# The New Student's Reference Work/San Francisco, Cal.

See also San Francisco on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
​San Francis′co, Cal., the chief city of California and the Pacific coast, stands on a peninsula between the sea and the bay of San Francisco. The bay stretches north and south 47 miles, with a width of six to ten miles. Joining San Francisco Bay on the north are San Pablo Bay, 10 miles long, in which are Mare Island and the United States navy-yard, and Suisun Bay, eight miles long, into which fall the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. The entrance to San Francisco Bay is the famous Golden Gate, a strait a mile wide and five long. The shores are rocky cliffs, in some places nearly 2,000 feet high. The bay is a large factor in making San Francisco's site of such business importance. Near the city are three islands, Goat or Yerba Buena, Alcatraz and Angel, the last two being fortified.
Two hills within the city rise several hundred feet. San Francisco has many large and fine buildings of marble, granite, terra-cotta, iron and brick; yet, in spite of many bad fires, it still, because of its climate, has many residences of wood. San Francisco has six large parks and many small ones, all of which are beautiful and attractive. Like Central Park in New York, Golden Gate Park has been reclaimed from a waste tract, in this case of sand-dunes. The park runs along the seashore for about one mile and covers 1,014 acres. At Point Lobos are Cliff House, Seal Rocks and Sutro Heights, which are popular resorts in the summer, Sutro Park is one of the finest private parks in the United States, and is open to the public every day. Sutro Baths, near the Cliff House, are a very extensive bathing-establishment ​500 feet long, 250 wide, and holding 1,804,962 gallons. Ocean-water is conducted into immense tanks and warmed for use. The United States military reservation, known as the Presidio, is in the northeast of the city, and contains 1,500 acres. San Francisco's public buildings, hotels, theaters and business blocks are costly and magnificent. New buildings, eight to eighteen stories high have replaced those which were destroyed in the earthquake. The public schools are maintained at an annual cost of $1,550,917. At San Francisco are the schools of dentistry, pharmacy, law and medicine of the University of California. Other schools are Cooper Medical College, Hahnemann Medical College, the School of Mechanic Arts founded by James Lick, the California Academy of Sciences, also endowed by Mr. Lick, the Jesuit College, and Cogswell Polytechnic College. The public library has over 100,000 volumes; other libraries are the Mercantile, Mechanics', Odd Fellows' and legal libraries.
Cable-roads were first used in San Francisco, and were invented as the easiest method of transit over its steep and hilly streets; but there are numerous lines of electric railway. Water is furnished by a private company; 30,000,000 gallons are brought daily from creeks and reservoirs 20 miles distant. San Francisco has the largest harbor capacity on the Pacific from San Diego to Puget Sound. Steamers ply to Hawaii, the Philippines, Alaska, Australia, China, Japan and Central and South America; there is a large coast-trade as far north as Sitka; and whaling fleets start from this port for the Arctic. San Francisco is the greatest receiving port for cereals on the coast. In the latest year of record all imports and exports amounted to $91,250,000. Some 42,000 workmen are employed in the city's mills and factories. The leading industry is refining sugar and molasses; then come slaughtering and meat-packing. Among other industries are fruit and vegetable canning, ironworks, the manufacture of boots, shoes, gloves, saddlery, grain-sacks and pastry products. Much ship-building is done, smelters operated and gunpowder and dynamite extensively manufactured, the last two across the bay from the city. The great Panama Exposition fittingly emphasizes the vast importance of the Panama Canal (q. v.) to her commerce. Newspapers in half a dozen languages are published; 25,000 Chinese live in their quarter; Mexicans, Maltese and Greeks elbow the Europeans more common to others of our cities.
The mission of San Francisco de Asis, often called the Mission Dolores, was founded in 1776 by Spanish Franciscan monks. This mission became wealthy and in 1825 controlled 1,800 Indians. A few years after it was turned over to the civil officers, in 1834, nothing was left of it but the adobe buildings. In its place grew up the village of Yerba Buena, the first house of which was built in 1835. The town was taken by an American man-of-war in 1846, and the next year its name was changed to San Francisco. The discovery of gold in 1848 made it a city at one leap. In the spring of 1849 its population was 2,000, at the end of that year it was 20,000. Five great fires in 1849-51, which swept away the wooden houses thickly crowded together, did not stop the growth in the slightest. In 1851 and 1856, because of bad government, the people organized a vigilance-committee and hanged a number of criminals. On April 18, 1906, San Francisco suffered a severe earthquake shock, followed by a disastrous conflagration, and almost in a breath the city was in ruins. Gas and water mains were broken by the upheaval. Soon fires broke out at various points, and, the water-supply being cut off, the fire-department was helpless. For three days the city was swept with fire, until the greater portion, including the entire business section and chief residence districts, 453 squares, was left a mass of ruins. The loss of life was estimated at 452, and the property loss at more than $350,000,000. A wave of sympathy swept over the world, and relief in money, food and clothing was poured into the stricken city, until the contributions amounted to $13,500,000. The work of rebuilding was taken up with such promptness and energy that in four months work was under way on buildings valued at more than $50,000,000, and a new and better built city has now replaced the one destroyed. Population 416,912.