San Francisco Facts:
- San Francisco is built on 43 hills.
- The real "Golden Gate" is the strait that the Golden Gate bridge spans. It was first named "Chrysopylae," meaning "golden gate," by Captain John C. Fremont in 1846.
- The first constructed street was Grant Street, originally named "Calle De La Fundacion".
- The crookedest street is not Lombard Street, Vermont Avenue between 22nd and 23rd on Potrero Hill is the "crookedest."
- Filbert Street between Hyde and Leavenworth is the steepest street at 31.5 degrees.
- Broadway is wider than most San Francisco streets because it was the principal route to the docks.
- Washington Square Park at Columbus & Union is not actually a square because it has five sides. But then North Beach isn't a beach and the statue in the middle of the park is Ben Franklin not George Washington.
- Alcatraz means pelican in Spanish. The rocky pelican's island was a military fort before it became a prison.
- Alcatraz Island has no natural water or vegetation.
- Angel Island was a Nike missile base during the 1950’s & 1960’s.
- San Francisco has 215 historic landmark buildings, ten historical districts and 14,000 Victorian homes.
- In 1776, the Lake of Our Lady of Sorrows covered the area now bounded by 15th, Guerrero, 23rd, & Harrison Streets.
- Telegraph Hill drew it’s name from an electric telegraph station installed at it’s peak in 1850.
- Opened in 1898, the Ferry Building tower was modeled after the Cathedral Tower in Seville, Spain.
- The huge clocks on the Ferry Building tower stopped at the precise times of both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes.
- The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest span in the world from its completion until the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was built in New York in 1964. Today, it still has the seventh-longest main span in the world.
- When completed in 1937, Treasure Island was the largest man-made island in the world.
- San Francisco is the first and last city to operate cable cars.
- San Francisco cable cars are the only moving National Historic Landmark, and 9.7 million people take a nine mile per hour ride on them each year.
- The BART trans-bay tube from San Francisco to Oakland is 3.6 miles long.
- During the heyday of the Barbary Coast, the junction of Jackson and Kearney Streets was known as “Murderer’s Corner.”
- Slot-machines were invented in San Francisco by Charles Faye.
- The Conservatory of Flowers is the oldest building in Golden Gate Park.
- Alta Plaza Park’s south stairway reproduces the grand stairway of the casino at Monte Carlo.
- Denim jeans were invented in San Francisco for the Gold Rush miners who needed tough, comfortable clothing.
- Levi Strauss’s original pants were brown in color and called “waist-high overalls.”
- In 1850, gold seekers abandoned over 600 vessels in the bay. Some became landfill, now lying beneath the Jackson Square Historic District where the city's few surviving nineteenth century commercial buildings include Ghirardelli's first chocolate factory.
- San Francisco is home to the largest Chinese community in the world, outside of China.
- "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" was written by a gay couple, Douglass Cross and George Cory in 1954.
- Tony Bennett first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” at the Fairmount Hotel’s Venetian Room.
- The Beatles gave their last live concert in 1966 at Candlestick Park.
- The word “hippie” was a derisive term coined by the Beats, who called their 1960’s counter-cultural counterparts “junior hipsters.”
- The courtyard at the Palace of the Legion of Honor contains one of the five original bronze castings of Rodin’s “The Thinker.”
- Only 15% of the Asian Art Museum’s extensive collection is on display at any one time.
- Known originally as the Cross City Race, the Bay To Breakers Race began in 1912 and never drew more than 125 runners before 1965.
- The real "Golden Gate" is the strait that the Golden Gate bridge spans. It was first named "Chrysopylae," meaning "golden gate," by Captain John C. Fremont in 1846.
- The first constructed street was Grant Street, originally named "Calle De La Fundacion".
- The crookedest street is not Lombard Street, Vermont Avenue between 22nd and 23rd on Potrero Hill is the "crookedest."
- Filbert Street between Hyde and Leavenworth is the steepest street at 31.5 degrees.
- Broadway is wider than most San Francisco streets because it was the principal route to the docks.
- Washington Square Park at Columbus & Union is not actually a square because it has five sides. But then North Beach isn't a beach and the statue in the middle of the park is Ben Franklin not George Washington.
- Alcatraz means pelican in Spanish. The rocky pelican's island was a military fort before it became a prison.
- Alcatraz Island has no natural water or vegetation.
- Angel Island was a Nike missile base during the 1950’s & 1960’s.
