| Tourism is the economic mainstay, with service industries supporting the large number of annual visitors. For most of its history, San Francisco was the financial center of the West Coast, but in the late 20th cent. the city began to compete with Los Angeles for this distinction. Finance remains one of the most important activities; the city is still headquarters to two of the country's largest commercial banks as well as a Federal Reserve bank and the Pacific Stock Exchange. Many insurance companies are based there. Printing and publishing, food processing, and oil refining are important, and the city's manufactures include textiles and apparel, computers, chemicals, communications equipment, and machinery. San Francisco is also the marketplace for a large agricultural and mining region and the focus of many transportation routes. Along with the busy port of Richmond across the bay, San Francisco and the Bay Area form one of the largest ports on the West Coast and are a major center of trade with East Asia, Hawaii, and Alaska. The area's transportation needs are served by an extensive highway and rail network and the interurban Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. |
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| San Francisco grew from a small Spanish mission and military garrison (presidio) into one of the world's leading financial, technological, and cultural centers. The city's beauty, accentuated by its ocean and bay views, and Mediterranean climate have turned it into a beacon for tourists from all over the world. San Francisco's thriving economy, now based heavily on technology and finance, brings countless new arrivals into the city in search of their slice of the American pie. Gaspar de Portolá discovered San Francisco Bay in 1769 on a journey north from San Diego. By 1776, Spanish settlers occupied San Francisco and set up a mission and military station. When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, California became Mexican territory. In 1835, the small trading settlement of Yerba Buena was established, which became San Francisco in 1848. The United States took over in 1846 during the Mexican-American War and two years later, the gold rush turned the city into a burgeoning metropolis. San Francisco was incorporated as a city in 1850. After the gold rush, San Francisco changed from a lawless frontier station into a financial, industrial, and commercial center. In 1906, an earthquake and fire leveled much of the city, killing more than 3,000 and leaving 250,000 homeless. Once rebuilt, though, San Francisco grew in financial prominence. The completion of the Panama Canal ensured that it would be closely tied to the money on the East Coast. Throughout the twentieth century, the city remained a hub for Pacific Rim finance, backed by Bank of America founder A. P. Giannini and the establishment of the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange. Bank of America financed the building of numerous businesses in the Bay area and major infrastructure developments, including the Golden Gate Bridge. Culturally, San Francisco is well known for its progressiveness, diversity, and acceptance of a variety of political viewpoints, sexual preferences, and ethnicities. Since the mid-1800s, the city has had a large Asian and Pacific Island population, and now has a growing Hispanic community. Of San Francisco's 750,000 citizens, whites comprise only about 50 percent of the population, while African Americans make up about 10 to 15 percent. The Bay area has also become a budding center for Middle Eastern and Indian immigrants. |
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