1. The Crookedest Street in the City? - A city built on 43 hills will surely have steep, curving streets. Vermont Avenue between 22nd and 23rd is "crookedest," and Filbert between Hyde and Leavenworth is steepest at 31.5 degrees, but neither fact discourages tourists from flocking to Lombard Street's seductive curves!
2. A Moving National Historical Landmark - San Francisco cable cars are the only moving National Historic Landmark, and 9.7 million people take a nine mile per hour ride on them each year. At the Cable Car Barn Museum, 500-horsepower electric motors turn the endless cable loops.
3. Painted Ladies - San Francisco has 215 historic landmark buildings, ten historical districts and 14,000 Victorian homes. From Alamo Square, the city skyline is a modern contrast to Victorian "postcard row." Remember Michelle, Stephanie and Michelle Tanner from Full House and the picnic in the park ? Do the the painted ladies below look familiar?!!
4. The Golden Gate Isn't a Bridge - John C. Fremont named the San Francisco Bay's entrance "Chrysopylae" (Golden Gate) because it resembled Istanbul's Golden Horn. The Golden Gate Bridge, with 23 miles of ladders and 300,000 rivets in each tower, was the world's longest span when it opened in 1937. Seventeen iron workers and 38 painters constantly fight rust and renew the international orange paint on its 1.7-mile span.
5. Alcatraz Wasn't Always a Prison - Alcatraz means pelican in Spanish. The rocky pelican's island was a military fort before it became a prison. Today's resident deer mice, banana slugs and California slender salamanders aren't nearly as famous as former prisoners Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert "Birdman" Stroud.
And some additional interesting facts about San Francisco:
- San Francisco Population: 808,977 in 20081
- Size: 46.69 sq mi1
- City Flower: Dahlia2
- San Francisco was incorporated as a City on April 15th, 18503
Common Questions About San Francisco Answered:
- What caused the 1906 San Francisco earthquake? How big was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake? The San Andreas Fault ruptured along 296 miles of its length. People weren't measuring earthquakes with numbers in 1906, but for comparison, 25 miles ruptured in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and scientists say the 1906 quake was 16 times more powerful than 1989.4
- What time is it in San Francisco? San Francisco is in the Pacific time zone. Use the U.S. time website to find out what time it is right now.
- What county is San Francisco in? This one is easy. San Francisco is both city and county. Same borders, same government.
- What does San Francisco mean? The city's name was taken from the Spanish mission. He's called San Francisco in Spanish and Saint Francis in English.