- San Francisco has 215 historic landmark buildings, ten historical districts and 14,000 Victorian homes.
- In 1776, the Lake of Our Lady of Sorrows covered the area now bounded by 15th, Guerrero, 23rd, & Harrison Streets.
- Telegraph Hill drew it’s name from an electric telegraph station installed at it’s peak in 1850.
- Opened in 1898, the Ferry Building tower was modeled after the Cathedral Tower in Seville, Spain.
- The huge clocks on the Ferry Building tower stopped at the precise times of both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes.
- The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest span in the world from its completion until the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was built in New York in 1964. Today, it still has the seventh-longest main span in the world.
- When completed in 1937, Treasure Island was the largest man-made island in the world.
- San Francisco is the first and last city to operate cable cars.
- San Francisco cable cars are the only moving National Historic Landmark, and 9.7 million people take a nine mile per hour ride on them each year.
- The BART trans-bay tube from San Francisco to Oakland is 3.6 miles long.
- During the heyday of the Barbary Coast, the junction of Jackson and Kearney Streets was known as “Murderer’s Corner.”
- Slot-machines were invented in San Francisco by Charles Faye.
- The Conservatory of Flowers is the oldest building in Golden Gate Park.
- Alta Plaza Park’s south stairway reproduces the grand stairway of the casino at Monte Carlo.
- Denim jeans were invented in San Francisco for the Gold Rush miners who needed tough, comfortable clothing.
- Levi Strauss’s original pants were brown in color and called “waist-high overalls.”
- In 1850, gold seekers abandoned over 600 vessels in the bay. Some became landfill, now lying beneath the Jackson Square Historic District where the city's few surviving nineteenth century commercial buildings include Ghirardelli's first chocolate factory.
- San Francisco is home to the largest Chinese community in the world, outside of China.
- "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" was written by a gay couple, Douglass Cross and George Cory in 1954.
- Tony Bennett first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” at the Fairmount Hotel’s Venetian Room.
- The Beatles gave their last live concert in 1966 at Candlestick Park.
- The word “hippie” was a derisive term coined by the Beats, who called their 1960’s counter-cultural counterparts “junior hipsters.”
- The courtyard at the Palace of the Legion of Honor contains one of the five original bronze castings of Rodin’s “The Thinker.”
- Only 15% of the Asian Art Museum’s extensive collection is on display at any one time.
- Known originally as the Cross City Race, the Bay To Breakers Race began in 1912 and never drew more than 125 runners before 1965.
San Francisco Quotes:
- “This city is a point upon a map of fog.” - Ambrose Bierce
- "San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality" - Paul Kantner
- "San Francisco has only one drawback. 'Tis hard to leave." - Rudyard Kipling
- "One day if I do go to heaven I'll look around and say, It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco." – Herb Caen
- "The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I'm here." - Billy Graham
- “The San Francisco Bay Area is the playpen of countercultures.” - R.Z. Sheppard
- “San Francisco is where you come when you want to see people looking like who they truly are.” – Mark Childress
- "San Francisco is a city where people are never more abroad than when they are at home" - Benjamin F.Taylor
- “I needed to live somewhere willing to admit that it didn’t have all the answers (or that it was necessary to even have them) but found joy in the search for them.” – Steve Van Beek
- “[San Francisco] . . . the city that never was a town.” - Will Rogers
- "If you're alive, you can't be bored in San Francisco. If you're not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life.” - William Saroyan
- “I think the beauty of San Francisco is that you can skip without really freaking anybody out.” - Chris Reifsteck
- “If free speech and individuality are American characteristics, there is no place more American than San Francisco.” - Desi del Valle
- "I have always been rather better treated in San Francisco than I actually deserved." - Mark Twain
- “There may not be a Heaven, but there is a San Francisco.” - Ashleigh Brilliant
- “San Francisco is perhaps the most European of all American cities” - Cecil Beaton
- "San Francisco itself is art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel. Every home a poem, every dweller within immortal. That is the whole truth." - William Saroyan
- "You know what it is? San Francisco is a golden handcuff with the key thrown away." - John Steinbeck
- "East is East, and West is San Francisco." - O. Henry
- "No city invites the heart to come to life as San Francisco does. Arrival in San Francisco is an experience in living" - William Saroyan
- “California, more than any other part of the Union, is a country by itself, and San Francisco a capital.” – James Bryce
- "Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible." - Walter Cronkite
- "Your city is remarkable not only for its beauty. It is also, of all the cities in the United States, the one whose name, the world over, conjures up the most visions and more than any other, incites one to dream. - Georges Pompidou
- "You are fortunate to live here. If I were your President, I would levy a tax on you for living in San Francisco!" - Mikhail Gorbachev
- “Perpetual spring, the flare of adventure in the blood, the impulse of men who packed Virgil with their bean-bags on the overland journey, conspired to make San Francisco a city of artists.” - William Henry Irwin
- “Eventually I realized my dream and moved there [SF], but I still felt like I was wandering around in a place more grown-up than me, and more fabled than I deserved.” - Gary Kamiya
- "What fetched me instantly (and thousands of other newcomers with me) [to SF] was the subtle but unmistakable sense of escape from the United States." - H.L. Mencken
- "It's simply a very romantic place. Just one look at any of those streets, and you couldn't be anywhere else -- it's so beautiful, and there's that location, and the sense of the free spirit. Who couldn't become ravenous in such a place?" - Julia Child
- "I'm proud to have been a Yankee. But I have found more happiness and contentment since I came back home to San Francisco than any man has a right to deserve. This is the friendliest city in the world." - Joe DiMaggio
- “I think the best thing about San Francisco is that there truly is a neighborhood for everyone - no matter who you are or how you live, there is a place where you can settle in and have the life you desire.” - Stephanie Johnson
- “You wouldn’t think such a place as San Francisco could exist. The wonderful sunlight there, the hills, the great bridges, the Pacific at your shoes. Beautiful Chinatown. Every race in the world. The sardine fleets sailing out. The little cable-cars whizzing down The City hills. And all the people are open and friendly.” – Dylan Thomas
- "San Francisco is one of the great cultural plateaus of the world - one of the really urbane communities in the United States - one of the truly cosmopolitan places and for many, many years, it always has had a warm welcome for human beings from all over the world" - Duke Ellington
- “San Francisco has such a rich literary history, from Jack London to Amy Tan. Today there’s a community of writers here that’s comparable to what it must have been like for artists a hundred years ago in Paris.” – Kemble Scott
- "Somehow the great cities of America have taken their places in a mythology that shapes their destiny: Money lives in New York. Power sits in Washington. Freedom sips Cappuccino in a sidewalk cafe in San Francisco." - Joe Flower
- “Like its namesake, San Francisco opens its arms to all sentient beings. The emotionally and spiritually wounded, in particular, have always come here looking for freedom and change, for a place to grow and be themselves.” – Jim Crotty
- “We all love San Francisco for so many reasons, but one of those has to be the shear beauty of the city itself. …sitting on a roof looking over the other rooftops as the fog rolls in over the hills… The city’s architecture and weather combine to create something that just makes the city what it is. Moody/peaceful/heavy.“ – John Trippe
- “Still it is not a cold fog, it is not a wet fog, it is never an unkind fog. It comes swiftly, but very gently, and lays its cool, dainty hand on your face lovingly. Hands are so different, sticky or wet or clammy or hot, but the hand of the San Francisco fog is the hand of a kind nurse on a tired head.” - Almira Bailey “Vignettes of San Francisco”
- “The writer loves the fog as it pours in; he loves the sun when the fog pours out. The rest of California is Beach Boys country, but San Francisco has that moody thing going on, those blues notes wrapped in moisture, an atmosphere that tempers California dreaming and makes life more real. The fog brings reality, but it is still a California reality, one spent outdoors the whole year round.” - Eric Maisel
- "San Francisco is 49 square miles surrounded by reality" - Paul Kantner
- "San Francisco has only one drawback. 'Tis hard to leave." - Rudyard Kipling
- "One day if I do go to heaven I'll look around and say, It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco." – Herb Caen
- "The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I'm here." - Billy Graham
- “The San Francisco Bay Area is the playpen of countercultures.” - R.Z. Sheppard
- “San Francisco is where you come when you want to see people looking like who they truly are.” – Mark Childress
- "San Francisco is a city where people are never more abroad than when they are at home" - Benjamin F.Taylor
- “I needed to live somewhere willing to admit that it didn’t have all the answers (or that it was necessary to even have them) but found joy in the search for them.” – Steve Van Beek
- “[San Francisco] . . . the city that never was a town.” - Will Rogers
- "If you're alive, you can't be bored in San Francisco. If you're not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life.” - William Saroyan
- “I think the beauty of San Francisco is that you can skip without really freaking anybody out.” - Chris Reifsteck
- “If free speech and individuality are American characteristics, there is no place more American than San Francisco.” - Desi del Valle
- "I have always been rather better treated in San Francisco than I actually deserved." - Mark Twain
- “There may not be a Heaven, but there is a San Francisco.” - Ashleigh Brilliant
- “San Francisco is perhaps the most European of all American cities” - Cecil Beaton
- "San Francisco itself is art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel. Every home a poem, every dweller within immortal. That is the whole truth." - William Saroyan
- "You know what it is? San Francisco is a golden handcuff with the key thrown away." - John Steinbeck
- "East is East, and West is San Francisco." - O. Henry
- "No city invites the heart to come to life as San Francisco does. Arrival in San Francisco is an experience in living" - William Saroyan
- “California, more than any other part of the Union, is a country by itself, and San Francisco a capital.” – James Bryce
- "Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible." - Walter Cronkite
- "Your city is remarkable not only for its beauty. It is also, of all the cities in the United States, the one whose name, the world over, conjures up the most visions and more than any other, incites one to dream. - Georges Pompidou
- "You are fortunate to live here. If I were your President, I would levy a tax on you for living in San Francisco!" - Mikhail Gorbachev
- “Perpetual spring, the flare of adventure in the blood, the impulse of men who packed Virgil with their bean-bags on the overland journey, conspired to make San Francisco a city of artists.” - William Henry Irwin
- “Eventually I realized my dream and moved there [SF], but I still felt like I was wandering around in a place more grown-up than me, and more fabled than I deserved.” - Gary Kamiya
- "What fetched me instantly (and thousands of other newcomers with me) [to SF] was the subtle but unmistakable sense of escape from the United States." - H.L. Mencken
- "It's simply a very romantic place. Just one look at any of those streets, and you couldn't be anywhere else -- it's so beautiful, and there's that location, and the sense of the free spirit. Who couldn't become ravenous in such a place?" - Julia Child
- "I'm proud to have been a Yankee. But I have found more happiness and contentment since I came back home to San Francisco than any man has a right to deserve. This is the friendliest city in the world." - Joe DiMaggio
- “I think the best thing about San Francisco is that there truly is a neighborhood for everyone - no matter who you are or how you live, there is a place where you can settle in and have the life you desire.” - Stephanie Johnson
- “You wouldn’t think such a place as San Francisco could exist. The wonderful sunlight there, the hills, the great bridges, the Pacific at your shoes. Beautiful Chinatown. Every race in the world. The sardine fleets sailing out. The little cable-cars whizzing down The City hills. And all the people are open and friendly.” – Dylan Thomas
- "San Francisco is one of the great cultural plateaus of the world - one of the really urbane communities in the United States - one of the truly cosmopolitan places and for many, many years, it always has had a warm welcome for human beings from all over the world" - Duke Ellington
- “San Francisco has such a rich literary history, from Jack London to Amy Tan. Today there’s a community of writers here that’s comparable to what it must have been like for artists a hundred years ago in Paris.” – Kemble Scott
- "Somehow the great cities of America have taken their places in a mythology that shapes their destiny: Money lives in New York. Power sits in Washington. Freedom sips Cappuccino in a sidewalk cafe in San Francisco." - Joe Flower
- “Like its namesake, San Francisco opens its arms to all sentient beings. The emotionally and spiritually wounded, in particular, have always come here looking for freedom and change, for a place to grow and be themselves.” – Jim Crotty
- “We all love San Francisco for so many reasons, but one of those has to be the shear beauty of the city itself. …sitting on a roof looking over the other rooftops as the fog rolls in over the hills… The city’s architecture and weather combine to create something that just makes the city what it is. Moody/peaceful/heavy.“ – John Trippe
- “Still it is not a cold fog, it is not a wet fog, it is never an unkind fog. It comes swiftly, but very gently, and lays its cool, dainty hand on your face lovingly. Hands are so different, sticky or wet or clammy or hot, but the hand of the San Francisco fog is the hand of a kind nurse on a tired head.” - Almira Bailey “Vignettes of San Francisco”
- “The writer loves the fog as it pours in; he loves the sun when the fog pours out. The rest of California is Beach Boys country, but San Francisco has that moody thing going on, those blues notes wrapped in moisture, an atmosphere that tempers California dreaming and makes life more real. The fog brings reality, but it is still a California reality, one spent outdoors the whole year round.” - Eric Maisel
