History
5
On May 12, 1848, Samuel Brannan rode through the streets of San Francisco waving a bottle of gold and shouting, “Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!” Almost every resident, seized by gold fever, headed for the foothills and began the greatest migration in American history, the world-famous Gold Rush. In 1849, settlers and immigrants from around the world arrived at the shores of Yerba Buena Cove, and within a year San Francisco changed from a pastoral village into a bustling port city. From the Gold Rush through the Earthquake and Fire of 1906 to the present, San Francisco’s history was shaped by daring exploits, earthshaking events, and the courage and creativity of individuals who made it a culturally rich and uniquely dynamic metropolis. Its historic sites include the original shoreline of Yerba Buena Cove, the birthplace of the Gold Rush, Jackson Square Historic District, the Pony Express, the oldest cathedral west of the Rockies, the first Asian neighborhood in America, the largest collection of historic ships in the U.S., and several local museums.
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San Francisco, California · United States
