SAN FRANCISCO, a city, port of entry, and the capital of San Francisco county, State of California, United States of North America ; is situated on a narrow neck of land forming the southern side of the entrance to San Francisco Bay, and between that bay and the Pacific Ocean, in 37° 47' N. lat., 122° 26' W. long. The popula tion, which was only 150 in 1845, was omitted from the Census of the United States in 1850; but in 1852 it was, according to the State Census, 34,776, of whom only 5245 were females. The government of the city is vested in a mayor, recorder, aldermen, county assessors, street commissioners, &c.
The sudden rise of the present city of San Francisco, is perhaps the most remarkable on record. But the place is not devoid of interest in other respects, being one of the earliest settlements of tho old Spaniards for the charitable purpose of converting the Indians to Christianity. Their fort, or stronghold, called the Presidio, was fixed near the entrance of the bay, on the southern shore, about half a mile inland. It was a square inclosure, the Bides of which were about 300 yards in length, surrounded by a mud wall about 15 feet high, pierced for musketry. Against the inner sides of the walls were the dwellings of the settlers, the centre being left clear for exercise and military evolutions. The walls are now in ruins. From this primary settlement, which was termed the Mission Dolores, emanated the five following missions, which were established in various parts of the adjacent country under the protection of the Presidio :—San Francisco, founded in 1776; Santa Clara, 1777; San Jose, 1797; Sau Francisco Solano, 1823; San Rafael, 1827.
The town, which arose in connection with the mission of San Francisco, was called Yerba Buena, or Good Herb, from a plant used as a beverage, and also as a medicine, which grew abundantly in the vicinity. From its foundation the mission continued in a very flourishing condition till about 1831, when in the political disturbances which distracted Mexico, the Indians were driven away from Yerba Buena, and the settlement soon fell to .ruin. In 1839 the site was regularly laid out as a town, which however, six years later, as already mentioned, only contained 150 inhabitants. But about this time it began to attract the attention of adventurers from the United States, and soon became in effect an American settlement, though still nominally belonging to Mexico : it was not formally ceded to the United States till 1848. A local government was established, similar to that which prevails in the towns of the United States; an American school was founded, and in January, 1847, an 'ordinance' was issued by the town council directing that the name of the town should hence forth be San Francisco, instead of Yerba Buena. Towards the end of 1847 the first discovery of gold was made, and soon after San Francisco, the port of California, experienced the most extraordinary influx of adventurers ever heard of, accompanied by an unparalleled rise in the cost of provisions and the value of property. The remarkable scenes which were subsequently witnessed m the town, or city as it had now come to be designated, its rapid extension in every direction, the reckless habits and almost extravagant energy of the strangely diver sified population, are too familiar to need more than a word of reference. Nor less well known are the terrible conflagrations which have so often laid large portions of the city in ruins, to be however restored with surprising rapidity to far more than its previous con dition, the opportunity afforded by every fire being seized upon to rebuild the destroyed places on a larger, more costly, and substantial scale.
The magnificent bay of San Francisco, on which the city stands is described under CALIFORNIA. The city is built on tho western side of the bay, at the extremity of the peninsula, which forme the southern side of the entrance to the bay. It occupies an inclined plane of about half a mile in extent from the hills in the rear of the city. The houses have been carried far up theme hills, and a shallow portion of the bay lying between two projecting points of land in front of the city, has been filled up and built upon. The city is regularly laid out, with broad streets intersecting at right angles, and squares at convenient distances. The street, are now tolerably well paved, and many of them are laid with planks ; well lighted, and watched ; and arrangements havo been made for their sanitary supervision. Several of the publio buildings and churches are comparable with those in most of the cities of the United States, but the city is still so entirely in a transition state, that the most accurate account of to-day would be Inapplicable a few months hence. Besides the churches there are several schools, general and marine hospitals, and numerous benevolent institntions. The warehouses, stores, and shops are on a capacious scale, and abound with every variety of articles of necessity and luxury. The hotels are among the most noticeable features of the place as it now is, and some of them are carried on in a very costly manner. There are also numerous eating and drinking saloons, theatres, concert-rooms, lyceums, and other places of amusement or dissipation, including not a few gaming-houses of various grades. The manufactures of the city are comparatively inconsiderable.
The commercial facilities of San Francisco are very great. The bay, which is 8 miles wide, affords excellent anchorage, and is the natural outlet, not only for the almost unparalleled riches of California, but of a district the extreme fertility of which has as yet hardly begun to be developed. The city fronting the bay is now lined with wharfs and quays, and vessels of great burden can lie along side to land and take in their cargoes. Steamers are in regular and constant communication with New York and the Atlantic ports, and with the ports of Central America. The character and extent of the commerce of San Francisco have been given pretty fully under CALIFORNIA, and it is Deedless to repeat the details here. In the years subsequent to that there given, there has been a considerable, though fluctuating, increase in the number and tonnage of vessels arriving and departing at San Francisco, but the returns are informal and incomplete. The annual clearances of shipping from the port at present, average about 500,000 tons ; the entrances somewhat lees. The amount of gold dust annually shipped from San Francisco exceeds in value 50,000,000 dollars:* Up to the doer of 1853 there had been deposited at the United States mint and branches, gold from California amounting to 207,316,177 dollars, nearly all of which had passed through San Francisco; besides which a very large quantity has been received in this country and elsewhere direct from San Francisco. Coal is found near the city ; and there are quarries of good limestone. Eight or ten daily and several weekly newspapers are published in the city.