Editing San Francisco (section)

=== Post-Conquest era ===
[[File:San Francisco in July 1849 Painting by George Henry Burgess.jpg|thumb|San Francisco in 1849, during the beginning of the [[California gold rush]]]]
[[File:SanFranciscoharbor1851c sharp.jpg|thumb|right|[[Port of San Francisco]] in 1851]]
Despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, post-Conquest San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography.{{sfn|Wiley|2000|p=4–5}} Situated at the tip of a windswept peninsula without water or firewood, San Francisco lacked most of the basic facilities for a 19th-century settlement. Its 1847 population was said to be 459.<ref name="sfmuseum-early"/>

The [[California gold rush]] brought a flood of treasure seekers. Prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival [[Benicia, California|Benicia]],<ref>{{cite web|title=San Francisco's First Brick Building|publisher=The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco|date=July 16, 2004|url=http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/brick.html|access-date=June 13, 2008}}</ref> raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849.<ref name="1849pop">{{cite book|last=Richards|first=Rand|title=Historic San Francisco: A Concise History and Guide|publisher=Heritage House|year=1992|isbn=978-1-879367-00-5|oclc=214330849|url=https://archive.org/details/historicsanfranc00rich}}</ref> The promise of wealth was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of [[mast (sailing)|masts]] in San Francisco harbor.<ref name="buriedships">{{cite news|last=Harris|first=Ron|title=Crews Unearth Shipwreck on San Francisco Condo Project|agency=Associated Press|date=November 14, 2005|url=http://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/story.asp?story=6287&headline=Crews|access-date=September 4, 2006}}</ref> Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as [[storeship]]s, [[bar (establishment)|saloons]], and hotels; many were left to rot, and some were sunk to establish title to the underwater lot. By 1851, the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870, [[Yerba Buena Cove]] had been filled to create new land. Buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings.<ref name="buriedshipsSFgenalogy">{{cite web|title=Buried Ships|url=http://www.sfgenealogy.org/sf/history/hgshp1.htm|last=Filion|first=Ron S.|publisher=SFgenealogy|access-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref>

California was quickly [[Compromise of 1850|granted statehood]] in 1850, and the U.S. military built [[Fort Point, San Francisco|Fort Point]] at the [[Golden Gate]] and a fort on [[Alcatraz Island]] to secure San Francisco Bay. San Francisco County was one of the state's 18 original counties established at California statehood in 1850.<ref>Report of Committee on Counties, January 4, 1850, revised to 27 counties on February 18, 1850 – {{cite book |last=Coy|first=Owen C. |title=California County Boundaries |publisher=California Historical Survey Commission |year=1923 |location=Berkeley |pages=1–2}}</ref> Until 1856, San Francisco's city limits extended west to [[Divisadero Street]] and Castro Street, and south to 20th Street. In 1856, the California state government divided the county. A straight line was then drawn across the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula just north of [[San Bruno Mountain]]. Everything south of the line became the new San Mateo County while everything north of the line became the new consolidated City and County of San Francisco.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--no by-line.--> |title=Statutes of California and Digests of Measures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4a83AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA145|publisher= J. Winchester|page=145 |date=1856}}</ref>
[[File:Bank of California Building San Francisco (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Bank of California]], established in 1863, was the first commercial bank in [[Western United States]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/dont-bank-on-california-especially-banks-17896018.php|title=Don't bank on California, especially when banks are involved|first=Joe|last=Mathews|date=April 16, 2023|website=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref>]]
The California gold rush triggered a wave of entrepreneurial activity as individuals sought to capitalize on the newfound wealth. The discovery of silver deposits, notably the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further fueled rapid population growth and economic expansion.{{sfn|Wiley|2000|p=31–33}}

San Francisco, as the gateway to the goldfields, experienced a surge in population and commercial activity. However, the influx of fortune seekers also brought challenges. Lawlessness was rampant, and the [[Barbary Coast, San Francisco|Barbary Coast]] district became synonymous with vice, attracting criminals, prostitutes, and illicit activities, including but not limited to prostitution, [[Rum-running|bootlegging]], and gambling.{{sfn|Wiley|2000|p=237–238}} The rapidly growing population, with its lawlessness, gambling and other vices, and the fact that there were no churches to be found, prompted missionaries like [[William Taylor (missionary)|William Taylor]] to come to San Francisco where he began preaching in the streets, using an upright barrel as his pulpit. Taylor garnered enough generous donations from successful gold miners to build a church.{{sfn|Taylor|1895|p=195}}

