San Francisco was first settled in 1776 by Spanish colonists, who named it after the Catholic saint Francis of Assisi. For decades it remained a small outpost, but in the mid-1800s everything changed with the outbreak of the California Gold Rush. In just one year, the city’s population exploded from fewer than 1,000 residents to nearly 25,000, transforming San Francisco almost overnight.
This rapid growth continued for several decades. By the early 1900s, San Francisco had become the largest metropolitan area in the western United States. It remained the most populous city in California until 1920, when it was overtaken by Los Angeles.
Built on steep hills in a highly seismically active region, San Francisco faced its greatest catastrophe in the spring of 1906, when a massive earthquake—estimated at around magnitude 8—struck the city. The quake was followed by fires that raged through hillside neighborhoods and widespread destruction across the city. More than 75% of San Francisco’s buildings were destroyed, about 3,000 people lost their lives, and the vast majority of survivors were left homeless.
Almost immediately after the disaster, city leaders began rebuilding San Francisco virtually from scratch. The reconstruction was guided by the vision of renowned American urban planner Daniel Burnham, who proposed wide boulevards inspired by European—particularly French—city design. This approach helped shape the distinctive look of modern San Francisco, setting it apart from other North American cities. By 1915, the city had been fully rebuilt.
In the 1960s, San Francisco once again reinvented itself, becoming the epicenter of the hippie movement. Young people, artists, and musicians from around the world were drawn to the city by its countercultural spirit, music festivals, and ideals of personal freedom.
The city’s most recent—and perhaps most influential—chapter began in the 1990s with the digital revolution known as the dot-com boom. Massive investments fueled the rise of nearby Silicon Valley, turning the region into a global center of innovation and giving birth to many of today’s most valuable technology companies.