THE OFFICIAL WEBPAGE
OF ROBERT D. WEST
San
Francisco, with a population of about 776,000 people is the fourth
largest city in the state of California. A total of about 7
million people live in the San Francisco metro area. The
City of
San Francisco and San Francisco County are considered a consolidated
city-county. Essentially, the city and county are under a single,
unified government that fills all the needs and takes all
responsibilities of both city and county government.
The point of land at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula was first colonized by the Spanish in 1776. At that time, the location was known as Nova Albion. It was renamed Yerba Buena by American Captain John Montgomery of the USS Portsmouth on July 9, 1846. It became San Francisco on January 30, 1847.
At 5:12 AM on the morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake measuring 8.25 on the Richter scale shook the city for 48 seconds. Much of what survived the earthquake was destroyed in the resulting fires that followed. Over 3,000 people were killed.
Alcatraz Island
The first use of
Alcatraz Island was as a US Military
fort. Fort Alcatraz opened in December 1859. At the time, it
was America's most powerful West Coast Defense. Throughout the
1800s, the fort was used as a military prison. In 1907, the fort
was officially redesignated as a military prison. In 1933, the
military prison closed. In 1934, the facility became part of the
Federal prison system. Some of the more well-known prisoners held
at Alcatraz were Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert
Franklin Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz." The Federal prison was
closed Thursday, March 21, 1963. It had housed a total of 1,545
prisoners; from 222 to 302 at one time. The island's facilities
remained mostly abandoned (except for a few unofficial Indian
occupations in the late 1960s) until 1972 when it fell under the
jurisdiction of the National Parks Service.
Cellhouse
The cellhouse was built in 1912 on the foundations of
the old Fort Alcatraz. It contains 378 cells.
Lighthouse
The first lighthouse in California was built here
from 1852 to 1854. The original lighthouse was damaged in the 1906
earthquake, and replaced by this one in 1909. This lighthouse is
84 feet tall. It was automated in 1963. It contains a
200,000 candlepower beacon.
Cable Cars
The first cable car system was built in San Francisco
in 1873. Cable car systems continued to grow until the 1890s, when
electric streetcars began to arrive. The 1906 earthquake damaged
many of the cable car systems, and they were replaced with streetcars. The city tried to eliminate all cable car systems in 1947, however the
issue went to public referendum, and the people overwhelmingly supported
the cable cars. Over the coming years, cable car lines were shut
down one by one, until October 1, 1964, when the San Francisco cable
cars became a National Historic Landmark.
Coit Tower & TransAmerica Pyramid
Coit Tower (LEFT)
The Coit Tower, located on the top of Telegraph Hill, is 210 feet tall and was completed in 1933. Its Art Deco design resembles the nozzle of a fire hose. Coit Tower was built from funds willed to San Francisco by firefighter admirer and supporter Elizabeth Wyche "Lillie" Hitchcock-Coit in 1929.
TransAmerica Pyramid (RIGHT)
The distinctive TransAmerica Pyramid, at 600 Montgomery Street, was built from 1969 to 1972. It is 853 feet tall, and its 48 floors house a total of 530,000 square feet of office space.
Golden Gate Bridge
The
Golden Gate Bridge
(actually, its color is International Orange, not gold) is the most
famous bridge designed by noted bridge designer Joseph B. Strauss, who
designed over 100 bridges, including many of Chicago's lift bridges over
the Chicago River, the operating mechanism for the Burnside Bridge in
Portland, Oregon and the Lewis & Clark Bridge over the Columbia River
between Rainier, Oregon and Longview, Washington. Construction began
January 5, 1933, and when the bridge opened to pedestrian traffic May
27, 1937, it was ahead of schedule and under budget. The bridge
opened to auto traffic at noon the next day. The bridge is 9,266
feet long, and the main span (between the towers) is 4,200 feet. This was the longest suspension span in the world until the
Verrazano
Narrows Bridge in New York City (which is 60 feet longer) opened on
November 21, 1964. Today it is the seventh-longest suspension span
in the world. On average, 100,000 vehicles cross the bridge every
day, and over 1 billion have crossed since it opened. The Golden
Gate Bridge was named one of the
Seven Wonders of the Modern World by
the American Society of Civil Engineers on February 16, 1994.
San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge
Built from July 9, 1933 to November 12, 1936, the
double-deck connection of Interstate 80 between Oakland and San
Francisco is actually two separate bridges. The 9,260-foot West
Span (pictured) is two suspension bridges connected end-to-end at a
man-made anchor point. The towers of the West Span are 526 feet
tall, and the bridge has 220 feet of vertical clearance above the bay.
The 10,176-foot East Span (not pictured) is a combination of cantilever
beams and trusses. The two spans meet at Yerba Buena Island, where
they are connected by a 1,700-foot tunnel. The tunnel, at 76 feet
wide and 56 feet high, is the largest-diameter bore in the world.
On average, 280,000 vehicles make this crossing every day.
On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake caused a 50-foot section of the upper deck of the East Span to collapse onto the lower deck. The bridge was closed for a month for repairs. Today, a new East Span is under construction.
San Francisco Links
National Park Service: Alcatraz Island
San Francisco Municipal Railway
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation Department
Also See:
PLACES - Kelso-Longview, Washington
PLACES - Antique Powerland, Brooks, Oregon
PLACES - Illinois Railway Museum, Union, Illinois
All website content, including graphics and pictures are © Robert D. West unless otherwise noted. Content is not to be used out of the context of this webpage without expressed permission. Any opinions expressed herein are mine and are not necessarily shared by the Milwaukee School of Engineering, or anyone else.
Questions? Comments? Critiques? Corrections? Concerns? Email me at westr@msoe.edu.