If you stand on the corner of Montgomery and Clay today, you’re standing on what used to be a beach. It’s hard to wrap your head around that. Modern San Francisco is a grid of concrete and glass, but the founding of San Francisco wasn't some grand, planned urban project. It was messy. It was desperate. Honestly, for the first few decades, it was barely a village.
Most people think the city started with the Gold Rush in 1849. That’s a common mistake. By the time the S.S. California dropped off the first load of gold-seekers, the area had already been through two colonial powers and a name change. It was originally Yerba Buena—"good herb"—named after a minty plant that grew wild on the dunes. But even before the Spanish arrived with their crosses and cannons, the Ohlone people had been living here for thousands of years, managing the land in ways the Europeans couldn't quite grasp.
The Spanish Gambit and the Year 1776
While people on the East Coast were busy signing the Declaration of Independence, a small group of Spaniards was trekking up the California coast. This is the real start. 1776. Led by Juan Bautista de Anza, they weren't looking for a vacation spot. They were terrified of the Russians.
Spain had heard rumors that Russian fur traders were moving south from Alaska. They needed to plant a flag, and they needed to do it fast. On June 29, 1776, Lieutenant José Joaquín Moraga and Father Francisco Palóu established the Mission San Francisco de Asís. You probably know it as Mission Dolores. It’s still there. Go visit it; the walls are four feet thick, made of adobe mud and straw.
It's kind of wild to think that the oldest building in the city is also the site of so much tragedy. The Spanish brought Catholicism, sure, but they also brought smallpox and measles. The local Yelamu tribe of the Ohlone didn't have the immune systems to handle it. Within a few generations, the population that had lived in harmony with the bay for millennia was decimated.
The Spanish also built the Presidio. It was a fortified military base meant to guard the "Golden Gate," though it wasn't called that yet. Back then, it was just a foggy, wind-whipped gap in the hills. The soldiers lived in drafty huts and spent most of their time trying to keep their livestock from wandering off into the marshes. Life was bleak.
From Yerba Buena to San Francisco: A Rebrand
Fast forward to the 1830s. Mexico had won its independence from Spain, and the California territory was now Mexican. This changed everything. The strict trade laws of the Spanish were gone. Suddenly, the bay was open for business.
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A guy named William Richardson—an Englishman who had jumped ship and married the daughter of the Presidio commander—built the first house in what would become "downtown" Yerba Buena in 1835. He basically put up a tent made of a ship’s sail and some redwood posts. That was the humble beginning of the financial district.
But the name "San Francisco" didn't actually apply to the town yet. It only applied to the Mission and the Presidio. The little trading post by the water was still Yerba Buena.
The 1847 Power Move
In January 1847, everything shifted. The United States had seized California during the Mexican-American War. Washington A. Bartlett, the first American "alcalde" (basically a mayor/judge combo), realized that another town across the bay—Benicia—was trying to name itself "Francisca" to trick ship captains into docking there instead of at the cove.
Bartlett wasn't having it.
He issued a proclamation. He officially changed the name of Yerba Buena to San Francisco. He wanted to make sure that any map-maker or sea captain looking for the famous San Francisco Bay would naturally head straight for his town. It was a marketing play. A brilliant one.
The Gold Rush: When the World Rushed In
Then came 1848. James Marshall found a few flakes of gold at Sutter’s Mill in the Sierra foothills.
At first, San Francisco didn't believe it. The local newspaper, the California Star, even called it a sham. But then Sam Brannan—a savvy businessman who had bought up every shovel and pan he could find—ran through the streets of the plaza holding a bottle of gold dust. He shouted, "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!"
The town emptied.
Literally. Doctors left their patients. Soldiers deserted the Presidio. Ships arrived in the harbor and the crews immediately ran for the hills, leaving the vessels to rot in the mud. By 1849, the population went from about 800 people to over 20,000.
This is the period when the founding of San Francisco turned into a fever dream. Since there was no room to build on the steep hills and the flat land was already taken, people started building into the water. They took those abandoned ships, scuttled them, and used them as foundations. They filled the gaps with sand from the dunes. If you’re walking through the Financial District today, you’re literally walking on top of a fleet of ghost ships buried deep in the dirt.
Why the City Is Laid Out So Weirdly
If you've ever tried to drive up Filbert Street, you've probably wondered why the hell anyone would build a road that steep.
The answer lies in the 1839 survey by Jean Jacques Vioget and the subsequent 1847 survey by Jasper O'Farrell. These guys didn't care about the terrain. They were from the East Coast and Europe, where grids were the gold standard of civilization. They laid a rectangular grid over a landscape of shifting sand dunes and vertical cliffs.
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O'Farrell's "Great Survey" created Market Street. It’s the diagonal slash that cuts through the city. He wanted it to be 120 feet wide—an insane width for the time—because he envisioned a grand boulevard like those in Paris. People at the time thought he was crazy. They called it "O'Farrell's Folly." But without that foresight, the city’s traffic would be even more of a nightmare than it is now.
A Legacy of Resilience and Reinvention
The city has burned down. Many times. Between 1849 and 1851, six "Great Fires" leveled the town. Each time, the residents just rebuilt, often using better materials. They switched from canvas tents to wood, then from wood to brick.
This cycle of destruction and rebirth became the DNA of the city. Whether it was the 1906 earthquake or the tech booms of the late 20th century, the city’s identity is built on the idea that you can always start over.
When we talk about the founding of San Francisco, we aren't talking about a single day. We're talking about a series of layers.
- The Ohlone shell mounds.
- The Spanish adobe bricks.
- The Mexican land grants.
- The American grid.
- The Gold Rush chaos.
Navigating the History Today
If you want to actually see where the founding of San Francisco happened, don't go to a museum. Walk the streets. The history is hidden in plain sight.
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Actionable Steps for History Seekers:
- Visit Mission Dolores: It’s the only building in the city that saw the Spanish, Mexican, and American flags fly over it. Look at the ceiling; the patterns were painted by the Ohlone using vegetable dyes.
- Find the "Golden Hydrant": Located at 20th and Church, this hydrant is credited with saving the Mission District during the 1906 fire. It’s a testament to the city’s "never say die" attitude.
- Walk the Barbary Coast Trail: It’s marked by bronze medallions in the sidewalk. It takes you through the old shoreline and the spots where the ships are buried.
- Explore the Presidio Officers' Club: They have an ongoing archaeological dig right in the floor. You can see the original Spanish foundations from 1776 through glass panels.
- Check the Street Signs: Look for Montgomery Street. In 1844, the water came right up to its edge. It helps you visualize how much land the city "created" out of nothing.
The city wasn't founded by people who knew what they were doing. It was founded by people who were looking for a fresh start, a bit of gold, or a way to stop the Russians. It was an accident of geography and timing that turned into one of the most iconic cities on earth. Understanding that messy, gritty reality makes the hills feel a little less steep and the fog a little more meaningful.