!!!San Francisco, California

by Dmitry Moiseenko,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

18 July 2014

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

San Francisco is one of the most famous cities in the U.S. Its path is
inseparably connected with the history of the country.

Native Americans inhabited this land for thousands of years before the
Europeans arrived. Sir Francis Drake, a famous British sea captain, was
the first to discover the entrance to San Francisco Bay, but he did not
study the area.  In 1579, Sir Drake claimed the shore for the English
Crown (calling it "New Albion") and moved on with his expedition.

The actual city was founded in 1769 when a Spanish exploration party,
led by Don Gaspar de Portolà, arrived here. After Mexico claimed its
independence, the city of San Francisco, as well as the entire state of
California, became Mexican territory; and only after the
Mexican-American War in 1846, did the city go back to the United States.

[{Image src='01_City from the altitude of 500 meters.jpg' caption='City from the altitude of 500 meters' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='461'}]

The city of San Francisco experienced a rapid growth in the 19th century
when gold was found in California. During a period of only 2 years,
(from January 1848 till December 1849) the population of San Francisco
grew from 1,000 to 25,000 people. This made San Francisco the largest
city west of the Mississippi River, until Los Angeles claimed the title
in 1920.

The Gold Fever changed the nature and the economy of San Francisco.
Wealthy and famous bankers, tycoons, and mine owners began building
their mansions in the Nob Hill neighborhood (later, many of these houses
became famous hotels). Among those attracted to San Francisco by the
Gold Fever was a man named Levi Strauss. After acquiring a patent for
making "strapless worker's overalls with a pocket for a knife, money,
and a watch" (utterly comfortable and widely used gold miner's clothing)
he started Levi Strauss & Co., and by accident "invented" jeans, without
which the modern world cannot live now.

[{Image src='02_Golden Gate bridge.jpg' caption='Golden Gate bridge' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='341'}]

One more important landmark of San Francisco's history is the infamous
earthquake of 1906. The most loss, however, the city suffered not from
the earthquake, but from the fires that followed. Because of the damaged
water supply system, the fires could not be contained for 4 days. Nearly
300,000 out of 410,000 citizens of San Francisco lost their homes to the
fires.

[{Image src='03_The planet San Francisco.jpg' caption='The planet San Francisco' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='645'}]

After this unfortunate event, the city had to be rebuilt literally from
scratch. As time passed, the original blueprint of the city streets was
restored. Besides, the city government considered some new ideas
proposed by Daniel Burnham, a famous American architect. Thanks to him,
San Francisco now has wide streets, a main transportation line, and a
large residential complex built in neo-classical style.

[{Image src='04_San Francisco.jpg' caption='San Francisco' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='528'}]

In 1915, the so-called Palace of Fine Arts was added to the list of San
Francisco's landmarks. This is a building with an interesting and rather
unique history. Originally, it was a temporary Pavilion of Fine Arts
that was a part of the Panama-Pacific Exposition. After the exposition
was over, all other structures whipped up in plaster were demolished.
However, the citizens of San Francisco loved the look of the Pavilion of
Fine Arts so much that they called it a "palace", prohibiting its
demolition; and so it stood there in its original plaster state until
they built an exact copy in stone, adding an elegant pond by its side.

[{Image src='05_Old city.jpg' caption='Old city' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='587'}]

In the 1930s, the War Memorial Opera House became yet another beautiful
site of San Francisco. And, the most famous landmark of the city is the
Golden Gate Bridge, a world-famous suspension bridge built in the same
historical period and is still unmatched by any other structure. It is a
unique architectural monument connecting the northern side of the San
Francisco peninsula with the southern part of Marin County.  Besides,
Pacific beaches (including the famous 4.7-kilometers long Ocean Beach)
are an integral part of San Francisco landscape, as well as the
waterfront Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood and the parks (there are over
200 of them in the city).

You can admire the beauty of one of the most interesting cities of the
U.S. through our photo panoramas.

\\ \\
[17 Panoramas of San Francisco|Geography/America/United_States/Pictures/Panoramas_of_San_Francisco_1]










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