founded.
- 1989
- October 17: Loma Prieta earthquake.
- San Francisco becomes a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.[75]
- 1990
- Population: 723,959.[18]
- Sister city relationship established with Thessaloniki, Greece.[63]
- 1991 – Museum of the City of San Francisco opens.[76]
- 1992
- Critical Mass (bicycle event) began.
- Clarion Alley Mural Project organized.
- Latino Coalition for a Healthy California headquartered in city.
- 1993
- 1994 – Santarchy begins.
- 1995
- Craigslist founded.
- Sister city relationship established with Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.[63]
- 1996
- City website online (approximate date).[77][chronology citation needed]
- Willie Brown becomes mayor.
- Internet Archive headquartered in city.[78]
- Long Now Foundation established.
- 1997
- Sister city relationship established with Paris, France.[63]
- Pinecrest Diner, a popular all-night diner-style restaurant in San Francisco, becomes notorious for a murder over an order of eggs.[79]
- 1998 – Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts founded.[72]
- 2000 – Population: 776,733.[42]
2000s
- 2001 - Fatal dog mauling of Diane Whipple.
- 2003
- 2004 – Gavin Newsom becomes mayor.
- 2005 – November: Gun control ordinance San Francisco Proposition H (2005) passes; later struck down.
- 2006 – the Metro Theatre in Cow Hollow closes[55][81]
- 2007
- Twitter Inc. in business.[82]
- Noisebridge founded.[83]
- 2008
- Edible Schoolyard established at San Francisco Boys and Girls Club.
- One Rincon Hill (apartment building) constructed.
- Airbnb in business.
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- January 11: Ed Lee becomes mayor.
- November 8: San Francisco mayoral election, 2011.
- TechCrunch Disrupt conference begins.
- 2013
- San Francisco tech bus protests begin.
- Civic Industries in business.[86]
- 2014 – San Francisco Giants baseball team win World Series contest.
- 2015 – Shooting of Kathryn Steinle occurs; a 32-year old woman is killed by a stray bullet fired by an illegal immigrant who was previously deported. The gunman found a gun laying around negligently, and claimed to have fired towards sea lions from a deck, thus hitting a bystander.
- 2020 – Orange Skies Day makes international headlines
- 2023 - Significantly high levels of crime, open-air drug use, homelessness, and closed storefronts have become more prominent features of Union Square.[87]
- 2023 - March: Bob Lee was killed in a stabbing.
- November: San Francisco hosts the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit.[88]
- 2024 - July: Corazon Dandan is fatally shoved onto a Daly City-bound oncoming BART train, allegedly by a homeless mentally ill individual.
- 2024 - September: Shooting and wounding of Ricky Pearsall occurs in Union Square, over a robbery involving his Rolex watch allegedly done by a teenage male from Tracy, California.
See also
- History of San Francisco
- National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco, California
- List of pre-statehood mayors of San Francisco
- List of mayors of San Francisco (since 1850)
- Timelines of San Francisco's sister cities: Abidjan, Amman, Barcelona, Haifa, Kraków, Manila, Osaka, Paris, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Zürich
- Timeline of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Timelines of other cities in the Northern California area of California: Fresno, Mountain View, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose