San Francisco

3 days ago - In 2022, San Francisco had more than 1.7 million international visitors and approximately 20 million domestic visitors. It is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods; its Chinatown and Mission districts; mild climate; and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and Alcatraz. The city is home to 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 Legion of Honor, the de Young Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, the SFJAZZ Center, and the California Academy of Sciences.

January 7, 2025 - Major events, such as the 1849 ... The Golden Gate City boasts a diverse culture, heavily influenced by its early Spanish and Mexican settlers and large Chinese population....

2 weeks ago - The city's famous cable cars were built around this time, a unique invention devised by Andrew Smith Hallidie in order to traverse the city's steep hills while connecting the new residential developments. San Francisco grew in cultural prominence at this time as famous writers Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Ambrose Bierce, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Oscar Wilde spent time in the city, while local characters developed such as Emperor Norton.

San Francisco Bay was inhabited by Indian tribes for thousands of years. When the Spanish came, tribes like the Mojave and others who spoke the Yuma language were already living there.

July 3, 2022 - The city’s history is marked ... earthquake. San Francisco has also been home to a number of important cultural movements, including the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the LGBTQ rights movement of the 1970s....

July 28, 1999 - San Francisco, city and port, northern California, U.S., located on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. It is a cultural and financial center of the western United States and one of the country’s most cosmopolitan cities. Learn more about the city’s history and ...

May 28, 2025 - The Gold Rush made San Francisco a cosmopolitan metropolis with a frontier edge. The great 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed much of the city but barely slowed its momentum; San Francisco barreled through the 20th century as a center of wealth, ...

The San Francisco Historical Society preserves, presents and promotes the city’s history, arts and culture for the past, present and future.

Since San Francisco became a magnet for American counterculture, it was where thousands of young people gathered for the iconic Summer of Love—a rejection of the comfortable individualistic modern life and a celebration of art, love, and community instead. The revolutionary hippie movement transformed San Francisco as well as the youth around the country. In the 1960s, San Francisco also became known for its influential rock music culture.

July 28, 1999 - To this must be added the popular culture of the ethnic enclaves—Chinatown, the Italian community of North Beach, Japantown, the Russian colony along Clement Street, and the Hispanic Mission District. San Francisco’s first topflight professional sports team was the football 49ers, who began play in 1946. The team became one of the most successful in National Football League history...

Over the years, the city has witnessed significant historical moments, from the rebuilding after the devastating 1906 earthquake to the rise of the LGBTQ+ movement in the Castro District. Neighborhoods like Chinatown, the oldest and largest in North America, showcase the city’s multicultural roots, while areas like Haight-Ashbury reflect its countercultural significance, especially during the 1960s. San Francisco continues to be a beacon of diversity and progress, with its neighborhoods reflecting the city's deep history and constant innovation.

The Gold, Greed, and Gunslingers: Forging San Francisco tour turns the pages of San Francisco’s early days in real-time. You’ll learn the history of Yerba Buena, the Barbary Coast, and Chinatown while visiting iconic buildings and cultural stops. The City By The Bay was once home to some ...

August 25, 2025 - The culture of San Francisco is major and diverse in terms of arts, music, cuisine, festivals, museums, and architecture but also is influenced heavily by Mexican culture due to its large Hispanic population, and its history as part of Spanish America and Mexico.

The Daniel E. Koshland San Francisco History Center contains a research collection of books, newspapers and magazines, photographs, maps, posters, archives and manuscript collections, and ephemera, documenting all aspects of San Francisco life and history. The Center is also the archives for ...

The San Francisco Historical Society preserves, presents and promotes the city’s history, arts and culture for the past, present and future.

754 SITE OF THE MARK HOPKINS INSTITUTE OF ART - In February 1893, Mr. Edward F. Searles donated the Hopkins Mansion to the University of California in trust for the San Francisco Art Institute for 'instruction in and illustration of the fine arts, music, and literature,' and as San Francisco's first cultural center.

By the turn of the century, San Francisco was known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, large mansions, and thriving arts and cultural scene.

Other venues of historic significance are the San Francisco City Hall, George R. Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco Chinatown, Granite Lady, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, and the Transamerica Pyramid. Higher education has played a significant role in San Francisco history.

From the Gold Rush to the Summer of Love, from cold cases to parades' past, these are the memories of San Francisco and the Bay Area you won't want to forget.

The city's famous cable cars were built around this time. They were invented by Andrew Smith Hallidie to help people travel up and down the city's steep hills. San Francisco also became a cultural center.