One of the most influential figures of this era was [[William Chapman Ralston]]. A shrewd banker and investor, Ralston amassed considerable wealth and influence in San Francisco. He gained control over a significant portion of the [[Comstock Lode]]'s gold and silver mines, establishing a virtual monopoly. Using his incredible clout, Ralston was able to generate millions of dollars for San Francisco during its heady boom years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Ralston - FoundSF |url=https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=William_Ralston |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=www.foundsf.org}}</ref> He founded the [[Bank of California]], the first bank in the Western United States, and built the opulent Palace Hotel, a symbol of San Francisco's newfound prosperity and the largest hotel in the country at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calic |first=Dan |date=2024-01-05 |title=Blog: How The Mighty Fall. The Story of William C. Ralston |url=http://www.rwcpulse.com/blogs/portal-to-our-past/2024/01/05/blog-how-the-mighty-fall-the-story-of-william-c-ralston/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |work=Redwood City Pulse}}</ref> His financial empire, however, collapsed in 1875 as a result of the [[Panic of 1873]], triggering a major economic crisis in San Francisco.

Development of the [[Port of San Francisco]] and the establishment in 1869 of overland access to the eastern U.S. rail system via the newly completed [[First transcontinental railroad|Pacific Railroad]] (the construction of which the city only reluctantly helped support<ref>Construction of the Pacific Railroad was partially (albeit reluctantly) funded by the [[:File:Pacific RR Bond SF 1865.jpeg|City and County of San Francisco Pacific Railroad Bond issue]] under the provisions of ''"An Act to Authorize the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco to take and subscribe One Million Dollars to the Capital Stock of the Western Pacific Rail Road Company and the Central Pacific Rail Road Company of California and to provide for the payment of the same and other matters relating thereto."'' approved on April 22, 1863, as amended by §5 of the ''"Compromise Act of 1864"'' approved on April 4, 1864. The bond issue was objected to by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors, however, and they were not delivered to the WPRR and CPRR until 1865 after Writs of Mandamus ordering such were issued by the Supreme Court of the State of California in 1864 (''"The People of the State of California on the relation of the Central Pacific Railroad Company vs. Henry P. Coon, Mayor; Henry M. Hale, Auditor; and Joseph S. Paxson, Treasurer, of the City and County of San Francisco"'' 25 Cal 635) and 1865 (''"The People ex rel The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California vs. The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco, and Wilhelm Lowey, Clerk"'' 27 Cal 655)</ref>) helped make the Bay Area a center for trade. Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, [[Levi Strauss]] opened a [[dry goods]] business and [[Domingo Ghirardelli]] began manufacturing chocolate. Chinese immigrants made the city a polyglot culture, drawn to "Old Gold Mountain", creating the city's [[Chinatown, San Francisco|Chinatown]] quarter. By 1880, Chinese made up 9.3% of the population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IPUMS USA |url=https://usa.ipums.org/usa/ |access-date=June 18, 2022 |website=usa.ipums.org}}</ref> 
[[File:The City of San Francisco, panorama by Currier & Ives, 1878 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|View of the city in 1878]]
The first [[San Francisco cable car system|cable cars]] carried San Franciscans up [[Clay Street Hill Railroad|Clay Street]] in 1873. The city's sea of [[Victorian house]]s began to take shape, and civic leaders campaigned for a spacious public park, resulting in plans for [[Golden Gate Park]]. San Franciscans built schools, churches, theaters, and all the hallmarks of civic life. The [[Presidio of San Francisco|Presidio]] developed into the most important American military installation on the Pacific coast.<ref>{{cite web|title=Under Three Flags |work=Golden Gate National Recreation Area Brochures|publisher=US Department of the Interior|date=November 2004|url=http://www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/upload/3flags_7-03.pdf |access-date=June 22, 2011}}</ref> By 1890, San Francisco's population approached 300,000, making it the [[Largest cities in the United States by population by decade#1890|eighth-largest city]] in the United States at the time. Around 1901, San Francisco was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on [[Nob Hill, San Francisco|Nob Hill]], and a thriving arts scene.{{sfn|Wiley|2000|p=44–55}} The first North American plague epidemic was the [[San Francisco plague of 1900–1904]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kalisch |first=Philip A. |title=The Black Death in Chinatown: Plague and Politics in San Francisco 1900–1904 |journal=Arizona and the West |volume=14 |date=Summer 1972 |pages=113–136 |jstor=40168068 |issue=2|pmid=11614219 }}</ref>