San Francisco’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 4 old photos of San Francisco. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The earliest archeological evidence of human habitation in the area dates to 3000 BCE. The Ohlone name for San Francisco was Ahwaste, meaning "place at the bay". The Yelamu group of the Ramaytush people lived in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay. The arrival of Spanish colonists, and the establishment of the Mission system, marked the beginning of the assimilation of the Ramaytush people and the decline of their language and culture.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart San Francisco’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how San Francisco’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewPost office, 1850: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from San Francisco
See all 20 →
San Francisco, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Post office (1850) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From the Library of Congress (4) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.